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THE MT VOID
11/14/25 -- Vol. 44, No. 20, Whole Number 2406
Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Mini Reviews, Part 27 (DARK INTRUDER, THE LOVES OF COUNT
IORGA VAMPIRE (COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE), QUEST FOR
LOVE) (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Secondary Characters (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE GREAT GATSBY (letter of comment by Scott Dorsey)
Peter Watkins (letter of comment by Paul Dormer)
This Week's Reading (Minute Mysteries)
(book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
===================================================================
TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 27 (film comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
More films from Mark's "Neglected Gems" list.
[I'm skipping BEDAZZLED (1967) and QUATERMASS AND THE PIT (1967)
because I've watched them too recently to watch again, but not
recently enough to make comments on them.]
DARK INTRUDER (1965): Originally a pilot for a never-produced
television series, this shows Leslie Nielson as a "serious" actor,
rather than the master of deadpan humor he became in such films as
AIRPLANE!, although this film does have some humor. For that
matter, Werner Klemperer is also featured, before he became
inextricably linked with Colonel Klink of HOGAN'S HEROES. The plot
involves a series of Ripper-like murders in 1890 San Francisco,
each marked by a statuette from the ancient Sumerian religion. (As
Mark described it, "[Screenwriter] Barre Lyndon fills the
underworld of San Francisco with pacts with Lovecraftian gods and
weird statues made of mummified flesh." Nicely atmospheric, and
well-written, this film is not easy to find, but worth watching if
you get the chance.
Released theatrically 14 July 1965.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059083/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_intruder>
THE LOVES OF COUNT IORGA VAMPIRE (1970): Well, that's what the
opening credits say. It is more commonly known as COUNT YORGA,
VAMPIRE. So why the strange credits? According to the IMDb, "This
film was originally conceived as a low budget soft-core
pornography film titled 'The Loves of Count Iorga, Vampire'.
Later, however, the decision was made to film it as a regular
horror film with the less erotic title 'Count Yorga, Vampire'. ...
The original title and original Iorga spelling were both restored
to the film by the 1990s..."
Frankly, I'm not sure why this should be considered a "neglected
gem". Yes, it pioneered the idea of a faster, more vicious vampire
rather than the courtliness and elegance of the Universal and
other earlier vampires. And it does have shots from the point of
view of the vampire. But in every other aspect it is a fairly
mediocre film.
Released theatrically 12 June 1970.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066952/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/count_yorga_vampire>
QUEST FOR LOVE (1971): This is a little-known alternate history
film, based on John Wyndham's "Random Quest". As an alternate
history, the problem is that there just isn't enough change. Colin
Trafford seems to have many of the same friends, belongs to the
same club, and so on. Instead, the script gives us some obvious
signals of difference: Everest hasn't been climbed, Kennedy wasn't assassinated, there was no World War II. And there are personal
changes: he went to Cambridge, not Oxford, the porter at the club
is different, Colin is a playwright, not a scientist, and there is
a key plot point about a scar.
And his attempts to explain the situation are ludicrous, although
one can argue that at the party he is drunk, so wouldn't make
sense in any case. However, even when he explains it very clearly,
Ottilie doesn't believe him.
The underlying story is a bit contrived, with the alternate Colin
turning out to be a cad, while the "primary" Colin instantly falls
in love with the alternate Ottilie, but of course she thinks he
still the cad, and totally insincere. This is quite similar to the
idea that a cad has reformed, but his old girlfriend doesn't
believe it. It just adds a science fiction twist to it.
There are aspects to the film that make it more a romance than a
science fiction film. Unfortunately, what makes alternate
histories interesting (at least to me) is the logical working out
of the alternate world, and that is what is lacking. There are a
couple of extrapolations (apparently taxis and drinks are cheaper
for some reason, and there is no new construction on what had been
bomb sites in ourWorld War II), but no changes in clothing, social
structure, or anything else. For a better-constructed English
alternate history, see AN ENGLISHMAN'S CASTLE. (I wonder why that
wasn't on Mark's list; I know he liked it a lot.)
[There is a 2022 film titled QUEST FOR LOVE. It is totally
unrelated to the 1971 film being recommended here.]
Released theatrically 29 October 1971.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067645/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/quest_for_love>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Secondary Characters (comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Why are so many of the secondary characters in television series
more interesting than the main characters?
Spock is more interesting than Kirk.
Ilya Kuryakin is more interesting than Napoleon Solo.
Ivanova is more interesting than Sheridan.
Lennier is more interesting than Delenn.
Vir is more interesting than Londo.
(I will admit that Riker is *not* more interesting than Picard.)
And semi-related trivia: David McCallum's father was the violin
player in THE LAST HOLIDAY (1950). He was primarily a classical
musician, and THE LAST HOLIDAY was his only film role. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE GREAT GATSBY (letter of comment by Scott Dorsey)
In response to Evelyn's comments on THE GREAT GATSBY in the
11/07/25 issue of the MT VOID, Scott Dorsey writes:
[Evelyn wrote,] "Also, note that Meyer Wolfsheim says Gatsby was
educated at 'Oggsford College'. Aside from the pronunciation, it's
not Oxford College, it's the University of Oxford, which consists
of forty-three 'colleges' of varying sorts." [-ecl]
I think this is very deliberate in terms of showing who Wolfsheim
is, much in the way that the unused library helps show who Gatsby
is.
For an interesting sidelight, read the book and note every use of
the telephone. [-sd]
Evelyn replies:
That was my (apparently too subtle) point about Wolfsheim. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Peter Watkins (letter of comment by Paul Dormer)
In response to Mark's comments on Peter Watkins and THE WAR GAME
in the 11/07/25 issue of the MT VOID, Paul Dormer writes:
Before THE WAR GAME, Watkins did what I remember being a rather
good film about the battle of Culloden, done in a similar style to
THE WAR GAME. I haven't seen it for years but I see it's available
on Youtube. [-pd]
Evelyn responds:
We saw that at Culloden in 1987 when we did a driving tour of
ancient and historical sites in Scotland. Needless to say, I don't
remember it all that clearly; all I remember is that Mark pointed
out it was the same director as THE WAR GAME. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
I ran across a bunch of "Minute Mysteries" books. You know the
sort: they give you a one- or two-page account of a crime and the investigation, and then you're supposed to say who the criminal
is, or how you know the witness is lying, or some such.
The problem is that many of them just don't work any more. No, the
hood of the car might still be cool after driving ten hours--it
could be an electric vehicle. No, the person who said he mailed a twenty-six-pound package might be telling the truth--whatever the twenty-five-pound limit was, it isn't any more. And so on.
Or it assumes some relatively arcane knowledge, such as that
horseshoe games have innings, or what the weight limit is for a
middleweight, or what some weird baseball slang means.
Then there are the predictable ones: someone describes a liquid
that should have been frozen given the weather, or things seen in
total darkness, or deaf people saying someone was whispering what
they lip-read.
But the really out-of-place ones are the ones that are just logic
puzzles: Mary and the killer both have red hair. Diane had only
recently arrived in town. The waitress and Suzanne use the same
hairdresser. And so on, until you are asked, "Who is the killer?"
The problem is that the police would only know this set of things
if they already *knew* who the killer was.
Oh, many of the mysteries show up in multiple books, even when the
books are by different authors. (Since at least two of the
authors--Austin Ripley and Donald J. Sobol--are well-known, it is
highly unlikely that the different names are all pen names for the
same author.) [-ecl]
===================================================================
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
Nothing works the way it was supposed to. They keep
changing things, but still nothing works right.
--THX-1138
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