POST WEEKEND REVIEW OF THE NEW 'HALLOWEEN' MOVIE

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uw_U1dQM5zo/W82PZV_9wcI/AAAAAAAA6sk/QwMjyLcJ3V0Q1NSg9Yx4SmdyXSwbkvE5gCEwYBhgL/s1600/DiXNctAUcAEnH64-1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="627" data-original-width="842" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uw_U1dQM5zo/W82PZV_9wcI/AAAAAAAA6sk/QwMjyLcJ3V0Q1NSg9Yx4SmdyXSwbkvE5gCEwYBhgL/s400/DiXNctAUcAEnH64-1-1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Review of the new Halloween YEAR: 2018</td></tr> </tbody></table> The new HALLOWEEN sets out to make a few things clear. Michael Myers is a human being, not an unstoppable monster that can't be killed. And if you and your date dress up as a doctor and nurse (or vice versa), like the victims of the first sequel, HALLOWEEN II, absolutely no harm will come. Because all those other incarnations mean nothing. This is the one and only followup to the John Carpenter classic...<br> <br> And here's a dirty little secret not everyone agrees with. The sparse 1978 blockbuster is extremely far from perfect. But... it <i>was</i> a solid, good horror movie, and <i>was</i> genuinely groundbreaking for a body count slasher flick involving a handful of doomed teenagers, which started off an endless chain of copycats including FRIDAY THE 13TH. So where new director David Gordon Green succeeds is making a simple slasher yarn without too many extravaganzas... <br>

2018, body count, franchise, halloween, horror, jamie lee curtis, new, sequel, thriller, will patton

POST WEEKEND REVIEW OF THE NEW 'HALLOWEEN' MOVIE

Review of the new Halloween YEAR: 2018 The new HALLOWEEN sets out to make a few things clear. Michael Myers is a human being, not an uns...

BLOODY BAGFUL OF CHUCK NORRIS MOVIES REVIEWED

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hObQGKnc_GE/W8sfHLnG8UI/AAAAAAAA6pc/JMZODBtyOlUQ5iyUrb7ImcFaOVY-mJQowCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-20%2Bat%2B5.24.49%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1508" height="226" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hObQGKnc_GE/W8sfHLnG8UI/AAAAAAAA6pc/JMZODBtyOlUQ5iyUrb7ImcFaOVY-mJQowCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-20%2Bat%2B5.24.49%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Chuck's famous windshield kick from Good Guys Wear Black</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Here's a score of Chuck Norris movies from the late seventies all through his kicking-ass eighties reign. These summary-size, one or two paragraph-long reviews are a decade in the making as... <br> <br> Chuck Norris took Karate films to an entertainingly mindless and guttural, testosterone-driven level, and having appeared in RETURN OF THE DRAGON opposite/verses Bruce Lee, who knows where Chuck's career might have gone had the Chinese Kung Fu Master lived past ENTER THE DRAGON, but like comparing Edgar Rice Burrough's more realistic, cerebral and literary Tarzan to the spontaneous and fun theatrical Johnny Weissmuller adaptations, it's not as if Chuck took Lee's place. Instead, there was a phantom zone that desperately needed filling: Norris successfully delivered and, unlike most, maintained his American Brand of Karate to the large and small screen for nearly three decades... <br>

action, adventure, chuck norris, david carradine, donna gordon, eighties, jack o'halloran, karate, m. emmett walsh, mary-louise weller, richard lynch, seventies, sport, stephen furst

BLOODY BAGFUL OF CHUCK NORRIS MOVIES REVIEWED

Chuck's famous windshield kick from Good Guys Wear Black Here's a score of Chuck Norris movies from the late seventies all throu...

NATHAN FILLION SERIES 'THE ROOKIE' QUICK SUMMARY REVIEW

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fEye9HZcJYQ/W8g-L_RtuxI/AAAAAAAA6k0/BOiGGiAQ2AAiih8p5Yj12pHNnMZELyoTgCLcBGAs/s1600/180509-nathan-fillion-the-rookie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1600" height="248" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fEye9HZcJYQ/W8g-L_RtuxI/AAAAAAAA6k0/BOiGGiAQ2AAiih8p5Yj12pHNnMZELyoTgCLcBGAs/s400/180509-nathan-fillion-the-rookie.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nathan Fillion <i>just kinda</i> headlines THE ROOKIE Year: 2018 Grade: F—</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Seconds can feel like minutes, and minutes like hours on TV, or cinema, which can carry a lot of information in a short amount of time... And five of those could have provided a montage of this 49-year-old man going from <i>wanting to become an old cop</i> to actually <i>becoming </i>an old cop. Random shots of basic training, or... something... anything...<br> <br> Played by a thinned-down, Jason Bateman-looking Nathan Fillion, THE ROOKIE is both an appropriate and ironic title, but he's on-the-beat too quick while we're introduced to the other rookies, all the right young age and each resembling a magazine model (the most beautiful hopping right in bed with Fillion's unassuming John Nolan, as if he were the former star of CASTLE instead of a midlife-crisis-suffering everyman). Without a chance to really learn about this guy, the shallow and cliché co-stars are forced upon us — feeling like <i>yet another cop series</i> in an ocean brimming with them. So while being promised something slightly different, THE ROOKIE is more bland dough from the same old boring cookie cutter. And worse.<br>

