NORA HAYDEN ORBITS IB MELCHIOR'S 'THE ANGRY RED PLANET'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cVThzjFM3z_UQTjuGFEqgQ6FN5dQWQe3KAnGWLOs0SoBX-QA3v37M93UE7t_mCJfwKq4baPyOKY0aZ6OtjGoOBph5JjSgQ48BaKK_kqIFDtjpfpDbHyo2MuppmcER07vjf4zfvSq9IFDG6L4cbquoHYDc8J2qtCVFsFtRmDxM1VEFyFlEIu8Nu6_8g/s1867/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1333" data-original-width="1867" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3cVThzjFM3z_UQTjuGFEqgQ6FN5dQWQe3KAnGWLOs0SoBX-QA3v37M93UE7t_mCJfwKq4baPyOKY0aZ6OtjGoOBph5JjSgQ48BaKK_kqIFDtjpfpDbHyo2MuppmcER07vjf4zfvSq9IFDG6L4cbquoHYDc8J2qtCVFsFtRmDxM1VEFyFlEIu8Nu6_8g/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE ANGRY RED PLANET Year: 1959 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With five years until the exceptionally-creative science-fiction flick <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/TTT.html">THE TIME TRAVELERS,</a> writer/director Ib Melchior provided one of the first <i>space-seed</i> stories teaching banal humans that we began as smarter Martians, who basically slummed down to Earth before realizing they wasted their energy on creating such useless creatures...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is what THE ANGRY RED PLANET is as a whole... an utterly useless waste involving a crew in a ship, stranded on the titular Mars, waiting for something to happen and, when venturing outside, the film goes from technicolor to an intrusively horrible bright red, so the potentially-cool bat-spider monster's wasted in what ends up a showcase for red-head starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/hubert-cornfields-road-movie-film-noir.html">Nora Hayden</a>, a botanist both trusted and flirted with by three eclectic crew-mates, wrapped in a distracting frame story providing meantime upon meantime.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, cult, fifties, gerald mohr, ib melchior, jack kruschen, les tremayne, nora hayden, science-fiction

NORA HAYDEN ORBITS IB MELCHIOR'S 'THE ANGRY RED PLANET'

Title: THE ANGRY RED PLANET Year: 1959 Rating: *1/2 With five years until the exceptionally-creative science-fiction flick THE TIME TRAVELER...

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZZVFyFMOXmX6S-25wHMzxq2dtpbzmuv-9v_ki8CkWKNul4hFxZu_EUQZI_9iQunRIys67x6X0xxdQodXiAZmPOotjgo1v_wJNTJKrL5O6xTnSt_-ZL1kQatmHm11zmpBHiLIf92NejciV8EW_9tvHQEQS5NU5lS8NO8oBBUuduLh7txHUtmqQhekgQ/s2028/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-07%20at%206.34.18%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="2028" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZZVFyFMOXmX6S-25wHMzxq2dtpbzmuv-9v_ki8CkWKNul4hFxZu_EUQZI_9iQunRIys67x6X0xxdQodXiAZmPOotjgo1v_wJNTJKrL5O6xTnSt_-ZL1kQatmHm11zmpBHiLIf92NejciV8EW_9tvHQEQS5NU5lS8NO8oBBUuduLh7txHUtmqQhekgQ/w400-h272/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-07%20at%206.34.18%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Britt Ekland in AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with agent Martin Balsam about doing or <i>not</i> doing a French existential film, you'll simply want things to narrow into what the <i>real</i> movie's about...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And AFTER THE FOX doesn't mean <i>what follows</i> but <i>who's followin</i>g Peter Sellers' criminal named Fox, who broke out of prison, in disguise, and there's plenty of humor but not enough laughs... <br></p><p>Shame since the cinematography's so gorgeous, a satire on the pretentious side of 1960's French New Wave cinema, ironically directed by 1950's minimalist BICYCLE THIEVES auteur Vittorio De Sica, not allowing either his funny guy (Sellers) or straight man (Mature) enough time together... leaving the best scenes to Britt Ekland as The Fox's little sister he lives to protect, overriding his plot to recover  stolen loot, which is why he's imitating a filmmaker in the first place. But, like that bogus art film (badgered by noisy, annoying villagers), all that matters is the deliberately pointless running around, which is entertaining yet tiresome. And not always in that order<span style="color: grey;">.</span></p><p><span style="color: grey;"><span></span></span></p>

akim tamiroff, brit ekland, british, comedy, cult, french, heist, jailbreak, maria grazia buccella, peter sellers, satire, sixties, victor mature

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

Britt Ekland in AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: **1/2 Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with age...

PETER FALK, LAURENE LANDON & VICKI FREDERICK 'ALL THE MARBLES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAHXg-vJ6_H4PsadesZ9bR2O9ondFsqx4k-BlmBYln2acKzdTpYWV1O4TA9d88GwnDtUwrjLh71nzOYjN8jYHzWEOTgowy-us9UpBwyOrlw_qct2_ZBuDAuaRdgxYrS3NVuJjPucg9ozsMBLlSfJaucOuiTAhu6k9bWbKZRaHaverZCOGcDe_fiR85w/s1553/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-06%20at%205.57.22%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1553" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYAHXg-vJ6_H4PsadesZ9bR2O9ondFsqx4k-BlmBYln2acKzdTpYWV1O4TA9d88GwnDtUwrjLh71nzOYjN8jYHzWEOTgowy-us9UpBwyOrlw_qct2_ZBuDAuaRdgxYrS3NVuJjPucg9ozsMBLlSfJaucOuiTAhu6k9bWbKZRaHaverZCOGcDe_fiR85w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-06%20at%205.57.22%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon in ALL THE MARBLES Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Three dots following a sentence usually means... there's more to come... And when the opposite occurs, that's pretty much that: The first summing up the 1981 Peter Falk road movie …ALL THE MARBLES in which the quirky COLUMBO actor plays Harry, a lowlife manager of a female tag-team wrestling troupe going city to city...<br> <br> And since these ladies are already at the end of their professional ropes when the movie begins, those dots represent all the work we didn't see, and they really just want those damn marbles already...  <i> </i></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><i><span></span></i></p>

angela aames, burt young, eighties, exploitation, laurene landon, lenny montana, peter falk, road movie, sport, vicki frederick, warner archives

PETER FALK, LAURENE LANDON & VICKI FREDERICK 'ALL THE MARBLES'

Vicki Frederick and Laurene Landon in ALL THE MARBLES Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2 Three dots following a sentence usually means... there'...

STEVE COCHRAN & RUTH ROMAN IN 'TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJvzSssPmNZDcbjBwE6cMI09Yi3hg1oMiGbZq2cld8UUPMxOBKhuoSKSMM5_Z25Or0MBc3zZR7-4j96HtH2twLyZClb7nEKq-8DOX7KjCnNAYPS7mXZz1ry2bwgMkh9vSVSzqg5cyRi7jL0_ZGL0UPLNldjTNCnFhKRDjSONC9mSAmGEbMQkvB5nuZg/s1297/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-04%20at%2011.55.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieJvzSssPmNZDcbjBwE6cMI09Yi3hg1oMiGbZq2cld8UUPMxOBKhuoSKSMM5_Z25Or0MBc3zZR7-4j96HtH2twLyZClb7nEKq-8DOX7KjCnNAYPS7mXZz1ry2bwgMkh9vSVSzqg5cyRi7jL0_ZGL0UPLNldjTNCnFhKRDjSONC9mSAmGEbMQkvB5nuZg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-04%20at%2011.55.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve Cochran in TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY Year: 1951 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While it's not strange having swarthy and handsome, experienced tough guy Steve Cochran playing an ex con who, in this case is fresh out of prison after a very long stretch since he was a teenager, it's extremely rare him being an awkwardly naive dolt falling hard for a woman instead of being fallen for...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But this is a Film Noir where almost every man, tough or otherwise, winds up putty to a beautiful dame... in this case a worldly Ruth Roman who, after accidentally killing an abusive boyfriend cop, convinces Cochran's Bill Clark into thinking he's the killer instead...</p><p><span></span></p>

crime, fifties, film noir or melodrama, road movie, ruth roman, steve cochran, wrong man

STEVE COCHRAN & RUTH ROMAN IN 'TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY'

Steve Cochran in TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY Year: 1951 Rating: **1/2 While it's not strange having swarthy and handsome, experienced tough ...

