Category: 1963

Chili Weather (1963, Friz Freleng)

I’m missing why Speedy Gonzales is the good guy in Chili Weather. He’s trying to steal food (the theory being the factory has food so it should give food to his friends) and he tortures the guard cat.

If one got really creative, he or she could interpret Weather as commentary on the Mexican government starving its citizens while producing cheap goods for the United States. I’d love to read that interpretation, actually.

Speedy’s a bunch of stereotypes and whatnot, but he’s also an annoying jerk. Sylvester, as the guard cat, isn’t even a bad guy in Weather. He’s literally just doing his job.

It doesn’t help the animation is boring and Freleng’s one okay gag–Sylvester hopping on an ice block and melting it after soaking in Tabasco sauce–isn’t even original.

The plot doesn’t arc either, making Weather an abbreviated chase cartoon.

It’s fairly awful, except Blanc’s Sylvester.

1/3Not Recommended

CREDITS

Directed by Friz Freleng; written by John W. Dunn; animated by Gerry Chiniquy, Lee Halpern, Art Leonardi, Bob Matz and Virgil Ross; edited by Lee Gunther; music by William Lava; produced by David H. DePatie; released by Warner Bros.

Starring Mel Blanc (Speedy Gonzales / Sylvester / Mice).

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The Haunting (1963, Robert Wise)

What makes The Haunting so good–besides Wise’s wondrous Panavision composition–is the characters. Yes, it succeeds as a horror film, with great internal dialogue (Julie Harris’s character’s thoughts drive the first twenty minutes alone and the device never feels awkward), but those successes are nothing compared to the character interactions.

The Haunting chooses to be both definite and understated with the truth behind its supernatural elements. Gidding structures his conversations about the supernatural very carefully, leaving the viewer to constantly question previous events, creating a palpable uneasiness.

In that uneasiness, Gidding is able to create these evolving character relationships. The one between Harris and Claire Bloom is, for example, the practical backbone of the entire picture. It allows Harris’s character to, for lack of a less cute term, bloom. But the relationship is in constant flux, especially since the audience hears a lot of what goes on in Harris’s head–but not Bloom’s. It’s very interesting to see what Gidding is going to come up with, in the dialogue, next.

The structure of the opening–the film starts with Richard Johnson introducing the haunted house aspect of the story, then moves entirely to Harris for a while–gives Wise and Gidding a fine opportunity to introduce the characters to each other and they fully utilize it. There isn’t a single character without a unique dynamic with another–lots of the Haunting is four people in a room talking (Russ Tamblyn being the fourth).

Also superior is Humphrey Searle’s score.

3/4★★★

CREDITS

Produced and directed by Robert Wise; screenplay by Nelson Gidding, based on a novel by Shirley Jackson; director of photography, Davis Boulton; edited by Ernest Walter; music by Humphrey Searle; production designer, Elliot Scott; released by Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer.

Starring Julie Harris (Nell), Claire Bloom (Theo), Richard Johnson (Dr. John Markway), Russ Tamblyn (Luke Sanderson), Fay Compton (Mrs. Sanderson), Rosalie Crutchley (Mrs. Dudley), Lois Maxwell (Grace Markway), Valentine Dyall (Mr. Dudley), Diane Clare (Carrie Fredericks) and Ronald Adam (Eldridge Harper).

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Magnus, Robot Fighter (1963) #2

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For the second issue, Magnus has much more reasonable villains. Someone figured out how to make robots look like humans and is trying to take over the government. Manning sets it up pretty well–there’s lots of action, lots of big fight scenes, but he does take a moment for Leeja and her senator father to discuss what robots place in daily human life should be.

There are some problems, of course. Manning’s city-state, North AM, takes up the entire North American continent, yet Magnus and friends can zip around it in no time at all, which means they’re going at such incredibly dangerous speeds… no one could be out walking around in the unprotected open….

There’s a backup–there was first issue too–but it’s pretty lame. Manning’s space art is lovely, but the story’s just about how great human beings (American ones) are and how everyone else should learn from them.

Magnus, Robot Fighter (1963) #1

Manning neglects to establish one important point in Magnus‘s first issue. Are robots sentient? Evil or not, Magnus is smashing up a lot of robots here and the heroic little kids throw one off a roof just because they can.

It’s rather important. Maybe I’m thinking too much about it, but the dying robots certainly seem to suffer.

Then there’s the matter of Leeja, who’s not mad at the robots for being evil, she’s mad they’re going to stop her from driving dangerously. She wants to be free to cause car accidents.

Manning’s art is really good–it has to be to overcome such exceptional logic holes–and Magnus is great to read. Manning’s future designs are great too, with his six panel a page system allowing for a lot of great visuals. The geography of this future is amazing; lots of people have, without attribution, borrowed from it.

