When I hear the word “jeopardy”, a few things comes to mind, but I’m guessing that director John Sturges didn’t have either the Trebeck hosted game show, the hit by the Greg Kihn Band, or the subsequent parody by Weird Al on his mind. More than likely because these things were not even invented yet because if they were it surely would have been all he could think of. If you haven’t guessed by now, today’s film is Jeopardy from 1953, and it is the inaugural post in the second new feature in August, The Irrepressible Miss Stanwyck. My love for Miss Stanwyck is deep and unabated by the passage of time. I love her tough gal characters, always with a soft, sensitive center, and no matter if she’s doing romance, action, drama, or comedy, Stanwyck always gave it her all. Sadly, in four years I’ve only got to take a look at two of her films here at The Lair, the Sam Fuller (also a feature holder for this month) weird Western40 Guns and the Christmas flavored Remember the Night. So over the next few weeks, I hope you enjoy my look back at Babs. First up, a movie where Stanwyck would do anything for love, and yeah, I think she would do that.
Case File: Eddie Romero-01 Reason for Inquiry: Subject has made a number of cult films that have gone unrecognized for many years.
Background: The subject of this investigation is well respected Filipino director Eddie Romero (a.k.a The Other Romero). Born in 1924 in the Philippines, the subject began selling short stories to local papers at age 12 and graduated to film scripts by the time he was twenty three years old. Romero won award for his writing and eventually his direction for a number of films in his native country, but in 1957, he embarked on a different path. Romero began to make war films with the express desire to export them to the West. While he never broke through, a number of the films reached an American audience, including Day of the Trumpet. It got the attention of actor Burgess Meredith (a.k.a The Riddler a.k.a Mick) who then conspired with the subject on a film entitled The Kidnappers in 1958.
Furthering his desire to break into the American market, he made a number of low budget horror films, and it should be no surprise that a thrifty director making movies for less than nothing would get the attention of Roger Corman. During these years, Romero turned out genre and cult fare on par with any of his contemporaries and worked with shady characters such as John Saxon, Pam Grier, Jack Hill, Sid Haig, and Cherrie Caffaro.l. Then in 1975, Romero moved back to the Philippines once again taking on the mantle of Award winning film maker. While the subject might have perfected a perfect cover, this report is set to blow the lid off Romero’s little remembered genre entries. All that's left is to collect the research from our man in the field, T.L. Bugg.
Agent’s Report: When I first got asked to go into the field by the CIA (Cinema Intelligence Agency), I didn’t go because I knew such a thing didn’t exist, but when a couple of hardened agents showed up on my doorstep and threatened to make me watch Merchant Ivory flicks while strapped to a chair all “Kubrick style”. I don’t usually cave under pressure, but I could have changed my named to Carlsbad J. Caverns at they moment. So I took the file they wanted me to look at, and I realized why I was chosen for the job, I had already seen one of Romeo’s films. This past association with the subject was going to go a long way, but as I dug deeper into his dossier I found a film that I’d heard of many times but never seen. It turned out that the film in question, Black Mama, White Mama, was to be my first assignment. Made in 1973 right during the middle of the blaxploitation boom, Romero’s film, produced under the prodigious banner of American International Pictures, starred one of the icons of the genre, Pam Grier, as well as cult cinema legend Sid Haig. The script by H. R. Christian, based on a story by Angels As Hard as They Come author Joe Viola and future director Jonathan Demme, combined a flash of blaxploitation with a healthy dose of Jack Hill inspired “women in prison“ drama. With all of these factors coming together, it is no wonder that Black Mama, White Mama is easily Romero’s most recognized film in the United States.
The film kicks off with a sleazy introduction that could serve as a perfect primer to Romero’s work. Lee (Pam Grier), on the run from a drug kingpin whose fortune she stole, and Karen (Margaret Markov), the girlfriend of the local revolutionary leader, get thrown in to a Filipino women‘s prison. They are stripped and put in the shower, and as they folic and play, squirting each other with water as if being in a jail shower was the same as going to a water park, a female guard spies from a hole in the nest stall over and masturbates. So, yeah, if you don’t like a hefty dollop of sleaze in your ‘70’s cinema, his work with AIP and others around that time will not be for you. Now, if you’re like me, and you enjoy flicks where chicks kick a lot of ass while sporadically showing skin, shooting guns, or having catfights, Eddie Romero is your man.
While Black Mama, White Mama is often billed as a “women in prison” film, Lee and Karen spend the majority of the film on the run from their captors, the drug runners, and even unknowingly Karen’s Guevara-esque boyfriend. They do spend most of that time chained to each other, and this leads to a requisite knock down drag out fight between the two as well as giant plot holes such as how the pair both manage to don nun’s habits while handcuffed. Not that picking apart a film like Black Mama, White Mama does it any kind of service. The girls naturally put aside their differences in the end, and Romero keeps the film well paced right up to the climax, a massive gun battle on a pier.
Grier gives a midrange performance that doesn’t rank near her best work, but it’s Pam so I forgive her. Markov, who also appeared with Grier in Joe D’Amato’s 1974 film The Arena, I was unsure of at first. She seemed too annoying for words, but as the film went on and her revolutionary stance proved to be more than bluster I warmed up to her. Other than the two female leads, there are really only two standout actors in the film, Eddie Garcia and Sid Haig. Garcia was a frequent collaborator with Romero from the 1950’s right through the 70’s, and while I had seen him in a sleazier role before, he impressed equally as the police captain. Sid Haig is a name that should be familiar to most genre fans. Sid really chews up the screen Rufus, a bounty hunter with an affinity for fringed western shirts. I don’t think I can mention his character without saying that he executes one poor chap just because he is pitifully endowed. How did the film ever get to such a point? Well, that is the beauty of an Eddie Romero film.