SUE LYON IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S 'LOLITA' WITH JAMES MASON

<p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9svu0-YfiWzDVp4wV-JUqx981drxQ8o413jl2iK_leK_zejs00U6EeYWclFgUZOaOfWkJVz4XdtdFBp-tGs63BdZh-koqX7pgGtMkumJFrgkprv2iubCSjnv3DHsm3VWiKB7Dabmkqllcl5bk3TX_QsjNh7QcJm7ruNliTgBVsK_9qsuR0r2toIhf5w/s1211/1%202.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1211" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9svu0-YfiWzDVp4wV-JUqx981drxQ8o413jl2iK_leK_zejs00U6EeYWclFgUZOaOfWkJVz4XdtdFBp-tGs63BdZh-koqX7pgGtMkumJFrgkprv2iubCSjnv3DHsm3VWiKB7Dabmkqllcl5bk3TX_QsjNh7QcJm7ruNliTgBVsK_9qsuR0r2toIhf5w/w400-h310/1%202.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>LOLITA Year: 1962 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between Stanley Kubrick's financial gig on Kirk Douglas's epic SPARTACUS and the immense Cold War dark comedy DR. STRANGELOVE is the subtle yet brilliant LOLITA, perhaps his most conventionally filmed and least visually offbeat since the storyline takes care of all that... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Middle-aged British college professor James Mason falls for the titular Sue Lyon, whose mom, Shelley Winters, bounces around a suburban East Coast dream house, stealing all the first act scenes in what feels like a short film in itself... </p><p>And she's even more frantically smitten with Mason's Humbert than he surreptitiously lusts for her young-teen daughter, whose beauty alone is pure seduction as Lyon, with full lips just evolved from a playfully puffy, baby-face scowl has wide yet sharpened eyes guiding this literal performance of a lifetime (she had just played a teen seductress on Loretta Young's anthology series),: a sensually timeless time-capsule of devilish chaste enveloped in what eventually becomes Kubrick's very own road movie wherein lurks hilariously shady antagonist Peter Sellers who, like in STRANGELOVE, portrays a number of roles but in one man... playwright Clare Quilty... out to snake the girl from desperate step dad Mason, whose guilt, greed, vengeance and rage has already overpowered him during a framed prologue showdown between Brits: making Lyon's LOLITA not only the anticipated lead, but what everything leads to, means, and completely matters throughout.</p><span></span>

british new wave, dark comedy, exploitation, james mason, jazz score, peter sellers, road movie, shelley winters, sixties, stanley kubrick, sue lyon

SUE LYON IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S 'LOLITA' WITH JAMES MASON

LOLITA Year: 1962 Rating: ****1/2 Between Stanley Kubrick's financial gig on Kirk Douglas's epic SPARTACUS and the immense Cold War ...

DIRECTOR STANLEY KUBRICK'S BOXING NOIR OF 'KILLER'S KISS'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnMr7_f5m1Q7BmAGGN9wVDDdGgaMBOwjdifYQNm6-J_RBdYPopyMzKPC3XgKeV5dXZCQn1WvEF_BcE08IrywkDckceKAKET8A2ulk3x3O65xVunt-BDR1sd4Z8GjZGs3eQqhpnbKjiVmWsLoTgranCn1CpRatcyLWsV7fv0AsdDGalHa-jzCT9nj4Mw/s1417/1-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1417" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifnMr7_f5m1Q7BmAGGN9wVDDdGgaMBOwjdifYQNm6-J_RBdYPopyMzKPC3XgKeV5dXZCQn1WvEF_BcE08IrywkDckceKAKET8A2ulk3x3O65xVunt-BDR1sd4Z8GjZGs3eQqhpnbKjiVmWsLoTgranCn1CpRatcyLWsV7fv0AsdDGalHa-jzCT9nj4Mw/s16000/1-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Felice Orlandi from KILLER'S KISS Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When it's not a primal, jazz piano, mamba-like rhythm as gangster/dance club owner Frank Silvera tries keeping his trophy girl from being romanced by someone truly deserving, the deepest, more soulful orchestration is very reminiscent of (years later) THE GODFATHER score...<br> <br> Despite director Stanley Kubrick referring to KILLER'S KISS as a student film, his rudimentary Noir is a beautiful, intentionally-simplistic tale with the auteur's metronomic, haunting rhythm intact. Harboring such a flowing, naturally offbeat groove throughout, it's hard to fathom that, at this point, with only an even more low-budget (and unreleased) movie under his belt, he already possessed a vibe and structure all his own... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

boxing, felice orlandi, fifties, film noir or melodrama, frank silvera, irene kane, jamie smith, jazz score, mobster, stanley kubrick, thriller

DIRECTOR STANLEY KUBRICK'S BOXING NOIR OF 'KILLER'S KISS'

Felice Orlandi from KILLER'S KISS Year: 1955 Rating: **** When it's not a primal, jazz piano, mamba-like rhythm as gangster/dance c...

HUBERT CORNFIELD NEO NOIR 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv28Ba6wWOwxnlrOQjMAGDn6v1YE-tPGFHUd4DwPqxOhgsGUD3orcnnbSaW5bZpV8yZyOcF6ap2rxqFJ0lw4dpn32pOiWaH5J94GiSt0REu8JJs-K_dpM7A8KxJTOHBViCbYee-WbKwUlT3Q7hzdLST270cdL9kcpFXJ_yqZtHD2pqUDJ6Mp3XV5JkTA/s1278/285761621_5413029498741286_900411046821438928_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1234" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv28Ba6wWOwxnlrOQjMAGDn6v1YE-tPGFHUd4DwPqxOhgsGUD3orcnnbSaW5bZpV8yZyOcF6ap2rxqFJ0lw4dpn32pOiWaH5J94GiSt0REu8JJs-K_dpM7A8KxJTOHBViCbYee-WbKwUlT3Q7hzdLST270cdL9kcpFXJ_yqZtHD2pqUDJ6Mp3XV5JkTA/w386-h400/285761621_5413029498741286_900411046821438928_n.jpeg" width="386"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are two things that <i>must be </i>intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One is 40-something Marlon Brando was proving to <i>still </i>be fit and great looking (and he did); the other is this kidnap-thriller's not one bit thrilling, and director Hubert Cornfield deliberately made a character-driven film more about edgy criminals than the edgy situation they're involved in... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And kidnapped Pamela Franklin is hardly shown, especially once inside the main location, a French beach house where even a vacationing cop next door — flirting with Brando's junky girlfriend (and the passive leader's sister) Rita Moreno — doesn't  evoke suspense: Yet it all feels so contentedly and deliberately art-house and extremely dreamlike, leading to the infamous twist ending: And if the kidnapped girl dreamt the entire thing.... and was perhaps recognized (the final shot) by chauffeur Brando... then she may have known him before...</p><p>So this sheltered "rich little princess" had a secret crush on her worldly, rugged driver and fantasized about how he'd act as a criminal anti-hero, saving her from the creepy clutches of token wild card Richard Boone, who seems part of another story altogether: A gritty nightmare as opposed to this passive dream impersonating French New Wave during low tide, speckled with moody diatribes from the actors, and within what should be a more dangerous situation, perhaps the kidnapped girl was protected too well... But it's <i>her</i> movie, not ours (even the characters names, Chauffeur, Friendly, Leer, Blonde, are from her perspective), which may have been the director's intention all along.  </p><p><span></span></p>

al lettieri, hubert cornfield, jazz score, jess hahn, kidnapping, marlon brando, neo noir, pamela franklin, richard boone, rita moreno, sixties, suspense, thriller

HUBERT CORNFIELD NEO NOIR 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2 There are two things that must be intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One i...