Overall, it works.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #7

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When I started reading these comics again, I had no expectations. I read them as a kid, but as I grew up, I really only read Silver Age on recommendation and no one ever recommended a reread of these.

Most of these issues, so far, are absolutely fantastic. This issue, with the Vulture returning, has all sorts of great stuff in it–not to mention ending with Peter and Betty hanging out (romantically). Ditko’s art, though not always enthusiastic, is frequently great. He’ll go soft on Spider-Man details for a few panels and then come up with some incredibly dynamic one.

One thing I don’t think Lee noticed–though he does have Spidey’s wisecracking self-aware in this one–is how Peter Parker’s changed in terms of his self-image. Maybe with the girls, sure, but the super-powers are making him a much different person than originally seen.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #6

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Lee gets back on track (subtly developing Peter Parker too–the flirtations with Betty Brant at the Bugle give him the courage–apparently, it’s never pointed out–to ask Liz Allen out on a date), not just introducing the Lizard, but also sending Spider-Man to Florida. The comedy scenes with Peter and Jonah heading down are absolutely hilarious.

There’s a ton of story–besides the Lizard (and Peter’s high school science curing him), Lee has a museum action set piece (where Liz falls for Spidey). It’s nice to see he and Ditko work so much into one issue–though the alligator army is a little much. But the Florida trip gives Ditko a chance to draw differing environments.

The Lizard’s nickname is “Liz,” which I don’t think they kept, and Peter’s after a girl named Liz. Kind of strange.

Very good stuff.

Though Aunt May’s still not a character.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #5

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Guess who wins in a fight between Doctor Doom and Spider-Man? Guess who wins in the rematch? If you guessed Doctor Doom both times, you get a twelve cent sucker, which is what this issue cost when it came out. It’s a twelve cent sucker too. Lee opens it with some expository paragraph about how it’s the best comic the reader has ever read. It’s amazing bad he is predicting reading experiences.

Besides the contrived Spider-Man versus Doctor Doom story, there’s this stuff with Peter’s classmates. Lee has never really shown them as bullies or downright mean, but here he does. Here, Liz Allen is really mean to Peter; here, Flash Thompson is ready to–presumably–rough him up. It’s like an Archie issue gone bad.

However, the Daily Bugle stuff–Betty crushing on Peter, Jonah going off about how Spider-Man sells papers–works.

The rest doesn’t.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #4

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It’s the first appearance of Betty Brant. I hadn’t been expected it, but now I’m looking forward to it. She and Peter’s romance was always effecting. Even here, her thought balloon foreshadows the eventual dating.

Lee fits a bunch into this issue (oh, it’s the first appearance of the Sandman too), including the first battle at Midtown High–the Sandman sneaks it and Spidey surprisingly appears–with Spider-Man coming up with some semi-scientific solution to the problem. There’s also, much more amusingly, Peter trying to figure out how to sew his mask back together after it gets ripped in the first fight with the Sandman.

The scenes with Peter stuck in bed, pretending to be sick because Aunt May almost walked in on his Spider-Man costume, are hilarious.

The Sandman origin, told mostly through a news report, is concise and well-executed.

So far, my favorite issue.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #3

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Besides the first appearance of Doctor Octopus–and the Spider-Signal–there are a couple other things I noticed. First, Spider-Man’s catching bad guys at the beginning of the issue. That brief scene is the first suggestion he’s actually been out crime fighting. Second, the banter starts this issue, between him and Doctor Octopus (or am I supposed to use the trademarked Doc Ock?).

While the issue does feature some decent angst–Peter Parker ready to quit being Spider-Man because he got beat up only to be inspired by Johnny Storm–Lee’s action plotting is a little silly. The first fight with Doctor Octopus is in an office. The second features Spider-Man on the run from a bunch of automatons until he can find the lab where he concocts a device to defeat the villain (Spider-Man, the thinking superhero).

It’s good, but there’s definitely something missing.

The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #2

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Again, Lee goes an interesting route here. There’s no real introduction to the supporting cast yet–Aunt May’s in the issue, but the police chief has more effect (I don’t think Aunt May has any lines)–and Spider-Man’s still all about the benjamins. I’m not sure what rent was back in the 1960s, but he must have done pretty well with his pictures of the Vulture to pay a whole year of it.

Spider-Man’s still financially concerned–there’s one point where Peter Parker modifies his costume for the life of a costumed adventurer, but he’s really just making it better suited for using Spider-Man as a photographer. At one point during the Vulture story, I wasn’t sure Spider-Man cared if the Vulture was caught, so long as there was a picture.

The Tinkerer story is just sci-fi. Spider-Man doesn’t need to be in it.