Allison Hayes (6 Mar 1930 – 27 Feb 1977) was an American film and television actress and model who could perhaps be described as a poor man's Jane Russell (21 Jun 1921 – 28 Feb 2011) — ironically, seeing that Russell was actually born to white trash and Hayes was decidedly middle class. Born Mary Jane Hayes in Charleston, West Virginia, her father William E. Hayes worked for the Navy and her mother, W.E. Hayes' his second wife Charlotte Gibson Hayes, appears to have been a homemaker. The family later moved to Washington, D.C, living 4127 New Hampshire Avenue NW. She attended the Academy of the Holy Cross before entering public school, and graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1948. As Miss District of Columbia, she represented D.C. in the 1949 Miss America pageant, which she did not win. She did a stint as a radio co-host, then worked on local television, and enrolled in Catholic University (majoring in music), all the while working as a model (36-23-36).
In 1953, after doing a screen test for Warner's in NYC, she was approached by a Universal talent scout visiting D.C., which eventually led to her signing a seven-year contract at UI. Despite an auspicious beginning in a Douglas Sirk slab of costume melodrama (Part I) and a Tony Curtis musical (Part I) and swashbuckler (Part II), Allison Hayes quickly became a B-movie staple. On the big screen, she never managed to leave the realm of low-budget films and second features, but on the small screen she was busy as a guest star and working on soaps.
A lifelong health fanatic, she regularly took vitamins and supplements, which was to be her undoing: at the advice of Dr. Henry Bieler (2 Apr 1893 – 11 Oct 1975), "an American physician and germ-theory denialist", she began taking calcium supplements made from the bones of horses. Unluckily, they were also contaminated with lead, and by the time she stopped taking them she could barely walk, was losing her hair, and was extremely ill. She later developed leukemia, from which she eventually died.
The beautiful and striking actress with an amazing figure would probably be forgotten today were it not for the trash classic, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958), in which she plays the titular character. Her death led the FDA to introduce (non-enforceable) regulations guaranteeing quality standards in supplements — but as late as 2003, two out 15 products tested by the nongovernmental testing agency ConsumerLab still had high levels of lead in them.
Allison Hayes, a true Babe of Yesteryear, had her career and life cut tragically short. And now, Part III of a wasted life's typically meandering and diffuse career review of Allison Hayes...
A lifelong health fanatic, she regularly took vitamins and supplements, which was to be her undoing: at the advice of Dr. Henry Bieler (2 Apr 1893 – 11 Oct 1975), "an American physician and germ-theory denialist", she began taking calcium supplements made from the bones of horses. Unluckily, they were also contaminated with lead, and by the time she stopped taking them she could barely walk, was losing her hair, and was extremely ill. She later developed leukemia, from which she eventually died.
The beautiful and striking actress with an amazing figure would probably be forgotten today were it not for the trash classic, Attack of the 50-Foot Woman (1958), in which she plays the titular character. Her death led the FDA to introduce (non-enforceable) regulations guaranteeing quality standards in supplements — but as late as 2003, two out 15 products tested by the nongovernmental testing agency ConsumerLab still had high levels of lead in them.
Allison Hayes, a true Babe of Yesteryear, had her career and life cut tragically short. And now, Part III of a wasted life's typically meandering and diffuse career review of Allison Hayes...
(1956, writ. & dir. Walter Doninger)
"Couple of days, look for her at the bottom of the river. She'll be the dame wearin' cement shoes."
Steve (de Corsa) to Ed (Lopez) regarding Francis (Garland).
Released 9 March 1956. Allison Hayes, playing a minor character named "Mrs. Archer", a neighbor of the film's central couple, makes it onto the poster (that's her in the small square to the right) even if her name does not. You can watch the full movie at this Russian website.
