DOUGLAS HICKOX DIRECTS OLIVER REED IN 'SITTING TARGET'

<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/a/AVvXsEiFDTuijxVHMSDeSiJfLR67WMGKQCS3FZjGTZ6u1SvwsnfTPiKPuScOH6CdBQbXkhFqmnnbVnCkT3-7O6o5njQTQw3b98z1u6xpNSNWU9aXpTpBGq-fIjK2X_O1brSOesPArBK-rywsiAJsYbhWpA7_A25ZvRRafwSNporMeZ9uTYRgXgb3FmDMsdR-Kw=s2046" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="2046" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiFDTuijxVHMSDeSiJfLR67WMGKQCS3FZjGTZ6u1SvwsnfTPiKPuScOH6CdBQbXkhFqmnnbVnCkT3-7O6o5njQTQw3b98z1u6xpNSNWU9aXpTpBGq-fIjK2X_O1brSOesPArBK-rywsiAJsYbhWpA7_A25ZvRRafwSNporMeZ9uTYRgXgb3FmDMsdR-Kw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jill Townsend aimed by Oliver Reed in SITTING TARGET Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When long-time locked-up convict Oliver Reed breaks out of prison to kill wife Jill St. John for getting pregnant without him, it seems a solo effort despite having a buddy right alongside since Ian McShane's his dead-ringer/doppelganger, and both seem like the same character, only one's younger, more shady and sexually-active while our volatile anti-hero's as determined and narrow-minded as Michael Caine from this film's obvious muse GET CARTER, only with far less last names/red herrings and a much simpler plot i.e. almost none at all...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which doesn't matter since the action, starting with a jailbreak reminiscent of a nail-biting World War II POW flick, occurs at all the right moments, including Reed darting through a downtown London apartment's clothesline, fighting off motorcycles sent by token constable Edward Woodward, who surprisingly has little screen-time or overall purpose...</p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, cult, douglas hickox, edward woodward, exploitation, frank finley, ian mcshane, jill st. john, jill townsend, oliver reed, revenge, robert beatty, seventies, tony beckley

DOUGLAS HICKOX DIRECTS OLIVER REED IN 'SITTING TARGET'

Jill Townsend aimed by Oliver Reed in SITTING TARGET Year: 1972 Rating: **** When long-time locked-up convict Oliver Reed breaks out of pris...

BRITISH STARLET CAROL WHITE WASHES UP ON 'HAWAII FIVE-0'

<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/AVvXsEiHXQt5Rl60C47w4lDD1UOl4vZoUzwMmn5WhhTmbW-cqZIyc-WlxqaG97QVV_aOEKwTNkOksJ_IOGSTOVJZEglD2DviqhnSvyqpnOnNSodTG6mkiEl7N1-4ZWgEKWmLLDs3ByTUMzz6npziE9-bEBXWFOfj7hZhkTeRPO7znb1pBishvRBZ66ZPLbg1-Q=s747" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="747" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHXQt5Rl60C47w4lDD1UOl4vZoUzwMmn5WhhTmbW-cqZIyc-WlxqaG97QVV_aOEKwTNkOksJ_IOGSTOVJZEglD2DviqhnSvyqpnOnNSodTG6mkiEl7N1-4ZWgEKWmLLDs3ByTUMzz6npziE9-bEBXWFOfj7hZhkTeRPO7znb1pBishvRBZ66ZPLbg1-Q=w400-h314" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Carol White on Hawaii Five-O from 1974</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British actress Carol White randomly turned up on the small screen after her 1960's movie career faded, from the Ken Loach exploitation POOR COW that followed his even more severe CATHY COMES HOME, both not only art-house but ultra-realistic, far from the mainstream unlike the careers of other full-lipped blonde beauties like Julie Christie and Susannah York, who Carol proceeded... But with the British New Wave at a crest, after co-starring in I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S'ISNAME with Oliver Reed and Orson Welles,  she sporadically appeared in a handful of avant garde films from her homeland England followed by family-oriented American television... </p><p>Before an innocuous episode of DIFF'RENT STROKES she had a much more befitting role as a gun moll secretly out to kill the man romancing her... targeting  Jack Lord on HAWAII FIVE-O in 1974's A GUN FOR McGARRET that... despite several male assassins of a island-monopolizing gangster... ultimately belongs to Carol, and, ironically, by this time, having shed about 15-pounds too much, she resembled an actress who'd wind up on the series' final season, Sharon Farrell, even more than herself... but this was perhaps the last edgy role for a actress who usually played edgy and tough, no-nonsense woman.  </p><p><span></span></p>

actress, carol white, crime, hawaii, jack lord, james maccarthur, seventies, TV

BRITISH STARLET CAROL WHITE WASHES UP ON 'HAWAII FIVE-0'

Carol White on Hawaii Five-O from 1974 British actress Carol White randomly turned up on the small screen after her 1960's movie career ...

BRITISH STARLET CAROL WHITE TURNS UP ON 'DIFF'RENT STROKES'

<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/a/AVvXsEgomWc27mIglVFkXIhHzku65xABCk4gUR-tAme2BhV1OGfQJEoGvBOAvekkTeUDsK8QJyLMNuwg47D11IOnkYvK4NzCZvXllLkdurbGj5i1XJrEmlb8JyIIHHzgIT7HQryN-m7BPxEF9p1VemwPYU7mGmZ0KPDFSZ_4pys6bu5s38FT0wEHbNJaFlbPTg=s795" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="795" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgomWc27mIglVFkXIhHzku65xABCk4gUR-tAme2BhV1OGfQJEoGvBOAvekkTeUDsK8QJyLMNuwg47D11IOnkYvK4NzCZvXllLkdurbGj5i1XJrEmlb8JyIIHHzgIT7HQryN-m7BPxEF9p1VemwPYU7mGmZ0KPDFSZ_4pys6bu5s38FT0wEHbNJaFlbPTg=w400-h305" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Carol White & Gary Coleman on Diff'rent Strokes in 1980</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1980, former British sexpot Carol White, who started the wave of full-lipped blondes from Julie Christie to Susannah York to Judy Geeson, appeared on the family sitcom DIFF'RENT STROKES... random for a seemingly semi-retired actress known for playing troubled girls ranging from NEVER LET GO to POOR COW.... </p><p></p><p></p><p>On DIFF'RENT STROKES her penultimate (and last television) role has her dining with "old friend" Philip Drummond at a fancy restaurant, only to be constantly interrupted by phone calls from THE SLUMBER PARTY back home that includes <i>original </i>cast members of THE FACTS OF LIFE... </p><p>And much like this episode's crossover guest-star Molly Ringwald, Carol starting out a child actress... Beginning in 1949 and continuing throughout the 1950's, she gained genuine attention during the British New Wave with a small part in THE BOYS (as the one girl they all want) to her co-starring turn opposite Oliver Reed in I'LL NEVER FORGET WHAT'S'IS'NAME... And, decades later, following a HAWAII FIVE-O episode right before STROKES, her career ended after an indie adaptation of NUTCRACKER, after which she died (far too young) in 1991, of liver disease. And although she had many vices during the 1980's, she still looked fantastic. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

actress, british, carol white, conrad bain, eighties, gary coleman, todd bridges, TV

BRITISH STARLET CAROL WHITE TURNS UP ON 'DIFF'RENT STROKES'

Carol White & Gary Coleman on Diff'rent Strokes in 1980 In 1980, former British sexpot Carol White, who started the wave of full-lip...

