A Moeda Mágica

Director William Castle, upon seeing the end results of this movie of his, seemed to have realized that this movie wasn't up to his previous movies. For one thing, the gimmick that he came up for this movie was to give patrons a copy of the coin seen in the movie. (Whoopie!) *I* certainly thought that this was one of his weakest efforts.

The premise of the movie, while not really original (even when the movie was made), still did have some promise. But there are two main problems that shoot down the movie. The first is that the characters act pretty stupid for most of the movie. Our hero is a college professor, yet the coin-related actions he does suggest he has put little thought into what he has discovered and what he should do with it.

The second problem is related to that first problem, in that most of the movie is devoted to him *not* using the coin to his advantage (which is what most people would do), or being responsible with the coin. You will keep wondering just when some conflict will come into the movie, and he will be forced to struggle, to bring some ACTION into the movie. Eventually (after more than an hour of the running time has passed), our hero is challenged, but he acts (again) so stupidly when someone with even average intelligence would figure out how to use the coin to end the conflict in just a few minutes.

Not even worth two cents.

Zotz! (1962)

** (out of 4)

Off beat production from William Castle about Professor Jonathan Jones (Tom Poston) who discovers the mysterious powers of an ancient coin. It turns out that if you hold the coin and use your finger to point at something then you can make it blow up, slow down or do various other tricks. Jones plans to do the patriotic thing and turn it over to the government but sure enough things don't go as planned. I've been fairly critical of Castle and some of the films he made during this period of his career and while this movie isn't nearly as bad as some I still couldn't help but scratch my head and wonder who this thing was meant for. I'm going to guess that this thing was meant to be a rip-off of THE ABSENT MINDED PROFESSOR but no matter what it was trying to do in the end it fails. I think the biggest problem is that the screenplay is pretty lame and director Castle clearly has proved that he wasn't the best when it came to comedy. The screenplay pretty much has Poston doing on silly thing after another as soon as he discovers the powers of this coin. We get one scene after another where he either accidentally destroys something with the coin or he tries to prove the coins powers to people and they simply don't see it. Take a look at one scene where the Professor turns loose a lot of mice at a party with plans of "zapping" them but it turns out he left the coin at home. This is a scene that could have worked but it just comes across very empty in terms of laughs and extremely uneven. Another problem happens at the end once Poston has all these people trying to track him down. It's simply not funny. Poston is fairly good in his role as you certainly believe he's absent minded but the screenplay doesn't give him much to work with. Julia Meade, Fred Clark and Jim Backus have supporting roles that are fairly lifeless due to the screenplay. ZOTZ! moves along at a decent pace but when you watch a comedy you expect laughs and this one here just doesn't have enough to make it worth viewing.

Here's something that you don't see every day. In "Zotz!", a college professor (Tom Poston) discovers an ancient coin which has three uses for whomever holds it: if you point to someone, the person feels a sharp pain; if you say "zotz" to someone, the person goes into slow motion; if you point to someone and say "zotz", it kills the person. Not only does he start using it throughout town - with some unintended consequences - but the Soviet Union gets wind of the story (so you know what that means).

Overall, the movie was pretty (seeing him make Jim Backus move in slow motion was something), but the part about the Russian agents trying to steal the coin was sort of silly.

William Castle's production of Zotz! is an engaging juvenile comedy featuring likeable Tom Poston as a fellow who comes across a coin that has magical powers, which in due time becomes a matter of interest to Soviet agents. The movie was heavily hyped for kids when first released, and pleased audiences at the time. Now it plays like a Disney version of an Ealing comedy, such as The Man In the White Suit, which it vaguely resembles, with Poston in the Alec Guinness role. This was an odd project for Castle, better known as a producer of horror movies, though it's pleasant enough if one is in an undemanding mood.

Filmmaker William Castle has great fun with one of his silliest stories, based on a novel by Walter Karig. The ever-likeable Tom Poston plays Jonathan Jones, a professor of ancient languages who comes into possession of a mystical coin. It gives him highly amusing powers: by pointing at a living thing or object, and uttering the word "ZOTZ!", he can cause A) sudden pain, B) VERY slow movement, and......C) silent death. He's not above using said powers for self-gain, but must do some quick thinking when enemy agents "Josh Bates" (Carl Don) and Igor (notable tough-guy actor Mike Mazurki) want to get their hands on this valuable object.

"Zotz!" is good, light-hearted, and slapstick-heavy entertainment, a purely comedic change of pace for a director who'd made his name with gimmicky horror movies and thrillers. While "Zotz" does seem like a pure nonsense word, apparently it IS an actual surname used in foreign locations. There are some real laughs to be had here; the good thing is that for a movie that recycles the same gags over and over, they're a hoot every time. When "sudden pain" is dealt out, people bend over and clutch themselves. And when "slow movement" occurs, the actors involved do a priceless job of acting in slow motion. One of the highlights happens when Jones finds a way of embarrassing his professional rival, Horatio Kellgore (the always great Jim Backus).

Poston, who reteamed with Castle the following year for the Hammer film "The Old Dark House", is as endearing and funny as he's ever been. He's very well supported by Backus, Cecil Kellaway as the amiable dean at the college, Fred Clark as a military general who doesn't take Jones seriously, the lovely Julia Meade as the colleges' new languages professor (and requisite love interest), the enchanting Zeme North as Jones' nubile niece, old Marx Brothers foil Margaret Dumont as Kellaways' wife, James Millhollin as a disbelieving psychiatrist, a hilarious Jimmy Hawkins as Kellgores' jargon-spewing son, and Louis Nye as a man peddling a homemade weapon to the Pentagon. Don and Mazurki are classic comedy villains.

"Zotz!" really hits the spot if one is looking for good, goofy comedy. This viewer had a fine time with it.

Seven out of 10.