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S TRUCKER HEIST FILM NOIR 'PLUNDER ROAD'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDVeiUeDCi8ZN3C_rgEeBgoNJA4Y-8e0whAkUoq3OjrhWkPaRnJMUqEVl8GVRmTumYgRVj0n-N3zMH1T-wEqoIUjeMQXDgfAEqmHGr3N2rGwkdLSU_C9vCuERa6E22h1VqxVjlwBNfVRl-2x-7eXhjqUv2fpnO8rGtP0xRJeHUHo5brnZFqWdAXHong/s878/Screen%20Shot%202021-01-31%20at%202.10.32%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="878" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDVeiUeDCi8ZN3C_rgEeBgoNJA4Y-8e0whAkUoq3OjrhWkPaRnJMUqEVl8GVRmTumYgRVj0n-N3zMH1T-wEqoIUjeMQXDgfAEqmHGr3N2rGwkdLSU_C9vCuERa6E22h1VqxVjlwBNfVRl-2x-7eXhjqUv2fpnO8rGtP0xRJeHUHo5brnZFqWdAXHong/w400-h296/Screen%20Shot%202021-01-31%20at%202.10.32%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PLUNDER ROAD Year: 1957 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hubert Cornfield's PLUNDER ROAD is more of a <i>post</i> heist<i> </i>thriller than a heist centered b-movie as the intro has a nifty ten-minute train robbery with three trucks, five men and a load of nitroglycerin: a hybrid of WHITE HEAT and WAVES OF FEAR and during which, each character has their own foreboding self-narration ("If we hit a bump, we're all angels!"): Yet things really kick into gear once the men have that "900 mile" slog for the border... <br></p><p>Led by Gene Raymond paired with the least famous but most memorable and effective character, an edgy ex race-car driver played by Steven Ritch (also the writer), whose sullen <i>I could have been a contender</i> style monologue not only sets his own stage but orchestrates their particular ride's cadence, full of jittery nerves, like anything can happen, most likely bad, contrasting with Raymond's cool lead: And truck number two holds the token Noir born-losers in Wayne Morris as a soft-spoken yet ultimately lethal Hollywood stuntman, and a daydreaming "here's what I'll do with my share" Elisha Cook Jr. (while the last ride's gum-chewing Stafford Repp is so optimistic and likeable he's just bound to die first)...</p>

action, elisha cook jr., fifties, film noir or melodrama, gene raymond, heist, hubert cornfield, jeanne cooper, nora hayden, road movie, stafford repp, steven ritch, thriller, wayne morris

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S TRUCKER HEIST FILM NOIR 'PLUNDER ROAD'

Title: PLUNDER ROAD Year: 1957 Rating: **** Hubert Cornfield's PLUNDER ROAD is more of a post heist thriller than a heist centered b-m...

VINCE EDWARDS IN THE ATOMIC AGE LATE NOIR 'CITY OF FEAR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLTQtdOvYbayDEYZ37iH43sCy0dHvsfUrKyjlfGPCUlvva9TJQvlKipX9YgwEVh2nLV2YzQ2IM-IbpGnqNLVQoWf9Ao40U0Iim2iyxowkjheJ4MZuOE3gzih7y_JelEqZF1rN2nOE91yC4KgsAJv_4LpbvxZp0sa0pIWO0QpIlsTNoJC0yfbdaOTu3Q/s1876/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-03%20at%203.11.58%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1876" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLTQtdOvYbayDEYZ37iH43sCy0dHvsfUrKyjlfGPCUlvva9TJQvlKipX9YgwEVh2nLV2YzQ2IM-IbpGnqNLVQoWf9Ao40U0Iim2iyxowkjheJ4MZuOE3gzih7y_JelEqZF1rN2nOE91yC4KgsAJv_4LpbvxZp0sa0pIWO0QpIlsTNoJC0yfbdaOTu3Q/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-03%20at%203.11.58%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CITY OF FEAR Stars: Vince Edwards, Steven Ritch Year: 1959 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An escaped convict, played by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/vince%20edwards">Vince Edwards</a>, steals a metal container of what he thinks is uncut heroin, but is really radioactive cobalt and, as he ventures through sparse Los Angeles, slowly dying in a kind of nuclear cautionary tale version of D. O.A., a cop (WHITE HEAT heat John Archer), a dame (Patricia Blair) and doctor (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/steven%20ritch">Steven Ritch</a> from PLUNDER ROAD) are after him... <br> <br>The edgy, stylized yet subtle nuance of CITY OF FEAR exceeds the somewhat sluggish pace when our ailing anti-hero, not on screen, is discussed by other cast members: a symbolic comparison to that lethal cobalt and the 1950's American male criminal... both are active, deadly...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, irvine lerner, jazz score, john archer, kathie browne, kelly thorsden, patricia blair, road movie, steven ritch, vince edwards

VINCE EDWARDS IN THE ATOMIC AGE LATE NOIR 'CITY OF FEAR'

Title: CITY OF FEAR Stars: Vince Edwards, Steven Ritch Year: 1959 Rating: *** An escaped convict, played by Vince Edwards , steals a metal c...

NOIR TORPEDO VINCE EDWARDS KILLS IN 'MURDER BY CONTRACT'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxZBVbwamw0ie4-PBPgev1C1uIATf_RWUWy4QeoYo4_ApjrE1MPxchz5h3BGXjptXfQO07mzwqWvK5P9x6sffEg-rpk9L8HBPheUmioNa43883V1N1we6CUY320YZgrKIzW-au5iRL-iZawRBtvZ6mQSCM-O9KBeS2W9W_M7Nm1iNANyae9vEtF_Q1Q/s1566/3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFxZBVbwamw0ie4-PBPgev1C1uIATf_RWUWy4QeoYo4_ApjrE1MPxchz5h3BGXjptXfQO07mzwqWvK5P9x6sffEg-rpk9L8HBPheUmioNa43883V1N1we6CUY320YZgrKIzW-au5iRL-iZawRBtvZ6mQSCM-O9KBeS2W9W_M7Nm1iNANyae9vEtF_Q1Q/s16000/3.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MURDER BY CONTRACT Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Deliberately sparse and slow-paced, unpretentiously stylized film noir with a solitary jazz guitar played to a continuous phantom metronome, somewhat like THE THIRD MAN theme only more in the background of a picture whose main characters are, in a way, in the background...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Particularly Vince Edwards, one of the strangest, most eccentric cinematic hit men ever while taking his sweet time for a big job following a nifty montage of smaller gigs, ranging from a deadly barber shop to an undercover hospital visit... and always returning back to his shabby apartment room, stilted with hours of frigid meantime... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

body count, exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, irvine lerner, jazz-score, kathie browne, pnillip pine, thriller, vince edwards

NOIR TORPEDO VINCE EDWARDS KILLS IN 'MURDER BY CONTRACT'

Title: MURDER BY CONTRACT Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 Deliberately sparse and slow-paced, unpretentiously stylized film noir with a solitary j...