2018, action, cop, nathan fillion, series, TV

NATHAN FILLION SERIES 'THE ROOKIE' QUICK SUMMARY REVIEW

Nathan Fillion just kinda headlines THE ROOKIE Year: 2018 Grade: F— Seconds can feel like minutes, and minutes like hours on TV, or cin...

DON SIEGEL VERSION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S 'THE KILLERS'

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qILVJHpF52w/W7_T5SBrY2I/AAAAAAAA6Z0/HBUtVP7tTyspHMVSjhhn6lv2LesSbQVXQCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1227" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qILVJHpF52w/W7_T5SBrY2I/AAAAAAAA6Z0/HBUtVP7tTyspHMVSjhhn6lv2LesSbQVXQCLcBGAs/s400/1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dutch angle assassins Clu Gulager & Lee Marvin YEAR: 1964</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Ernest Hemingway's short story THE KILLERS is indeed quite short. Mostly taking place in a diner where two hit men are looking for a renegade who that tale's protagonist, Nick Adams, works with at the small town's gas station, this is also the prelude to the 1946 Film Noir introducing Burt Lancaster. And the 1964 version by Don Siegel couldn't be more different: although it's a theatrical remake as opposed to another literary adaptation... <br> <br> John Cassavetes is the victim this time (both features create reasons for how each person acquired stolen stolen-money, which Hemingway left out), and he's one of the most original cats in crime cinema history: A hip, cocky race car driver named Johnny North, who works at a school for blind children and winds up falling dead-over-heels with mystery-blonde Angie Dickinson: the trophy dame of a millionaire gangster played by an actor about to trade show biz for politics, Ronald Reagan, and he's surprisingly effective here in a subdued, slow-burn role — except when he slaps Angie's character so hard, his tongue sticks out in delicious, envious delight...<br>

angie dickinson, claude akins, clu gulager, crime, don siegel, ernest hemingway, john cassavetes, lee marvin, norman fell, race car, ronald reagan, sixties, thriller

DON SIEGEL VERSION OF ERNEST HEMINGWAY'S 'THE KILLERS'

Dutch angle assassins Clu Gulager & Lee Marvin YEAR: 1964 Ernest Hemingway's short story THE KILLERS is indeed quite short. Most...

JACQUES TOURNEUR 'WAY OF A GAUCHO' WITH RORY CALHOUN

<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yTMOB8XPnVQ/W8K4j1GtJXI/AAAAAAAA6f8/egvjSTakLucu8jXmGfmNlCyz-oTmAEesgCLcBGAs/s1600/43952943_585599348535912_2848928013041532928_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yTMOB8XPnVQ/W8K4j1GtJXI/AAAAAAAA6f8/egvjSTakLucu8jXmGfmNlCyz-oTmAEesgCLcBGAs/s400/43952943_585599348535912_2848928013041532928_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rory Calhoun rarely looks behind Year: 1952 Rates: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Jacques Tourneur makes very stylish Westerns, from CANYON PASSAGE before to WICHITA after, and WAY OF A GAUCHO is about the "original cowboys," the titular Spanish Argentine bandits who "Go with God" and are as patriotic as they come, and go: Making the famous "last refuge of a scoundrel" quote more pro than con, at least for one in particular who rides in the glory of the Old Days...<br> <br> That we never really learn about so we can only follow the intrepid horse-clopping footsteps of Rory Calhoun's "condor eyed" Martin Penalosa as the best scenes have our anti-hero breaking the law, sent under Richard Boone's harsh military command and eventually finding his own way. This is where things slowly collapse upon an overly grandiose soundtrack and a maze of plotlines marring what should've been a more simple, honest Western that Tourneur's good at...<br> <div style="text-align: left;"> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9g6W1_JR-I/W8MEdh65UgI/AAAAAAAA6jE/SNDdW1xFn7AlicTkQExV0r6Xh7Ff4E_kACLcBGAs/s1600/43952321_585599345202579_6875562970911342592_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="609" data-original-width="960" height="253" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d9g6W1_JR-I/W8MEdh65UgI/AAAAAAAA6jE/SNDdW1xFn7AlicTkQExV0r6Xh7Ff4E_kACLcBGAs/s400/43952321_585599345202579_6875562970911342592_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Tierney in Way of a Gaucho RATES: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Painted with broad strokes, the surrounding countrysides feel like another world entirely, so there's a Fantasy element underneath the deep brown saddles and painted red scarves, as if Penalosa's more a lean Barbarian than maverick horseman, and with Tourneur, a Gothic undertone lurks as well...<br> <br> But our man needed more of a goal, an urgency, than to ride along (with forced ingenue Gene Tierney when guitar-strumming Everette Sloane would've made a terrific sidekick) full of stubborn, woeful pride. Which doesn't mean the battle scenes with horses flowing along the sweeping camera isn't extremely worthwhile. Above and beyond everything else, this GAUCHO <i>looks</i> fantastic. <br> </div>

