Poseidon Quickies: The Meeker the Better

We're thisclose to having our satellite/DVR service yanked out over the never-ending rate increases (and diminished product), but while it's still there, I occasionally record something. A recent item was the 1952 film Shadow in the Sky. I was drawn to it for a couple of reasons; its obscurity, its abbreviated running time (78 minutes) and the presence of certain performers I was curious to see. The movie, a mostly serious psychodrama, was uncharacteristically released by MGM and it lost them a bundle of money. I actually enjoyed it much more than I anticipated, though. I think it was badly marketed. This poster is practically unrelated to the content of the film! Even worse, the iffy artwork seems to be depicting a brother and sister in a romantic clinch, though it could be amalgams of the performers (i.e. - Nancy Davis' face drawn on Jean Hagen's body.) The figure at the door? Who in hell knows... 

The movie opens with the seemingly blissful life of a suburban couple being interrupted by the arrival of a concerned woman driving a Jeep. The woman is played by Jean Hagen, immortal as Lina Lamont of Singin' in the Rain, which came out this same year. (She was Oscar-nominated for that, losing to Gloria Grahame in The Bad and the Beautiful.)

The couple is played by James Whitmore and Nancy Davis (later Reagan.) Hagen has come to inform them that Davis' brother, whose been a mental patient at the Veterans Hospital due to shell shock from WWII, is on the verge of being released. Whitmore served with the brother and was a close friend. 

During their next visit to the VA Hospital, we meet the brother, played by strapping Ralph Meeker. Believe it or not, he isn't about to play "Dick in the Box" here. 

As part of his therapy, he's handcrafted a model sailboat for Whitmore to give to his son. Meeker, who was Marlon Brando's replacement in A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway and who played the studly drifter Hal in Picnic, has a panther-like quality throughout this movie. Always pacing, stretching, posing...

Making his first credited film appearance as a fellow patient and friend of Meeker's is John Lupton. he would proceed to a pretty lengthy and prolific film and television career. 

Though Meeker seems all right (in my opinion, he tends to be one of the more normal and sensible people in the movie!), Whitmore and Davis have their small children to think about. While they might wish to have him live with them, they have concerns. 

As it happens, they don't immediately step up and have the doctor release him right away, but allow him to cool his heels a bit longer.  

During a later visit, Whitmore witnesses Meeker's demeanor change once it begins to rain outside. What Meeker has is now known as PTSD. In 1952, there was no such name for it and far less comprehensive understanding and treatment for it. Considering the way Meeker's denims fit and where they cling, I couldn't help wondering if he had anything on under them...!

When the rain continues, Meeker winds up taking shelter under a ping-pong table and soon begins to think he's still in the deluged Guadalcanal in the heat of battle. 

Later, at one of the hospital's Thursday night dances, Hagen attempts to get Meeker to join her at her father's farm. Clearly smitten with him, she hopes he can stay with them and earn a living. Thing is, the farm is in Oregon! Nah, no pesky rain to worry about there...!

At the same dance, Meeker has to rescue a mousy young lady from Lupton's grasp. He claims he "just wanted to hold on to someone." He's never seen again in the movie, though I would have happily watched him bond more with Meeker, who has his arm around the boy as Hagen looks on. 

Eventually, he does move in with his sister and her family, prowling around in a sleeveless top.

I regret that the print was blurry for this moment in the kitchen but, again, I questioned what he was (or wasn't) wearing under those jeans. 

"See what I mean, Vern?"

When Meeker meets his niece and nephew, their horseplay has him on his back with his li'l shirt ridden up, revealing a then-risque belly button. 

The purported climax of the movie was still a long way off, but this sequence served as the climax for me, premature or not! Ha ha! He and Hagen are enjoying a day at the beach. They're playing cards here, with his chest serving as the table!

As much as I love the skimpy 1950s suit he has on, he cruelly keeps his right thigh up, in the way, as the dialogue plays out. 

Game Over.

If you haven't noticed, top-billed Meeker is almost never given a close-up in his own movie! And when he is, it's often very dim or even darkly-lit. So we take what we can get in two-shots. 

At least the director had the good sense to show us his body from time to time, such as this right flank when he rolls over onto his side. 

Today's young men could only gasp if requested to wear the teensy, barely-there swimsuit he has on here, which was altogether normal at the time.

When he sits up to remove his shoes, we at last get a better look at his chest. 

And his ruggedly handsome face.

As she continues to apply pressure for him to move away with her and not go into business with his friend and brother-in-law Whitmore, he gets up to head towards the water. 

And she isn't finished yet. 

She grapples with him and brings him crashing to the ground...

...next to a strategically-placed piece of driftwood. 

Pre-dating From Here to Eternity (1953) by one year, this beach scene has Hagen as the pursuer with Meeker a somewhat willing captive. 

Meeker escapes her clutches and heads out into the surf. 

There, we're treated to the muscular strokes of our protagonist as he reaches a buoy. Hagen, by the time she joins him, is spent and has to be helped back to dry land. 

