The Invasion Of Carol Enders (1974)

The spirit of a deceased car crash victim (Sally Kemp) is reincarnated into the body of another patient (Meredith Baxter). Will she be able to discover and expose who her murderer is by using the other other woman's body? Directed by actor turned director Burt Brinckerhoff. Very well done supernatural thriller is hampered by its low budget and poor production values. Also, it was shot on videotape rather than film so it doesn't look all that great. Something that could easily be updated and remade. Playing two roles in one body, Meredith Baxter gives a strong performance that helps anchor the far fetched narrative. With Charles Aidman, Christopher Connelly and John Karlen.

The Godless Girl (1928)

A teenage girl (Lina Basquette) leads an atheist group at her high school. A pious schoolmate (Tom Keene) who heads a Christian group invades the atheist group along with his pals. The ensuing furor ends in tragedy when a young girl (Mary Jane Irving) falls to her death and the two are sent to a brutal reform school on manslaughter charges. Directed by Cecil B. DeMille (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) in his final silent film. This slice of inspirational hokum is more entertaining than it has any right to be. Of course, this being the sanctimonious DeMille, you know Basquette will find religion and God before the end of the movie. The film was a box office flop and sound and some dialogue was added to the movie and rereleased but still tanked. The restored transfer I saw had an excellent score by Carl Davis (THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT'S WOMAN). With Marie Prevost, Eddie Quillan and Noah Beery.

Curse Of Simba (aka Curse Of The Voodoo) (1965)

A cold blooded guide (Bryant Haliday) to novice big game hunters has to clean up the mess of one of his clients, shooting a lion but couldn't kill. But a curse is put upon him by a local tribe who worship lions as their deity. Directed by Lindsay Shonteff (THE MILLION EYES OF SUMURU). This low budget horror flick is more silly than frightening. Though partially set in Africa, it was filmed entirely in England with stock footage for the African locations. As the leading actor, Haliday has all the screen presence of an overcooked noodle. The not so subtle racism weaved into the movie makes it an unpleasant watch. With its "ooga booga" natives it has the distasteful flavor of those movies set in colonial countries where the Brits look down at the indigenous people whose country they have invaded. Haliday would later redeem himself by co-founding Janus Films. With Dennis Price, Lisa Daniely, Ronald Leigh Hunt, Mary Kerridge, Dennis Alba Peters and Beryl Cunningham.

French Without Tears (1940)

The sister (Ellen Drew) of a young Englishman (Kenneth Morgan) studying at a French language "cramming" school in the South of France arrives in town and proceeds to flirt with all her brother's classmates! The only one to resist her is a cynical student (Ray Milland) who sees right through her. Based on the play by Terence Rattigan (SEPARATE TABLES) and directed by Anthony Asquith (THE VIPS). The play was a huge success in London's West End where it ran for more than 1,000 performances and established Rattigan (still in his 20s) as a major playwright and made a star out of Rex Harrison (Trevor Howard and Jessica Tandy were also in the cast). This is a British film with Milland and Drew imported from Hollywood to ensure its success outside of England. It's such a slight piece that it hardly seems there. If the movie is a reasonable facsimile of the play, I can't image what made it a success. Even though it's slightly opened up for the screen, director Asquith doesn't bother to disguise its theatrical origins. In spite of the antagonistic relationship between Milland and Drew, there's never a doubt they'll end up together. With Roland Culver (recreating his stage role), David Tree and Janine Darcey.

Cattle Town (1952)

Set in Texas, a land baron (Ray Teal) is evicting "squatters" from his turf but it's just a ruse to rustle their cattle herds. Sent by the governor to keep the peace, a sharpshooter (Dennis Morgan) quickly sides with the victimized cattlemen. Directed by Noel M. Smith (DANCING DYNAMITE). A B western programmer that was never intended to be anything other than what is is ..... a seat filler. Actually, it's not bad if predictable but what spoils the movie is that Morgan's character is a singing cowboy! If they'd cut out Morgan's singing, the picture would be 20 minutes shorter. The songs diffuse the drama and the action. For western fans only. With Rita Moreno (in one of her spitfire roles), Philip Carey, Amanda Blake and Paul Picerni.

Freakier Friday (2025)

Some 22 years after a body swapping incident, a mother (Jamie Lee Curtis) and daughter (Lindsay Lohan) find themselves in the same predicament when the daughter switches bodies with her daughter (Julia Butters) and the mother switches bodies with the daughter (Sophia Hammons) of her daughter's fiance (Manny Jacinto). Directed by Nisha Ganatra (LATE NIGHT). A sequel to the 2003 FREAKY FRIDAY based on the book by Mary Rodgers, itself the third remake following filmed adaptations from 1976 and 1995. Did we really need a sequel to FREAKY FRIDAY? No! It's just more of the same and isn't it time to put a stop to body swapping comedies if they can't provide anything more than regurgitating stale gags (Does anyone actually find food fights funny? How about driving on the wrong side of the road? I didn't think so). Curtis and Lohan (it was nice seeing her back on the screen) do their best and one can't fault their performances but this once too often trip to the one joke well doesn't do them any favors. I liked the 2003 film (the best of the three versions) but this one is a bungle. But I'm in the minority. The film received good reviews and made money. With Mark Harmon, Chad Michael Murray, Vanessa Bayer, Stephen Tobolowsky, Chloe Fineman and Elaine Hendrix.