everette sloane, fifties, gene tierney, jacques tourneur, richard boone, rory calhoun, western

JACQUES TOURNEUR 'WAY OF A GAUCHO' WITH RORY CALHOUN

Rory Calhoun rarely looks behind Year: 1952 Rates: *** Jacques Tourneur makes very stylish Westerns, from CANYON PASSAGE before to WICHI...

ROBYN HILTON AS LINDA LOVEMAN IN 'THE LAST PORNO FLICK'

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6IkUsFSdgTE/W8A1Yw6aPII/AAAAAAAA6ek/Go5wR4rgNxELtf4johTRLw-yNh0ll40uwCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="1600" height="310" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6IkUsFSdgTE/W8A1Yw6aPII/AAAAAAAA6ek/Go5wR4rgNxELtf4johTRLw-yNh0ll40uwCLcBGAs/s400/1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Signorelli presents Robyn Hilton on set YEAR: 1974</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Robyn Hilton, best known as the ditzy redhead girlfriend of Mel Brooks' Governor in BLAZING SADDLES, goes straight to the top ten of any post here: And this movie, with a more popular title of THE LAST PORNO FLICK than THOSE MAD, MAD, MAD MOVIEMAKERS... which could lead viewers to believe there's a car chase or two... is as bad as it gets, but the actors are good — in other stuff, at least...<br> <br> Another toned-down alternative is CABBIES as bickering blue collar buddies Michael Pataki and  Frank Calcanini team up with their cab company boss Mike Kellin to produce a porno, which could<i> really</i> lead viewers to think there's some nudity. That'd be too good a thing as Hilton's a satirical take on Linda Lovelace, named Linda Loveman as Sinthia as in "The Seduction of Sinthia." Tom Signorelli as that film's spaced-out hippie director nicknamed O.D. is about the only partially funny character while another backer, an extremely Catholic Italian mom, is by far the worst. But it's Hilton in her usual airhead role who stands out, and not only for the obvious reasons. She's the only person who fits the bubbly, multi-colorful mold: but with a price. In practically every shot she's standing beside butt-ugly, mackerel-faced character-actor Kellin, pretending to be a famous acting coach and she's really nuts about him — proving that she <i>can</i> act after all. <br>

comedy, exploitation, michael pataki, mike kellin, robyn hilton, satire, seventies

ROBYN HILTON AS LINDA LOVEMAN IN 'THE LAST PORNO FLICK'

Tom Signorelli presents Robyn Hilton on set YEAR: 1974 Robyn Hilton, best known as the ditzy redhead girlfriend of Mel Brooks' Gover...

FINALE OF 'BETTER CALL SAUL' IS STILL MILES FROM GOODMAN

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cFQO65gUIBQ/W76CX8lw7-I/AAAAAAAA6ZY/YgXYEcuVHRgfS5rmyLPxcVMc7zE9pB7wwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-10%2Bat%2B3.13.51%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1139" data-original-width="1600" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cFQO65gUIBQ/W76CX8lw7-I/AAAAAAAA6ZY/YgXYEcuVHRgfS5rmyLPxcVMc7zE9pB7wwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-10%2Bat%2B3.13.51%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn on Better Call Saul: Winning</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Turns out BETTER CALL SAUL, at least concerning Season Four, isn't following its predecessor's footsteps. Instead, SEINFELD seems to be the muse. For this has been a season about nothing... which still can be pretty entertaining and addictive... But not much ground was covered... <br> <br> Having gone back to rewatch BREAKING BAD, the slimy, lip-puckered, pudgy, balding, crooked-as-hell (and awesomely hilarious) Saul Goodman <i>still </i>has almost nothing to do with this show's endearing Jimmy McGill fella who, with the perfect girl's perfect girl, Kim Wexler, faithfully by his side, would never, ever amount to Walter White's sociopath lawyer: a guy who easily contacts master criminals ranging from a meth kingpin to paid assassins. Sure, he's dishonest and getting proverbially worse. But the BAD Saul is so crooked, his world leans conveniently in his own direction so that, in another reality, he's standing completely upright.  <br>