ORSON WELLES MERCURY THEATER THRILLER 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFlIsGA4n_11yfpgfnYRyUiA08Sx7mNrrwE6rTcHRvK3i2f2cX8q1jq4a5ALjxlZd5NatjYPkcgG8RF7UgBzV2dk0MAemzlhg_hhAGXCG22mQdgOV01cvXKeTxLEppjoMuMnC_nVrpQmIuzcWlpf51BkyRWLu57eRR9kLvww1-z0vJCxU3lUBH3aNrw/s1325/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-05%20at%205.37.41%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikFlIsGA4n_11yfpgfnYRyUiA08Sx7mNrrwE6rTcHRvK3i2f2cX8q1jq4a5ALjxlZd5NatjYPkcgG8RF7UgBzV2dk0MAemzlhg_hhAGXCG22mQdgOV01cvXKeTxLEppjoMuMnC_nVrpQmIuzcWlpf51BkyRWLu57eRR9kLvww1-z0vJCxU3lUBH3aNrw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-05%20at%205.37.41%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles & Joseph Cotten in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year 1943 rating **** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An entertaining, lightweight suspense yarn about a passive arms dealer... who ironically has never fired a gun... stuck on a cargo ship where there lurks a clandestine Nazi out to kill him...<br> <br> Joseph Cotten stars as the hunted pawn who, having left loyal wife Ruth Warrick ashore, is reluctantly sent aboard with dancer Dolores Del Rio and meets various passengers including a Turkish tobacco dealer, a slick gambler and a German businessman. It's not hard figuring out who the main heavy is, but it doesn't matter...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

agnes moorehead, classic, delores rio, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, joseph cotten, mystery, orson welles, suspense

ORSON WELLES MERCURY THEATER THRILLER 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

Orson Welles & Joseph Cotten in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year 1943 rating **** An entertaining, lightweight suspense yarn about a passive ar...

LIEUTENANT UHURA ON GENE RODDENBERRY'S THE LIEUTENANT'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP5mqwXp0GD2T5EDtcpG8bHTm8mgeJe88zMPNe6mLtOsVwImhn9p_v5Sv6hvIQml5K9QkB3EWdo54M3w6esjMMUk1LrLuL_SUTQJvg6f3qJ2bKkVVuRnZZn8ph86fXY-WszVnUbel9BJVH6prhgamkMlXiVntkcHzm3M7k25RCmUE1411qjLzMWlMJA/s1890/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-01%20at%2012.37.43%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1224" data-original-width="1890" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP5mqwXp0GD2T5EDtcpG8bHTm8mgeJe88zMPNe6mLtOsVwImhn9p_v5Sv6hvIQml5K9QkB3EWdo54M3w6esjMMUk1LrLuL_SUTQJvg6f3qJ2bKkVVuRnZZn8ph86fXY-WszVnUbel9BJVH6prhgamkMlXiVntkcHzm3M7k25RCmUE1411qjLzMWlMJA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-01%20at%2012.37.43%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Future Star Trek Nichelle Nichols on THE LIEUTENANT: TO SET IT RIGHT Year: 1964 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Gene Roddenberry's STAR TREK made Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura, an actress to watch... And she's always watchable, actually introduced in Roddenberry's prior TV series THE LIEUTENANT as the girlfriend of Don Marshall's black Pvt. Cameron, who butts heads with a goading white racist, Pvt. Devlin, played by Dennis Hopper...<br> <br> The series starred Gary Lockwood as Lt. Bill Rice, in charge of a troop of Marines in Camp Pendleton, California. And in this particular episode titled TO SET IT RIGHT, Rice tries getting the two loggerheads in rhythm by sparring them in the boxing ring and eventually, tied together, to climb up a mountain so they work as a team, or else...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

dennis hopper, don marshall, gary lockwood, nichelle nichols, ricardo montalban, scott wilson, sixties, star trek, TV, woody strode

LIEUTENANT UHURA ON GENE RODDENBERRY'S THE LIEUTENANT'

Future Star Trek Nichelle Nichols on THE LIEUTENANT: TO SET IT RIGHT Year: 1964 Rating: *** Gene Roddenberry's STAR TREK made Nichelle ...

VISUALLY MARVELING OVER 'STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BEO8G9OxbmHcvRzaRvi2y71NP9nE6-50GJzwwe9qUMaSrgWWc3EdWSW0y3hjkWj8Txo_tsOS9xTNSZAUOsvbeWAO2CMjU9W0vdwFnF5awlH9BzmW8cQaY4J808ZOIExeGRmtOr7i6rTjwoeHOk1wAGVQ-sCtFkTYpFWAa7rZIHse0z4TtIdbgJfdXw/s1723/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1723" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-BEO8G9OxbmHcvRzaRvi2y71NP9nE6-50GJzwwe9qUMaSrgWWc3EdWSW0y3hjkWj8Txo_tsOS9xTNSZAUOsvbeWAO2CMjU9W0vdwFnF5awlH9BzmW8cQaY4J808ZOIExeGRmtOr7i6rTjwoeHOk1wAGVQ-sCtFkTYpFWAa7rZIHse0z4TtIdbgJfdXw/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>All the Original Cast STAR TREK films have titles that fit the plot... from a former villain's revenge to seeking a possibly dead Vulcan to a visit back to Earth... except THE MOTION PICTURE, unless you count Robert Wise's direction as more of a deliberately massive presentation of special effects, from the teams behind both 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and STAR WARS, visually progressing what was on the small screen onto a gigantic one...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And there's not much plot except what's borrowed from an episode where an enigmatic vessel has returned for, most likely, a lethal intention... only this much larger, shapeless foe is created for the audience and reunited crew to marvel upon in a cerebral epic that, while on the heels of the George Lucas orbital dog-fighting blockbuster, is actually more in the deliberately slow-paced science-fiction vein of Stanley Kubrick's pioneering classic...</p><span></span>

george takei, james doohan, leonard nimoy, nichelle nichols, robert wise, seventies, star trek, stephen collins, william shatner

VISUALLY MARVELING OVER 'STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE'

Title: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2 All the Original Cast STAR TREK films have titles that fit the plot... from a...

ISAAC HAYES, YAPHET KOTTO & NICHELLE NICHOLS 'TRUCK TURNER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjnpTVNdQ2-ajEknzusQ93QVeZFCwWxO9gU8loaGQHHUKv9DA5dnACTiQhnf4VG0qnIfzQh0-5P7lJlLkKgsqSxHIMvNmgaHmFRcxejfbl_hE7o0bd7D2m0LxIgOhP9GqQzscZfJ6Vfy_XEyfOBWXLwn3GqygT76Pl6P8FNVXvQA36jJl7r4NyezQqw/s1538/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="697" data-original-width="1538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnjnpTVNdQ2-ajEknzusQ93QVeZFCwWxO9gU8loaGQHHUKv9DA5dnACTiQhnf4VG0qnIfzQh0-5P7lJlLkKgsqSxHIMvNmgaHmFRcxejfbl_hE7o0bd7D2m0LxIgOhP9GqQzscZfJ6Vfy_XEyfOBWXLwn3GqygT76Pl6P8FNVXvQA36jJl7r4NyezQqw/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nichelle Nichols and Paul Harris in TRUCK TURNER Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At a certain point, with pressure to stop Blaxploitation films... from black groups no less... the <i>genre</i> had to become partially comedic, deliberate parodies, unlike the ultra-serious game-starter SHAFT... but before getting downright silly there's TRUCK TURNER wedged perfectly in-between dark humor and badass bloody action...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The Oscar-winning SHAFT composer Isaac Hayes provides an even cooler score, and steps behind the camera, directed by Jonathan Kaplan while partnered with affably humorous sidekick Alan Weeks, countered by monopolizing villain Yaphet Kotto, making TURNER more like a Sam Peckinpah Western in pimp's clothing...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, alan weeks, blaxploitation, body count, interview, isaac hayes, jonathan kaplan, nichelle nichols, paul harris, stan shaw, yaphet kotto

ISAAC HAYES, YAPHET KOTTO & NICHELLE NICHOLS 'TRUCK TURNER'

Nichelle Nichols and Paul Harris in TRUCK TURNER Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2 At a certain point, with pressure to stop Blaxploitation films.....

