Last night I took out a DVD I'd been meaning to watch since getting it a couple of years ago:
TWO ON A GUILLOTINE (1965)
Here's another of those movies that had entirely escaped my notice when released. What was I, a sophomore in high school then? Yes. But it continued to escape my notice until I read that the Henry Higgins set was used in it, and that was only a few years ago. I was curious about it, so I found it had been released to DVD-R by Warner Archive, and purchased it. But at the time, I still failed to watch it and it's been on the shelf ever since. Then just the other day, somewhere online, I read somebody else's mention of it in a favorable light and giving a little more information (such as its similarity to William Castle's films and its black and white scope). So what was I waiting for? Last night was perfect, so watch it I did, and I hugely enjoyed it.
First off, it looks gorgeous. Second, the cast is great -- even if I didn't think so right off the bat, but I came around to it. Third, it's one of Max Steiner's last couple of scores. Fourth (and I love it when this happens), it introduced me to a location I'd never known (in Riverside, CA) - the exteriors of which are all there to see even now. And (what number am I up to? - five?), the studio interiors are to die for. Not only is part of it the Higgins set, but I thought it might be more extensive than is seen in MY FAIR LADY and I was ready to move in.
Comparing it to a Castle film is fair enough, but I found it much more satisfying. The actor who really blew me away was Virginia Gregg whose name only sounded vaguely familiar to me so I looked her up. My God, this woman didn't rest for one minute in her 70 years, and I wish she'd lived and kept working for another twenty. It turned out I'd seen her in a few things, which made sense as soon as I saw a couple of pictures of her, but I really should have known the name of the woman who not only voiced Mrs. Bates in the original PSYCHO, but did so again in PSYCHOs II and III.
Plenty more to say, but maybe others can chime in. This will get a repeat viewing soon, and I hope Warner Bros. gets around to releasing it on Blu-ray.