BLAKE EDWARDS REDIRECTS 'GUNN' STARRING CRAIG STEVENS

<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="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvuN9YXE868Z5c4jZLxaTcjNg8Z8rA4iJtedNkABlNvqa5JYhjbVf6HPK9gF534LOU8n4ka4oj7ABiy6MYaaaEdWM4V48Hc6uVFgcBsshSkSS6UySB2fV9wUPPRZoUzKxvc_Tgx2Rjt2dzFmXQXzOkHBzq0RJwmbnnvM6txhztHtqqxjNLvZyQX8b8Uw=s1429" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="1429" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvuN9YXE868Z5c4jZLxaTcjNg8Z8rA4iJtedNkABlNvqa5JYhjbVf6HPK9gF534LOU8n4ka4oj7ABiy6MYaaaEdWM4V48Hc6uVFgcBsshSkSS6UySB2fV9wUPPRZoUzKxvc_Tgx2Rjt2dzFmXQXzOkHBzq0RJwmbnnvM6txhztHtqqxjNLvZyQX8b8Uw=w400-h313" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: GUNN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A womanizing 1950's playboy (who does little work for ladies to throw themselves his way) in the late-1960's Sexual Revolution is like an established multimillionaire winning the lottery... And in the case of fifty-year-old Craig Stevens returning into his PETER GUNN role for creator/director Blake Edwards' GUNN, it's what's expected and... even with original singer Lola Albright's Edie replaced by a less natural (or attractive) Laura Devon... GUNN makes for a decent Bond Clone despite the TV-series proceeding 007 cinema... </p><p>Yet most likely the popular spy franchise was Edwards' reason to revisit this kind of fun-flowing investigation, now more twisty espionage and in color as opposed to the televised B&W; and that show's jazzy nightclub's a slow-groove random backstop instead of an uptempo mainstay while the action sequences are effective and suspenseful, creatively-shot yet far too sporadic with our resilient, often vulnerable anti-hero, now a stone-faced Jack Webb monotone who, backed by a grouchy Ed Asner, is dealing with the mob who killed his friend, now after him... But the token hot young girl adds the real heart in quirky and neurotic brunette Sherry Jackson: her zesty presence noticeably ages our hero, yet she could have been the sole GUNN girl and, despite only a few scenes, she's far more into the movie than anyone else on board, including old Pete.</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/a/AVvXsEg0JvKqN5Q2tjzj7ICzUo27eAYEQxQT0lBCnh-SfdFzH7gSF1nWxLTBJdeqmGC0_crIGvBb-5gQ18DzM1Nq6c24Oj50bCefxrbkgA-SVp8ClRLGZPHOs6uZzroa6JMx2f1kj7UxX80jRx-_k4hMWgc0KW4Hymm6wxu_Ly8SKhBOCrctjY8R9Qpo4Q_P0A=s911" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="911" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0JvKqN5Q2tjzj7ICzUo27eAYEQxQT0lBCnh-SfdFzH7gSF1nWxLTBJdeqmGC0_crIGvBb-5gQ18DzM1Nq6c24Oj50bCefxrbkgA-SVp8ClRLGZPHOs6uZzroa6JMx2f1kj7UxX80jRx-_k4hMWgc0KW4Hymm6wxu_Ly8SKhBOCrctjY8R9Qpo4Q_P0A=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sherry Jackson in Blake Edwards' GUNN</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEiERzCT_Vo42vtoLuvh6os-SJftCwO5pkISBZmC11z1XIuhQmspiisWmXOkGY4iOJg_plyBs1nvAveEbDhs6x__2O4FVveE6Z06Th4-zA-J7yWihWR543J5UyYoUnArRrKY93hRv3W5NGUt7gYNGbyaPLSPetuw3vqL39dGJNk3cpTY83ASLbcfHAG8eg=s923" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="448" data-original-width="923" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiERzCT_Vo42vtoLuvh6os-SJftCwO5pkISBZmC11z1XIuhQmspiisWmXOkGY4iOJg_plyBs1nvAveEbDhs6x__2O4FVveE6Z06Th4-zA-J7yWihWR543J5UyYoUnArRrKY93hRv3W5NGUt7gYNGbyaPLSPetuw3vqL39dGJNk3cpTY83ASLbcfHAG8eg=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Craig Stevens in GUNN</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEh1eCejWaivvtKNZb1vsak2BRS543_fhU_5he7cvRyhzc5VBfFztgfHR9ySashMYCo6DM7Fl46hNVJy3FuKEai-kKgwy-so0FSwYsixD5zpW317ND22pygcAk7G9ts8vH32FyvzVPuS9N1ltLhZTm56sJFAR6IfWSXT1lhUVptbGiAeLNqJpvNY7zUNCA=s1050" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="1050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh1eCejWaivvtKNZb1vsak2BRS543_fhU_5he7cvRyhzc5VBfFztgfHR9ySashMYCo6DM7Fl46hNVJy3FuKEai-kKgwy-so0FSwYsixD5zpW317ND22pygcAk7G9ts8vH32FyvzVPuS9N1ltLhZTm56sJFAR6IfWSXT1lhUVptbGiAeLNqJpvNY7zUNCA=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Craig Stevens in GUNN with Laura Devon<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEiH1rF8vGOp_ZcgozCP8lmJbBWRKYvJESlB7cmt9vADq3qGhaLKAvpCWPGivV6HzLt8960pTh__G6Y8OLxioRc_zJLZMyp5z6IscG1Z9o4oNWnnzd9gMoLLldwLymjAkv4wyBuJS4pVIXlbk6xWgjD7EXtdqdOKLjy6_DhFnlLzUVqON_yEpiNsYdw4dw=s1094" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1094" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiH1rF8vGOp_ZcgozCP8lmJbBWRKYvJESlB7cmt9vADq3qGhaLKAvpCWPGivV6HzLt8960pTh__G6Y8OLxioRc_zJLZMyp5z6IscG1Z9o4oNWnnzd9gMoLLldwLymjAkv4wyBuJS4pVIXlbk6xWgjD7EXtdqdOKLjy6_DhFnlLzUVqON_yEpiNsYdw4dw=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sherry Jackson as Samantha in GUNN </u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEgdY_kfMlDLGvNh0Xd5tyvdKFLrb-HFlwlbaZy8UvTGfLyQzjAk17Cz2OW89f3pEmCk-359wXTzifLPtCWi3zuLqqNivwQN5IeE8_Pf3OM3GSBOCf2MzWpvFAOnUfxHD_m-tJ5IcqLJZc55EGgrrix3w85RfyV7Tz2CisrbzBuXAksB4-yh-FYOyBPJfQ=s1054" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1054" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgdY_kfMlDLGvNh0Xd5tyvdKFLrb-HFlwlbaZy8UvTGfLyQzjAk17Cz2OW89f3pEmCk-359wXTzifLPtCWi3zuLqqNivwQN5IeE8_Pf3OM3GSBOCf2MzWpvFAOnUfxHD_m-tJ5IcqLJZc55EGgrrix3w85RfyV7Tz2CisrbzBuXAksB4-yh-FYOyBPJfQ=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Craig Stevens in GUNN</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEgUGVwBBivnKvLczfobwSpA-RECIEq7C0i-7CQLqrjFGHYNAXi1DDdx47FCvIHoty8gB4sBn2z9OqPUQETwjOTV8IGRe3mzG4Av9uKNZZ9pswRTN-2c3ZyHRvCLtCzLHf4D7lP2PslLldnKkCM0o_5iV1fpRSnOyoCYAAb-CoOkSGHw31isjp2xj7iUPg=s715" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="715" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgUGVwBBivnKvLczfobwSpA-RECIEq7C0i-7CQLqrjFGHYNAXi1DDdx47FCvIHoty8gB4sBn2z9OqPUQETwjOTV8IGRe3mzG4Av9uKNZZ9pswRTN-2c3ZyHRvCLtCzLHf4D7lP2PslLldnKkCM0o_5iV1fpRSnOyoCYAAb-CoOkSGHw31isjp2xj7iUPg=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Craig Stevens in Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEg9_Fb4KO3CGMfxUOW0S7BADbmDj-blwxs9ih4kmsnugYiaOdDfiJnJ4-JnBBU50GXFUsFlN1CxSR8RaFVBUbIT2SZYOiG0KoRg5ufvh164KYO05IZTbiy2-vxCwtBZobdZPo8f0kizy0-t_2BRu43saQRXOcZmFGqVl3j6q9EaoVRp2zavTBiywaVpZA=s1019" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1019" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9_Fb4KO3CGMfxUOW0S7BADbmDj-blwxs9ih4kmsnugYiaOdDfiJnJ4-JnBBU50GXFUsFlN1CxSR8RaFVBUbIT2SZYOiG0KoRg5ufvh164KYO05IZTbiy2-vxCwtBZobdZPo8f0kizy0-t_2BRu43saQRXOcZmFGqVl3j6q9EaoVRp2zavTBiywaVpZA=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lola Albright and Craig Stevens on the PETER GUNN series</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEjlhjyekDGDwzygabOxxxQkn6UmvBo6zhZLn57pKmQjDv5i1-EIPK2MvWls3nroFKajYO7-szyCZh7BuLHJbsQ9HlF3b8fg__Zj42RCxtUNJ-mGk3oQUn1MlfNnyjD-W2hmn_IN48I0_GWqgKTUYRP_JyWFDkTxJDwDgkXiwoxO6I2LHW88i3Qp_1LFrg=s713" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="713" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlhjyekDGDwzygabOxxxQkn6UmvBo6zhZLn57pKmQjDv5i1-EIPK2MvWls3nroFKajYO7-szyCZh7BuLHJbsQ9HlF3b8fg__Zj42RCxtUNJ-mGk3oQUn1MlfNnyjD-W2hmn_IN48I0_GWqgKTUYRP_JyWFDkTxJDwDgkXiwoxO6I2LHW88i3Qp_1LFrg=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sherry Jackson in GUNN</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEid4T2DvQjhpr0HwezFVA_W469alv2LziYJX9QJs_hplWTfcvEWt271XV9WRjO7ACEe7R-hJFUEdvg8VCk0O0Zo7EhetEndxWEVpultyqhzT1FLES_RkkKyRaXGPFlsWaN1vSRqBs2b0GjCG4K9JBB15-kZfsKIuelHNoBGXFRuaxLEeadT9BKTA0slfg=s1055" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="530" data-original-width="1055" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEid4T2DvQjhpr0HwezFVA_W469alv2LziYJX9QJs_hplWTfcvEWt271XV9WRjO7ACEe7R-hJFUEdvg8VCk0O0Zo7EhetEndxWEVpultyqhzT1FLES_RkkKyRaXGPFlsWaN1vSRqBs2b0GjCG4K9JBB15-kZfsKIuelHNoBGXFRuaxLEeadT9BKTA0slfg=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Laura Devon jazz-singing through GUNN</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><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/a/AVvXsEjP5qgmF0XnILiLtwT3ljGz16Qf8pRvqhaOIk08ophuEvjDKfTn17N2eF-LT4pml66b6Ay4t3qO__dOL0rMg-_fgmSG9pm-2NUTf1ymTF2AWEt4_0jAGJoUeuEoSgZGL_mH8H9h3TDQHblouCeylAulZG-Oli69um5X_Zod8s-u5YyTEWLtq7kKeAY5TQ=s702" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="702" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjP5qgmF0XnILiLtwT3ljGz16Qf8pRvqhaOIk08ophuEvjDKfTn17N2eF-LT4pml66b6Ay4t3qO__dOL0rMg-_fgmSG9pm-2NUTf1ymTF2AWEt4_0jAGJoUeuEoSgZGL_mH8H9h3TDQHblouCeylAulZG-Oli69um5X_Zod8s-u5YyTEWLtq7kKeAY5TQ=s16000" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Craig Stevens and Sherry Jackson in GUNN</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

