Best movie of this year hands down!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Highly Overrated But Still Good

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Dull and Humorless This movie begins with a woman by the name of "Julia Loretti" (Maria Mercedes) being kidnapped by agents working for a man named "Von Housen" (Bela Lugosi) who goes by pseudonym of "the Vampire" and has everyone convinced that he is an actual vampire. As it turns out, however, although he sleeps in a coffin Von Housen is actually an inventor who is working on a plan to build 50,000 robots so that he can take over the world. To that end, he has abducted Julia because she knows where a secret chart is kept which identifies the location of a rich deposit of uranium that he desperately needs. Unfortunately, things don't go as planned as the prototype of the robot is accidentally sent to the wrong address which forces him to seize an old lady by the name of "Mrs. Riley" (Arthur Lucan) before she has a chance to alert the authorities. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that prior to watching this movie I had no idea that it was one of a series of films focused exclusively on the character of Mrs. Riley. Be that as it may, I honestly didn't care too much for this particular film due in large part because the slapstick humor was so incredibly dull and ineffective. It just wasn't a good movie. That being said, I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

So it is not one of the better movies, we can agree. And you wouldn't expect to see Bela Lugosi in such a low brow vehicle as it reminds one of the Bowery Boys at first with Arthur Lucan's mug. But a few good lines are spoken in it. I especially liked when the robot dropped off the drunk driver in the latter's car and the drunk asks "I didn't take you too far out of my way, did you, I hope?" And Lugosi's valet asks "Why do you sleep in your evening clothes?", and Lugosi says "Well, I was buried in them" At least I didn't have to buy or rent the film. It was made available for download through my library with OverDrive media. I also viewed a great interview with the late Vincent Price who spoke about Lugosi and Karloff among others.

I've never heard of or seen a "Mother Riley Adventure" and didn't realize it was a whole series of films, but I had Turner Classic Movies on and saw that Bela Lugosi was in this one so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm glad I did, as this is one of the wackier movies I've seen in a long time. It's a slapstick horror featuring an old lady who gets abducted by a robot (?) sent to her by a vampire (played by Bela, of course, who endearingly and comfortably hams it up in his few scenes.) Oh yeah, did I mention old Mother Riley is played by an old man? What a strange vehicle this is, but I found it impossible to dislike. There's even a completely random goofy song and dance sequence. The slapstick goes over-the-top in some scenes (notably the ones that are sped up), but it's all in good fun. The best thing the movie has going for it is its distinctly British humor. I loved Dora Byran as Tilly the chambermaid, especially when she starts cavorting with Mother Riley. The woman has such fantastic comedic timing! Overall, its an amusing and quick movie. If you catch it on TV give it a go. I don't think it's as rotten as its reputation.

Arthur Lucan's drag character of old Mother Riley, whilst being somewhat of a big hit in England, never really made its mark here in America. Why? Well, for starters, the character of Old Mother Riley, a working class Irish woman who gets into all kinds of comedic situations, doesn't have the universal traits necessary to bring success out of England. There are jokes dealing with class and other very traditional English situations. I heard such awful things about this film in particular, being the last film Lucan did playing Mother Riley, and was honestly a bit pleasantly surprised. Sure this is pretty lowbrow stuff. A man in drag mugging for the camera at every opportunity. A series of comedic situations that were almost all slapstick oriented. One scene where Mother Riley breaks into song for no reason at all. And let's not forget the truly inane plot about confusing the names Riley and packages that were mixed up - with Old Mother Riley getting a robot that should have been sent to Bela Lugosi. But Lucan is talented to a degree and made me laugh a time or two. The film was very watchable. As for Bela Lugosi? He did this film as a means to make money so as to get passage back home for himself and his wife while they were in London after failing at a revival of Dracula on stage. This is probably his last good picture in terms of looking robust and relatively healthy prior to committing himself for drug rehabilitation. He looks good and he looks like he is having a lot of fun. There is one story circulating that Lugosi may not have even known Lucan was in drag at their first meeting - Lucan it seems never went out as himself in public but always as Mother Riley so as to preserve his personal life. At any rate, you might give this film a look while keeping a somewhat open mind. It's not Hamlet. It's not Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, but it does have its moments and it has Bela Lugosi. Lugosi is enough for me.