As is usual with Eddie Romero’s films, they were obviously made on the cheap, but he was out to make the most of every last penny he had to spend. While it doesn’t reach the heights of Jack Hill’s films like The Big Bird Cage, it is definitely an interesting offering that will please both fans the chicks in chains genre as well as those who just like to bask in the majesty that is Pam Grier. When it comes down to brass tacks, it’s a middle of the road offering made a tad more interesting by Romero’s hometown locals and willingness to really amp up the sleaze factor at all costs. Thus ends my first report on Eddie Romero. Next week I will diver deeper into the film to find out how Mr. Romero met The Saxon!
Today's B.L.O.G. (Beautiful Lady of Genre, if you've forgotten.) is one of the best actresses in the realm of Asian exploitation cinema. In the late 60's she got her start in martial arts and crime pictures before landing the lead role in Nikkatsu studios in the film Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader: Stray Cat Rock (1970). She would go on to make four more pictures in that series. Then, as Nikkatsu began to make more harder edged Pink Film, she moved to Toei studios where she made tonight's film, and it's three sequels. If you know who I'm talking about then you know what a treat tonight's film is, and if you don't know then let me introduce you to...
That's right Meiko Kaji. She's already a Lair favorite from when she knocked the Bug's socks off with her hard edge turn as a woman of unstoppable vengeance in Lady Snowblood (1973). However, tonight we're looking at another of her other iconic characters.
This is a flick that features art house lightning and directing, even though it's a women in prison movie. It goes deep with camera angles, mobile sets, and symbolism, but it also pays off with sex, violence, and torture, the WIP mainstays. So it is my great honor to bring to you Meiko Kaji and her film...
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) starring Meiko Kaji, Rie Yokoyama, Fumio Wantanabe, and Isao Natsuyagi. Directed by Shunya Ito.
During a ceremony where the Warden (Wantanabe) is to receive a commendation for his jail, Nami Matsushima (Kaji), known as Matsu to her fellow inmates, tries to make a break for it. She is captured, and having raised the ire of the Warden she is thrown into solitary confinement. While confined she is tortured by the matron who brings her food, and she has time to recall what ended her up here.
She was madly in love with Sugimi (Natsuyagi), a cop out to take down the local Yakuza gangs. In fact she loves him so much, she agrees to be bait in a sting operation. Little did she know that Sugimi had been bought out by the gangs, and he leaves her out to dry. Matsu stalks her former lover and tries to murder him with a butcher knife, but she is stopped and hauled off to the prison.
Finally regaining a modicum of freedom and returning to general population, Matsu finds herself extremely unpopular with the other ladies. It seems the Warden is coming down hard on all of them for Matsu's infraction. Especially full of hatred for Matsu, Katagiri (Yokoyama) is contracted by Sugimi to finish off his former flame before she can escape and get to him. When a prison riot provides perfect cover, Katagiri makes her move, but can she kill Matsu or will Sugimi feel the sting of the scorpion.
Film Facts
--The movie is based on a popular manga series.
--The character of Matsu was originally written as a profanity spewing brat, but the part was rewritten at Kaji's request to portray the character as more hard boiled.
--Meiko Kaji sang the title song to this film, "Grudge Song" just as she performed the theme to her film Lady Snowblood.
--This was director Shunya Ito's first film. He continued with the series for two more films.
The Bug Speaks
This is the type of film that is going to make you take notice. It may be the story, the look, the nudity, the violence, or just the kick ass hat that Kaji dons by the film's end. Whatever the reason for it, there is no denying that there are quite few films which work on so many levels.The film owes much to the stereotype of a women in prison film. It reads like a checklist. A wicked warden, lesbian sex, prison riot, and torture while in solitary are all classic themes we've seen in movies from Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1975), Caged Heat (1974), and The Big Bird Cage (1972). Where this film deviates from the form of those films is with it depth.
The most obvious thing to mention is the look of the film. First time director Ito and cinematographer Hanjiro Nakazawa gave this film a very distinct and dreamlike quality. Many of the shots come from some very interesting angles, and their play with multicolored lights reminded me very much of Bava. The film still maintains a gritty look that seemed similar to what I saw in Girl Boss Gorilla. The balance of the two gives the film a grounding in reality where rooms with spinning walls, men in random kabuki masks, or gouging someone in the eye with broken glass (and they shake it off) seem as normal as can be.
The atmosphere of the film grants it a pass to do far out things, and the simplicity of the script's familiar story really gives it wings. You already know where the film is headed before you watch it. Yet the dynamics of the film and the visual style are so impressive, that it ceases to matter.
None of these feats could have been accomplished without Miko Kaji as Matsu. I was reading an article on this film, and the author described Kaji as having a singular look in the film. This is entirely true. From the moment we meet Matsu, she is the vision of strength, power and feminine rage, and honestly can you blame her? Except for in the flashback we never get much of a look at Kaji without seeing her with flames in her eyes. This performance gave the film a constant which the dramatic and visual variables could orbit around. Kaji becomes the center of the movie by acting like the Sun. She is a molten, fiery, hot mass at the center of this film, and everything else in it is just stuck in her orbit.
There are several other fine performances in the film. I especially liked Yokoyama as the scheming prison rival and Wantanabe as the warden. So I don't want to take anything away from them, but there is good reason that Miko Kaji was able to be the grounding force behind three successful franchise characters. Your eye is drawn to her for her beauty,her steely toughness, and in the final few moments of the movie, for her kick ass outfit.
If you haven't seen this film and you're a fan of either Women in Prison or Asian cinema, you owe it to yourself to check this one out. I think you'll find yourself hooked from the moment you start watching it.... or should I say stung?
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