Wait! Vampira! Okay, I know what you are asking...Vampira? The hot zombie-chick from "Plan 9 From Outer Space" in the same film as Mickey Rooney and Mamie Van Doren? You probably would pay top dollar to see Mamie Van Doren in a catfight with Vampira. Mickey Rooney as a ruthless killer! Mamie Van Doren as a tamed housewife! Tamed, through most of the film until it's time to not be tamed...you'll see. Vampira as a beatnik poet. Today we look at the brutal labor union Film Noir film, 1959's "The Big Operator," directed by Charles F. Haas. Oh, did I mention Mel Torme plays the original Burning Man? I'm not joking.
Little Joe Braun (Rooney) plays a union boss who thinks big. Through violence and blackmail he takes over dozens of unions in L.A. Now he controls the docks, machine building, trucks, you name it! He visits union halls and makes unions deals they cannot refuse. Oppose him and end up in the back of a cement truck. A Senate committee is conducting hearings to try to pin hundreds of charges on him, but he's smooth and always takes the Fifth. Then comes Bill Gibson (Steve Cochran)...he's a hunk and smart. The hunk is married to Mary (Mamie Van Doren) and she adores him. He is union all the way and actually can prove Joe has committed perjury. He and his best buddy Fred (Torme) saw him at a union hall when tomorrow's Senate witness was supposed to appear, before that witness went missing. Realizing this, Little Joe tries to hire Bill and Fred for his personal staff...hush money. They refuse.
Refusing Little Joe is just not done and Fred is turned into the burning man in front of his wife (Ziva Rodann). Furious, Bill continues to rebuff Little Joe's offer. Unwisely Bill goes to the Attorney General (Jim Backus...that's right, Mr. Magoo) and agrees to testify against Little Joe. This won't go well as Little Joe has Bill picked up and tortured...and then abducts Bill's son. Mary? Mary goes full Rambo, and I must say, this is a good look for Mamie Van Doren. So now Mickey Rooney has incurred Mamie Van Doren's wrath and all parties are on their way to see Vampira!
What? Yes...I'm not kidding. How did you miss this movie? You were too busy seeing that "Star Wars" garbage! Be warned, this is a brutal one and after the scene with Vampira, you will not know whether to be aroused or repulsed. See "The Big Operator," and enjoy one of the most awkward jobs of casting in Hollywood history.
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