BRIAN KEITH AND KERWIN MATTHEWS IN '5 AGAINST THE HOUSE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ul2FtomiLtYbe5UpmE-hSTj9ZxwNa31Q4JQVw47zsH8UbWaKnkrBiq_HCO5TPQN8X7d5_03BOW8Z_RjlXH8B86cI2lV5afYTANjmQSnv-R-9YS1sGYwkJBk60VQzGvs8bWfAj5ZEvw4rg405BDshKgZCQPv2benNwQ_IvQmtyTutZvTecWmLEdrK6A/s1096/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-29%20at%201.06.47%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="1096" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ul2FtomiLtYbe5UpmE-hSTj9ZxwNa31Q4JQVw47zsH8UbWaKnkrBiq_HCO5TPQN8X7d5_03BOW8Z_RjlXH8B86cI2lV5afYTANjmQSnv-R-9YS1sGYwkJBk60VQzGvs8bWfAj5ZEvw4rg405BDshKgZCQPv2benNwQ_IvQmtyTutZvTecWmLEdrK6A/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-29%20at%201.06.47%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE Year: 1955 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are more snags in making 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE a decent heist-noir-thriller than the student crooks have robbing a Reno Nevada casino, and, yes, they're all too old for college but this group of Korean War vets are using the GI Bill to get degrees they couldn't while in battle...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's a pretty decent cast including Brian Keith mirroring William Bendix's shell-shocked character from another noir, THE BLUE DAHLIA (albeit a womanizing version, picking up on the pretty likes of older Jean Willes and younger Kathryn Grant)... but HOUSE is no classic...</p><p><span></span></p>

alvy moore, brian keith, ensemble, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gambling, guy madison, heist, jean willes, kathryn grant, kerwin matthews, kim novak

BRIAN KEITH AND KERWIN MATTHEWS IN '5 AGAINST THE HOUSE'

Title: 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE Year: 1955 Rating: ** There are more snags in making 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE a decent heist-noir-thriller than the st...

WILLIAM CONRAD'S 'BRAINSTORM' AND 'MY BLOOD RUNS COLD'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zoZfSRNjZ8SnbFfH0rJ3ERA99wBxdz2qYCL8S0HOgWS-HaZ4F6kORKShSo2lA9KzC1f_9RKrsfVkmBBpcUDPQ4lCNKA6IuqpSbGrmh1KxonLs4fYWVc699wcJbjwtnP43PxuAXCOtdNqoTJe_6C8jr9Y0XJTNvJFsrEX5_RYWBESnuHsCbclyJtV-g/s1362/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%207.59.03%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1362" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_zoZfSRNjZ8SnbFfH0rJ3ERA99wBxdz2qYCL8S0HOgWS-HaZ4F6kORKShSo2lA9KzC1f_9RKrsfVkmBBpcUDPQ4lCNKA6IuqpSbGrmh1KxonLs4fYWVc699wcJbjwtnP43PxuAXCOtdNqoTJe_6C8jr9Y0XJTNvJFsrEX5_RYWBESnuHsCbclyJtV-g/w400-h269/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%207.59.03%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Conrad Directorial Double Feature from 1965</u></td></tr></tbody></table>From his sinister beginnings as one of the two title hitmen who cast an ominous shadow across a small<i> </i>town diner in THE KILLERS, taken from an Ernest Hemingway short story that only involves a single act of what became a three-act classic Film Noir: While igniting the career of Burt Lancaster, William Conrad was recognized as one of the two titular baddies in the beginning and end...<br> <div style="text-align: left;"> <br> A flipside to Orson Welles, including the rich, deep voice; overweight. And few people know that Conrad was also a director, and while not one of the greats, the big man was good, and efficiant given the b-movie scripts for a pair of low-budget thrillers, BRAINSTORM and MY BLOOD RUNS COLD, both made in 1965 and for director Conrad it was a busy year (especially given the fact he also directed the haunted house horror TWO ON A GUILLOTINE, not reviewed here, not very good)...  </div>

anne francis, dana andrews, drama, drive-in, jazz score, jeffrey hunter, kathie browne, neo noir, nicolas coster, richard kiel, sixties, strother martin, thriller, troy donahue, viveca lindfors, william conrad

WILLIAM CONRAD'S 'BRAINSTORM' AND 'MY BLOOD RUNS COLD'

William Conrad Directorial Double Feature from 1965 From his sinister beginnings as one of the two title hitmen who cast an ominous shadow ...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FROZEN DEAD' FEATURING ANNA PALK

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEu1ZC-M1cf58b0Dk324pZkIxNQIR3CgX0iUOPVSK69HynUyU1OFnDH8bJ-h6keeCHxChw94QcDgSjY3l7LedYy9msDKD3SMmgYMTgO6mqvR_fLQ7ngqPBvjUNBvIGQUCjN5uZO6Lfi7wknft2wuw-eqAZty7BM_lOTN_1GHBP55Y9K0FxQ9mT_LjZlw/s1685/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%2011.14.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1685" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEu1ZC-M1cf58b0Dk324pZkIxNQIR3CgX0iUOPVSK69HynUyU1OFnDH8bJ-h6keeCHxChw94QcDgSjY3l7LedYy9msDKD3SMmgYMTgO6mqvR_fLQ7ngqPBvjUNBvIGQUCjN5uZO6Lfi7wknft2wuw-eqAZty7BM_lOTN_1GHBP55Y9K0FxQ9mT_LjZlw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%2011.14.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews with Anna Palk in THE FROZEN DEAD Year: 1966 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dana Andrews plays a German Nazi scientist in the modern era (1966) while his gorgeous niece, played by Anna Palk, who initially visited her father's manor with a friend, who quickly vanishes by morning... and both ingenues makes this almost worth the price of admission and the torture of sitting through... almost... <br> <br> The previous year Andrews played another... well not a mad scientist but more an impatient one from CRACK IN THE WORLD while his time, Dana's Dr. Norberg keeps his cool, acting gentlemanly...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

anna palk, dana andrews, exploitation, horror, kathleen breck, nazi, science-fiction, sixties

DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FROZEN DEAD' FEATURING ANNA PALK

Dana Andrews with Anna Palk in THE FROZEN DEAD Year: 1966 Rating: ** Dana Andrews plays a German Nazi scientist in the modern era (1966) wh...