bob odenkirk, cable, crime, jonathan banks, neo noir, rhea seeborn, rhea seehorn, series

FINALE OF 'BETTER CALL SAUL' IS STILL MILES FROM GOODMAN

Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn on Better Call Saul: Winning Turns out BETTER CALL SAUL, at least concerning Season Four, isn't follo...

SCOTT WILSON 'THE GYPSY MOTHS' REVIEW & EXTERNAL TRIBUTE

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DRRfnnlXCws/W7qZu7LaZ7I/AAAAAAAA6Ug/BIUHbuWVZb06-0WMRvh7TCmZ5G5K2b1KACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-07%2Bat%2B4.22.00%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="1600" height="303" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DRRfnnlXCws/W7qZu7LaZ7I/AAAAAAAA6Ug/BIUHbuWVZb06-0WMRvh7TCmZ5G5K2b1KACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-07%2Bat%2B4.22.00%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RIP Scott Wilson Gypsy Moths Year of Release: 1969 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> John Frankenheimer's THE GYPSY MOTHS has some incredible aerial shots, and it's a shame they had to, right off the bat, provide studio inserts of two of the actors: one who should have been famous from IN COLD BLOOD and the other soon to make his breakthrough in THE FRENCH CONNECTION...<br> <br> When Scott Wilson and Gene Hackman, as the gold and white suited jumpers, are shown in an obviously contrived setting with a counterfeit sky-blue backdrop, supposedly far up and descending with their own colored parachutes open, it's impossible <i>not</i> to tell we're watching a motion picture... But Frankenheimer, in what's his personal favorite film, and, despite a dated made-for-television style main theme, gives us the impression, otherwise, that these guys are the genuine article: not only by the myriad of actual footage, but in a more harmonious, less obvious rhythm, combining these with close-up expressions of each actor, about to jump for what may be their very lives...<br>

action, burt lancaster, deborah kerr, drama, gene hackman, john frankenheimer, romance, scott wilson, sheree north, sixties, sport, suspense, william windom

SCOTT WILSON 'THE GYPSY MOTHS' REVIEW & EXTERNAL TRIBUTE

RIP Scott Wilson Gypsy Moths Year of Release: 1969 John Frankenheimer's THE GYPSY MOTHS has some incredible aerial shots, and it'...

