impossible to like or find sympa- thetic on any level, at the same time curiously divorced from his own acts of villainy and an un- convincing ladies’ man—one cannot help but imagine how much more effective and ener- getic this stodgy film would have been with Peter Cushing, in his prime, in the lead. (He was of- fered the role, but had previ- ously agreed to appear in John Farrow’s JOHN PAUL JONES, filmed simultaneously.) Cushing’s absence, and perhaps the film’s specifically yet negligibly French setting, seems to have left direc- tor Terence Fisher at a loss to inject any liveliness into the pro- ceedings. When Bonnet, needing a surgeon to perform his emer- gency surgery, resorts to inter- viewing one of Fisher’s trademark coughing drunkard medicos, the absence of his usual black hu- mor only serves to make the se- quence embarrassingly unsubtle. Compounding the problem are the rote editing rhythms of John Dunsford (his only job for Fisher) and an actually elegant score by Richard Rodney Bennett that scores the film for effect rather than momentum.
If the film fails in a number of key departments, the acting is of Hammer’s usual high standards despite a lack of charisma at centerstage. Christopher Lee makes a credible human being out of a dully written part (we in- stinctively like this boor when he readily admits being in love with Janine to Bonnet) and has some of the film’s better scenes with Francis De Wolff (as Inspector LeGris of the Sureté!). Hazel Court, made for Technicolor as always, carries a good deal of the film emotionally while also mod- elling a variety of gowns, capes and evening gloves that few other actresses of her generation could have worn convincingly. (When Court, in a stunning white opera
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gown, tells Lee that Bonnet’s se- cret is “something about glands and statues,” we know exactly why Bonnet found her, of all women, so appealing.) Legend Films’ DVD of THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH is not the success their release of THE SKULL [reviewed VW 142:34] was. There is something bewil- deringly “off” about the anamor- phic 1.66:1 transfer: the colors are appropriately Technicolor deep and rich, but the brights are bleachy, the fleshtones unwarm and the whole looks stripped of a layer of original brilliance, as if the color print used was struck at some other, cheaper lab. In Pohle and Hart’s book THE FILMS OF CHRISTOPHER LEE, the actor cited this as “probably the rich- est-looking movie Hammer ever made,” a view with which I once concurred, but which isn’t really represented here. Some shots, like the climactic medium shots of Delphi Lawrence as Bonnet’s imprisoned model, are literally out of focus. The disc includes no extras, not even a trailer, so it should come as no surprise that Court’s much-sought-after top- less modelling scene, filmed for the continental version, is shown only from the back or from the shoulders up. The disc is pres- ently one of Legend Films’ “Best Buy exclusives,” and reportedly very hard to find.
THE MASTER
Bui boon si moon (Cantonese) Bei pan shi men (Mandarin) “Betraying The School” aka 3 Evil Masters 1980, Media Blasters, DD-5.1 & 2.0/MA/LB/ST/+, $19.99, 95m 21s, DVD-1 By John Charles
Not to be confused with the awful Jet Li film from 1992, Lu Chin-ku’s THE MASTER demon- strates the influence that Jackie
Chan’s comedic kung fu hits had on the marketplace, with Shaw Brothers trying to get a piece of the pie by signing up Chan’s op- era school colleague Yuen Tak for a similar outing. Martial arts master Jin Tianyun (Chen Kuan- tai) decides to punish a trio of miscreants called “The Three Devils,” who have been terroriz- ing the countryside; however, he is betrayed during the ensuing battle and must flee. Meanwhile, young martial arts student Gao Jian (Yuen) must suffer a tortur- ous punishment, thanks to a pair of obnoxious senior students (in- cluding Chan Lau). Later that evening, a badly injured Jin ap- pears on Gao’s doorstep and, at his request, Gao keeps the man’s presence a secret while he recu- perates. In return, Jin agrees to secretly teach his benefactor some useful kung fu, instead of the flashy nonsense his school is practicing. Emboldened by his new abilities, the youth takes it upon himself to try and bilk one of the Devils, but the miscreants soon overrun Gao’s school, turn- ing it into a haven for criminals. While an excellent martial art- ist and every bit as exuberant as one could possibly wish, Yuen Tak does not quite demonstrate the presence and charisma nec- essary to be a leading man. He probably would have improved with more experience but was mostly only seen in small parts in subsequent productions. How- ever, Yuen went on to become one of the industry’s finest cho- reographers, so his talents were certainly not wasted. Much of the comedy is more grating than genu- inely funny (though it is rarely as shrill as that found in some of the lower grade independent features from this period) and the storyline is not only predictable but suffers from some awkward transitions. These weaknesses aside, this re- mains a good second tier Shaw
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