action, blake edwards, craig stevens, ed asner, franchise, gumshoe, mob, neo noir, sherry jackson, sixties

BLAKE EDWARDS REDIRECTS 'GUNN' STARRING CRAIG STEVENS

Title: GUNN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 A womanizing 1950's playboy (who does little work for ladies to throw themselves his way) in the l...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S TECHNICOLOR NOIR OF 'VIOLENT SATURDAY'

<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/a/AVvXsEgV9O2cSvkhVH3Ax92pH96gz27hbl0Xt428-nHQ1EPC1NaMZQemrA8xGUFQLEz_huO0wzVbsEDFp4ovUSJ1NECZL1qCgM4PqkC7JmtDFWUphDDs54txfC9z4-gRqg2iPUNQME7wTAu3oJgCQ0GZftKFqskvjYSBdB0b4jrjeoT9dUK-9Q9ZdkWnm3txbg=s775" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="333" data-original-width="775" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgV9O2cSvkhVH3Ax92pH96gz27hbl0Xt428-nHQ1EPC1NaMZQemrA8xGUFQLEz_huO0wzVbsEDFp4ovUSJ1NECZL1qCgM4PqkC7JmtDFWUphDDs54txfC9z4-gRqg2iPUNQME7wTAu3oJgCQ0GZftKFqskvjYSBdB0b4jrjeoT9dUK-9Q9ZdkWnm3txbg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lee Marvin and Sylvia Sidney wrestle through the robbery in VIOLENT SATURDAY Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Richard Fleischer crafted a tight, sparse noir also replete with enough paperback melodrama for a dozen Douglas Sirk features, which <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/V-sat.html">VIOLENT SATURDAY</a> resembles but only from either close-up or afar...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The first because of the soapy situations like a cheating wife or a husband (not hers') who's son seems to hate him... and the latter from the vibrant technicolor cinematography of an Arizona small town, richly contrasting from Fleischer's B&W urban Noirs THE CLAY PIGEON, FOLLOW ME QUIETLY and ARMORED CAR ROBBERY...</p><p><span></span></p>

crime, ensemble, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, j. carrol naish, lee marvin, love triangle, richard egan, richard fleischer, stephen mcnally, victor mature, virginia leith

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S TECHNICOLOR NOIR OF 'VIOLENT SATURDAY'

Lee Marvin and Sylvia Sidney wrestle through the robbery in VIOLENT SATURDAY Year: 1955 Rating: **** Richard Fleischer crafted a tight, spar...

JASON REITMAN'S NOSTALGIC 'GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE'

<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/a/AVvXsEgKa20lcUUu6EHof4LXIK1zHyi-h_99bFGQTHTr5e_ST8ZBMLYhJ2OGwjNNaP_OAYRYBC5cHdHeJq8uyLPp8B_QwDhfbM96A0veqwetSrBLK1XMsKgFYZAWpTBRpa2aSGm8dhs20vxDtwqKQ4J54EWO-WyU4CrQSa8thfpMzZHr7hQveb-bigVqiDAmuw=s1015" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="1015" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgKa20lcUUu6EHof4LXIK1zHyi-h_99bFGQTHTr5e_ST8ZBMLYhJ2OGwjNNaP_OAYRYBC5cHdHeJq8uyLPp8B_QwDhfbM96A0veqwetSrBLK1XMsKgFYZAWpTBRpa2aSGm8dhs20vxDtwqKQ4J54EWO-WyU4CrQSa8thfpMzZHr7hQveb-bigVqiDAmuw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The whole "Mary Sue" comparison is dated... a talented youngster with a built-in knowledge of everything who can do no wrong, right off the bat... but in GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE the token super-girl in the late Harold Ramis's late Egon's antisocial granddaughter Phoebe is not only the best character, she's the only one who <i>really</i> seems into the movie that director Jason son-of-Ivan Reitman has attempted to make...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A retro-driven Spielbergian adventure set in a modern day yet 1950's-style small town, with one of everything from a school to a diner to a hardware store to a jailhouse to a dusty main street, and Carrie Coon as Egon's abandoned daughter feels extremely <i>not</i> at home... </p><p><span></span></p>

2021, action, adventure, bill murray, carrie coon, comedy, dan aykroyd, ernie hudson, finn wolfhard, franchise, mckenna grace, new, paul rudd, science-fiction, sequel

JASON REITMAN'S NOSTALGIC 'GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE'

Title: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2 The whole "Mary Sue" comparison is dated... a talented youngster with a bu...

JACQUELINE ELLIS 'THE YELLOW TEDDY BEARS' ANNETTE WHITELEY

<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/a/AVvXsEg0vVzjoz0v17JMkwPi-9JI51_mQke38qqK9bcSA0bblogsNBRtSbeb3Q1rbExt0MI5iwHmXl8tC9utLV9Di8-ePGtenmj6wV_QbvR4F4ZRgXRZTv2xyYQmGULFsVu37ON39SgPPNOPic7nTD6O0yNS2nUSCxagtDhrvlbok8dpPBK4vkd8K2oi5P2Mag=s725" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="725" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0vVzjoz0v17JMkwPi-9JI51_mQke38qqK9bcSA0bblogsNBRtSbeb3Q1rbExt0MI5iwHmXl8tC9utLV9Di8-ePGtenmj6wV_QbvR4F4ZRgXRZTv2xyYQmGULFsVu37ON39SgPPNOPic7nTD6O0yNS2nUSCxagtDhrvlbok8dpPBK4vkd8K2oi5P2Mag=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jacqueline Ellis in THE YELLOW TEDDY BEARS Year: 1963 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With alternate titles THE THRILL SEEKERS and GUTTER GIRLS, even the actual name THE YELLOW TEDDY BEARS... pins that female students wear meaning they've been devirginized... is very misleading, and, what initially plays out a sexual cautionary tale for teenagers turns into a third-act lecture for adults <i>about</i> these kids... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So while ahead of its time, not only addressing abortion but showing <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/08/GOA.html">GIRL ON APPROVAL</a> rebel chick Annette Whiteley about to have one, the pace is uneven while progressively sympathetic teacher <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/jacqueline%20ellis">Jacqueline Ellis</a><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/jacqueline%20ellis"> (</a><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/hijackers.html">THE HI-JACKERS</a>)... who winds up in the same kind of "why even discuss such a thing with students?" predicament William Shatner landed in in THE EXPLOSIVE YEARS... seems more a guest star than lead...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

annette whiteley, british new wave, douglas sheldon, drama, georgina patterson, high school, hilary mason, iain gregory, jacqueline ellis, jill adams, sixties

JACQUELINE ELLIS 'THE YELLOW TEDDY BEARS' ANNETTE WHITELEY

Jacqueline Ellis in THE YELLOW TEDDY BEARS Year: 1963 Rating: **1/2 With alternate titles THE THRILL SEEKERS and GUTTER GIRLS, even the actu...