STANLEY BAKER AND DAVID WARNER HEIST IN 'PERFECT FRIDAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs2V3P3hYis07JAYHBFnGly5TY1yiRoQG88yNttRMUkXwIgtK8nD6MRdGlaNG8-4gdBuxqtbtiGa201CHTUAIfXdipwrKAMy2Rvp3PuPw0nj8Wqx40ZN_VOt6UKRP9hB0pzFThTKmcXVcusGsLurMqvO8bLbKDN59gSc-zpq2haapGohILFAGPvq2NA/s1470/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-05%20at%2010.23.19%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEs2V3P3hYis07JAYHBFnGly5TY1yiRoQG88yNttRMUkXwIgtK8nD6MRdGlaNG8-4gdBuxqtbtiGa201CHTUAIfXdipwrKAMy2Rvp3PuPw0nj8Wqx40ZN_VOt6UKRP9hB0pzFThTKmcXVcusGsLurMqvO8bLbKDN59gSc-zpq2haapGohILFAGPvq2NA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-02-05%20at%2010.23.19%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PERFECT FRIDAY Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the stylish and quirky British bank-heist comedy PERFECT FRIDAY the most offbeat aspect is the editing, providing non-linear time sequences where uptight banker Stanley Baker meets with a flaky Lord played by David Warner in a museum... a single conversation randomly spliced throughout the first twenty-minutes as we get to know Baker's dull banking desk job... until Ursula Andress walks in...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Visually Baker's proper/classy role is to the tough guy actor what THE THOMAS CROWNE AFFAIR was to Steve McQueen, only his Mr. Graham has very little money,.. as does a perpetually-broke Warner in an almost sexless marriage to Andress, making for the usual "who'll backstab who?" criminal trio, common in this genre...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, crime, dark comedy, david warner, heist, neo noir, quirky, seventies, stanley baker, ursula andress

STANLEY BAKER AND DAVID WARNER HEIST IN 'PERFECT FRIDAY'

Title: PERFECT FRIDAY Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2 In the stylish and quirky British bank-heist comedy PERFECT FRIDAY the most offbeat aspect i...

JOHN CARPENTER AND TOBE HOOPER DIRECTING 'BODY BAGS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lSgo4PlRpmMtY7CwofMwuZxog6LjWxZs8KnGX9SzFttUKtjiLO-XgNWFPJypzRJ7tE5LrJ76YWJQI7tZkNVliXxIBiXA2yFerYOCHFYr1LWKsCDyYHf9UEhqrP91TTgYtNWZQX6bPPSy0Sj6Y1brYCivD7M7jerh4eP9DOrtwTuqS7IfJz7mrBIygg/s1871/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-25%20at%209.43.24%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1871" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5lSgo4PlRpmMtY7CwofMwuZxog6LjWxZs8KnGX9SzFttUKtjiLO-XgNWFPJypzRJ7tE5LrJ76YWJQI7tZkNVliXxIBiXA2yFerYOCHFYr1LWKsCDyYHf9UEhqrP91TTgYtNWZQX6bPPSy0Sj6Y1brYCivD7M7jerh4eP9DOrtwTuqS7IfJz7mrBIygg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-25%20at%209.43.24%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Memorial for David Warner from BODY BAGS Year: 1993 Collective Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>John Carpenter, director of horror classics HALLOWEEN and THE FOG, must have been influenced by TALES FROM THE CRYPT, the anthology series hosted by a longhaired smart-ass skeletal Crypt Keeper that, as The Coroner in a dusty morgue, the lanky Carpenter (donning ghoulish makeup) is fairly reminiscent of...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And the famous director’s jovially wicked performance seems like he's having fun with family and friends, showing them how the acting bug rubbed off after working with good to great actors and actresses, but he's too self conscious to make the wacky character really work. Although it's a decent enough gimmick to introduce the segment: Seeing each dead body, especially those wrapped in BODY BAGS — which means the cause isn't natural — leads creatively into three cable TV stories… The first vignette, one of two directed by Carpenter himself, is aptly titled....</p><p><span></span></p>

alex datcher, david naughton, david warner, horror anthology, john carpenter, mark hamill, nineties, peter jason, robert carradine

JOHN CARPENTER AND TOBE HOOPER DIRECTING 'BODY BAGS'

Memorial for David Warner from BODY BAGS Year: 1993 Collective Rating: ***1/2 John Carpenter, director of horror classics HALLOWEEN and THE...

REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL 'TRON' JEFF BRIDGES & DAVID WARNER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVYmbRixI6_jdlPDsRBd4mBzb0PCarehDY7lYfM66-n6Up17K8Q0il_85MjVfqEoxgUtX5nIyj0b5yNNXNCWmUpL62S_o-sGBfHdDHubAsdalVaI68NWVf-gTSxp2wYT4wY_xY4GnrTxxZ9KOYSxnf-vOUY5PpwvhHP8ElsHnkV4DWwz619eycTE0kw/s1630/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-26%20at%209.44.17%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1269" data-original-width="1630" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoVYmbRixI6_jdlPDsRBd4mBzb0PCarehDY7lYfM66-n6Up17K8Q0il_85MjVfqEoxgUtX5nIyj0b5yNNXNCWmUpL62S_o-sGBfHdDHubAsdalVaI68NWVf-gTSxp2wYT4wY_xY4GnrTxxZ9KOYSxnf-vOUY5PpwvhHP8ElsHnkV4DWwz619eycTE0kw/w400-h311/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-26%20at%209.44.17%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1982 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Steven Lisberger is the Steve Wozniak of computer cinema, but what he first created on the big screen didn't give him the money like the man who created the original Apple out of wood while Steve Jobs ultimately got all the credit...<br> <br> And it's tough to distinguish who gets credit over Lisberger... perhaps THE MATRIX or anything including an inside-a-computer adventure, turning Lisberger's proverbial Apple 2 into everyone else's high-end Mac. Sadly, Steven's basically a forgotten cult fixture, having only done a few movies thereafter, and none very technical including <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/06/hot-pursuit.html">HOT PURSUIT</a> starring John Cusack (and a supposedly awful eco-horror with Mark Hamill). But Lisberger's one trick pony is quite a ride, and the original TRON makes up for in what would be considered "dated" special effects with a great story and terrific characters...<br>

adventure, bruce boxleitner, cindy morgan, david warner, disney, eighties, jeff bridges, science fiction, steven lisberger

REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL 'TRON' JEFF BRIDGES & DAVID WARNER

Year: 1982 Rating: **** Steven Lisberger is the Steve Wozniak of computer cinema, but what he first created on the big screen didn't gi...

JENNIFER CONNELLY STEALS DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE HOT SPOT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia669w-CiPIH7ux37ujlNtWVMDZ6lx79Iq_R2pjgeu_z-K4pMIkPA-mMVJYacDz-vLh6Eribq6gowJE9y3U6pZI60NEtuv9gRvnEH9njjUfzoLnTs7TaB7eXDQ1mVscV6-Qtn-nlYrIdpcGuSBJJ61hemolQ_2Pk2nBMIijpdnHaTD9zt4sUYXg712SQ/s1113/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-23%20at%205.37.36%20PM-1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="1113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia669w-CiPIH7ux37ujlNtWVMDZ6lx79Iq_R2pjgeu_z-K4pMIkPA-mMVJYacDz-vLh6Eribq6gowJE9y3U6pZI60NEtuv9gRvnEH9njjUfzoLnTs7TaB7eXDQ1mVscV6-Qtn-nlYrIdpcGuSBJJ61hemolQ_2Pk2nBMIijpdnHaTD9zt4sUYXg712SQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-23%20at%205.37.36%20PM-1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HOT SPOT AKA  ZONA CALIENTE Year: 1990 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You really know that director Dennis Hopper's THE HOT SPOT is a Noir when, within ten minutes of entering a new town... one that's extremely small and fitfully hot, and in Texas... Don Johnson's so smitten with local blackmailed beauty Jennifer Connelly, he questions her with the kind of irked jealousy a husband would have...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But she's the good girl here, comparably, while stacked-blonde Virginia Madsen's our sultry femme fatale... married to Johnson's wealthy used car lot boss... as quickly taken with old Don as he was with young Connelly, and, within moments, they're sharing not only heated chemistry but explosive sack time...</p><p><span></span></p>

barry corbin, charles martin smith, dennis hopper, don johnson, heist, jennifer connelly, jerry hardin, neo noir, thriller, virginia madsen, willia sadler

JENNIFER CONNELLY STEALS DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE HOT SPOT'

Title: THE HOT SPOT AKA  ZONA CALIENTE Year: 1990 Rating: ***1/2 You really know that director Dennis Hopper's THE HOT SPOT is a Noir wh...

