5 AGAINST THE HOUSE - "Life Of The Party" (1955)

Welcome to "What A Cast Wednesday" in The Dungeon! 

Tonight's feature is called "5 Against The House!" Tricky title, but not exactly what the movie's about, but then that would be splitting hairs!

"5 Against The House" has a Dungeon all-star cast without a doubt starting with Guy Madison! Good lookin' Guy Madison was born outside of Bakersfield, California in a little hole in the wall called Pumpkin Center. Some 95 years later, the place has done nothing but shrank, and is almost non-existent today! The following year after this film was made, Guy would be in two classic movies, "The Beast Of Hollow Mountain," and "On The Threshold Of Space!"

Kerwin Mathews would go on to be Captain Sinbad, Gulliver, and Jack the Giant Killer in the 60's!

From the 60's to the 90's, Brian Keith wasn't just on, but was the star of at least six television shows ranging from "Family Affair" to "Walter and Emily!!"

Alvy Moore provides the lame comic relief! Alvy was in almost every TV show ever made in the 60's including the "Twilight Zone" episode called "Showdown With Rance McGrew as 'The Man On The Stool!'

And the icing on the cake is Kim Novak in her 4th film! I'm only got one word to say about Kim, "Vertigo!" Unlike all the male stars of this film, Kim is still around and will be celebrating her 85th birthday on February 13th of next year!

To this day, Reno still claims to be the "biggest little city in the world," and I guess it's pretty hard to dispute since there are no real parameters to that declaration!

 "5 Against The House" is just fun to watch as a period piece! To say that casinos have really changed over the years would be a huge understatement!

If these college kids look it a little olde to you, you have to remember that this is set after the war!

 

Kim absolutely kills this song called.....
"Life Of The Party"
Too bad she's not really singing it. The real vocals are by big band vocalist Jo Ann Greer, who was 'the ghost singer' in a handful of other movies too!

The guys think her performance is heaven on earth, and don't really care if it's her singing or not!!

Cool looking shoebox!

Nice frame! Reminds me of "The Graduate"

 

Just like Rio or New Orleans, Reno is having their big annual celebration and everybody in town dresses up like cowboys, so it gives the guys a perfect reason to wear disguises so they can pull off this caper! That's William (The Killers) Conrad on the right as the casino worker! Besides being "Cannon" and "The Fatman," Bill Conrad had a huge career as a narrator on TV shows like "Rocky And His Friends," "The Fugitive," "Tales Of The Unexpected," "Buck Rogers In The 25th Century" etc etc!

Drugs, Smokes, and Show, what more could you possibly need?

The author of the original story, a gentleman known as Jack Finney, also wrote perennial favourite, "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers!"

THE ROGER CORMAN EDGAR ALLAN POE MOVIES 1960-64

Today we check out the Edgar Allan Poe horror movies directed by Dungeon god, Roger Corman. What we like about Roger is that he was one hip guy who worked outside the typical Hollywood box. In 1960, his first Poe horror flick hit the big screen, it's possible that Eegah!! and I saw all eight of these when they came out...

Vincent Price stars in seven of the eight movies, and, for good reason. The first production is THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER in 1960, the story goes like this.. Upon entering his fiancée's family mansion, Philip Winthrop discovers an Usher family curse and fears that Roderick Usher has entombed his bride-to-be prematurely!

Oh boy, I remember seeing THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM with Ergah!! in 1961, it was an absolute horror and a half for us youngsters! Vinnie plays an awesome madman in this Poe story of deception and gruesome revenge!!

Next is THE PREMATURE BURIAL in 1962, in this one, Ray Milland plays artist Guy Carrell, he grows apart from his new wife as an irrational horror of premature burial consumes him!

TALES OF TERROR from 1962 was one fun trilogy of fright! The three tales involve a grieving man and the daughter he abandoned, a drunkard and his wife's black cat and a hypnotist who prolongs the moment of a man's death.

THE RAVEN from 1963 was nothing but fun, it's about a magician who has been turned into a raven and turns to a former sorcerer for help. Freakin' stars Vinnie, Peter, Boris and Jack!

Even though THE HAUNTED PALACE from 1963 is a Poe story, man, it sure seems like a Lovecraft tale, the faceless people, the thing in the basement... Anyway, it's great to see good old Lon in this one, had to play a mute.

THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH from 1964 is one wild flick, in it, a European prince terrorizes the local peasantry while using his castle as a refuge against the "Red Death" plague that stalks the land! They go crazy with the colors in this tale Poe would be familiar with!

Vinnie stars in the last Poe story, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA in 1964. His obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride. He looks pretty weird in that costume, and sans the 'stache!.. So, keep checking back for more cool stuff from The Dungeon Gang, where the fun just never ends!!

MORDNACHT IN MANHATTAN - "Manhattan Night Of Murder" (1965)

What I got for you tonight is the last of my Jerry Cotton movies, and it's called "Mordnacht In Manhattan" or................

"Manhattan Night Of Murder!"

If I ever had time to plan things around here, I would probably watch movies like this in chronological order, but since I'm a freakin' bozo, it's always a haphazard free form affair which causes things like this to happen! Since this was the last Jerry Cotton film I had to watch, I've been saving it for this special moment, only to be disappointed, because "Mordnacht In Manhattan" turns out to be my least favourite Jerry Cotton movie. All the right elements are there, but it's not that witty, and never really gets very exciting at all!

"Mordnacht In Manhattan was the second Jerry Cotton film released in 1965. The first film was "The Violin Case Murders," which also wasn't all that great, but I think it was a little better than this one! It wasn't til the third film, "Um Null Uhr Schnappt Die Falle Zu" also known as "The Trap Snaps Shut At Midnight," that Jerry Cotton really got cooking!

One of  "The Sweatles," the marvelous Monika Grimm was also in the next Jerry Cotton film!

Although the movie is set in New York, 90% of it is shot in Hamburg, Munich, and Landshut, Bavaria, Germany!

While fighting with Jerry, this gangster falls into a pit of coal, but it kind of looks like he's getting chewed up by Caltiki The Immortal Monster in this shot!

This is the 13th movie we've hosted with George Nader in it, what else can I say, except "which way did they go George!!"

Gangsters or sardines? Something stinks either way!

The music in "Mordnacht In Manhattan" is, as are all the Jerry Cotton films, by the genius mind and Dungeon fave, Peter Thomas! 

Jerry's a sneaky guy, and you get to see part of his Jaguar and part of the mobster's '67 Impala all in the same shot!

I'm sure somebody thought a fight scene in a bunch of cardboard boxes was going to be real exciting, but they were wrong!

It's a pretty bold move to be on your regular TV show when you've also been I.D.'d in a murder!

I found this Mexican poster for "Mordnacht In Manhattan" on a fellow blogger's site called Una Plaga De Espias, and the funny thing is I can find no other reference to this film with this title, but then that's just how these Jerry Cotton films roll! Those two cars are just too much!!

Thanx again to our man in Berlin, Lord Litter for turning me onto this series in the first place a few years ago, do yourself a favor, and go check out one of his Magic Music Show International radio shows. I guarantee you'll become just as addicted as I am!