Customer Reviews

Ring of Fear

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

For years this rare John Wayne production, starring mystery writer Mickey Spillane as himself, was around only in a black and white pan-and-scan version. If this disc is widescreen as promised, it's a real find for noir fans, mystery buffs and circus freaks. In addition to Clyde Beatty's circus in technicolor, the film offers Mickey as himself with his (late) friend Jack Stang playing Mike Hammer (the name is alluded to but never quite used...because Spillane had sold the rights elsewhere, and his ex-Marine pal Stang was his choice for Hammer, rejected by producer Victor Saville for I, THE JURY). Famously, the movie was in trouble and Mickey himself did an uncredited rewrite, for which Wayne paid him with a white Jag (which Spillane still has in perfect condition!). The music, by the way, is also courtesy of Spillane -- from a MIKE HAMMER album Stan Purdy made with Mickey about a year before. Not a great film, but a real slice of '50s pop culture. Spillane starred in only two films -- RING OF FEAR and THE GIRL HUNTERS, in which he played Hammer himself...because in RING OF FEAR, Spillane (not Stang) comes across as the Mike Hammer type.

Ring of Fear wins the curio crown in the recent collection of non-John Wayne Batjac films from Paramount hands down, with Sean McClory's escaped homicidal maniac Dublin O'Malley (they knew how to give characters names in those days!) heading to Clyde Beatty's circus to wreak revenge on the distinctly odd lion tamer (playing himself with an interesting array of grimaces) and win back the trapeze artiste (Marian Carr) who spurned him by causing ever more dangerous accidents. Naturally, Beatty and circus manager Pat O'Brien choose the obvious course of action - no, not going to the cops, stupid, but bringing in Mickey Spillane (playing himself) and Jack Stang (the cop who was the model for Mike Hammer, playing himself) to find the guilty party.

Aside from McClory, coming over like a garrulous young Benny Hill, no-one has much of a part, which isn't a bad thing considering Spillane is the only one who is even remotely convincing playing himself - Stang looks like he's taken a few punches too many and Beatty literally has to shake his head to change his expression: the two men's reaction shot to an offscreen death-by-tiger is almost worth the price of admission on its own. The script is pretty mundane - no input from Spillane, but instead credited to Paul Fix, Philip MacDonald and John Wayne regular James Edward Grant, who also directs - but it's not without a certain sideshow appeal. And where else could you get to see Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez lose a fight with a kangaroo? Annoyingly, although an extract from the Spillane-hosted trailer appears on other Batjac DVDs, the full trailer hasn't been included: in fact, aside from a 2.35:1 widescreen transfer and a stereo remix, every effort has been spared on this no-extras disc.

I enjoy Mickey Spillane the author..However, Spillane the actor is another animal. In Ring of Fear, Spillane attacks a role he can handle Mickey Spillane. However in Ring of Fire, Spillane should have stuck to writing

This Greatest Show on Earth wantabee takes place at the Clyde Beatty Circus. So if it takes place at the Beatty's circus, who else should play Clyde Beatty but Beatty him.

Character actor Pat O'Brien and Sean McClory eat up the action and keep Beatty and Spillane from acting too much (thank Gawd). McClory shines thru in this part mof the Ring master with past. Beatty and Spillane know the orginal careers, howevere they seem wooden here in this Whodunit

This classic B was done by John Wayne Batjac company and presented in Widescreen format. There are NO EXTRAS oin this package

So if want Amateur Night at the Movies, this is worth it

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

Inarguably one of the worst films ever to issue from the celebrated Wayne-Fellows outlet--subsequently known as Batjac--wherein everybody seems to be ad-libbing their lines, and only Sean McCrory, as the nominal villain of the piece, bothers to give what might be called a real performance. Amazing, especially considering that the nominal director, James Edward Grant, once also directed an utterly charming film for Wayne, "Angel and The Badman." Actually, William A. Wellman, no less, lent an uncredited hand to this piece of tripe, but to no avail. One wonders if this project was a tax write-off. I can't imagine any other excuse for its existance! Skip it!