Davis can't bring herself to fully trust her brother's sanity and mental well-being. One day while shopping in town, it starts raining and she can't reach Meeker or the children by phone. She swings by Whitmore's service station and makes him take her home to see what's happening. 

Fortunately, it hasn't been raining on that side of town. Meeker is merely working on the mast of a sailboat he's recently purchased for rehabbing.

Later on, Meeker does become erratic and upset, eventually tearing open Whitmore's dress shirt in a panic. He flees the house to go to his boat, which is by now moored at a local marina. 

Said boat does figure into the actual climax of the movie, when a rainstorm hits. At last Meeker gets a close-up, though it's brief and dark. If you like him, I have composed a full on tribute to the actor with, natch, many photos, which can be seen here.

As I mentioned earlier, Meeker has troubles, but the people around him often act as, or even more, neurotic as he does! Whitmore tends to be the most sane of them. He gives a good performance, as usual, bringing sincerity and gravity to a somewhat colorless role. 

Hagen was a gifted performer who was saddled with a drinking problem, even early on. Apart from her iconic role in Singin' in the Rain, she was nominated three times for an Emmy with The Danny Thomas Show (losing to Audrey Meadow of The Jackie Gleason Show and, oddly, twice in the same year for different categories, to Lucille Ball on I Love Lucy and Nanette Fabray on Caesar's Hour.) Heavy drinking for a time cost her her children and her career and the accompanying smoking led to her death from esophageal cancer in 1977 at only age 54.

Because she was never a major movie star, I always expect Davis to be awful when I see a movie of hers, but she was actually decent. Her character is a bit fraught and melodramatic - of the era, but she does well. I also thought that the movie's direction was capable and creative, with moody lighting and unusual camera angles. 

I just don't think audiences were up for this type of picture, especially when it was marketed completely inaccurately. Still, how could people resist a photo like this one?! I watched it a second time here, but it's also available on TCM.com in a nice print.  

Not your everyday slicked-down movie idol. 

The sight of Meeker in his trunks seems to have made quite the impression on members of the MGM art department....!

 

Which just about brings us to...

The End!

Andrés Olé!

In the past several years, I had the good fortune to discover Dominican-born sex symbol Andrés García, first through the eye-popping Tintorera (1977), followed by Day of the Assassin (1979.) Having been raised in Mexico, he gained fame in telenovelas and in the often-exploitive movies of Rene Cardona Sr. More recently, I've found myself sitting through movies like Bermuda Triangle (1978) and Cyclone (1979), both quite horrible, yet featuring his alluring face throughout. 

García as he appears in the rather ghastly Bermuda Triangle.

When I stumbled upon this lobby card, from carlos el terrorista (aka - "Carlos the Terrorist," 1980), there was no question that I was going to watch this movie...

carlos el terrista is an unusual film in that there is no dialogue, just some ambient noises like announcements or crowd conversations. There is also voice-over narration. Yet, BEWARE of the English-dubbed rendition. The announcer-like voice is ridiculous (and the film quality is wretched.) I read comments on imdb.com bemoaning the cheap film stock and low budget. However, the original movie is beautifully photographed in colorful widescreen and it contains some captivating imagery, which I will share in this post of highlights... The poster gives no indication of what beauty is in store!

The gloriously handsome García plays the title character, a rather callous killer who uses various methods to do away with various political figures on an international basis. Here, he uses a remote control bomb to eliminate an official. 

Here, he and some cohorts are in disguise in order to knock out a selection of human targets. Take note of his stunning face as it peeks out of the beige headwear. 

Next we find him attempting to make his way through customs, wearing a macho mustache as a disguise. He's getting out of the mercenary business and is ready to live a normal life. 

Depending on one's affinity for this, the stache either raises or lowers one's temperature, but regardless, he remains a beautiful specimen of man. 

The woman behind him turns out to be his wife, who not only made my day with her false eyelashes, but also with her coordinated outfit, earrings and eyeshadow! He, his wife and their young daughter check into a high-rise hotel room. 

Unfortunately, he sees from the balcony that they are being watched.

Even the young actors playing pursuers (and sometimes victims) of him are sporting snug, revealing pants. 

Knowing they already have to flee the place, he has his wife stop unpacking and he sticks his passport where it will remain safe. (Not if I could have helped it...!) 

A couple of henchmen are about to come for him and you can see that jeans in 1980 had little more to offer than the ones you typically see now. 

García, who as you can see looks good from most any angle, gets his wife and daughter into a cab...

Then bolts atop some roofs in order to evade capture. He did have a stunt double for some of the most incredible bits, but nonetheless did a lot of his own as well. 

He is pursued by one assailant where he, thank Jesus, takes off his shirt in order to fight it out. It was this sequence which had been memorialized in the aforementioned lobby photo. But it was great to see him in action. 

These people mean business, but he's not so easily outdone. 

One cannot underestimate how physical this role was. He's constantly running, jumping, careening, sometimes in live traffic. The movie features interesting locations throughout, such as this real street with its plethora of stores. 