JOHN PAYNE/PHIL KARLSON 1950'S FILM NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ApPkpaShhYQ/W5wUZ4_rLUI/AAAAAAAA5Tg/8V_9uRi9KuQjr0qLub0WBwCRuHcyatbvwCLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BZTEwYjk1ZTMtNjI0OS00M2Q4LTk5ODItNmYzNTBjNzIzZDVjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%252540._V1_.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="284" data-original-width="366" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ApPkpaShhYQ/W5wUZ4_rLUI/AAAAAAAA5Tg/8V_9uRi9KuQjr0qLub0WBwCRuHcyatbvwCLcBGAs/s400/MV5BZTEwYjk1ZTMtNjI0OS00M2Q4LTk5ODItNmYzNTBjNzIzZDVjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%252540._V1_.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR of Release: 1953 River Street SCORE: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>99 RIVER STREET</u>: An excellent Film Noir, the second of three directed by Phil Karlson and starring John Payne, is bookended by two boxing matches: one in the ring, playing on television in a cheap apartment, and another in a shipyard between is a stark, mazy tale of defeated slugger/cabbie John Payne, a the stock bad girl  and then tricked by the nicer dame (Evelyn Keyes), a would-be actress proving her worth on stage in a clever scene with a big twist...<br> <br> But Payne, who's the good guy but no nice guy since "he broods about things... then he explodes!" says Peggie Castle as his extremely gorgeous/and extremely cheating double-crossing wife. Although he's got far more than woman trouble with niche heavies Brad Dexter and Jack Lambert on his trail... Not to mention the law for both a murder he didn't commit and a perfectly-landed punch as the pace doesn't falter and the camerawork's topnotch. And the finale fist fight at a murky shipyard, as Payne flashes back to his fighting days, is a standout. While not a boxing Noir the likes of THE SET-UP, the character's boxing champion past is part of the essence of the story deeper than most pictures connected with the sport. It's in his mind, memories, soul. "I gotta hit... I gotta hit... I gotta go back to the one thing I know how to do!"  <br> <br> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lv8GDuV3KQ4/W5wW_P8C-zI/AAAAAAAA5Tw/rBk9qrwXTh0Za1xKDE5lR4OkCjLbeBMIACLcBGAs/s1600/hqdefault%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="409" height="215" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lv8GDuV3KQ4/W5wW_P8C-zI/AAAAAAAA5Tw/rBk9qrwXTh0Za1xKDE5lR4OkCjLbeBMIACLcBGAs/s400/hqdefault%2B2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Heist Date: 1952 Overall Score of ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <u>KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL</u>: The actor and director's first collaboration is a Wrong-man/Film Noir involving John Payne trying to redeem himself after being blamed for a successful armored car knockoff...<br> <div> <br> Featuring famous heavies Jack Elam, Neville Brand and Lee Van Cleef, it's Preston Foster's character, as the mysterious leader of the thugs, all gathered together in South America to retrieve the loot and, since they wore masks during the robbery don't know each other, adding dimension as he keeps the truth from beloved lovely daughter Colleen Gray, a law student who (along with Payne) figures things out: except her father's involvement. At times a bit sluggish, meandering within the sheer inevitability of hiding out and getting edgy and stir crazy because of it, this is a minor classic for the cast alone.<br> <br> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7sBhA7SIyf8/W5zpTQQoNyI/AAAAAAAA5W4/P1U3y0WKpxwqmSaGCgtZaFKVsXGFJk6zgCEwYBhgL/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="960" height="313" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7sBhA7SIyf8/W5zpTQQoNyI/AAAAAAAA5W4/P1U3y0WKpxwqmSaGCgtZaFKVsXGFJk6zgCEwYBhgL/s400/12.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mary Murphy's the hypnotic ingenue on HELL'S ISLAND circa 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>HELL'S ISLAND</u>: Much lighter, more efficient b-movie mainstream entertainment than the edgy and driven 99 RIVER STREET and especially the intentionally claustrophobic KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL...<br> <br> John Payne and Phil Karlson's HELL'S ISLAND borrows from the adventure genre in its set-up of a Las Vegas bouncer sent to the title Spanish location to find a ruby, and it's rather confusing since we begin with Payne's character telling his story (and thus the overall narration) to a cop and then, during the flashback of getting the assignment we go back, again, as he discusses two time lapses at once... or something: But things get rolling, slowly but in an entertaining fashion, once the mission's underway, and one that, despite the title, doesn't have a lot of danger in store for our hero, whose main problem is getting back in touch with the dark woman (with light hair) who had broken his heart...<br> <br> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PCuQqLYjCKI/W5zq0vxoHsI/AAAAAAAA5XA/MdNJHCHiCR45JKHfNWao--2LSxf7pQjvwCEwYBhgL/s1600/3%2B2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="838" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PCuQqLYjCKI/W5zq0vxoHsI/AAAAAAAA5XA/MdNJHCHiCR45JKHfNWao--2LSxf7pQjvwCEwYBhgL/s400/3%2B2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>HELL'S RATING: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And this is where the Noir element pours on: The sappy heart leading the otherwise tough guy around as he goes to various locations to gather clues in what becomes less of a plot and more a <i>Fog of Love</i> resulting in what's Payne and Karlson's weakest effort although...<br> <br> This seems as intentional as a great band inserting a breezy ballad between two intense rockers (although this is their last collaboration following, in order, KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL and 99 RIVER STREET). And the look distinguishes from the other films' black and white, which of course is the Film Noir usual: This color/aesthetic is enhanced from a wonderful technology (that ranged from 1950's Alfred Hitchcock to the special effects shots in 1977's STAR WARS) known as...<br> </div>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, jack lambert, john payne

JOHN PAYNE/PHIL KARLSON 1950'S FILM NOIR TRIPLE FEATURE

YEAR of Release: 1953 River Street SCORE: **** 99 RIVER STREET : An excellent Film Noir, the second of three directed by Phil Karlson an...