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPc79bZ6148NIWrarHUUvv9XW_GFtg3WiOHSxMmF6pmNXnWbCgCxSF9IzFJUU5rxUwhlbS768RYvc-Ql92TuLeKE8r3kg38iiqjRlAmBL7_sYOUrszkoUzre3bp2hLgwT77BCISIFXfSjGn_C_TcadYdFlM1j74kzQlwJpLTMR8EOGFiInhi87lN-X9A/s1118/AVvXsEjawPupuFvHtCseZCRXeGXWbuj2TGUqHm0i7p8HmZYitXIvhAGvvYA3kwjkBN1mN2bwDPfb37viyxJYYMCzSVQzsCGzSP0EFpH2bGNWfV8MsFsioTdSRaNjwBIcOcXywycSqqJl0i_9fd3GfgxI1TKVM3A7gb7f2UNBCkWCflFqqQ-AFcb-1nHoO1Gmcg=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPc79bZ6148NIWrarHUUvv9XW_GFtg3WiOHSxMmF6pmNXnWbCgCxSF9IzFJUU5rxUwhlbS768RYvc-Ql92TuLeKE8r3kg38iiqjRlAmBL7_sYOUrszkoUzre3bp2hLgwT77BCISIFXfSjGn_C_TcadYdFlM1j74kzQlwJpLTMR8EOGFiInhi87lN-X9A/s16000/AVvXsEjawPupuFvHtCseZCRXeGXWbuj2TGUqHm0i7p8HmZYitXIvhAGvvYA3kwjkBN1mN2bwDPfb37viyxJYYMCzSVQzsCGzSP0EFpH2bGNWfV8MsFsioTdSRaNjwBIcOcXywycSqqJl0i_9fd3GfgxI1TKVM3A7gb7f2UNBCkWCflFqqQ-AFcb-1nHoO1Gmcg=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one of the biggest cases of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/01/movie-icons.html">Mistaken Main Character Syndrome</a>, the 1982 Cult Classic FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH actually hardly features first-billed, poster-laden Sean Penn as surfer/stoner Jeff Spicoli since Amy Heckerling's year-at-school movie based on Cameron Crowe's year-at-school novel's mostly about Jennifer Jason Leigh as freshman Stacy Hamilton and her cool older brother, dude-next-door Brad Hamilton... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>On almost equal footing are two thankless roles by young unknown character-actors <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/robert-romanus-fast-times-at-ridgemont.html">Robert Romanus</a> as confidently manipulative ticket-scalper Mike Damone and his geeky sidekick Brian Backer's Mark "Rat" Ratner...</p><p><span></span></p>

brian backer, eighties, high school, jennifer jason leigh, judge reinhold, phoebe cates, robert romanus, scott thomson, sean penn, sex comedy, tom petty

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

Title: FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2 In one of the biggest cases of Mistaken Main Character Syndrome , the 1982 Cu...

DANA ANDREWS AND JANE POWELL IN 'ENCHANTED ISLAND'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgNdFxPP-xyRYWjY4RAxZ68SrdD_mvzzEdANqDutd5UBMz7MzpRb0br9KO5TXqKYph_OUg1B46cG_EzIzd26tGT9IrlJ0l1qcw6h8V1BADpviXHvdF7LhSPkkjs2tsfFDmz36Kx-ZV4rBZ3MOqWsnRM7v3ziQv9Lr9f6Oljq2aXFXUIWPbdYa0_STfQ/s1484/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgNdFxPP-xyRYWjY4RAxZ68SrdD_mvzzEdANqDutd5UBMz7MzpRb0br9KO5TXqKYph_OUg1B46cG_EzIzd26tGT9IrlJ0l1qcw6h8V1BADpviXHvdF7LhSPkkjs2tsfFDmz36Kx-ZV4rBZ3MOqWsnRM7v3ziQv9Lr9f6Oljq2aXFXUIWPbdYa0_STfQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ENCHANTED ISLAND Year: 1958 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the 1940's, minimalist Dana Andrews seemed like a real person in movies surrounded by actors... but by the mid-to-late 1950's he sometimes looked like a hired stock actor completely misplaced, especially for the Hermann Melville adaptation of Typee titled ENCHANTED ISLAND...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where he and equally miscast Don Dubbins are two sailors from a late 9th Century ship (captained by a grouchy Ted de Corsia) that lands on the titular South Pacific location, and they aren't allowed to have fun with the loose native girls...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, dana andrews, don dubbins, fifties, island, jane powell, ted decorsia

DANA ANDREWS AND JANE POWELL IN 'ENCHANTED ISLAND'

Title: ENCHANTED ISLAND Year: 1958 Rating: ** In the 1940's, minimalist Dana Andrews seemed like a real person in movies surrounded by a...

DANA ANDREWS, LINDA CRISTAL AND KENT SMITH IN 'COMANCHE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50RN9_4HD-itz4TngFI69vkcTRLpEeM9SeU54NG86OAQWRkOm3IStvUE_rSy1g1hp8nng9ptWG-3V2q3zIXZObtDdgxcHVZI-sMseZZ1UFAu3MgFJQRqfsPxUtBaRwQz90lpy3U-mefNtYVnIpfge9xwI2JjJ3PPjx3DjHpagmn4t4waWPBRbOjBEDg/s1039/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="1039" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50RN9_4HD-itz4TngFI69vkcTRLpEeM9SeU54NG86OAQWRkOm3IStvUE_rSy1g1hp8nng9ptWG-3V2q3zIXZObtDdgxcHVZI-sMseZZ1UFAu3MgFJQRqfsPxUtBaRwQz90lpy3U-mefNtYVnIpfge9xwI2JjJ3PPjx3DjHpagmn4t4waWPBRbOjBEDg/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in COMANCHE Year: 1966 Rating: 1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Many Westerns, started around this time, the mid-to-late 1950's, will have a white character more compassionate to the Indians and for <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>, as a scout named Jim Read, this was familiar territory since he'd recently played a similar character in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/07/rapids.html">SMOKE SIGNAL</a>, which had enough action to make up for all the preaching... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And the latter is about all COMANCHE has within a series of meetings between the hilariously miscast blond-haired Kent Smith as, of all things, an Indian Chief of the titular tribe, about to do battle with... not white men this time but Mexicans who've been exploiting Indians and their scalps...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, dana andrews, fifties, harry brandon, kent smith, linda cristal, melodrama, western

DANA ANDREWS, LINDA CRISTAL AND KENT SMITH IN 'COMANCHE'

Dana Andrews in COMANCHE Year: 1966 Rating: 1/2 Many Westerns, started around this time, the mid-to-late 1950's, will have a white chara...