David Buttolph's theme to
The Steel Jungle:
As mentioned in Part I, in Vol. 133 (1955) of The Hollywood Reporter it is reported that Walter Doniger (1 Jul 1917 – 24 Nov 2011) would direct Perry Lopez, Walter Abel, Beverly Garland, Ted de Corsia, Ken Tobey, Gregory Walcott and Allison Hayes in I Died A Thousand Times (1955). But of all the names listed, only Perry Lopez made it into that 1955 movie (directed by Stuart Heisler and starring Jack Palance & Shelley Winters), while all of those listed in The Hollywood Reporter ended up involved in this independent project. It would seem that The Hollywood Reporter used an earlier title of this Doniger film, as the AFI Catalog states the working titles of The Steel Jungle included I Died a Thousand Deaths, I Died a Thousand Times, Marked for Life and Handful of Clouds... deciding on a name is hard work.
Way back on 3 March 1956, Harrison's Report said, "This prison melodrama should make a fairly good supporting feature wherever pictures of this type are liked. Centering around a young convict who refuses to become a 'squealer, despite the abuses of other prisoners, the story itself offers little that is original, but it holds one's attention throughout because of the competent direction and acting. The action moves along at a pretty fast pace and is filled with suspense because of the constant danger to the young convict as well as to his wife, who is kidnapped by outside confederates of the abusive prisoners in order to keep her husband in line. No one in the cast means anything at the box-office, but the acting is good."
Walter Doniger went on to become a busy director on TV, but of his few feature film directorial projects, four were prison films, this being his third. The Steel Jungle was preceded by his directorial debut, Duffy of San Quentin (1954), and his second project, The Steel Cage (1954); it was followed years later by House of Women (1962 / trailer).
The plot, from Great Old Movies: "Ed Novak (Perry Lopez) is a cocky hothead and bookie who, after being arrested, is told if he tells all he knows about the operations of Steve Madden (Ted de Corsia) he'll get a greatly reduced sentence. Loyal to the undeserving Madden, he refuses, much to the heartbreak of his wife, Frances (Beverly Garland [17 Oct 1926 – 5 Dec 2008] of D.O.A. [1949] and so much more), who doesn't care about the fur coats he gives her and hopes he'll get an honest job after serving his time. Madden is also in jail and Ed tries to ingratiate himself with the mob boss, who comes to like him. Ed witnesses the murder of a guard which Madden was responsible for and still refuses to talk, leading to serious complications and an unexpected kidnapping ... Lopez gives a good lead performance in this, which also boasts fine work from Garland, Walter Abel ([6 Jun 1898 – 26 Mar 1987] of Silent Night, Bloody Night [1972]) as the no-nonsense warden, and Kenneth Tobey ([23 Mar 1917 – 22 Dec 2002] of It Came from Beneath the Sea [1955 / trailer], The Vampire [1957] and so much more) as a sympathetic if somewhat sappy prison shrink. Allison Hayes has a small role [...] as a neighbor of Novak's who has some information; [...] Gregory Walcott (13 Jan 1928 – 20 Mar 2015) of Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957 / trailer) plays the guard, Weaver."
You see Kenneth Tobey in the trailer to
The Vampire (1957):
"There are a lot better prison pictures than this but it's still worth checking out. [Vintage 45's Blog]"
(1956, dir. Kurt Neumann)
Released 1 April 1956. This movie was not remade in 2018 as Mohawk (trailer). When exactly the German-born director Kurt Neumann (5 Apr 1908 – 21 Aug 1958) immigrated to the U.S. of Amoral we could not find, but by 1931 he was directing short films in Hollyweird. During his 25 odd working years, he worked with the majors and the minors, but died too early to witness his greatest financial, critical and popular success hit the screens: the original version of The Fly (1958 / trailer). Other perennial faves of his include Rocketship X-M (1950 / trailer) and Kronos (1957 / trailer), but the unjustly forgotten campfest She Devil (1957 / trailer) is also worth a look.
Allison Hayes, playing the local barmaid Greta Jones, makes it to the bottom of the poster for Mohawk — and second-sized in the opening credits — the eighth of ten westerns Neumann was to direct over his career. A movie that no one who has seen it, and has bothered to write about online, seems to like all that much.