JAMES STEWART & ARTHUR KENNEDY IN 'BEND OF THE RIVER'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GiDKJYFtZ0s/W7mhTEFM4hI/AAAAAAAA6Tw/yzq3YFJLJeon-_YE3wkXZxhvPo20lFbiACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-06%2Bat%2B4.11.12%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="757" data-original-width="1526" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GiDKJYFtZ0s/W7mhTEFM4hI/AAAAAAAA6Tw/yzq3YFJLJeon-_YE3wkXZxhvPo20lFbiACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-10-06%2Bat%2B4.11.12%2BAM.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Arthur Kennedy and James Stewart in Bend of the River directed by Anthony Mann YEAR: 1952</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Of James Stewart's "Cowboy Pictures" under the direction of Anthony Mann, WINCHESTER '73 is the most famous, THE NAKED SPUR his edgiest, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE the most underrated, and the most uneven is BEND OF THE RIVER, starting out as one of many wagon trailer adventures until leading to Portland, Oregon, making this a North Western much like Jacques Tourneur's CANYON PASSAGE, which this uses chopped-tree-falling stock footage of...<br> <br> <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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yMxa3evXSXo/W7mfbC8jwCI/AAAAAAAA6Tg/CNMAg12gMKwxgkcb1NMYdjN1nBZbggwNQCLcBGAs/s1600/43380639_581820748913772_7633903377608343552_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="960" height="312" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yMxa3evXSXo/W7mfbC8jwCI/AAAAAAAA6Tg/CNMAg12gMKwxgkcb1NMYdjN1nBZbggwNQCLcBGAs/s400/43380639_581820748913772_7633903377608343552_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Julia (Julie) Adams takes a while to get the point RATES: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At first Stewart, helping a group of mobile settlers, has a distracting voice. Not the usual alum-jawed, slow-paced drawl, it's more like he's imitating Edward G. Robinson. Which kinda fits. Stewart's Glyn McLyntock is a former outlaw, something we learn later after an outlaw friend, saved from a kangaroo court's noose and played by Arthur Kennedy who turns... well... that's a spoiler: What's important is that with Kennedy's initially friendly charm turned cocky bravado, BEND wouldn't be much at all. Rock Hudson as a handsome gambler adds very little...<br> <br> It's about Kennedy and Stewart — the latter turning into what we'd later refer to as the "Rambo" character or, before that, MR. MAJESTYK: an underrated guy who shows his resilient worth against a ton of odds and proves he's more cunning and badass than any other badass within an untamed terrain that he's become used to. A shame that it took so long for this too happen, before which we got otherwise good actress Julia Adams reacting hilariously slow to an arrow through her chest, and too many familiar character actors talking about what's about to happen. When it finally does — blink once and it's gone.<br>

action, adventure, anthony mann, arthur kennedy, fifties, james stewart, jay c. flippen, julie adams, rock hudson, western

JAMES STEWART & ARTHUR KENNEDY IN 'BEND OF THE RIVER'

Arthur Kennedy and James Stewart in Bend of the River directed by Anthony Mann YEAR: 1952 Of James Stewart's "Cowboy Pictures&q...

RICHARD FLEISCHER DIRECTS GEORGE C. SCOTT IN 'THE LAST RUN'

<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OQEBzhI-3xM/W69EAWosjkI/AAAAAAAA6JQ/JN4-w3b075oHZS4Zb2eNPCITABRki9lsgCLcBGAs/s1600/42808522_578633632565817_4370033686427467776_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="715" height="263" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OQEBzhI-3xM/W69EAWosjkI/AAAAAAAA6JQ/JN4-w3b075oHZS4Zb2eNPCITABRki9lsgCLcBGAs/s400/42808522_578633632565817_4370033686427467776_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Smoking opposites George C. Scott & Tony Musante YEAR: 1971</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's something about Tony Musante that makes you want to punch him in the nose. Or if you're not the violent type — to have someone else do it. Which is perfect for an actor like George C. Scott, who didn't suffer fools and would scrap with just about anyone, on or off the set...<br> <br> In THE LAST RUN Scott plays an aged getaway driver hired to take an escaped convict... whom he helped escape... on a score, and the entire Spain setting takes place either in the adobe brown countrysides, painted landscapes and, there and back again, a cool blue, fishing-boat beach. The tagline states, "In the tradition of Hemingway and Bogart," but with a Jerry Goldsmith score detailed by a haunting, reposeful harpsichord, it's really more of a Spaghetti Western with sporadic bursts of action between a "two's company, three's a crowd" road trip from one double-cross to another chance to score, with some twists and turns that shouldn't be spoiled in-between...<br>

action, caper, chase, colleen dewhurst, crime, george c. scott, neo noir, richard fleischer, seventies, tony musante, trish van devere

RICHARD FLEISCHER DIRECTS GEORGE C. SCOTT IN 'THE LAST RUN'

Smoking opposites George C. Scott & Tony Musante YEAR: 1971 There's something about Tony Musante that makes you want to punch hi...

