Word: evil
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Flesh Gordon. If you're a little less stewed, maybe you can convince your buddy that Flesh Gordon is really lots better. It isn't, but it's shorter. Parodying the thirties Flash Gordon series, Flesh, an all-American Mr. Clean hero and his two musketeers, pursue the evil sex ray to its source, discovering a sexual munchkin land where Prince Precious and his tandy tribe frolic in spite of the Evil Wang's despotic rule. The special effects--including penises as monsters, trees, spaceships, etc.--all seem like the products of a pervert with a chemistry set in someone...
...acting ranges from flashes of humor to painful awkwardness. Elizabeth McNary, as evil high priestess Slipreewenwhet, delivers some glorious Mae Westian asides. LeRoy W. Collins has a flair for outrageousness, but is miscast as the lecherous Pharoah, Seqentunun. Jim Tung, as Inkitin the scribe, Clare McGorrian as Eforeti the Queen, Mary Demerest as an anachronistic Brooklyn servant, and Michael Cohen as the thief Ali Katz, all have moments, but something doesn't gel. Cohen, especially, shows raw talent, but lacks experienced directorial guidance to help him bring his Peter Lorre persona off. Dede Schmeiser also shows potential as Rosetta Stone...
Some of the chintziness achieves its intended comic proportions. The evil priestess ties our heroes to stakes, threatening them with sacrifice to vicious alligators. But small, adorably wiggly plastic things are tossed out on stage, and for once Sellon doesn't ruin it for himself and us--the actors respond as though these are, indeed, vicious creatures. If this attitude had prevailed, Thebes Like Us might have been the enjoyably silly evening...
...begins, then, to sound more like a law library. After all, why let only one Kennedy hog the glory of a public affairs school? Objection: The Kennedys have their name on enough stuff already. Further Objection: Spurious newspaper investigations have revealed a Kennedy-if Engelhard was really so evil as some paint him), then perhaps we should think about renaming the Kennedy School of Government. That, however, is another contest...
...crazy world, y'know Chaim? A crazy world. What else is this week? The Third Man. A thrilling Carol Reed movie, with those magnificent camera angles out of German expressionism and Orson Welles's Harry Lime, a slippery, outrageous performance by one of our greatest filmmakers. Touch of Evil is also in town. Best first and last scene in film history. Am I boring...