Written by James M. Tate / 9/26/2023 / No comments / agatha christie , british , eighties , elizabeth taylor , ensemble , geraldine chaplin , guy hamilton , hollywood satire , kim novak , maureen bennett , mystery , rock hudson , tony curtis , wendy morgan
ELIZABETH TAYLOR AND ROCK HUDSON IN 'THE MIRROR CRACK'D'

Title: THE MIRROR CRACK'D Year: 1980 Director: Guy Hamilton Rating: ***1/2 The most breezily enjoyable of the John Brabourne/Richard Goo...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/24/2023 / No comments / agathe natanson , anthony perkins , charles bronson , french , jill ireland , mystery , nicolas gessner , seventies , thriller
CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

Year: 1971 Title: SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR Rating: ***1/2 French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mir...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/23/2023 / No comments / adaptation , akim tamiroff , anthony perkins , franz kafka , import , jeanne moreau , jess hahn , mystery , neo noir , orson welles , romy schneider , sixties , thriller
ORSON WELLES PUTS ANTHONY PERKINS THROUGH 'THE TRIAL'

Anthony Perkins in Orson Welles's THE TRIAL Year: 1962 Rating: ***1/2 Before his final William Shakespeare adaptation CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/22/2023 / No comments / agnes moorehead , classic , delores del rio , everette sloane , film noir or melodrama , forties , joseph cotten , mystery , nazi , norman foster , orson welles , ruth warrick , suspense
ORSON WELLES WARTIME CRIME POTBOILER 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

Joseph Cotten in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Director: Norman Foster Producer: Orson Welles Year 1943 rating **** An entertaining, lightweight crime ...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/20/2023 / No comments / action , british film noir/melodrama , british new wave , cy endfield , david mccallum , fifties , herbert lom , jerry stovin , jill ireland , patrick mcgoohan , peggy cummins , sean connery , stanley baker
STANLEY BAKER TRUCKS WITH PEGGY CUMMINS IN 'HELL DRIVERS'

Title: HELL DRIVERS Year: 1957 Rating: **** Cheating with the sped-up effect ala Keystone Cop films, the hauling-trucks for HELL DRIVERS pic...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/19/2023 / No comments / anne heywood , david mccallum , fifties , film noir or melodrama , freddie starr , george a. cooper , john slater , music , peter cushing , stanley baker
STANLEY BAKER IN 'VIOLENT PLAYGROUND' WITH PETER CUSHING

Title: VIOLENT PLAYGROUND Year: 1958 Rates: **** A year after playing brothers in HELL DRIVERS , making Stanley Baker famous and putting cam...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/18/2023 / No comments / british film noir , con man , eddie byrne , fifties , ginger rogers , heist , herbert lom , jacques bergerac , melodrama , romance , stanley baker
STANLEY BAKER AND GINGER ROGERS IN 'BEAUTIFUL STRANGER'

Title: BEAUTIFUL STRANGER AKA TWIST OF FATE Year: 1954 Rating: ***1/2 "I stole it... I am innocent," Herbert Lom says to Stanley B...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/17/2023 / No comments / billie whitelaw , british neo noir , donald pleasence , geoffrey frederick , george a. cooper , hammer films , jazz score , john crawford , lois daine , sarah branch , sixties , stanley baker , val guest , vanda godsell
VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

Poster Art of John Crawford & Lois Daine for HELL IS A CITY Year: 1960 Rates: *** * * The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/16/2023 / No comments / alexander knox , british new wave , gang , hammer films , james maxwell , joseph losey , kenneth cope , macdonald carey , nicholas clay , oliver reed , science-fiction , shirley anne field , sixties , viveca lindfors
OLIVER REED REBELS THROUGH HAMMER'S 'THESE ARE THE DAMNED'

Title: THESE ARE THE DAMNED aka THE DAMNED Year: 1962 Rating: **** Hammer's THESE ARE THE DAMNED has a double-edged title starting with ...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/14/2023 / No comments / british film noir , british new wave , conrad phillips , george mikell , heist , kenneth cope , music , william lucas
WILLIAM LUCAS AND KENNETH COPE STEAL 'DATELINE DIAMONDS'

Title: DATELINE DIAMONDS Year: 1965 Rating: ***1/2 An otherwise nifty heist caper... with an agenda to promote the British band SMALL FACES....
Written by James M. Tate / 9/12/2023 / No comments / action , fifties , film noir or melodrama , mark stevens , martha hyer , mort mills , revenge , richard deacon , rural , skip homeier , thriller , warren douglas
MARK STEVENS IN 'CRY VENGEANCE' FEATURING SKIP HOMEIER

Title: CRY VENGEANCE Year: 1954 Rating: ***1/2 With the exception of a second-act move from an American big city to rural Alaska, the film n...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/08/2023 / No comments / action , body count , crime , don siegel , drugs , eli wallach , fifties , film noir or melodrama , richard jaekal , robert keith , TV adaptation
DON SIEGEL'S THEATRICAL 'THE LINEUP' STARRING ELI WALLACH