NEO NOIR DARK COMEDY CHAOS OF 'A SIMPLE FAVOR'

<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTcehE4EbNg/W7M0LM7meSI/AAAAAAAA6PA/tbDXuzEN8kYmxN5K6u208csBO1uezWZxQCLcBGAs/s1600/A-Simple-Favor-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="508" height="252" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QTcehE4EbNg/W7M0LM7meSI/AAAAAAAA6PA/tbDXuzEN8kYmxN5K6u208csBO1uezWZxQCLcBGAs/s400/A-Simple-Favor-2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 2018</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Whoever gets in the middle of a husband and wife in any kind of Film Noir... old or new; serious, comedy or somewhere in-between... is gonna go through the ringer, and that ringer is much stronger during the setup of A SIMPLE FAVOR than when Anna Kendrick's nice single widowed mother starts to figure things out about a beautiful mystery woman who mysteriously goes missing...<br> <br> Basically, you don't realize how good it is during the first half since it's rather dizzying figuring things out: A character-driven dark comedy by director Paul Fieg that's more SPY than BRIDESMAIDS in its maze-like plot-shifts and unpredictable twists and turns, although, like both, it centers on an unlikely friendship between two polar opposite women thrust into a circumstance beyond their control, and...<br> <br> <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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-I_YB7roqE/W7M1ABFSh1I/AAAAAAAA6PM/qcgNy_h2yGY3jqMM5x2C3A-WXsPiW9aiwCLcBGAs/s1600/A-Simple-Favor-Anna-Kendrick-Blake-Lively.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="329" height="273" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-l-I_YB7roqE/W7M1ABFSh1I/AAAAAAAA6PM/qcgNy_h2yGY3jqMM5x2C3A-WXsPiW9aiwCLcBGAs/s320/A-Simple-Favor-Anna-Kendrick-Blake-Lively.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Simple Favor Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Well there's a lot <i>not</i> to spoil here, which is the point of these kind of Thrillers that are equally of the Mystery genre without a handful of culprits to choose from. There are only three here that matter, and the man in the middle of these two sharp, savvy dames is much too young-looking, standard-handsome and, supposedly a once gifted writer, he doesn't seem experienced or timeworn enough to be a has-been at anything. So the girls have twice the work despite one being off screen for way too long...<br> <br> And with all the running around, whether A SIMPLE FAVOR needs a longer, more fleshed-out first act; a stronger, tighter second act; or a shorter, less meandering third act can be figured out after more than one viewing. And it's a fun, suspenseful, entertaining enough picture to catch again sometime. The main problem is these two very important characters, who are not only friends, but supposedly <i>best friends</i>, never had a chance to get to know each other deeply enough to make their eventual rivalry matter like it should. And as an audience, we can only care as much as they do.<br> <br>

2018, anna kendrick, blake lively, dark comedy, neo noir, new, paul feig, thriller

NEO NOIR DARK COMEDY CHAOS OF 'A SIMPLE FAVOR'

Year of Release: 2018 Whoever gets in the middle of a husband and wife in any kind of Film Noir... old or new; serious, comedy or somewh...

JOHN CASSAVETES IN 'DEVIL'S ANGELS' & 'CRIME IN THE STREETS'

