John Carradine sings! Bluebeard slays! Lush ages poorly!

Before he was eclipsed by his kungfuing spawn, John Carradine was a triple threat: acting, singing, and looking craggy. His career encompassed enviable highs (the Oscar-winning Grapes of Wrath) and risible lows. Naturally, it's the latter that interest us here. Arguably the worst movie ever done by MST3K, Night Train to Mundo Fine, aka Red Zone Cuba, lurches around for 89 agonizing, incomprehensible, Cherokee Jack-filled minutes before wandering off into oblivion. John Carradine, older than dirt, offers a prologue to the movie and belts out the memorable theme song (the fun starts at 6:50):

watch this clip on YouTube
Red Zone Cuba, MST3K episode 619 (part 2/9)
1966/1994
10:05

Carradine also plays the tormented, almost sorta sexy protagonist of Bluebeard. In a well-nigh Shakespearean embed, we are treated early in the film to a marionette version of the opera Faust, in which he sings the part of Mephisto. This film also has the distinction of featuring the least-French French characters I've ever seen. (The puppeteering is about 5 minutes in, but it's well worth a full screening.)


Bluebeard
1944
70 mins

Speaking of Bluebeard, here's a frothy silent version from the ever-delightful Melies studio.


Le Barbe-Bleu (Bluebeard)
Georges Melies
1901
9:08

In a slightly more modern take on the Bluebeard legend, Charlie Chaplin played the titular Monsieur Verdoux, in the role that contributed to his ostracism in the US. Based on an idea from (ie scrawled on a bar napkin by) Orson Welles, its thesis is that the cruelty of capitalism both leads to and absolves murder. It's not hard to understand why American audiences didn't take a shine to this effete, self-righteous lady killer, but it's a fascinating film. Also, after "Bluebeard," this film has the second-least-French French characters ever.


Monsieur Verdoux
Charlie Chaplin
1947
123 mins

and to complete the theme, here's Lush's best single, "Ladykillers," and its alarmingly dated video:


Ladykillers
Lush
1996
3:20