"[Mohawk is] a stilted but cordial B Western set in the pre-Revolutionary Mohawk Valley of New England [...]. The screenplay proves to be ridiculous, especially in its unconvincing romantic story. Much of the battle footage was lifted from John Ford's much superior Drums along the Mohawk (1939 / trailer)* [...]. The acting was so lame and the dialogue so limp, that neither the war story nor the romantic melodrama was believable. [Dennis Schwartz]"
* More than one website makes the claim that this color film, Mohawk, lifts battle scenes from the earlier B&W John Ford movie; elsewhere, the claim is only of lifting plot points. We've seen neither movie, so we don't know...
Composed by Edward L. Alperson Jr —
the theme to Mohawk:
Jeff Arnold's West, which thinks the movie to be "entertaining junk", has the plot: "Scott Brady ([13 Sept 1924 – 16 Apr 1985] of Castle of Evil [1966 / trailer], Nightmare in Wax [1969] and Satan's Sadists [1969, with Jacqulin Cole]) [...] is an artist out on the frontier, painting landscapes (and innkeepers' daughters [like Allison Hayes]) and sympathizing with the Iroquois. His fiancée from Boston (Lori Nelson [15 Aug 1933 – 23 Aug 2020 of The Day the World Ended [1955 / trailer]) arrives unexpectedly with a Wodehousian Aunt Agatha (Vera Vague [a.k.a. Barbara Jo Allen (2 Sep 1906 – 14 Sep 1974)]), which is a bit awkward as he has fallen in love with Onida (Rita Gam [2 Apr 1927 – 22 Mar 2016] of the drily WTF No Exit [1962 / full movie]), the daughter of big chief Ted de Corsia ([29 Sep 1905 – 11 Apr 1973] of The Lady from Shanghai [1947 / trailer] and The Killing [1956 / trailer]). [...] The evil Butler (John Hoyt) incites war between the settlers and the Indians [...]; he is excellently sneaky and mean. Neville Brand (of D.O.A. [1949], Kansas City Confidential [1952] and the anti-classic Evils of the Night [trailer below]) is an Indian who is all for war. [...] Mae Clark ([19 Aug 1910 – 29 Apr 1992] of Frankenstein [1931 / trailer]) is the bossy chief's wife. Old Ted has to listen to her or he's in trouble. There's a great war dance by Chabon Jadi. Wish I could dance like that. The Indians sing like 1950s Hollywood angels and at one point chant hi-ho, as if in Snow White (1937 / trailer). The Iroquois attack the fort rather well..."
Evils of the Night:
The Movie Scene, a website that no longer exists, once wrote that in Mohawk, "the native Indians are made up of the Mohawks and the Tuscaroras and so that you can tell the difference the Mohawks have mohawks and the Tuscaroras have long hair. It is sad that the most memorable thing about Mohawk is the hairstyles but that is the sad truth [...]. The dialogue and the delivery of the dialogue is [sic] simply atrocious and it is at times comically poor the way we have actors delivering the stilted dialogue. And as such there is not a single decent performance in the entire movie with every single actor coming across as wooden. [...] Even as a fan of westerns I found it hard work even when watched expecting it to be bad."
Mohawk — the full movie:
Has nothing to do with the movie, but while researching we stumbled upon the fun sauna photo below, featuring, left to right, "[Hugh] O'Brian, Mohawk's male lead Scott Brady (1924-1985), John Bromfield (1922-2005), Rock Hudson (1925-1985) & Tony Curtis (1925-2010) at the Finlandia Baths in 1950."
And below, that's Rita Gam looking Land O Lakes sexy and Native American, the last of which she wasn't...
(1956, dir. Roger Corman)
Released 15 June 1956. This is the first of two pictures Allison Hayes was to make with Roger Corman (5 April 1926 — 9 May 2024), and she did not like the shoot — during the shoot, she apparently became one of the first actresses noted to have said, "Who do I have to fuck to get off this picture?"
