1952 was a sparse year for genre titles in the PNW with just a few more obscure exploitation films making the rounds. This is the second of two collections of media from other films that played the Pacific Northwest in 1952.
Click the images for larger versions.
Our first film was the first credited directorial work of Curt Siodmak, writer of classics such as "The Wolf Man" and "I Walked with a Zombie." It's also one that video collectors should be familiar with for appearing on numerous collections of public domain videos over the years. While the cast is pretty impressive the movie is sort of just there.
Bride of the Gorilla (1951)
The owner of a plantation in the jungle marries a beautiful woman. Shortly afterward, he is plagued by a strange voodoo curse that transforms him into a gorilla.
Director: Curt Siodmak
Writer: Curt Siodmak
Stars: Barbara Payton, Lon Chaney Jr., Raymond Burr
June 27, 1952 ad (Seattle)
June 11, 1952 ad (Portland)
I can't write much about the next one as I have only seen bits and pieces. I can say that the majority of the footage featuring dinosaurs and volcanoes was lifted directly from 1940's "One Million B.C."
Untamed Women (1952)
During World War II, an American bomber pilot is rescued after drifting at sea aboard a raft. After being administered truth serum, he tells the doctor a story of how he and the three survivors of his plane crash washed up on an island that was inhabited by a tribe of beautiful primitive cave-women, dinosaurs and a group of savage cavemen who are bent on abducting the women for breeding purposes.
Director: W. Merle Connell
Writer: George Wallace Sayre (screenplay)
Stars: Mikel Conrad, Doris Merrick, Richard Monahan
September 11, 1952 ad (Seattle)
September 12, 1952 ad (Seattle)
October 15, 1952 ad (Portland)
October 16, 1952 ad (Portland)
Next up we have reissues of a decent French melodrama and a cheap, relatively tame, pre-code exploitation film.
French White Cargo (AKA "Traffic in Souls," 1937)
Two journalists go on the trail of gangsters who are kidnapping women to sell in South America.
Director: Robert Siodmak
Writers: Henri Jeanson (dialogue), Herbert Juttke, Jean Masson (article)
Stars: Käthe von Nagy, Jules Berry, Suzy Prim
Main Street Girl (AKA "Sensation Hunters," 1934)
Dale Jordan is first accepted by the aristocratic first-cabin passengers on a south-bound Panama-Pacific liner until they discover she is a member of a troupe of cabaret girls led by Trixie Snell en route for the Bull Ring Cabaret in Panama City.
Director: Charles Vidor
Writers: Whitman Chambers (story "Cabaret"), Albert DeMond (dialogue), Paul Schofield (screenplay)
Stars: Arline Judge, Preston Foster, Marion Burns
January 31, 1951 ad (Portland)