Another is this cemetery with its ornate headstones, though I'm mostly drawn to looking at his head. 

Clean-shaven and back home to his apartment, he's just gorgeous to behold. One thing about García that I adore is the way he manipulates his hands. They are beautiful. 

Sadly, for him, his wife and daughter are nowhere to be found. They've been kidnapped! And if he wants to see them again, he has to follow the instructions left for him. And those instructions are to kill someone. 

I had a caption for this, but then saw his forearm and forgot my name and also which blog this is.... Ha ha ha!!! My GOD. In the glove compartment is a new passport along with further info on what he's expected to do. 

Checking into a luxury hotel, he heads to the lobby to find a magazine on the man he's targeting. (No, he's not gunning for Pia Zadora, whose face on the cover of Las Vegas Star made me grin!)

He studies his subject, making clippings from the magazine.

Then he mulls over the best way to deal with the situation at hand. (I could just sit and mull over that face, myself...)

A sudden noise at the door and he's in danger again! Off he goes. 

Having escaped this most recent emergency, he lands on a bus, spots a child and begins to recall his life with his wife and the baby she gave him. 

There's a meme going around that says something like, "Find a friend who looks at you the way Lucy is looking at Vivian here." Well, I want a man who will look at me like this. 

And more.

Now at the airport, observing the arrival of his next target, he has another flashback. It seems he and this man had once been associates during an adventure and the guy was kind to him following an injury. 

Old chums.

Nevertheless, he's got a job to do in order to save his family. So when the dude arrives with an entourage, he begins to move forward. 

It's a two-part thing. The guy is in town to blow up part of this convention. García has to put a stop to that as well as get rid of him altogether. 

He tracks the man to a beach and follows him down to the shoreline. 

The baddie, all dressed in black, has just taken off in a rowboat. García begins removing his shirt and then, in what is the unqualified highlight of this motion picture...

He slips out of his pants and boards this tour boat to follow the guy!

This movie, despite more than a few online belly-achers, is actually very beautiful. This show shows the saboteur exiting his boat and heading to a pavilion where he has plans to plant a couple of bombs. 

He slinks around, placing two foil-covered explosives within the furnishings of the pavilion.

Meanwhile, the nearly naked love of our lives is on his trail. 

He's nearly discovered by a security guard, but ducks into a doorway. I was waiting for him to just strike a pose and behave like a glorious statue!

The bomber now gone, García sets out to locate the explosives. 

Good thing it's quiet there (except for my heavy breathing) because he listens for the ticking timers in order to hunt the bombs down!

He believes he's found the first one.

Sure enough, he reaches into this decorative display and there it is. 

Diffusing it is a stressful experience. 

Success!

Now he's gotta find the other one. 

He walks quietly around the silent plaza until he thinks it's underneath a table. Then, the same way Miss Joan Crawford used to walk into her key light for most of her movies, he strides crotch first into the waiting illumination.

His next step involves ridding the world of the man who planted the explosives. He heads to his hotel room while he and his lady are at the pool. 

Then he (and his pec) creeps in.

As happened multiple times in this movie, we gasped at the site of him, even with clothes (almost) on. 

But what a joy when he had to undo the top of his leisure suit in order to reach for his pistol. 

He heads to the telephone and begins to rig it with a bomb. 

Down by the pool, the target is emerging from the water with his gal while pals/bodyguard sit on nearby loungers. The couple heads up to their suite... 

...and the antlike García (second middle balcony from the top) is making a clean getaway. 

But he's spotted by one of the eagle-eyed henchmen!

They take off running through a crowd of extras.

But it's too late...!

García is handed one more passport, another reminder of what is at stake...

...and one more job to do. 

Another day, another location.

A shave and then placements of some of the world's luckiest handguns.

In a nearby park, he is intrigued by a man's use of a remote control model airplane. 

Later in his hotel room, he watches on TV as his subject arrives to the city.

And he'll be ready...!

This latest assassination occurs, but things go awry. He's shot in the leg and has to escape via the back of a van driven by an unknowing civilian. Later he creeps into their home in order to fix himself up. Like the old song goes, "Open a new window, open a new door."

Just getting upstairs to the bathroom is something of an ordeal. 

I could barely watch this sequence. As much as director Cardona loved to focus on the physical appeal of García and others, he also liked to include some gore. (I guess that's what exploitation usually boils down to!) He gets the bullet out, but it does leave a mess. 

He pulls himself together enough to make it to the airport, but is approached by a guard and takes off hobbling. 

Eventually, he drops down under this desk to evade capture. I've been coming to my desk every weekday for 29 years this month and I've NEVER spotted anything like this underneath...!

His multiple missions completed, he finally meets up with the scheming folks who kidnapped his family, and he can see them on the beach. Has he paid his dues enough to be happy at last? 

I know we all have our own tastes, likes, dislikes, but, man, this guy has recently soared into the top of my favorites. He was just dreamy. A famed ladies man in real life (he lost count after 800 conquests!), he passed away in 2023 of cirrhosis at age 81, still having kept his shape. But as the saying went, "What a way to go!"