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As Dick Miller is in the film, we looked at Gunslinger way back in 2019 in Part I of his R.I.P. Career Review, where we more or less wrote:
Screenplay by Charles B Griffith (23 Sept 1930 – 28 Sept 2007) and Mark Hanna (12 Jan 1917 – 16 Oct 2006); year's later, Hanna co-wrote the entertaining Blaxploitation flick, Slaughter (1972 / trailer). Gunslinger made it to Germany in 1961, where the poster (above) was supplied by Klaus Dill (6 Oct 1922 – 19 Feb 2000).
Gunslinger:
"Sexy B-movie icons Beverly Garland and Allison Hayes enthusiastically enact a Johnny Guitar-like (1954 / trailer) enmity in Roger Corman's offbeat feminist western-cum-Greek tragedy. The climax is a sort of a mini-budget Duel in the Sun (1946 / trailer)." Gunslinger is possibly the first western to have a female marshal.
Male lead: He of the legendary third leg, John "The Whopper" Ireland (30 Jan 1914 – 21 March 1992).* Dick Miller, credited as Richard Miller, plays Jimmy Tonto — spoiler: Bad Gal (Allison Hayes) shoots him in the back and dead. In fact: "Just about everyone in town ends up getting shot, ha ha! There's not much of a town left by the time Sheriff Bev canters her way out past the bodies of Corman stock players that are stacked like cordwood along the roadside! [Ha ha, it's Burl!]"
* As we mentioned at R.I.P. Umberto Lenzi, Part II: 1964-68, "According to forgotten actress Joanne Dru (31 Jan 1922 – 10 Sept 1996), Ireland's 'staunch Republican' wife from 1949 to 57, Ireland was hung like a horse: 'I got John, and he ruined me for all other men. [...] John, I'm sure, had more than Monty [Clift], Marlon [Brando] and Jimmy [Dean] put together.' [Brando Unzipped, by Darwin Porter]"
Derek Winnert has the plot: "Heroine Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) turns into temporary Texas small town marshal after her husband is ambushed and gunned down. Then she is the target for quick-draw hired gunfighter killer Cane Miro (John Ireland of Salon Kitty [1976]), hired by gorgeous but nasty saloon owner Erica Page (Allison Hayes)." Winnert goes on to share with us that "[...] Hayes broke her arm when she fell off a horse during the filming. Garland claimed it was not an accident and that she intentionally slid from her horse to get out of the film. Corman also shot a couple of close-ups of Hayes while they were waiting for her ambulance."
As Video Vacuum points out, Gunslinger is a "feminist western": "It features a female lead that is just as tough and quick on the draw as just about anyone in westerns at the time. Beverly Garland gives one of her best performances as the wife of a small town marshal (William Schallert [6 July 1922 – 8 May 2016]). He gets shot in the back in the opening scene and instead of grieving; Beverly immediately picks up his rifle [...]. What's cool about Gunslinger is that no one really questions her. They accept Garland as a superior, or at the very least, an equal. [...] The always awesome Allison Hayes plays the villainess, a saloon owner who is plotting to take over the town if the railroad comes through. [...] Garland and Hayes are equals in this. They play off each other rather well and both of them get lots of opportunities to shine. In your typical western, these roles would've been played by men and they would've been fighting over the affections of a woman. Here, John Ireland is the object of their affection, and since he is just as good of a shot as Garland is, it offers a unique dynamic than your average oater."
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Unlike Video Vacuum, most people are less enamored by the movie and tend to think more like Film Fanatic, which calls the final shootout "(unintentionally) humorous" and says: "Roger Corman's penchant for spending as little time and money as possible while churning out passable entertainment occasionally yielded unexpected cult hits [...]. Just as often, however, his films show ample, unfortunate evidence of his slapdash approach — and Gunslinger is one of these instances. Despite a relatively intriguing premise [...], this movie is simply a mish-mash of poor acting, sloppy continuity and editing, and a convoluted storyline. Whatever pathos could have been generated between Garland's character and the hitman she falls in love with (Ireland) is sublimated into silliness."