Year: 1958 Rating: ****1/2 Brazen and bizarre crime flick beginning with a police investigation of what turns out being heroin smuggled thro...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/07/2023 / No comments / 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...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/04/2023 / No comments / crime , deforest kelley , FBI , fifties , film noir or melodrama , heist , japanese-based , robert ryan , robert stack
SAMUEL FULLER'S TOKYO-BASED FILM NOIR 'HOUSE OF BAMBOO'

Cameron Mitchell's the boss's thug in HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: **** One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir rema...
ROBERT MITCHUM, WILLIAM TALMAN & ROBERT RYAN IN 'THE RACKET'

Title: THE RACKET 1951 Rating: ***1/2 While primarily focusing on the two leads, Robert Mitchum as a determined cop, McQuigg, and Robert R...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/03/2023 / No comments / action , adventure , anthony quinn , fifties , pulp , robert ryan , suzan ball , treasure
ROBERT RYAN IN 'CITY BENEATH THE SEA' WITH ANTHONY QUINN

Year: 1953 Rating: ** A letdown for those who love movies about treasure hunters. Unfortunately, the main character, played by a stiff Robe...
ROBERT RYAN VS RHONDA FLEMING & WILLIAM LUNDIGAN 'INFERNO'

Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** Leading and character actor Robert Ryan is difficult to root for since he played co...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/02/2023 / No comments / body count , creature , david janssen , faith domergue , horror , kathleen hughes , marshall thompson , richard long , snake , thriller , universal monsters , william reynolds
FAITH DOMERGUE WITH DAVID JANSSEN IN 'CULT OF THE COBRA'

Poster Artwork for CULT OF THE COBRA Year: 1955 Rating: **** The kind of Horror flick epitomizing the "Body Count" aspect since, a...
Written by James M. Tate / 9/01/2023 / No comments / action , adam roarke , allen garfield , barbara hershey , charles bail , eighties , hollywood satire , peter o'toole , richard rush , steve railsback
PETER O'TOOLE DIRECTING STEVE RAILSBACK AS 'THE STUNT MAN'

Iconic devilish imagery of Peter O'Toole from THE STUNT MAN Year: 1980 Rating: **** It's no surprise director Richard Rush took a de...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/31/2023 / No comments / body count , caitlin o'heaney , christopher allport , cult , exploitation , horror , indie , marilyn hamlin , seventies , slasher , william sanderson
MARILYN HAMLIN & CHRISTOPHER ALLPORT IN 'SAVAGE WEEKEND'

Title: SAVAGE WEEKEND Year Released: 1979 Rating: *** Shot in 1976 under the name THE MAN BEHIND THE MASK, when acquired by Cannon Films in ...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/26/2023 / No comments / crime , ensemble , fifties , film noir or melodrama , heist , j. carrol naish , lee marvin , love triangle , margaret hayes , richard egan , richard fleischer , stephen mcnally , victor mature , virginia leith
VICTOR MATURE IN RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'VIOLENT SATURDAY'

Title: VIOLENT SATURDAY Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2 Director Richard Fleischer crafted a tight, sparse, edgy noir also replete with enough pa...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/25/2023 / No comments / action , alec mango , anita ekberg , brian wilde , british film noir , drugs , fifties , film noir or melodrama , jazz score , john gilling , maurice browning , trevor howard , victor mature
VICTOR MATURE AND TREVOR HOWARD BATTLE IN 'PICKUP ALLEY'

Poster art for Pickup Alley Year: 1957 Rating: **** Sometimes those late 1950's anti-drug, jazz-soaked neo noirs feature shaky method ac...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/23/2023 / No comments / british film noir/melodrama , caper , diana dors , fifties , gene anderson , liam redmond , patrick allen , truck , victor mature
VICTOR MATURE WITH DIANA DORS TRUCKING IN 'THE LONG HAUL'

Title: THE LONG HAUL Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2 What begins as a kind of lightweight HELL DRIVERS with token Yankee Victor Mature joining a ...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/22/2023 / No comments / betty grable , carole landis , cop , film noir or melodrama , forties , laird cregar , mystery , thriller , victor mature , wrong man
VICTOR MATURE AND LAIRD CREGAR IN 'I WAKE UP SCREAMING'

Title: I WAKE UP SCREAMING Year: 1941 Rating: **** Originally named HOT SPOT since we begin with Victor Mature, noisily and rudely interroga...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/20/2023 / No comments / brian donlevy , coleen gray , film noir or melodrama , forties , heist , karl malden , suspense , thriller , victor mature
VICTOR MATURE WITH RICHARD WIDMARK IN 'KISS OF DEATH'

Title: KISS OF DEATH Year: 1947 Rating: **** The original KISS OF DEATH is several movies in one, beginning as a tension-filled heist flick ...
Written by James M. Tate / 8/17/2023 / No comments / action , crime , donald buka , FBI , film noir or melodrama , gangster , joseph pevney , mark stevens , richard widmark , suspense
MARK STEVENS & RICHARD WIDMARK 'THE STREET WITH NO NAME'

Title: THE STREET WITH NO NAME Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2 Like James Cagney's more popular G-MEN, this dusty gem begins as sort of an ...