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS SIDNEY POITIER IN 'PRESSURE POINT'

<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/a/AVvXsEhURBLAEmK6BbxuezifbDlPGTDN1nbWHt8V9gCAxHk83Fh35MouB9hwhGY7X-m6sVRFS_B9slg3NjZq6q3uMRmfSq375uciK2OxFwpiURw6_4Oqu4DQiakVj25OQsgTl2Ii0pM0udsfyDAF6TKQWPt36RUq7l1NPQgrwZsxBLMutxSEjP2qRpNzWUxyGg=s903" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="903" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhURBLAEmK6BbxuezifbDlPGTDN1nbWHt8V9gCAxHk83Fh35MouB9hwhGY7X-m6sVRFS_B9slg3NjZq6q3uMRmfSq375uciK2OxFwpiURw6_4Oqu4DQiakVj25OQsgTl2Ii0pM0udsfyDAF6TKQWPt36RUq7l1NPQgrwZsxBLMutxSEjP2qRpNzWUxyGg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sidney Poitier in PRESSURE POINT Year: 1962 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Hubert Cornfield, the recently-departed acting legend Sidney Poitier starred in this psychological potboiler about a prison shrink batting heads with a full-blown Nazi sympathizer... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>An unapologetic self-proclaimed Anti-Semitic/White Supremacist who right off the bat considers President Roosevelt (neither Jewish or black) a no-good cripple during a flashback taking up most of the screen-time, so he's... well, opposite of a registered democrat... but made in 1961 what comes across as preachy-bias now was fairly new then, and part of Kramer's usual progressive teachable-moment forte...</p><p><span></span></p>

barry gordon, bobby darin, hubert cornfield, melodrama, noir noir, peter falk, prison, sidney poitier, sixties, stanley kramer

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS SIDNEY POITIER IN 'PRESSURE POINT'

Sidney Poitier in PRESSURE POINT Year: 1962 Rating: *** Produced by Stanley Kramer and directed by Hubert Cornfield, the recently-departed a...

CHARLES SAUNDERS & GUIDO COEN'S 'DANGEROUS AFTERNOON'

<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/a/AVvXsEh3rTW6QXKdVChlTuveANvyL0iPyMyIIWGp-9Xwv7Zr-zsQOHRruvT5Ntvgyi5rpoqHu_LTgm81KTFcG5aoUbBElz4-h2yEenqAaCCcFZ4FtciCQkOCnXEQNcV9r5SiL72SHqe2AAis8cDd2tqhUDjaJ5oKXkAlOq6rV6_uJW4mhrXyebyekuIr1QRBfw=s861" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="861" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh3rTW6QXKdVChlTuveANvyL0iPyMyIIWGp-9Xwv7Zr-zsQOHRruvT5Ntvgyi5rpoqHu_LTgm81KTFcG5aoUbBElz4-h2yEenqAaCCcFZ4FtciCQkOCnXEQNcV9r5SiL72SHqe2AAis8cDd2tqhUDjaJ5oKXkAlOq6rV6_uJW4mhrXyebyekuIr1QRBfw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joanna Dunham and Jackie Noble in DANGEROUS AFTERNOON Year: 1961 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another nifty crime programmer from the team of director Charles Saunders and producer Guido Coen, the makers of JUNGLE STREET GIRLS only the girls here are women... really old ones in a boarding house and all are ex-crooks, run by a crippled Ruth Denning with crafty expressions like she knows and has seen everything... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Contrasting to her naive artistic niece (actually daughter) played by quirky cute-as-a-button Joanna Dunham with equally attractive businessman husband Howard Pays (who co-starred in JUNGLE STREET with cameo Brian Weske)...</p><p><span></span></p>

brian weske, british neo noir, british new wave, charles saunders, crime, ensemble, guido coen, gwenda wilson, howard pays, joanna dunham, nora nicholson, ruth dunning, sixties

CHARLES SAUNDERS & GUIDO COEN'S 'DANGEROUS AFTERNOON'

Joanna Dunham and Jackie Noble in DANGEROUS AFTERNOON Year: 1961 Rates: *** Another nifty crime programmer from the team of director Charles...

BRITISH NEW WAVE CRIME MELODRAMA OF 'A MATTER OF CHOICE'

<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/a/AVvXsEgMjS25KjXkb2Ug3niSSvOceT5_21aeZv8rH69gJ2eTUql-k6dr2Si9pYGheNw_63cAovEe4dwHgfV33osfK2n8exysvlPnyma3TtzE8tkmxAkV00XemKy7Lk8Xkt1VXiObwLq-Dw9QN83p5Qra8R48dpjTNglwBuuZwJDCPzXdTxKbSPBSC19HvTDuWw=s1102" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="1102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMjS25KjXkb2Ug3niSSvOceT5_21aeZv8rH69gJ2eTUql-k6dr2Si9pYGheNw_63cAovEe4dwHgfV33osfK2n8exysvlPnyma3TtzE8tkmxAkV00XemKy7Lk8Xkt1VXiObwLq-Dw9QN83p5Qra8R48dpjTNglwBuuZwJDCPzXdTxKbSPBSC19HvTDuWw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Penny Morrell in A MATTER OF CHOICE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If A MATTER OF CHOICE didn't rely on the titular melodramatic fateful inevitability premise, it would more smoothly summarize the British New Wave of the 1960's, liken to THE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE RUNNER had Tom Courtenay and James Bolam never been arrested since the best scenes involve two young men just hanging out... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Herein lifted from Leopold and Loeb-inspired ROPE and COMPULSION as these fellas seem more interested in each other than women... and their goal to find the perfect chick's more a dare than possible conquest...  </p><p><span></span></p>

anthony steel, british neo noir, british new wave, ensemble, jazz score, lisa peake, malcolm gerard, marie noël, melodrama, penny morrell, sixties

BRITISH NEW WAVE CRIME MELODRAMA OF 'A MATTER OF CHOICE'

Penny Morrell in A MATTER OF CHOICE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 If A MATTER OF CHOICE didn't rely on the titular melodramatic fateful inev...

RIP THE FIRST TRUE MOVIE GEEK DIRECTOR PETER BOGDANOVICH

<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/a/AVvXsEgVfo6mIzA1qgfJEId2lJBw1LFZSkY0Lqb3ks3i_pPzRsH4t-OlC0TxEMOHzs864wPct8pcKA4T-XFD48wDxr1KDOHOTUIALVpgzl0B6Icg9UYg1nEu0LkiiSK9gNykCQbEgKC-eDLCg8jGSwhM97f1IuOX55tjVU8QvRSTRJyxpkEN_RICsPu6ZNbGPg=s1074" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgVfo6mIzA1qgfJEId2lJBw1LFZSkY0Lqb3ks3i_pPzRsH4t-OlC0TxEMOHzs864wPct8pcKA4T-XFD48wDxr1KDOHOTUIALVpgzl0B6Icg9UYg1nEu0LkiiSK9gNykCQbEgKC-eDLCg8jGSwhM97f1IuOX55tjVU8QvRSTRJyxpkEN_RICsPu6ZNbGPg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Bogdanovich directs himself in SAINT JACK circa 1979</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The late <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/05/StJack.html">PETER BOGDANOVICH</a> started out writing <i>about</i> films before making them, and, predating the cinema-loving likes of John Landis, Joe Dante or Quentin Tarantino, he was the first bonafide retro-minded movie geek wherein his debut TARGETS is one of the first pop-culture-referencing semi-meta vehicles (both Boris Karloff and Peter basically playing themselves using different names)... </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 he befriended the very legends he wrote about from groundbreaking auteurs Howard Hawks to John Ford to Alfred Hitchcock to Sam Fuller (who he's named after in TARGETS) and most famously Orson Welles... </p><p><span></span></p>

boris karloff, memorial, peter bogdanovich, seventies, sixties

RIP THE FIRST TRUE MOVIE GEEK DIRECTOR PETER BOGDANOVICH

Peter Bogdanovich directs himself in SAINT JACK circa 1979 The late PETER BOGDANOVICH started out writing about films before making them, ...

