The Old Dark House (1963)

Starring Tom Poston, Robert Morley, Janette Scott, Joyce Grenfell, Mervyn Johns
Directed by William Castle
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A car salesman accepts an invitation from his roommate to visit his ancestral home, only to find him murdered when he arrives, and someone plotting to murder the rest of the family.

A collaboration between Castle, who by this time had directed some entertaining low-budget shockers, and Hammer Films, Britain's preeminent horror studio, sounds more intriguing than it actually is, and this one is a huge misfire, despite the skilled veterans in front of and behind the camera.  The picture's meant to be a horror-comedy, based on J.B. Priestly's Benighted, which spawned the classic 1932 version of The Old Dark House from director James Whale.  However, Robert Dillon's screenplay is nothing like the book or the previous film, instead borrowing some characters and recasting them in an Agatha Christie-like plot with attempts at humor that simply miss the mark.  The Hammer artisans behind the scenes do their part, with Bernard Robinson creating a mansion fitting the drab prison the script describes, as well as realizing character Potipher Femm's dream of a new Noah's Ark on a convincing scale.  The cast really can't be faulted, and I found them engaging, with Arthur Grant's photography bringing out the best in them- Janette Scott has never looked lovelier.  I also found the employment of macabre cartoonist Charles Addams in designing the film's main title sequence an inspired choice.  The source material however deserved a wittier touch then Castle and Dillon were able to deliver.

The Road To Hong Kong (1962)

Starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Joan Collins, Robert Morley, Walter Gotell
Directed by Norman Panama
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A pair of con artists find themselves shot into space after memorizing a top-secret formula for rocket fuel wanted by a sinister organization.

The last of Crosby and Hope's "Road" pictures, coming a decade after their last one, finds the duo well-aged, but still intent on pursuing the youthful Collins, relegating their longtime co-star Lamour to a single musical number.  Her performance with Hope though is probably the funniest in the picture as their embraces are interrupted by a series of fish trapped in his costume.  The rest of the film doesn't contain gags nearly as inspired, for example copying a silly sequence from Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times which is less funny here, but the snappy patter between the leads is as memorable as ever.

Way...Way Out (1966)

Starring Jerry Lewis, Connie Stevens, Robert Morley, Dennis Weaver, Howard Morris
Directed by Gordon Douglas
(actor & director credits courtesy IMDB.com)

A reluctant astronaut is assigned to live on the moon for a year, but must first marry a qualified female scientist to take with him.

An unfunny misfire from comedian Jerry Lewis, it's rather surprising he went through with this film, playing a fairly straight-laced character as opposed to his more wacky creations.  Although a fine veteran cast is on hand, including Connie Stevens as an attractive feminine foil for Lewis, the material is beneath them, and the sci-fi setting is hardly taken advantage of for comic effect.  The film does offer a fairly solid framework for what could have been a memorable farce, but fails to follow through on the possibilities.