RING OF FEAR, despite its incredible, bizarre and lurid nature, embellishes all that Cinemascope has to offer. This film asks you to come to the circus and in an allegorical sense asks you to come and see what Cinemascope is all about. Visually it offers the audience new vistas to set eyes on and partake in. The multi-channel stereo sound enhances this dramatically bringing a whole new dimension to the cinema. RING OF FEAR seems more concerned with showcasing the possibilities of Cinemascope rather than with dramatics. There are long sequences in this film concentrating on the various circus acts at the expense of the crime drama. The lion taming sequence in particular places the viewer inside the cage under the big top and is an interesting bit of filming on its own. The addition of Mickey Spillane to the cast I assume was not for his histrionics but for the curiosity factor he lends to the credits, whereas Pat O'Brien brings in some element of standard Hollywood star attraction with his name. However, Sean McClory certainly outshines any of the other actors in this film with his frenzied performance and gives this film the perfect dramatic element it needed, giving the production some moniker of dramatic cohesiveness. It's interesting to see an actor of the stature of Kenneth Tobey (1951's THE THING) walk in and out of one tiny segment in this film. It's that type of occurrence that makes this film so interesting. Also, in retrospect, Mickey Spillane gave a pretty good performance as himself!

The age of Cinemascope and the development of numerous widescreen formats and the possibilities of this wide canvas somehow skewed some filmmaker's vision and lured them to the obscure, outlandish and sensational interpretation of subject matter. This is a very strange film. With Mickey Spillane showing up to find the who's been sabotaging circus acts and Pat O'Brian literally walking in and out of frame through each of his scenes you just wonder what the producers were thinking. The one saving grace is Sean McClory's demented performance, which seems to mirror the filmmaker's interpretation of the widescreen format. This is one strange movie.

I always said that cinemascope was responsible for some of the strangest movies to come out of the 1950s. This movie is a prime example. It is unclear what this movie is really supposed to be about. The plot, which centers around a psychopathic killer on the loose, continually veers off course like an airplane without radar. Pat O'Brien looked as board as the rest of us watching this movie.

Mickey Spalline plays a bit part. Great if you like the circus. Otherwise the plot is kind of thin.

RING OF FEAR is one of the more offbeat projects from John Wayne's Batjac production company. It's a lurid combination of backstage circus drama and psychological thriller; yet by trying to be so many different styles and genres, it ends up not being much of anything.

Escaped mental patient Dublin O'Malley (Sean McClory) returns to his previous employment at the Clyde Beatty Circus to wreak his revenge. The target of his vendetta is the lovely aerialist Valerie St. Dennis (Marian Carr), an old girlfriend. Mystery author Mickey Spillane is called in to investigate as Dublin's crimes grow more sinister.

RING OF FEAR was primarily made as a showcase for the real-life Clyde Beatty Circus; Beatty himself gives quite a competant performance and the circus acts are well-photographed. Marian Carr is a very beautiful woman but her role of Valerie is so one-dimensional it's scary. Mickey Spillane's inclusion adds another oddball elememt to this very strange movie.

Only Sean McClory adds any sort of credibility with his searing, sensitive portrayal of the unhinged Dublin. The movie itself plays out in a brisk 90 minutes with plenty of lush visuals in CinemaScope to distract audiences from the wafer-thin plot.

It's not "The Greatest Show on Earth", but RING OF FEAR is certainly worth a look for classic movie fans. (Single-sided, single-layer disc).

A GREAT MOVIE TREASURE THAT I HADN'T SEEN IN OVER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS. IT WAS STILL AS SCARY AS I REMEMBERED. AND IT WAS RELEASED AT A MOST FORTUNATE TIME, WITH THE SUDDEN DEATH OF MICKEY SPILLANE, WE GET TO SEE THE MAN BEHIND "MIKE HAMMER", ACT AS HIS CHARACTER WOULD HAVE. ALSO WE SEE SOME OF THE GREATEST ACTORS OF THE TIME LIKE LLOYD NOLAN AND SEAN MCCLORY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR PROMPT DELIVERY OF IT.