FLASHBACK TO WARNER'S AIRLINE DISASTER 'THE CROWDED SKY'

<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/a/AVvXsEgr0Go00JeSiHKuoMsy1gxTK2ovvWC6li1iVwtOFpY5CORI5Iyt6bE7mlc6o3RzTCNHE9ihwz_ZUwXRnY6HLBhVt8VNTU1l48IP25SDYKMUSFaikjcolCBo2gBwXWXXbcYpSw9ROzxHBFV6545xjCqcYRnxend0q9BVC3M78Ushs9smCyj-aLKab9x69A=s2645" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="2645" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgr0Go00JeSiHKuoMsy1gxTK2ovvWC6li1iVwtOFpY5CORI5Iyt6bE7mlc6o3RzTCNHE9ihwz_ZUwXRnY6HLBhVt8VNTU1l48IP25SDYKMUSFaikjcolCBo2gBwXWXXbcYpSw9ROzxHBFV6545xjCqcYRnxend0q9BVC3M78Ushs9smCyj-aLKab9x69A=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE CROWDED SKY Year: 1960 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one of the most bizarre airplane disaster films, Dana Andrews, fresh from playing the original Ted Stryker in ZERO HOUR that, decades later, became AIRPLANE, flies again only this time on purpose as his commercial jet and its passengers are juxtaposed by two Navy men on a peace-time 1960 jet-fighter mission to Washington D. C. simply because the youngest, Troy Donahue, needs to see his girl... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Navy lifer Efrem Zimbalist Jr is tumbling from a bad marriage with Technicolor Queen Rhonda Fleming, second-billed despite never boarding either the big or small destined-to-collide vehicle but given sporadic flashbacks (featuring sulky daughter Karen Green) from her husband's winsome reveries...</p><p><span></span></p>

anne francis, dana andrews, disaster, efrem zimbalist jr., joe mantell, john kerr, joseph pevney, keenan wynn, melodrama, rhonda fleming, romance, sixties, troy donahue, warner archives

FLASHBACK TO WARNER'S AIRLINE DISASTER 'THE CROWDED SKY'

Title: THE CROWDED SKY Year: 1960 Rating: **** In one of the most bizarre airplane disaster films, Dana Andrews, fresh from playing the orig...

KIRK DOUGLAS IN 'CATCH ME A SPY' WITH TOM COURTENAY

<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/a/AVvXsEiJAaoFnbtb1X2GpjJFfSyZrJu077DEk7dyX4YtiZNioNOUkpHNhj_CBCJjr9tUVWsCSCGfmyxxCG0Z4WVYtOmA7qwpsRGEA3S-IQxwfJWOx_PH07IAnVgeWpIRY2NY15-Rteo1EN5ZkX4dDEa6Y1lH0a31n312SVEsxWbyg8TRtsaWDRSXAydMEq-Qvw=s880" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="880" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiJAaoFnbtb1X2GpjJFfSyZrJu077DEk7dyX4YtiZNioNOUkpHNhj_CBCJjr9tUVWsCSCGfmyxxCG0Z4WVYtOmA7qwpsRGEA3S-IQxwfJWOx_PH07IAnVgeWpIRY2NY15-Rteo1EN5ZkX4dDEa6Y1lH0a31n312SVEsxWbyg8TRtsaWDRSXAydMEq-Qvw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlène Jobert with Kirk Douglas and Trevor Howard in CATCH ME A SPY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one scene where French starlet Marlène Jobert plugs her nose for a mousy-sounding voice to thwart cat-and-mouse counterpart Kirk Douglas, it's actually less annoying than her real one... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But she's super cute, probably all that mattered to director Dick Clement in his spy-spoof followup to the spy-spoof <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/02/otley.html">OTLEY</a> that starred Tom Cortenay in his <span class="ILfuVd"><span class="hgKElc">penultimate </span></span> big-screen role until THE DRESSER... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, british, comedy, dick clement, garfield morgan, john thaw, kirk douglas, marlene jobert, seventies, spoof, spy, tom courtenay, trevor howard

KIRK DOUGLAS IN 'CATCH ME A SPY' WITH TOM COURTENAY

Marlène Jobert with Kirk Douglas and Trevor Howard in CATCH ME A SPY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2 In one scene where French starlet Marlène Jobe...

MANY HORROR/TERROR TROPES OF 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'BLOOD TIDE'

<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/a/AVvXsEjqqhv_K7PdNSTmuf0L5q2hJY-d2OVsMHDq5t7wrTjIowr-2O0sTKwL21E4sMuojmGzmqT8-DBLRSjlyESBPFWCO9ERJEE40QiENrpeefZXbVn8myHi7oBSON5dJ6KclMFnrDDHZB4qHxyTF591kUZxQ-EQ9CH53OgDRE3l2NseYFvpcWMxeZv6CPau5Q=s934" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="934" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqqhv_K7PdNSTmuf0L5q2hJY-d2OVsMHDq5t7wrTjIowr-2O0sTKwL21E4sMuojmGzmqT8-DBLRSjlyESBPFWCO9ERJEE40QiENrpeefZXbVn8myHi7oBSON5dJ6KclMFnrDDHZB4qHxyTF591kUZxQ-EQ9CH53OgDRE3l2NseYFvpcWMxeZv6CPau5Q=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Martin Kove and James Earl Jones in BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Long-neglected and newly-restored BLOODTIDE is a hybrid of several horror/thriller types, from deadly sea creature to underwater treasure hunting to creepy village full of spooked locals (led by Jose Ferrer) with dark secrets...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>One involves a cover-up, but only because American couple Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller entered the Greek island in the first place, seeking his sister (and plot-McGuffin) Deborah Shelton, an oddball/artistic brunette beauty contrasting the blondes also including Lydia Cornell, girlfriend of James Earl Jones...</p><p><span></span></p>

creature, deborah shelton, eighties, ensemble, exploitation, gothic, horror, island, james earl jones, jaws-clone, jose ferrer, lila kedrova, lydia cornell, martin kove, mary-louise weller, treasure

MANY HORROR/TERROR TROPES OF 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'BLOOD TIDE'

Martin Kove and James Earl Jones in BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2 Long-neglected and newly-restored BLOODTIDE is a hybrid of several h...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR DANA ANDREWS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

<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/a/AVvXsEgvFH8xaOgwDyogJaen6lelhKPof8eShLSQxphoUB-1Dgu4i6-DiYey-9_b_jgjICLffv8KoyFHOJNZlcVLoGtfe5D1dl8SN1ogX3VtrukdGR0ftlrMCHF1szQ4YFvKPQ9Gorln3B_hOWJxX931_XT2TLlq4H5WKkWX7OqcYJvLilNaU79Vfk1fYdWCPg=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="865" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvFH8xaOgwDyogJaen6lelhKPof8eShLSQxphoUB-1Dgu4i6-DiYey-9_b_jgjICLffv8KoyFHOJNZlcVLoGtfe5D1dl8SN1ogX3VtrukdGR0ftlrMCHF1szQ4YFvKPQ9Gorln3B_hOWJxX931_XT2TLlq4H5WKkWX7OqcYJvLilNaU79Vfk1fYdWCPg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews from SPY IN YOUR EYE</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Birthday of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">DANA ANDREWS</a> as the new year begins; our personal favorite actor here, we cover just about everything Dana's ever starred or appeared in, whether from the big or small screen ranging from Westerns to War to Noir...<br></p><p>From his rudimentary secondary-leads to leading-man roles to formidable villains with that ever-deepening mellifluous voice, there's no other point for this particular entry but to say both Happy Birthday <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews </a>and Happy New Year from Cult Film Freak, to everybody. </p><p><span></span></p>

dana andrews, dianne foster, fifties, forties, holiday, marilee earle, sixties, teresa wright

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FOR DANA ANDREWS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Dana Andrews from SPY IN YOUR EYE Birthday of DANA ANDREWS as the new year begins; our personal favorite actor here, we cover just about ev...