Despite what some websites claim and the sharing of a main character who's a widow seeking revenge, Hannie Caulder (1971 / trailer) is anything but a loose remake of Gunslinger. Gunslinger itself, on the other hand, if we are to believe what co-scribe Charles B Griffith says at Senses of Cinema, is an extremely loose remake of an earlier film: "[Roger] took me out to see Three Hours to Kill [1954] with Dana Andrews and said to me, 'I want you to do the same picture but with a woman as the sheriff'."
The full film —
Three Hours to Kill:
Count Three and Pray
(1956, dir. George Sherman)
Released October 1956. Allison Hayes's name is on the poster — and sometimes her face makes it onto the advertisements as well! Director George Sherman (14 Jul 1908 – 15 Mar 1991) was above all else a director of westerns — he directed over 70 of them! — which is perhaps why this movie generally gets lumped as a western despite its setting in the post-Civil War South Carolina. Count Three and Pray was the feature-film debut of Joanne Woodward (of A Kiss before Dying [1956 / trailer] and The Stripper [1963 / full movie]) and had its premiere in her home town, Greenville, South Carolina, at the Paris Theatre.
For those too lazy to read:
The plot, from AllMovie: "This laid-back western manages to deliver a full quota of action, an agreeable dash of sentiment, and quite a few three-dimensional characterizations. Van Heflin (of The Ruthless Four [1968]) plays Luke Fargo, a Civil War veteran who returns to his Southern homeland to find his house destroyed, his crops burned out, and the local town under the thumb of 'white trash' Vancey Huggins (Raymond Burr of Gorilla at Large [1954 / trailer] and Bride of the Gorilla [1951 / trailer]). In addition, Fargo is on the outs with the townsfolk because he fought for the Union instead of the Confederacy. Having grown weary of death and killing, Fargo hopes to start life anew as a minister, and to that end intends to rebuild the town's only church. Complicating matters is the presence of unkempt, hoydenish teenager Lissy (Joanne Woodward). Though Fargo's feelings for Lissy are basically paternal, the townsfolk, stirred up by Huggins, suspect the worst and prepare to drive the novice minister out of town. A happy — or at least satisfying — ending is reached through a series of logical events not often seen in 'formula' westerns." Allison Hayes plays Fargo's former flame, Georgina.
"Unorthodox story [...] ends not with a gunfight or Main Street showdown, but with the ordainment of a pastor and a shotgun wedding. Heflin is okay (which is what you usually get from him), Burr is the standard villain, and while you can't exactly say it's 'casting against type' in a film debut, a deglamorized Joanne Woodward as a spitfire tomboy so mussed up she's confused for a teenager is an... unexpected choice. Nothing special, but watchable. [Cinesaps Digest]"
Trailer to
Count Three and Pray:
"The satisfying acting includes Joanne Woodward's début as [...] Lissy, as well as Philip Carey ([15 Jul 1925 – 6 Feb 2009] of Screaming Mimi [1958 / trailer], Monstroid [1980 / trailer] and The Seven Minutes [1971, with Edy Williams, Charles Napier and The Great Uschi]) as rich businessman Albert Loomis and Allison Hayes as Southern belle Georgina Decrais, in this unusual yet colourful and enjoyable Columbia Pictures Western, full of unusual incidents and oddball characters. Count Three and Pray is written by Herb Meadow (27 May 1911 – 1 Mar 1995) and based on his story Calico Pony. [Derek Winnert]"
Some ten years prior to this "western", Meadow lent his writing talents to the melodrama oddity that is Edgar G. Ulmer's The Strange Woman (1946)...
