Don Durant | Through the Shattered Lens

In this episode, freelance photographer Mike Kovac (Charles Bronson) receives a tip from reporter Mike Costigan (Frank Faylen) about a mysterious woman. Acting on the lead, Mike snaps a photograph of the woman, only to discover that she bears a striking resemblance to Helen Sprague (Tracey Roberts), a lady who was reportedly murdered by night club owner Howard Dorn (Don Durant). When she shows back up alive, the D.A. will have to drop the charges on Dorn, right? Well it’s not that easy as a punch-drunk ex-fighter Pete Montee (Karl Lukas) shows up at Mike’s house and insists that the woman in the photo is his girlfriend Connie Sawyer. It turns out that Costigan and Dorn are trying to cash in on Kovac’s honest reputation to get away with murder. When Mike gets wise to their plan, he becomes their next target for death!!

This episode of MAN WITH A CAMERA was directed by Gerald Mayer, who would direct 11 episodes of the series. It’s a solid “film noir” episode, with Bronson’s Mike Kovac getting caught up in a murder plot involving double-crossing bad guys, a duplicitous dame, and a dumb lug, where he’ll be lucky if he comes out alive. Of course, a young Bronson is the biggest draw in every episode of MAN WITH A CAMERA. Along with his magnetic screen presence, Bronson always knew how to throw a punch and he gets to engage in a couple of nice fisticuff sequences in “Double Negative.” It makes for good balance as his camera gets him into hot water at the beginning and his fists get him out of hot water at the end. I also want to throw some love Karl Lukas’ way as the ex-fighter, Pete Mantee. He’s clearly not the sharpest tool in the toolshed, but his performance is the most enjoyable of the series, outside of Bronson, up to this point. His combination of innocent, dumb, and unbelievably strong is a lot of fun.

Overall, “Double Negative” is one of the best episodes of MAN WITH A CAMERA so far. Bronson is at his best and I really like the film-noir feel. If you haven’t watched on episode on Amazon Prime yet, this would not be a bad place to start!

Ah, Hawaii!

There is no state more beautiful than Hawaii and there are no people friendlier. When I was 17 years old, my family spent a summer in Hawaii and it was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I can’t swim to save my life and I have a morbid fear of drowning but, when I was in Hawaii, I happily walked into the ocean. Not far into the ocean, of course. But still, everyone in my family was amazed. Of course, eventually I saw a jelly fish floating towards me and I screamed and ran back to the beach. (After reaching the safety of the beach, I realized that the jelly fish was actually just seaweed but still, it was scary-looking!) Hawaii is just the type of state that makes you appreciate life and take risks.

For instance, consider the two main characters in Roger Corman’s 1958 film, She Gods of Shark Reef. Chris (Bill Cord) and Lee (Don Durant) are brothers who live in Hawaii. Chris has blonde hair and a good attitude towards life. Lee has dark hair and a criminal nature. Chris loves the ocean. Lee loves to run guns. After Lee kills two men, he stows away on Chris’s boat. When the boat then hits a storm, Chris and Lee wash up on the shores of an isolated beach. It’s a beautiful island but all Lee can think about is how he can make money off of his current predicament. Bad Lee, bad!

Anyway, it turns out that the island is inhabited by an all-female village of pearl divers. Everyone is excited by the arrival of two handsome, shirtless men. Everyone except for Queen Pua (Jeanne Gerson), who doesn’t trust either one of them and who doesn’t appear to want anyone in the world to be happy. She’s especially upset when Chris interrupts a plan to sacrifice a villager to the shark gods of the sea. Chris not only rescues but also falls in love with Mahia (Lisa Montell).

While Chris is busy falling in love, Lee is trying to figure out a way to escape from the island before a rescue boat arrives. Lee, after all, is a wanted criminal and the last thing that he wants is to go from being shipwrecked to imprisoned. Lee comes up with a plan for himself, his brother, and Mahia to escape the island. However, Lee being Lee, he just can’t overcome his greedy nature. As quickly becomes obvious, Karma is not only a bitch but it’s a shark as well.

She Gods of Shark Reef was directed by Roger Corman. Though the film’s low budget is obvious in every frame, Corman wisely decided to concentrate on the island’s beauty as opposed to the movie’s somewhat haphazard story. This is one of those films where the action stops for nearly five minutes so that Corman can film a hula dancer. But you know what? That’s okay! The beauty of Hawaii and the surrounding ocean carry the film. You don’t watch for the plot. Instead, you watch for the blue water and the green grass and the vibrant skies. This is a film that you watch for the island scenery and the sharks. Both of them are quite nice.