KICKING FRONT THROUGH THE FOURTH SEASON OF 'COBRA KAI'

<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/a/AVvXsEiiAPxg4QPwWQuQmpdjiwEftlBpkNpuvW_Ivc3UEeoqBtY9czSZn5CsPQqJN-NDFHdi7Egg1XXiuGLaP1zXsdCNO9FHw1lR5cVxCX3vj3WeindoycBts5I35NYHVKLAXXz5xkbFIA4HHMGEcNw7F7nGeKL_ZA-C-mLXcgVGDA0sURB4GvZ055bRCH5u4g=s907" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="907" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiiAPxg4QPwWQuQmpdjiwEftlBpkNpuvW_Ivc3UEeoqBtY9czSZn5CsPQqJN-NDFHdi7Egg1XXiuGLaP1zXsdCNO9FHw1lR5cVxCX3vj3WeindoycBts5I35NYHVKLAXXz5xkbFIA4HHMGEcNw7F7nGeKL_ZA-C-mLXcgVGDA0sURB4GvZ055bRCH5u4g=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Zabka and a Coors Banquet in COBRA KAI Season Four DATE: December 31 2021 Overall Season SCORE: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Right before 2022, Netflix's Season Four of COBRA KAI has dropped, and for a show with mostly great seasons it's by far the worst... which is like the weakest album of a band that's had only exceptional ones... The main problem being the main antagonist in Martin Kove's John Creese having to share the titular dojo with the USA-Channel-style co-sensei-villain from the horrendously awful and infamous third <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/01/waxing-on-karate-kid-franchise.html">KARATE KID</a>... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Ironically, whenever Ralph Macchio's Daniel LaRusso mentions that particular timeline (usually the failed Banzai Tree store as compared to his successful car lot) he shakes his head in sheer disbelief (almost as if, say, THE GODFATHER III were remade with Robert Duvall alongside George Hamilton)... </p><span></span>

2021, action, binging, cobra kai, franchise, karate, martin kove, netflix, new, ralph macchio, thomas ian griffith, william zabka

KICKING FRONT THROUGH THE FOURTH SEASON OF 'COBRA KAI'

William Zabka and a Coors Banquet in COBRA KAI Season Four DATE: December 31 2021 Overall Season SCORE: *** Right before 2022, Netflix's...

LEONARDO DICAPRIO & JENNFER LAWRENCE IN 'DON'T LOOK UP'

<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/a/AVvXsEhKBUqVcHUrtxZIJSoXj2eo3JIA2FVB1tytNFO6wvbh9nZ4c6YZP6y37W1Po3T6lwFHBcx00jUWIM3AcsiDO2cZrQe4Do2Ms0oatx4BY2qJNRy5LxGW8X8mVVWHYyDW_UJSqA31x3a8Pj8oPIuvZf9btX0h9XBVXTDbHqOUaKzQ7d42fxiWKePC-IKwSA=s1692" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="1692" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhKBUqVcHUrtxZIJSoXj2eo3JIA2FVB1tytNFO6wvbh9nZ4c6YZP6y37W1Po3T6lwFHBcx00jUWIM3AcsiDO2cZrQe4Do2Ms0oatx4BY2qJNRy5LxGW8X8mVVWHYyDW_UJSqA31x3a8Pj8oPIuvZf9btX0h9XBVXTDbHqOUaKzQ7d42fxiWKePC-IKwSA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DON'T LOOK UP Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Adam McKay's DON'T LOOK UP is as much a satire of <span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">the gigantic-falling-space-rock-about-to-destroy-Earth DEEP IMPACT and ARMAGEDDON as MARS ATTACKS was to INDEPENDENCE DAY, and the anticipated political bias by the unapologetic liberal director isn't completely one-sided since capitalistic big-tech Mark Rylance channels mousy Covid guru Dr. Anthony Fauci </span><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">— while Meryl Streep's intentionally-vapid female American President suffers a nude-text scandal liken to New York's once-beloved Democrat Anthony Weiner... </span></p><p></p><p></p><p><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading">But the two genuine main-characters are both intensely camera-shy, awkwardly idealistic, science-minded astronomers, one a student the other academically-legit in Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio respectively (the latter falling into what aging sex symbols rely on when the movie itself has to continuously mention how handsome they are)...</span></p><p><span aria-level="1" class="yKMVIe" role="heading"><span></span></span></p>

2021, ada mckay, disaster, jennifer lawrence, leonardo dicaprio, mark rylance, meryl streep, netflix, new, political, satire

LEONARDO DICAPRIO & JENNFER LAWRENCE IN 'DON'T LOOK UP'

Title: DON'T LOOK UP Year: 2021 Rating: **1/2 Adam McKay's DON'T LOOK UP is as much a satire of the gigantic-falling-space-rock-...

JAMES CAGNEY'S GRAND NATIONAL 'SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT'

<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/AVvXsEhWAvfkUucK9w2XhBk8RzLtEEUqOP8aFUVcYRWusDGnFi7-aHhe4cyB-9YIzyVmlycsSPADxSyhN_AA37BCI8b-a8qbyGn080eP2xpWVY7-H-5eg-pfGUK-EVmwih0fbPAAfBAyZDg47MoOSc2rwbFeBP6WnHOJMtQcWr4t6c7tQUWwGaA-WAAlFXhy7g=s701" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="701" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhWAvfkUucK9w2XhBk8RzLtEEUqOP8aFUVcYRWusDGnFi7-aHhe4cyB-9YIzyVmlycsSPADxSyhN_AA37BCI8b-a8qbyGn080eP2xpWVY7-H-5eg-pfGUK-EVmwih0fbPAAfBAyZDg47MoOSc2rwbFeBP6WnHOJMtQcWr4t6c7tQUWwGaA-WAAlFXhy7g=w400-h323" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Something to Sing About Year: 1937 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The better of the two and the last picture Cagney did with the independent Grand National Pictures after GREAT GUY before returning to Warner Bros where he got to play by his own rules is SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT, showcasing Cagney's dynamic ability as a song and dance man with his own East Coast big band swing show...  </p><p></p><p>This is one of the earliest makings of a movie-within-a-movie to poke fun at the phony shenanigans centering on the hypocrisy and downside of Hollywood... </p><p>A shallow place Cagney's character wants nothing to do with the further he progresses on set in a star-making role as a smooth, romantic, crooning leading man. And for Universal Horror Fans it's great seeing Dwight Frye, in his second Cagney picture: Frye played Renfield in DRACULA, stealing the movie from Bela Lugosi himself, and Dr. Frankenstein's loony, hunchback assistant (who isn't named Igor) in FRANKENSTEIN and here a suspiciously feminine" makeup artist — something you probably wouldn't see so upfront and obvious during the Hays Code. But the real standout is Philip Ahn, a kind of stereotypical Chinese assistant who eventually shows he knows more than he lets on...   </p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEihADTVhCQyGi17PFWnjacMwp1xPbmJdmQj70LvfnQLFP1PEmn14nED7nQETkRkDWomeDHGvtum9UjWNyAtsI-P9nDfDNdym9hzP5x7o2-1TURo8Z3ruqQGZ1sY433LjTfYC6fHknZGRKta6QNdaUyJmRiQL2-x9XVGvk--IzkfaL0bHKvp6XH5qLTT1A=s823" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="468" data-original-width="823" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEihADTVhCQyGi17PFWnjacMwp1xPbmJdmQj70LvfnQLFP1PEmn14nED7nQETkRkDWomeDHGvtum9UjWNyAtsI-P9nDfDNdym9hzP5x7o2-1TURo8Z3ruqQGZ1sY433LjTfYC6fHknZGRKta6QNdaUyJmRiQL2-x9XVGvk--IzkfaL0bHKvp6XH5qLTT1A=w400-h228" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney goes big for Grand National Pictures</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The plot shadows an earlier Cagney programmer from Warner titled LADY KILLER where he plays a con man/thief on the lam, winding up an Extra on a studio lot and then becomes an overnight star on the big screen... </p><p></p><p>Only here he has practically no fun at all, leading to a dragged-out finale about this dream job turned nightmare nearly ruining his marriage...  </p><p></p><p>In a film without a genuine antagonist, I LOVE LUCY landlord neighbor William Frawley is a sneaky agent who plays up to the media that his client is having a possible affair with the movie's movie starlet, who can't hold a candle to singing actress Evelyn Daw: that marriage, according to his contract and to appease female fans, has to be kept secret. Like any lighthearted romantic comedy, the initial breezy setup is the most fun while the task of fulfilling a buried plot detours slowly into a dead end. Still though, as a whole, the movie works just fine.</p><p><span></span></p>

dwight frye, hollywood satire, james cagney, musical, philip ahn, thirties, william frawley

JAMES CAGNEY'S GRAND NATIONAL 'SOMETHING TO SING ABOUT'

Something to Sing About Year: 1937 Rating: ***1/2 The better of the two and the last picture Cagney did with the independent Grand National ...