Ulmer's The Strange Woman:
Elsewhere, at Jeff Arnold's West, Jeff Arnold offers one oddly misogynist criticism of Count Three and Pray: "One slightly odd aspect of the screenplay, though, is that all the women are unpleasant. Well, almost. When Luke gets back he finds that his parsonage is inhabited by a squatter, an orphan tomboy girl, Lissie (Joanne Woodward) who will shoot as soon as blink, and lies and steals with abandon. You want to punch her. The wife of one of the Rebs spits hatred at Luke and is generally spiteful. She deserves to be punched out too. Then there's a former flame, Georgina (Allison Hayes), who is as arrogant as she is high and mighty. Punch. Her drunken mother is even worse. Wham, bam. They're a ghastly crew, the lot of 'em. Only the brothel madam Selma (Jean Willes [15 Apr 1923 – 3 Jan 1989] of The Man Who Turned to Stone [1957 / trailer] and Invasion of the Body Snatchers [1956 / trailer, with Dana Wynter]) shows some decency and friendship to the returning soldier."
During his entire career, Sherman only directed one horror movie: Republican Picture's The Lady and the Monster (1944), the first and forgotten adaptation of Curt Siodmak's 1943 novel Donavan's Brain, on which B-film director R.G. Springsteen (8 Sept 1904 – 9 Dec 1989), who directed Hayes in Double Jeopardy (1955, see Part I), was the assistant director.
Full film —
The Lady and the Monster (1944):
The Ten Commandments
(1956, dir. Cecil B. DeMille)
Another film about a "true story" that never happened — and another film that got away — who knows how her career might have developed had it not. This big budget special effects extravaganza, DeMille's last directorial project, is a remake of sorts of his silent version of The Ten Commandments (1923 / full film).
Trailer to
The Ten Commandments (1956):
Raz's Midnight Madness has the story of what happened around the time Allison Hayes was making her first feature film, Francis Joins the WACS (1954): "Allison's agent, Jack Pomeroy thought that he should get his newest client in to see director deluxe Cecil B. DeMille at Paramount. He took her to lunch on that lot. Sure enough, DeMille noticed the statuesque beauty as she was herded past his table. DeMille was astonished because Allison looked almost exactly like the drawing he had prepared for the character of Saphorah (Moses' wife) in The Ten Commandments. Pomeroy was commanded to bring Allison to an appointment with the great director. Before the meeting, Pomeroy told Allison NOT to mention that she was under contract to U-I. She was puzzled, but took his advice. DeMille liked what he saw and gave Allison a scene to work on. She came back the next week, but didn't do very well. She was very nervous. But the legendary director liked her and said: 'I am willing to work with you on this part, because I like the way you look.' He asked his close friend, actor Henry Wilcoxon (of Sweet Sixteen [1983 / trailer]) to work with Allison. [...] DeMille was definitely planning on using Allison [...], but he received a call from another agent telling him that the girl he was testing was under contract to Universal-International, and that he would probably have to pay a high price to borrow her. DeMille was furious. Allison was dismissed curtly and her agent temporarily barred from the lot. 'DeMille was so willing to work with me, If we had just been honest from the beginning, I am sure he would have been able to work out a deal with U-I. It just proves you have to think for yourself.'" And so Yvonne De Carlo (1 Sept 1922 – 8 Jan 2007) got the role in the star-studded Oscar winner...
Trailer to American Gothic (1987),
starring Yvonne De Carlo:
A lot of brownface in The Ten Commandments. Amidst the typical "cast of thousands" are some notable name stars in minor roles, including E.G. Robinson (of Soylent Green [1973] and Little Caesar [1931]) as Dathan and John Carradine (of Silent Night, Bloody Night [1972], The House of Frankenstein [1944], The Monster Club [1981], Vampire Hookers [1978], Shock Waves [1977], The White Buffalo [1977], Buried Alive [1989] and so much more) as Aaron and Vincent Price (of Robert Fuest's The Abominable Dr. Phibes [1971] and Dr Phibes Rises Again [1972], The Monster Club [1981], From a Whisper to a Scream [1987, with Susan Tyrrell], Witchfinder General [1968], The Masque of the Red Death [1964], The Last Man on Earth [1964], The Bat [1959] and so much more ) as Baka and Woody Strode (of Lust in the Dust [1984] and more) in two roles, the King of Ethiopia and Bithiah's slave. 23-year-old Debra Paget (of Cry of the City [1948]), as Lilia, is once again a very young (if in this case unwilling) wife of an old geezer, the 63-year old E.G. Robinson's Dathan.
