Two on a Guillotine

source: Two on a Guillotine

Connie Stevens was a huge favorite in the 60's due to her appearances on Warner Brothers great hit TV show "Hawaiian Eye" Connie was also cast in WB hit films such as Parrish and Susan Slade both with her friend and WB's big male star Troy Donahue. Troy was announced for this film but rebelled and was placed on suspension. Troy finally came to his senses and retuned to WB and starred in "My Blood Runs Cold". Troy hd everything going for him at WB with hits like Parrish, Rome Adventure, Palm Springs Weekend but asked for his early release from his 7 year contract. Troy claimed JL Warner blackballed him in the Industry. This suspense movie was I think Max Steiner's last film at WB. Steiner made many movies better with his music! An Artist! Troy was replaced in this film by the very able Dean Jones and together with Ms. Stevens were very effective. The film with top notch WB production values was directed by William Conrad. Connie after 5 years at WB got first billing on a picture. Connie was a star at WB. Natalie Wood was the Queen of the WB Lot, but Connie drew more fan mail. This is what I would have called a "studio picture" made with contract players at the studio: some example: Diane McBain, in "Claudelle Inglish" , Clint Walker and Edd Byrnes om "Yellowsyone Kelly" Troy Donahue on "My Blood Runs Cold". Ty Hardin in "Wall Of Noise" Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens, Ty Hardin and Bob Conrad in "Palm Springs Weekend". Troy Donahue and Diane McBain in "A Distant Trumpet", Diane McBain in "Black Gold". Shirley Knight in "House of Women"

As for the gory movies of today, This movie is not as scary as The Nightmare On Elm Street. I wish this movie could be released to video. I haven't seen it, since I was a child. Please put this movie on tape I likewise wasn't fond of Parley Bear, when he played Mayor Roy Stoner, on The Andy Griffith Show.

A fine cast and good old-fashioned thrills make this a highly enjoyable mystery. If only it were available on tape or disc. Too bad, it's a fine movie.

Fun, campy suspense/horror flick that fully satisfies, particularly if you don't take it too seriously. For continuity buffs note the sets in the foyer and library of Cesar Romero's house. Look familiar? Compare them with your copy of "My Fair Lady". No one ever said Jack Warner didn't know how to squeeze a nickel and recycle an expensive set!!

Not bad, lots of fun. Nice job by Dean Jones. I give it 6 stars Connie Stevens is very good and she looks great. Good movie for late at night. Nice to see the Joker out of makeup. Not too long, smart ending. Enjoy it.

Melinda Duquesne (Connie Stevens) finds out her father magician Duke Duquesne (Cesar Romero) has died. She was taken away from him at an early age because of his erratic behavior. In his will he leaves her his huge beautiful mansion on one condition--she must spend seven nights there. (Yes--the oldest plot in the book). She agrees but comes to realize someone may be after her...and her father may have returned from the dead. It's well-made and has a few cute juvenile scares but this is pretty dull stuff. The plot is OLD and the script is terrible full of truly painful "funny" dialogue. This is slow-moving with tons of padding. It concentrates more on a love story between Melinda and Val Henderson (Dean Jones). Acting doesn't help. Stevens tries but she's pretty bad. Jones overacts so broadly it's embarrassing to watch. Cesar Romero briefly (very briefly) jump starts the movie to life but it's too little too late. The kids might get a kick out of this (it's G rated material all the way through) but nobody else. A 2 all the way.

Actor/Director William Conrad tried His hand with a few Unremarkable Films in the Mid Sixties. His Talent was mainly as a Radio Voice Actor and Playing "Heavies" in some pretty Good Movies. But Directing was certainly Not His Forte. This Fondly Remembered Movie was a William Castle Rip-Off that only proved that the "Poor Man's Hitchcock" was indeed a Craftsman. Here the Movie Craft is nothing more than Recycled, Tame, and sometimes Unintentionally Laughable. Stella Stevens does OK despite being Saddled with some Terrible Hairdos. Dean Jones is Miscast, or perhaps the Movie is just too Mishandled, as the Love Interest and Cesar Romero is quite Good as a Mad Magician. The Movie is Highlighted by a Strong Acting Performance by Virginia Gregg as a Lover Unrequited. Max Steiner's Score is Inconsistent and Hokey, but then again, the Film is Hokey Personified and at best it is Harmless Juvenile Fun and at worst it is a Misfire of the First Order. A White Rabbit all but Steals the Show.

This is one of those films from 1965 that my friends and I went to in our small-town movie theater. I remember it as being full of those jump-out-at-you moments with people in the theater screaming. Connie Stevens is the heir to her father's estate but must stay in the old house for seven days. He is one of the great magicians of his time and has promised, upon his death, to return to the house. The house itself is great fun, full of remnants of his magic world. There is a cabinet that opens when a switch is flipped, allowing a skeleton on a wire to come face to face with the unwary victim. The guillotine in question is part of the act that killed the man's wife and assistant. Stevens then was farmed out and never saw her father again. She also never knew what happened to her mother. It's full of fun stuff with a plot that shouldn't be too closely evaluated. There are two characters that are left out of the will who become suspects. What they really know is always in doubt. Connie Stevens was a cute TV star at the time and well worth watching and makes a good victim. She is stubborn on the one hand and terrified on the other. She can also scream with the best of them. Dean Jones (a long time Disney staple) plays the love interest.

I saw this movie several times in the late '60s to mid '70s on local (Los Angeles) television and then it disappeared. I enjoyed it a lot, especially Cesar Romero and Connie Stevens. I had wandered over here from Connie Stevens' biography. The viewing I remember most occurred in 1975. I was in Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California (Los Angeles County). I had just given birth to twin girls a day or two previous; new mothers and babies were kept in the hospital for three days back then. The babies weren't kept in the room with us. Being a county/teaching hospital they didn't put extras like TVs in the rooms and there were four beds to a room. One of the gals brought her 13" b/w set complete with rabbit ears. Since it was across the room on the other side from me on the window sill, I sat on the edge of another new mommy's bed and watched it. Reading various areas of this title I've found out it's out on DVD. I'll have to see about getting hold of it and see if I still enjoy it as much as I remember. I always got a kick out of that kind of movie. They never really took themselves seriously. Vincent Price appeared in a lot of those and it wouldn't have been surprising if he'd been in it instead of Romero. Would have been right up his alley.