DANA ANDREWS AND JEANNE CRAIN IN 'HOT RODS TO HELL'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JbzJlHFAbKK5oFkuieQirxqlch4TR7xFMhLHsshlYvQldA-MfwGq9C4HEgn5fap_zSkG4ybjFTJnRYb9k82lR3ZeGOBVV05EyvN5nwwLNdw1-QbePbR3djNbWgaE8cSEd8COWEPQNk_z75Tje19lKZNEzPN2oIlyvvdqiJPMHutlT08hRDT_UMT6Gw/s1999/12%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="1999" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6JbzJlHFAbKK5oFkuieQirxqlch4TR7xFMhLHsshlYvQldA-MfwGq9C4HEgn5fap_zSkG4ybjFTJnRYb9k82lR3ZeGOBVV05EyvN5nwwLNdw1-QbePbR3djNbWgaE8cSEd8COWEPQNk_z75Tje19lKZNEzPN2oIlyvvdqiJPMHutlT08hRDT_UMT6Gw/s16000/12%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HOT RODS TO HELL Year: 1966 Rating: ***1/2 Camp Score: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"The horns blowing, the lights, the brakes," says a jaded and nerve-wracked wreck of a middle-aged former salesman Dana Andrews to wife Jeanne Crain. "Jingle bells (on the radio), the whole thing!" </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet HOT RODS TO HELL only <i>begins</i> as a Christmas movie after East Coast traveling-salesman Dana Andrews suffers a major car accident on December 24th, and, after months of traction, winds up with a motel in Arizona... But only IF he and his family can survive the red convertible (titular) menace with only 80 miles left to their new destination...</p><span></span>

action, cult, dana andrews, drive-in, gene kirkwood, george ives, jeanne crain, laurie mock, mimsy farmer, race, road movie, sixties

DANA ANDREWS AND JEANNE CRAIN IN 'HOT RODS TO HELL'

Title: HOT RODS TO HELL Year: 1966 Rating: ***1/2 Camp Score: **** "The horns blowing, the lights, the brakes," says a jaded and n...

FRITZ LANG DIRECTING DANA ANDREWS 'WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj05KOdd2289pTyLxt7moyYh-uGbFIRge14RxXraKFvfL9phUmTXRS2LjGzg8nn-pblpfnFCWK83DNVECw16__Mlh7M4oKXNTOpz7maY0jQVuXly6n-Ctja6djxAO1L12vKhD_ygoHiDU9MD9kVCbl_hlLTVgMZFKadjBi0Gpo0CYJ1uLD5V0CIgFZiUw=s1082" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1082" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj05KOdd2289pTyLxt7moyYh-uGbFIRge14RxXraKFvfL9phUmTXRS2LjGzg8nn-pblpfnFCWK83DNVECw16__Mlh7M4oKXNTOpz7maY0jQVuXly6n-Ctja6djxAO1L12vKhD_ygoHiDU9MD9kVCbl_hlLTVgMZFKadjBi0Gpo0CYJ1uLD5V0CIgFZiUw=w400-h300" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Imagine Orson Welles's Charles Foster Kane inheriting a news outlet instead of a goldmine to buy one, and there you have Vincent Price's not so kind Walter Kyne, who, after his powerful but honest father dies, takes over Kyne Enterprises — with a familiar "K" symbol ala CITIZEN KANE — and sets the employees against each other...<br> <br> The winner must name a violent serial killer killing single women, making WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS part Film Noir and occasional Horror... </p><p></p><p>And it needs more of the latter from perhaps having too much of the first, character-wise: the overcrowded Kyne Corporation office ensemble includes whiskey-drinking career-newsroom chief Thomas Mitchell; sharp/flirtatious wire-service runner George Saunders; beyond flirtatious one-woman-womanizer James Craig; and main star Andrews, surprisingly the least important and/or complicated character as the figure-head newscaster... Although his scenes collaborating with token cop Howard Duff (THE NAKED CITY) makes for worthy B&W crime scene Noir elements while a young, gnarly-looking John Barrymore Jr. takes the villain role albeit lacking motivation save the usual mommy issues: and even that's not really clarified...</p><span></span>

dana andrews, ensemble, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fritz lang, howard duff, ida lupino, rhonda fleming, sally forrest, serial killer, thomas mitchell, thriller, vincent price

FRITZ LANG DIRECTING DANA ANDREWS 'WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS'

WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2 Imagine Orson Welles's Charles Foster Kane inheriting a news outlet instead of a goldmin...

SUSAN BLAKELY FLYING HIGH INTO 'THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT 79'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82VDJb8vnZrem8SAMnahfk3o06Lt00zAvPmbdUzb8HB3PGId7zQdg_PjVBUz2oySEUg4TFSIx_wpF4I5Ij8nLI2cO2iAZq-YI9uALNB2Dz9ZuZx5O5J3bzZ9jTi04J-8zrwgd1KzbGs2VvGKy967Eeo25V_h7phX3Noor6Gqj9VN69VDaMDYF5WSKxQ/s1069/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%208.22.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="1069" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82VDJb8vnZrem8SAMnahfk3o06Lt00zAvPmbdUzb8HB3PGId7zQdg_PjVBUz2oySEUg4TFSIx_wpF4I5Ij8nLI2cO2iAZq-YI9uALNB2Dz9ZuZx5O5J3bzZ9jTi04J-8zrwgd1KzbGs2VvGKy967Eeo25V_h7phX3Noor6Gqj9VN69VDaMDYF5WSKxQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%208.22.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1979  rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A jet plane, like the ones in the AIRPORT films, can’t do much. But unlike those bulky airliners, a hot rod can do plenty. And the Concorde Jet is the speedster of the skies.<br> <br> So here's a plane that can dodge heat-seeking missiles, which occurs during the first of two flights – there and back from America to Paris. The plot has Robert Wagner as a corrupt businessman with something to hide. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

david warner, disaster, ensemble, george kennedy, seventies, susan blakely, suspense, sybil danning

SUSAN BLAKELY FLYING HIGH INTO 'THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT 79'

year: 1979  rating: *** A jet plane, like the ones in the AIRPORT films, can’t do much. But unlike those bulky airliners, a hot rod can do p...

DEBORAH WINTERS IN 'TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASriC6MPDd_C3VBMm_de574svx504WrKACpqYS2ow6NRLODXl97j2mPbbivp1Cqq08zumgrniGkvfPj9ZbJBqUAKviCDLxrSGzChAqHZ_Ef42_KKMKHqYlUqa8jIh_aev4ohOljhGGGZD1slRwsmV9785wnFJDRZ75fYk1mCm_WmOiSZd8VHPQeGGkw/s1041/81OSWD3f3PL._SL1500_.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="1041" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiASriC6MPDd_C3VBMm_de574svx504WrKACpqYS2ow6NRLODXl97j2mPbbivp1Cqq08zumgrniGkvfPj9ZbJBqUAKviCDLxrSGzChAqHZ_Ef42_KKMKHqYlUqa8jIh_aev4ohOljhGGGZD1slRwsmV9785wnFJDRZ75fYk1mCm_WmOiSZd8VHPQeGGkw/s16000/81OSWD3f3PL._SL1500_.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The JAWS craze went beyond hungry fish as the TV-Movie TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO winds up with a town torn between business and people's safety, with cranky Bert Remsen in the Murray Hamilton mayoral position, running an orange mill where the furry-legged-critters wind up...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's after what seems like two separate short films, especially the intro where grungy maverick pilot/smugglers Howard Hessmann and Tom Atkins sneak coffee beans away from the local crooked government, and they wind up as <i>Janet Leigh from PSYCHO</i> characters in that they <i>only seem</i> permanent...</p><p><span></span></p>

bert remsen, charles frank, charles siebert, creature, deborah winters, ensemble, howard hesseman, matthew labyorteaux, pat hingle, penelope windust, seventies, spiders, tom atkins

DEBORAH WINTERS IN 'TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO'

Title: TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY CARGO Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 The JAWS craze went beyond hungry fish as the TV-Movie TARANTULAS: THE DEADLY ...