Elmer Bernstein's title music:
"In Edward G. Robinson's autobiography, he related his disappointment over his career in the early and mid-1950s, when scrutiny by the House Committee on Un-American Activities caused him to make a string of 'B' movies. Asserting that DeMille resurrected his career by casting him as 'Dathan,' Robinson wrote: 'Cecil B. DeMille returned me to films. Cecil B. DeMille restored my self-respect.' [AFI Catalog]
The plot: "The son of Hebrew slaves, Moses was adopted by Pharaoh's daughter, Bithiah (Nina Foch of Return of the Vampire [1943 / trailer] and Cry of the Werewolf [1944 / trailer]), and raised as an Egyptian. In fact, Moses (played as an adult by Charlton Heston [4 Oct 1923 – 5 Apr 2008]) is so well-loved that he becomes the heir apparent to his uncle, the Pharaoh Seti (Sir Cedric Hardwicke of The Ghost of Frankenstein [1944 / trailer] and The Ghoul [1933]), who favors Moses over his own son, Rameses (Yul Brynner [11 Jul 1920 – 10 Oct 1985]). But when the truth about his lineage is revealed, Moses' name is stricken from all Egyptian records, and he is banished. Yet, despite his banishment, Moses returns to Egypt years later when a message from God instructs him to free the Jews from their bondage. Spurred on by his divine mission, Moses faces off against the new Pharaoh, Rameses, demanding the release of every Jewish slave in Egypt and promising severe punishment if Rameses refuses to comply... [2,500 Movie Challenge]"
"Cecil B. De Mille made this movie twice, first as a somewhat odd silent [...], then as a 1956 epic with state-of-the-art special effects (which won a special effects Oscar). Charlton Heston (of Soylent Green [1973]) [...] plays Moses, adopted brother of the future Pharaoh (Yul Brynner). Yul Brynner's first big starring role on Broadway had been 1951's The King and I (trailer) [...]. He was brought to Hollywood to repeat the role on film in 1956 and DeMille cast him as Ramses the same year. He had shaved his head for the Siamese King role and kept it that way the rest of his career with only a few exceptions. [...] But Charlton Heston (real name Charles Carter) was still largely unknown by the national movie-going public and Yul Brynner completely unknown away from Broadway. [Angel Fire]" Both — Heston, above, not from the film, and Brynner, below, not from the film — were definitely huge stars after this film raked in the bucks.
Warner Brothers Presents: Deep Freeze
(1956, dir. Jack Gage)
Normally we don't look at TV projects, especially one that either seems to be lost or Warner has no real interest in releasing — members of The Classic Horror Film Board have lobbied unsuccessfully for years to have it made available for streaming — but then we found this nifty photo of Allison Hayes, above, supposedly in costume from the episode. Too good not to use.
Warner Brothers Presents was one of Warner Brothers' first attempts to move into the TV broadcasting market and ran two years (1955-56), changing its name to Conflict midway when it became an anthology series instead of three weekly alternating series. (Cheyenne, the first western and first hour-long original series of any kind with regular characters to be produced solely for TV that survived more than one season — its starred the totally delicious hunk o' man Clint Walker [30 May 30 1927 – 21 May 2018], above not from the series — started as one of the first three alternating series on WBP before getting its own slot.)
Deep Freeze aired on 8 May 1956, possibly the first of the new season. The photo above is also a publicity photo from Warner Brothers for Deep Freeze. On the backside, it states: "Deadly Charmer — Thela (Allison Hayes), a deadly charmer from another planet, visits three lonely scientists (Gerald Mohr, Charles Bronson, Jon Shepodd) at their South Pole outpost and turns Deep Freeze into a heat wave..."