JAMES CAGNEY IN 'FRISCO KID' WITH MARGARET LINDSAY

<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/AVvXsEj-52KXpD3y8osOJ2sVhnho3EH5Ora_MwqV0r9cy7K6LOQ8ct7iup3uohpts314obzljRlqXYL4aLWOLZTjf0qTDRaQZaGsxpehViwxwq_OS_ZB07BUWNrF2Hv3BufkmPjNNJHE4JBS-yhT9vFY9QJIafm83wQbKYbZ4EYgtZxXRA1R8A5N7-emZHMvcQ=s746" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="746" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj-52KXpD3y8osOJ2sVhnho3EH5Ora_MwqV0r9cy7K6LOQ8ct7iup3uohpts314obzljRlqXYL4aLWOLZTjf0qTDRaQZaGsxpehViwxwq_OS_ZB07BUWNrF2Hv3BufkmPjNNJHE4JBS-yhT9vFY9QJIafm83wQbKYbZ4EYgtZxXRA1R8A5N7-emZHMvcQ=w400-h271" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1935 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the more severe early James Cagney features features Cagney as a character with a name so tough, once he's almost shanghaied in San Fransisco's 19th Century cutthroat/bar-brawling territory, you just know that new-guy-in-town "Bat Morgan" will get his revenge, and then some...</p><p></p><p>And that <i>some</i> is the kind of "let's band together to make one unbreakable monopolizing outfit" that occurs in just about every gangster flick that FRISCO KID is a time-period version of... </p><p>With either extremely shady or friendly characters surrounding our initially sympathetic turned determined casino-owner, from big boss Barton MacClane's hook-hand henchman The Shanghai Duck to gambler Ricardo Cortez as Cagney's backstabbing second to an affable sidekick to classy ingenue Margaret Lindsay flanked by token idealist Donald Woods (foreshadowing THE ROARING TWENTIES Paul Kelly, Humphrey Bogart, Frank McHugh, Patricia Lane and Jeffrey Lynn respectively); the latter a newspaperman ready to stomp the unlawful shenanigans that Cagney's Morgan is only partially responsible for, providing yet another "crime doesn't pay" plot-line that needed more levity climbing to that inevitably unsteady pinnacle... only this time it's all pretty serious business.  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, classic gangster, donald woods, george e. stone, james cagney, margaret lindsay, ricordo cortez, thirties, time period

JAMES CAGNEY IN 'FRISCO KID' WITH MARGARET LINDSAY

Year: 1935 Rating: ***1/2 One of the more severe early James Cagney features features Cagney as a character with a name so tough, once he...

STANLEY KUBRICK'S PARANOIAC FILM NOIR OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

<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/a/AVvXsEggKbgavRlx8RIsE4_bzFwb1l0stWYK0261BW1EUz6g5W4_CxtQnQ7h5ko6p1bgTvyWSpkEke1EGkz3L3HxnB_Qbmu-dpkIuZWv8SBswpCSdaTfXaDbmDFHf-3F7j-PXN5AwrMR2axWt0fwAXgH7BvvJ0MBPGLSlV9o0ur9vlFU2iBp3xSzirvRR4Vp2w=s1043" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="498" data-original-width="1043" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEggKbgavRlx8RIsE4_bzFwb1l0stWYK0261BW1EUz6g5W4_CxtQnQ7h5ko6p1bgTvyWSpkEke1EGkz3L3HxnB_Qbmu-dpkIuZWv8SBswpCSdaTfXaDbmDFHf-3F7j-PXN5AwrMR2axWt0fwAXgH7BvvJ0MBPGLSlV9o0ur9vlFU2iBp3xSzirvRR4Vp2w=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT Year: 1999 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood... <i>Misunderspised</i> is not a word but fits the subliminally insane, intensely mellow and tortuously strange EYES WIDE SHUT that, too slow for a thriller and too tame for sheer outright sexual exploitation, is the final feature of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick and stars Tom Cruise as a seemingly perfect Manhattan doctor with a seemingly contented wife in Nicole Kidman...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p> Beginning with a plush (yet secretly lush) party thrown by Cruise's millionaire "house calls" patient Sydney Pollock, who later partakes in a terrific finale monologue, both men playing a game of fancy red-velvet pool while discussing an earlier upscale, mansion-set, masquerade orgy that Cruise's Dr. William Harford character should <i>not</i> have attended...</p><span></span>

christmas, epic, marie richardson, melodrama, neo noir, nicole kidman, nineties, stanley kubrick, sydney pollock, todd field, tom cruise

STANLEY KUBRICK'S PARANOIAC FILM NOIR OF 'EYES WIDE SHUT'

Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick's EYES WIDE SHUT Year: 1999 Rating: ***1/2 Some films seem created to be despised and misunderstood... Mis...

EARLY JAMES CAGNEY MILITARY COMEDY 'HERE COMES THE NAVY'

<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/a/AVvXsEg_gkxTUoOsREc705RQ3cSGDY2r1Ap69VvBgVirEAaeoP2AUFPkBnfEicOrN2jkE3kvf1JwU-FhJqzXTvWNoAHkl1SzylVFETG5-UA3Ob8Inj2t4nAPplmb4SRWlTg503tdJJBFHinUmgFAaQi9qX3-MQ_waN-SZr_4l3onOz96E-WSKgvcfb2j296J8Q=s531" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="458" data-original-width="531" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_gkxTUoOsREc705RQ3cSGDY2r1Ap69VvBgVirEAaeoP2AUFPkBnfEicOrN2jkE3kvf1JwU-FhJqzXTvWNoAHkl1SzylVFETG5-UA3Ob8Inj2t4nAPplmb4SRWlTg503tdJJBFHinUmgFAaQi9qX3-MQ_waN-SZr_4l3onOz96E-WSKgvcfb2j296J8Q=w400-h345" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR: 1934 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>James Cagney as feisty construction worker/dance-contest running Chesty O'Brien has a row with Navy braggart Pat O'Brien, so he joins-up to simply punch out his rival in Lloyd Bacon's HERE COMES THE NAVY, another early Cagney programmer, here with most of the screen-time onboard the doomed/legendary U.S.S. Arizona aircraft carrier, in 1934...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Cagney, along with his usual tubby comic-relief sidekick Frank McHugh, meet up in a 90-day boot camp that flies by too quickly.... </p><p>But with HERE COMES THE NAVY, featuring bad (as in flirtatious two-timing) dancing girl Dorothy Tree followed by the token perfect girl <i>who just happens to be O'Brien's little sister</i> Gloria Stuart predictably falling for Cagney yet in an equally mutual fashion, the best scenes showcase how Chesty cuts corners onboard the Arizona, from taking an illegal liberty to working extremely hard to NOT have to work as hard as everyone else... That's until the inevitable tables turn and Cagney goes from snarky clown to intrepid hero, equally a stretch to how and why he'd joined in the first place... but it's all lightweight fare with the resilient young Cagney once again making pure adventure out of just a few locations.  <br></p><span></span>

action, adventure, comedy, dorothy tree, frank mchugh, gloria stuart, james cagney, military, pat o'brien, thirties

EARLY JAMES CAGNEY MILITARY COMEDY 'HERE COMES THE NAVY'

YEAR: 1934 Rates: **** James Cagney as feisty construction worker/dance-contest running Chesty O'Brien has a row with Navy braggart Pat ...

JAMES CAGNEY IN 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

<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 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/AVvXsEjhix2_tTGKfjLiZUle-6zeQg_WE6DP5tMMikCICJcOJzymdwUjcbYtNvzUmVIUbBhlZqaSRJrr-tjJfkPgo-dp0ENsHqzyQ8FgM8j9RDDHmxxU_wXEY7Wmf1FEIYLwH2Z7lQJLt-HRzBqfe5_1BUVe2TNKtBFzu0-nTfkT3YMBMGEERFXPHjEWMtGyqQ=s388" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="388" height="349" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjhix2_tTGKfjLiZUle-6zeQg_WE6DP5tMMikCICJcOJzymdwUjcbYtNvzUmVIUbBhlZqaSRJrr-tjJfkPgo-dp0ENsHqzyQ8FgM8j9RDDHmxxU_wXEY7Wmf1FEIYLwH2Z7lQJLt-HRzBqfe5_1BUVe2TNKtBFzu0-nTfkT3YMBMGEERFXPHjEWMtGyqQ=w400-h349" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney in St. Louis Kid Year: 1934 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck drivers going from the city into the country to deliver milk... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And, troubled by a troubling dame and a group of protesting union farmers, Cagney's Eddie Kennedy wins over the town, mostly from a jail cell... </p><p></p><p>Initially sentenced from a fist-fight turned headbutt, in-between getting chewed out by his truck company boss, pressuring the duo to cross union lines where the only drama's injected, including violence...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And residing in that cell (playing checkers with his jailers) he's able to sneak out at night... </p><p>Eventually romance diner-owning ingenue Patricia Ellis, who starts out a "slappin' dame" and then, after a few bickering run-ins, taking most of the picture to warm up (although two floozies that Jenkins spends the bail on, Dorothy Dare and Gertrude Short, are a lot more fun, seeming like gangster picture b-girls only comedic)... driving her to a local dance and almost breaking into what he's second best at, THE ST. LOUIS KID is a programmer providing the young Cagney another feisty role, epitomizing the early days of this resilient little Irishman who could, would, and always did.. whatever (and whoever) he set out for. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, allen jenkins, comedy, dorothy dare, gertrude short, james cagney, patricia ellis, thirties, union, warner archives

JAMES CAGNEY IN 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

James Cagney in St. Louis Kid Year: 1934 Rates: **** Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck driv...

