Aasgeier

"A trio of treasure hunters is searching the West Indies for a hidden fortune. The lure of gold makes for a rise in tension as the men come closer to the treasure's location. The deep-sea divers hope to track down the gold, but find that greed and hatred leads to murder," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis. "Manfish" is the name of their boat, not a monster. The skeleton who gives muscular Captain John Bromfield (as Brannigan) his half of the treasure map is very good. Old salt Victor Jory (as Professor) provides the other half of the map. First mate Lon Chaney Jr. (as Swede) plays dumb, and sexy Tessa Prendergast (as Alita) guards the rum (not very well, obviously). Serious editing and continuity problems mar the picture, which otherwise might have amounted to something.

*** Manfish (2/56) W. Lee Wilder ~ John Bromfield, Victor Jory, Lon Chaney Jr.

John Bromfield is the busted skipper of the ship, with Lon Chaney Jr. His dull but amiable crew. . He finds a map to a pirate treasure, but can't make heads nor tails of it. Beachcomber Victor Jory can, and offers to split. But neither he nor Bromfield figure on splitting with a partner, and dead men tell no tales.

It's another B movie directed by W. Lee Wilder, whom brother Billy called "A dull son of a b***h. Fortunately he has a good underwater cameraman in Scotty Welbourne, who shoots Jamaica footage well, and his wife, Tessa Prendergast, even better. Jory acts up a storm, and that keeps the second half of this movie going.

Captain Brannigan (John Bromfield) and Swede (Lon Chaney Jr.) come across a skeleton on the sea bottom. In its bony hand is a bottle containing half a map. They quickly set sail in search of the other half.

Things get complicated when Brannigan discovers that he needs a mysterious figure known as "The Professor" (Victor Jory) to decipher the map's cryptic language.

Greed, treachery, and death ensue.

MANFISH is loosely based on both The Gold Bug and The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe. It's a well-made reimagining of these tales, with lots of drama, tension, and loads of fantastic island scenery!

There are some nice twists along the way as well. The Tell-Tale Heart is presented in an unexpected, downright ingenious, nautical form.

Though his part is rather small, Chaney Jr. Makes it memorable, with one of his best performances.

Plus, this movie features the stunning island girl, Alita (Tessa Prendergast) to brighten up every scene she's in!

Highly recommended...

1955's "Manfish" is sometimes thought of as a horror film due to its title, the presence of second billed Lon Chaney, and the fact that not one but two Edgar Allan Poe stories were combined for the script, "The Gold Bug" and "The Tell-Tale Heart." As things go, it's one of the few decent efforts by the resolutely dull director W. Lee Wilder (Billy's elder brother), and his 4th of seven films written by his son Myles Wilder (the shooting title was "The Menfish"). 'Manfish' is actually the name of the Jamaican boat captained by John Bromfield's Brannigan, Chaney his first mate 'Swede,' in danger of losing their beloved vessel due to outstanding debts brought on by Brannigan's gambling. The pair earn their keep diving for sea turtles, one day discovering a skeleton on the bottom of the sea bed, still holding a map contained inside a bottle, revealing the hidden location of a French pirate's treasure chest. This brings them into contact with another greedy soul, Victor Jory's 'Professor,' forcing Brannigan's hand by memorizing the map's contents before burning it. They find the trinkets soon enough, heading back to port to finalize payment on their boat, but a second treasure map spells doom for those most desirous of instant wealth. In the end, the lone survivor is the one whose love for the sea proves to be his salvation. Nearly an hour goes by before the treasure is found, then "The Gold Bug" finally gives way to "The Tell-Tale Heart" in its depiction of a crazed killer desperately trying to cover up his crime by hiding the corpse in the drink, tied down by an oxygen tank that continuously gives way to bubbles that make it look like the dead is still struggling for air. Lon Chaney had worked on a previous Wilder title (1950's "Once a Thief..."), and continues to excel in sympathetic mode despite often being cast as wicked henchmen; it's another simple minded character like Lennie in "Of Mice and Men," but a sailor who genuinely cares about his vessel and the divers he employs (he had just finished Jack Palance's "I Died a Thousand Times," moving on to Kirk Douglas' "The Indian Fighter").

Although its title would lead one to expect a poor man's CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954), the uninitiated could not be blamed for refuting this film's claim as Horror; however, they only have to look at the source of the script – two tales by Edgar Allan Poe, namely "The Gold Bug" and "The Tell-Tale Heart"; it is a decidedly clever blending of, frankly, highly disparate narratives and one that – on paper, at least – works better than it ought to! The fact that the end result is not so great, then, reflects more on the film-makers' talent (or lack thereof) in putting the various elements together; one wonders just what the director's more famous brother, Billy, would have crafted out of it! The first storyline, dealing with the hunt for pirate treasure, is adequately delineated – accentuated by ample underwater footage that, rather squeamishly, involves the capture of large sea turtles (years before CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST {1980}!); the second – relegated to the last 10 minutes or so – picks up after the two main characters have a definite falling-out and one is haunted by the 'noisy' ripples in the water directly above the spot where the other lays buried! Would-be ladies' man John Bromfield makes for a thoroughly unsympathetic lead, while Victor Jory – growing progressively more intense – is suitably sinister as the loot-mad Professor; Lon Chaney Jr. as "Swede" competently recreates his famous Lennie persona from OF MICE AND MEN (1939), which he could practically do in his sleep by then, and he does come off as grating eventually – but he manages a hilarious moment when he forces his contemptuous captain to wipe a gob of spit with his own foot off the floor of the titular rickety vessel, which the burly and fading genre star venerates as if it were a woman! Though the Caribbean locale allows for adequate locale colour, this is over-emphasized throughout via a number of resistible exotic tunes – which, along with Bromfield's equally unappetizing romantic dallying – definitely proves the film's low point! By the way, though the end credits clearly state this to have been shot in the DeLuxe colour process, apparently all surviving copies are in black-and-white!