Charles Bronson, of The White Buffalo [1977], plays the scientist "Vic", but the names of the other two male characters are lost in time.
Trailer to a bad movie with the same name —
Deep Freeze (2001):
Over at the imdb, Curly-12 remembers the plot, which is ever-so-slightly reminiscent of The Thing from another World (1951 / trailer) and somewhat cribbed, probably unintentionally, for Decoys (2004) and Decoys II: Alien Seduction (2007 / trailer): "Allison Hayes is a beautiful, but dangerous, visitor from another planet. Her race of aliens can't stand heat, and can live only in sub-zero temperatures. Seems a group of American scientists is installing a weather-recording machine in the coldest region of the South Pole. Just then, this space-girl lands at their Antarctic weather station, and that's when strange things begin to happen. First, a mysterious electronic force knocks out their radio transmitter, and then members of the expedition start disappearing. The cause of all this havoc is the female alien from space (Allison Hayes), wearing a short skirt, while the humans are freezing and wearing thick parkas. This episode was rerun numerous times, from 1959-1962, often listed as a 'movie' on TV channels airing science fiction films. [...]"
Warner Brother's Deep Freeze was written by short-story writer Ellis St Joseph (1 Apr 1911 – 15 Aug 1993), who went on the do the screenplay to The Christine Jorgensen Story (1970 / trailer below), and playwright John Patrick (17 May 1905 – 7 Nov 1995), who eventually put a plastic bag around his own head. Director Jack Gage (26 Dec 1912 – 4 Jan 1989) — not to be confused with porn director Joe Gage,* otherwise known as Tim Kincaid — started his unexceptional career as a TV director with his only feature film, the surprisingly good noir drama, The Velvet Touch (1948 / trailer).
* "As the legendary gay-porn director Joe Gage, "the porn poet of the queer working class", [Tim Kincaid] helmed a loose trilogy of hardcore queer classics in a row: Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976, with Jack Wrangler [11 July 1946 – 7 Apr 2009] and Richard Locke), El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1978, with future suicide Fred Halsted [17 Jul 1941 – 9 May 1989] & Locke), and L.A. Tool & Die (1979, with Casey Donovan [2 Nov 1943 – 10 Aug 1987]). During the 80s, he was also a productive director of extremely low grade, R-rated grindhouse exploiters, his most (in)famous probably being Breeders (1986 / trailer) or Robot Holocaust (1987 / trailer). [...] The GIF found in the right-hand column on a wasted life, right between Trailers of Promise and Babes of Yesteryear, is of studmuffin Richard Locke (11 June 1941 – 25 Sept 1996) and non-studmuffin Steve Boyd (12 May 1951 – 2 Mar 2004), in Kansas City Trucking Co. [a wasted life]"
* "As the legendary gay-porn director Joe Gage, "the porn poet of the queer working class", [Tim Kincaid] helmed a loose trilogy of hardcore queer classics in a row: Kansas City Trucking Co. (1976, with Jack Wrangler [11 July 1946 – 7 Apr 2009] and Richard Locke), El Paso Wrecking Corp. (1978, with future suicide Fred Halsted [17 Jul 1941 – 9 May 1989] & Locke), and L.A. Tool & Die (1979, with Casey Donovan [2 Nov 1943 – 10 Aug 1987]). During the 80s, he was also a productive director of extremely low grade, R-rated grindhouse exploiters, his most (in)famous probably being Breeders (1986 / trailer) or Robot Holocaust (1987 / trailer). [...] The GIF found in the right-hand column on a wasted life, right between Trailers of Promise and Babes of Yesteryear, is of studmuffin Richard Locke (11 June 1941 – 25 Sept 1996) and non-studmuffin Steve Boyd (12 May 1951 – 2 Mar 2004), in Kansas City Trucking Co. [a wasted life]"
Trailer to
The Christine Jorgensen Story:
Coming next:
Allison Hayes, Part IV: 1957
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