JAMES CAGNEY 'LADY KILLER' MAE CLARKE & MARGARET LINDSAY

<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/a/AVvXsEi-PjgA3mYV5jPxIn_fnZrnop3pdu4MegL-nV2kZexaRe8e8_FiOtClOnTVMk3bvBjCQXaq8BtlVP4TseDOc5Z4ot2xp7sPlyUR1kbF1b4ZMfQlh85lPsWyuFTfGnm2czCRa3TnUsxFyx62s5mQDeBLNsdQJGYaNdcpJC1lGamr3icmXvr23015p1CmAQ=s1079" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="488" data-original-width="1079" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi-PjgA3mYV5jPxIn_fnZrnop3pdu4MegL-nV2kZexaRe8e8_FiOtClOnTVMk3bvBjCQXaq8BtlVP4TseDOc5Z4ot2xp7sPlyUR1kbF1b4ZMfQlh85lPsWyuFTfGnm2czCRa3TnUsxFyx62s5mQDeBLNsdQJGYaNdcpJC1lGamr3icmXvr23015p1CmAQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: LADY KILLER Year: 1933 Cast: James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Mae Clarke Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>James Cagney plays a shifty usher at a movie theater, so his character’s already geared towards the lights, camera and especially action (and distraction from the very start. But he’s quickly derailed, conned by PUBLIC ENEMY siren Mae Clarke into a rigged card game involving Douglass Dumbrille and his gang of crooks... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But Cagney's Dan Quigley, after catching on, instead of getting angry, or even, or both, he joins and eventually leads the group into nightclub ownership and then a bigger heist that lands them in real dough, and real trouble...</p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, crime, douglass dumbrille, hollywood satire, james cagney, mae clarke, margaret lindsay, thirties, warner archives

JAMES CAGNEY 'LADY KILLER' MAE CLARKE & MARGARET LINDSAY

Title: LADY KILLER Year: 1933 Cast: James Cagney, Margaret Lindsay, Mae Clarke Rating: **** James Cagney plays a shifty usher at a movie th...

JAMES CAGNEY AND PARTNER JOAN BLONDELL IN 'BLONDE CRAZY'

<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/a/AVvXsEhN5Bpb1dQXmDQPASd7wD4Qe_2UUlosNEf8pJuiOWTKciobBdvw7n4keimFu6dsf-2Fa8DvDbqUflUGkzkAFJG30wbRKhvco4vJqNRn3iq7ZJB0QrmVucIS_uWWuANIAD3Q4dmBMzz24BCA1tQLzTCrmQrsOyTfVugbE1iAXrsOQ6dAkremzoOKGB4qcg=s778" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="393" data-original-width="778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhN5Bpb1dQXmDQPASd7wD4Qe_2UUlosNEf8pJuiOWTKciobBdvw7n4keimFu6dsf-2Fa8DvDbqUflUGkzkAFJG30wbRKhvco4vJqNRn3iq7ZJB0QrmVucIS_uWWuANIAD3Q4dmBMzz24BCA1tQLzTCrmQrsOyTfVugbE1iAXrsOQ6dAkremzoOKGB4qcg=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BLONDE CRAZY Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell Year: 1931 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Something about James Cagney, especially in his youthful early-1930's energetic programmers, and how he brings out the best, and worst, from his leading ladies — as in the best performances and the worst attitudes...<br> <br> Enter Joan Blondell dealing with Cagney’s conniving Bert Harris, half the fun of this con-game comedy/drama centering on Harris, a suave hotel employee who sees the right girl is hired: and it’s the blonde cutie Joan, as Anne Roberts, who fits the bill since men simply melt at her feet...<br></p><p></p><span></span>

comedy, con man, heist, james cagney, joan blondell, louis calhern, noel francis, ray milland, roy del ruth, thirties

JAMES CAGNEY AND PARTNER JOAN BLONDELL IN 'BLONDE CRAZY'

Title: BLONDE CRAZY Cast: James Cagney, Joan Blondell Year: 1931 Rating: **** Something about James Cagney, especially in his youthful early...

JAMES CAGNEY'S NO DIRTY RAT IN THE BRISK MELODRAMA 'TAXI'

<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/a/AVvXsEgIWRoAtFQG5JGJW8gg3Bkk-lRThX8RRBfwlk5sw2IwfdIi3PUKIOGbOgFTeVdb5cCUm8I-8xWjhi3gFkepjkfLPdSA1sA0Hpn1TwpywZXWUlDPHVvql0Xd1t2LNXoImKBr50ZNN1MQM0YvvbSSWczhncYcmQmuKue1yQmUnR2Y7vry9tVV9TRGHLzg8A=s745" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="745" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIWRoAtFQG5JGJW8gg3Bkk-lRThX8RRBfwlk5sw2IwfdIi3PUKIOGbOgFTeVdb5cCUm8I-8xWjhi3gFkepjkfLPdSA1sA0Hpn1TwpywZXWUlDPHVvql0Xd1t2LNXoImKBr50ZNN1MQM0YvvbSSWczhncYcmQmuKue1yQmUnR2Y7vry9tVV9TRGHLzg8A=w400-h251" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TAXI Year: 1931 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Begins as a predictable, cliché melodrama dealing with the haves… a monopolizing consortium cab company… against the have-nots: independent cabbies trying to make it on their own without getting whacked in the process...</p><p></p><p>But soon the message peels into involving crime fare with James Cagney as Matt Nolan, who... along with future <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/shanghaiduck.html">FRISCO KID</a> sidekick George E. Stone... never actually says "You dirty rat" but barks something similar to best girl Loretta Young...<br></p><p></p><p>The movie gets better as the more stress enters Nolan's life: various thugs from the consortium move in, and every dame... from the one good to the several bad/untrusting... annoy the hell out of him: providing the cocky firebrand the usual classic tantrums, and so, Matt Nolan is like most of Cagney’s early-era tough guys, only with a real cause he's extra ticked-off and super edgy. Fighting the good fight you'll back him all the way, so much so the other characters seem nonexistent whether he's on, or off, the screen.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, crime, george e. stone, james cagney, loretta young, melodrama, thirties, union, warner archives

JAMES CAGNEY'S NO DIRTY RAT IN THE BRISK MELODRAMA 'TAXI'

Title: TAXI Year: 1931 Rating: *** Begins as a predictable, cliché melodrama dealing with the haves… a monopolizing consortium cab company… ...

PETER CUSHING & PATRICK ALLEN IN HAMMER'S 'NIGHT CREATURES'

<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/a/AVvXsEhz0bN5dydJlPfxw4QDLVq8P61Qfs9fzbS6igYsTkV_b4wSNpamTUYdNYu34UdOaITyidDiHvbadRbLecwOnk0CRrSPTP5zuHKI_gsZp35xj3S3y6_6iPwCUS9FgUz9UAy-jvC6-M4q4r2czdrSjgKDu4uKds2rgabRGihv7yWn6sI7Jc1kQnGf6AIU4g=s1323" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="1323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhz0bN5dydJlPfxw4QDLVq8P61Qfs9fzbS6igYsTkV_b4wSNpamTUYdNYu34UdOaITyidDiHvbadRbLecwOnk0CRrSPTP5zuHKI_gsZp35xj3S3y6_6iPwCUS9FgUz9UAy-jvC6-M4q4r2czdrSjgKDu4uKds2rgabRGihv7yWn6sI7Jc1kQnGf6AIU4g=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: NIGHT CREATURES AKA CAPTAIN CLEGG Year: 1962 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer's decision to name this hybrid of thriller, horror and mystery CAPTAIN CLEGG proves that that last genre wasn't intended since spoiling Peter Cushing's true identity doesn't only ruin the plot's sneaky, intriguing premise, it makes Cushing's uniquely affable performance yet another fervent and intense one, not battling monsters this time but England's 1800's-era "tax man" himself...<br></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>In Patrick Allen's square-jawed Captain Collier, sent with his troops to investigate what he doesn't yet realize is a tightknit, secret-latch, wine-smuggling operation run by Cushing playing local vicar Rev. Dr. Blyss, THE ONLY character that director Peter Graham Scott... until well into the second act... intends him to be...<br></p><span></span>

british, david lodge, derek francis, ensemble, hammer films, horror, martin benson, martin reid, michael ripper, mystery, oliver reed, peter cushing, peter graham scott, sixties, thriller, yvonne romain