Travis Simpkins

Houseboat (1958): Cary Grant and Sophia Loren

Directed by Melville Shavelson, Houseboat (1958) produced drama both in front of and behind the camera. Cary Grant and Sophia Loren had begun an affair before filming, which ruined Grant's marriage, but the brief fling had dissolved by the time the cameras started rolling... causing problems on set. The story concerns a widower father of three, who reluctantly hires a beautiful Italian maid, not knowing that she is really a well-to-do runaway. Despite tensions, Cary Grant and Sophia Loren work excellently together, and the film is enjoyable throughout.

Houseboat. 1958: Sophia Loren

Houseboat. 1958: Cary Grant and Sophia Loren

Houseboat. 1958: Sophia Loren

Houseboat. 1958: Cary Grant and Sophia Loren

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933): Fay Wray

Artfully directed by Michael Curtiz, Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) was one of the last films to utilize the two-color (red and blue) technicolor process. The macabre story focuses on a talented sculptor of wax figures who is disfigured in a fire and can no longer sculpt, so he resorts to stealing corpses and dipping them in wax to create his new displays. The cast is great, including Fay Wray, Lionel Atwill, Glenda Farrell and Frank McHugh. The story was re-filmed twenty years later as House of Wax, starring Vincent Price.

Mystery of the Wax Museum. 1933

Mystery of the Wax Museum. 1933: Fay Wray

Mystery of the Wax Museum. 1933

Mystery of the Wax Museum. 1933: Fay Wray

Mystery of the Wax Museum. 1933

The Vampire Bat (1933): Fay Wray and Melvyn Douglas

Directed by Frank R. Strayer, The Vampire Bat (1933) was Majestic Pictures' low-budget answer to the Universal Studios Monster films. Released during the Great Depression, Majestic Pictures knew how to get a good look without paying the upfront price... The Vampire Bat used many of the sets left over from Universal's films, Frankenstein (1931) and The Old Dark House (1932). The story focuses on a town in which people are dying of blood loss... and locals are rushed to conclude that a vampire must be responsible. The cast is good, including the original "Scream Queen" Fay Wray, Melvyn Douglas and Lionel Atwill.