Two EDGAR G. ULMER poverty row rarities next week!

[Dewey1960]

Anyone interested in taking a gander at a pair of impossibly strange poverty row "B" films from minimalist wizard Edgar G. Ulmer, please take note. Two of the man's rarest pictures, JIVE JUNCTION and GIRLS IN CHAINS air on TCM next week.

Ulmer, of course, is best known for his kinky cult noir DETOUR (1945) as well as the phenomenal Lugosi--Karloff horror classic THE BLACK CAT (1934). Others, such as STRANGE ILLUSION (1945), BLUEBEARD (1944), RUTHLESS (1948) and THE NAKED DAWN (1955) all succeed at establishing the Ulmer trademark of highly stylized visuals rising above the most absurd narratives. Stretched over the lengthy course of his checkered career is a raft of bizarre, often visually demented projects, all with one basic commonality: the obvious lack of financial resources. But Ulmer thrived under these circumstances of duress, churning out films that other more reputable directors would have scorned. And he did so with such a consistently perverse and personal point of view, that many of these films are now revered by critics and scholars around the world.

Ulmer is an acquired taste, and those familiar only with his more famous works are likely to be turned off by his lesser-known films. The two that TCM is unearthing next week qualify as such. JIVE JUNCTION (Monday, June 25) is a threadbare musical about a young classical prodigy who's converted to swing music and forms an all-girl band on his campus. He's played by Dickie Moore, one of the rare opportunities he had carrying an entire film. It's certainly an odd film, not necessarily one of Ulmer's best, but definitely worth catching. GIRLS IN CHAINS (Thursday, June 28) is stranger still, a surreal crime story set in a women's reformatory. It's not as kinky as the title suggests, but it nevertheless warrants our attention, if for no other reason than the most curious array of hairstyles ever accumulated in one film.

These films are recommended as long as expectaions are not unrealistically high. But anyone with even a remote curiosity about poverty row films should be investigating the works of this amazing director.

[Mr. Arkadin]

Thanks for the info Dewey! I'll be recording these for sure.