The Comic (1969)

Lying in a casket at his funeral, a legendary comedian (Dick Van Dyke) of silent cinema reflects on his life, his stardom and his downfall, especially his ego which ruined his career. Directed by Carl Reiner (THE JERK). A box office flop upon its initial release, the film's reputation has grown over the ensuing years. On the plus side, its recreation of silent cinema is excellent and a never better Dick Van Dyke has the physical sensibility of the great silent movie clowns like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. He also handles the dramatic requirements of the movie quite well. There's also fine support from Michele Lee (who should have had a bigger film career) and Mickey Rooney (he's pretty terrific here). But director Reiner can't sustain the film and the movie's last half hour meanders in search of an ending. Despite its flaws, the movie ends up as a love letter to silent comedies and the film's strong performances make it worthwhile. With Cornel Wilde, Steve Allen, Pert Kelton and Nina Wayne.

Lady Paname (1950)

Set in 1920s Paris, an entertainer (Suzy Delair) is struggling to make a success as a singer in the music halls of Paris. After securing a song from a popular composer (Henri Guisol), she becomes a sensation as Lady Paname. Directed by screenwriter (FANFAN LA TULIPE) and journalist Henri Jeanson in his only directorial credit. An amiable comedy with musical numbers (though I wouldn't call it a musical) that is a bit overlong for something so lightweight. The movie grasps the music hall atmosphere of the 1920s nicely and Delair is quite charming. Certainly not mandatory cinema but if you happen to stumble across it, you might want to give it a look. With Louis Jouvet, Henri Cremieux, Raymond Souplex and Jane Marken.

I Ought To Be In Pictures (1982)

A young girl (Dinah Manoff recreating her Tony award winning stage role) travels from New York to Los Angeles to meet the father (Walter Matthau) who abandoned his family 16 years ago. She wants his help in becoming an actress. Based on the play by Neil Simon and directed by Herbert Ross (THE TURNING POINT). In the 1960s and 1970s, a Neil Simon play was gold and a sure thing to be turned into a hit movie. But somewhere around the early 1980s, even though the films were based on hit plays, the movie versions floundered. This dud is one of the stinkers. The banter and the one liners aren't up to Simon's best work and when he gets "serious", he's heavy handed and trite instead of insightful. With Ann-Margret (the best thing about the movie) and Lance Guest.

The Stepford Wives (2004)

After his wife (Nicole Kidman), a television executive, suffers a severe nervous breakdown, her husband (Matthew Broderick) moves the family to the quiet suburban community of Stepford in Connecticut to recuperate. But there's something not quite right about the families there, especially the wives. Based on the novel by Ira Levin (previously filmed in 1975) and directed by Frank Oz (LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS). An unmitigated miscalculation! Levin's dark creepy sci-fi horror novel has been turned into an unfunny black comedy. There was enough subtle satire in the 1975 film version while still retaining the creeping horror of the town's dark secret but this version goes straight for camp. It updates the 1975 novel by adding a gay character (Roger Bart) but he's an embarrassing gay stereotype, a "camp" caricature. The original's dark ending has been jettisoned for a "happy" ending. Reputedly, nobody was happy either during the filming or with the results afterward. With Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Christopher Walken, Faith Hill and Jon Lovitz.

Smooth As Silk (1946)

An ambitious actress (Virginia Grey) is not above two timing her unscrupulous lawyer lover (Kent Taylor) in her climb to the top. But she underestimates his rage and his revenge to repay her betrayal. Directed by Charles Barton (BUCK PRIVATES). A remake of A NOTORIOUS GENTLEMAN (1935), this is a nifty minor film noir. With the exception of Jane Adams, who plays Grey's naive younger sister, the rest of the characters are all rather distasteful which makes for an interesting noir. You can't really empathize with the movie's unsavory leads so you just sit back, watch and enjoy the nastiness. Virginia Grey was a talented actress who worked in films from 1927 to 1970 but never played leading roles in A films though she was often the lead in B movies and she's terrific here. Noir fans should eat this one up. With John Litel, Milburn Stone and Theresa Harris.

Killer By Night (1972)

A doctor (Robert Wagner) races against time after a woman dies in a hospital emergency room of diphtheria, a highly communicable disease, to find others who were in contact with her before the disease spreads. Meanwhile, a police captain (Greg Morris) is searching for a cop killer (Robert Lansing) on the loose. Could the two cases be connected? Directed by Bernard McEveety (NAPOLEON AND SAMANTHA). A surprisingly effective thriller for most of its running time until the movie's last unfortunate 15 minutes when it fizzles out. Of course, better movies have been made with the same situation (PANIC IN THE STREETS comes to mind) but director McEveety keeps squeezing the tension quotient. With Diane Baker, Mercedes McCambridge (very good as a blind nun who cracks the case), Theodore Bikel and Nora Marlowe.