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KIB8RBPx_Vc/W7GgicD69CI/AAAAAAAA6Oo/JcmG9yMD_C0Um2Y2o67yEEk2ObcZPhVjACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-30%2Bat%2B9.13.39%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1587" height="277" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KIB8RBPx_Vc/W7GgicD69CI/AAAAAAAA6Oo/JcmG9yMD_C0Um2Y2o67yEEk2ObcZPhVjACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-30%2Bat%2B9.13.39%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1956 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>CRIME IN THE STREETS</u>: If REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE met WEST SIDE STORY at a carnival where all the rides were broken... </span></span><br> <br> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No, sadly, not even a young "introducing" John Cassavetes, as a street savvy teenage gang member, at odds with a rival group of boy-thugs and pestered by the usual Film Noir (though this is hardly that despite its place in a Noir box set) pestering cop James Whitmore... And the fact it's directed by Don Siegel and co-stars future director Mark Rydell... None of this could save, or even preserve, this corny "urban" dud. Sal Mineo, naive as ever, plays the youngest member of the gang, a fact that alone dooms him from the start.</span></span><br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D98GXnr6vCg/W560i5WhKyI/AAAAAAAA5bo/AXeXuZLHE0A7TkzO8adjdMo7kgn4F0HPwCLcBGAs/s1600/devils-angels-1967-photo-still-8x10-e1436268675665.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="689" data-original-width="423" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D98GXnr6vCg/W560i5WhKyI/AAAAAAAA5bo/AXeXuZLHE0A7TkzO8adjdMo7kgn4F0HPwCLcBGAs/s320/devils-angels-1967-photo-still-8x10-e1436268675665.jpg" width="196"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1967 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>DEVIL'S ANGELS</u>: Sixties' biker flicks are usually the same: Noisy hog-riders roll into a small quiet town making a mess of things. One of the bikers takes things too far and a "freak verses pig"<i> </i>battle ensues. That's it in a nutshell here... </span></span><br> <br> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The adventure doesn't venture far from the single peaceful town where, after crashing an afternoon carnival, The Skulls are (falsely) accused of raping a local girl stupid enough to party with them. </span></span><br> <br> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Leo Gordon, as the understanding Sheriff, adds essential realism and John Cassavetes, as the thinking-man's gang leader, while embodying his usual askew charm, seems more like an acting teacher than a ruffian (this often occurred during the early sixties, before films caught up with method acting); more attributes of "Franco", his scruffy, scene-stealing character in "The Dirty Dozen", were needed. But no matter, this Roger Corman-produced biker-outing delivers the goods just-good enough, and is exactly as entertaining as it should be. It's a biker flick, after all.  </span></span><br> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br>

crime, don siegel, drama, fifties, john cassavetes, mark rydell, teen

JOHN CASSAVETES IN 'DEVIL'S ANGELS' & 'CRIME IN THE STREETS'

Year: 1956 Rating: *1/2 CRIME IN THE STREETS : If REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE met WEST SIDE STORY at a carnival where all the rides were broke...

JOHN BROMFIELD BEL AIR PRODUCTIONS NOIR DOUBLE FEATURE

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OF2AfCwkpQg/W7BQzGkCjuI/AAAAAAAA6No/N_EF6hAN68IdEHV38faq-XIMeQdq6kfBgCLcBGAs/s1600/14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="678" data-original-width="958" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OF2AfCwkpQg/W7BQzGkCjuI/AAAAAAAA6No/N_EF6hAN68IdEHV38faq-XIMeQdq6kfBgCLcBGAs/s400/14.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kathleen Hughes facing Marla English and John Bromfield</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> "Say, Joe, park the hot rod in the hanger, wontcha," says John Bromfield, here as a small business owner/pilot named Jim in THREE BAD SISTERS before playing another guy named Joe in CRIME AGAINST JOE, both 1956 Film Noir low-budget vehicles by Bel Air Productions, the company behind Bromfield's greatest picture, and one of our personal favorites, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/HotCARS.html">HOT CARS</a>...<br> <br> In <u>THREE BAD SISTERS</u>, only two are <i>really</i> bad, and just one is downright sinister: a gorgeous, manipulating, blonde snake played by Kathleen Hughes as Valerie Craig of the sisters Craig, whose father's killed (off-screen) in a plane crash where only the pilot... John Bromfield's Jim... survived. Maria English and Sara Shane play Vicki and Lorne; the latter our stock wholesome girl, in this case afraid to take a near-death-defying leap off their beachfront cliff in their mansion's backyard: it's something her sister's have already survived, making Sara Shane's Lorne stand out as both the family underdog and self-loathing, co-called coward..<br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table align="center" 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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5EV-dxlZPLU/W6lwUT-EfHI/AAAAAAAA57c/bEgP4vJuluAXKZwtT-lZ2NGawMnqVtqqQCLcBGAs/s1600/4.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="960" height="337" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5EV-dxlZPLU/W6lwUT-EfHI/AAAAAAAA57c/bEgP4vJuluAXKZwtT-lZ2NGawMnqVtqqQCLcBGAs/s400/4.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Bromfield with Marla English in Three Bad Sisters</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> And yet she quickly winds up with big, handsome, dark-haired Jim, making both bad sisters' flirtation not mean much more than sultry dialogue that only comes from Film Noir: and while these Bel Air Productions lack the signature lighting and stylistic angles, they wield all the proper formulaic attributes, in spades...<br> <br> Since the OUT OF THE PAST type of Noir classics were b-movies in their day, these Howard W. Koch produced 1950's programmers were either C's or B's twice-removed, and play out very economically. In this case, story-wise, the plot's a bit too mazy and complicated. It takes several viewings to really center on each of the siblings' motive or lack of. As for Bromfield, he's caught in a triangle that's technically a box being four people are involved, and the most fun's had figuring out each distinctive personality, clinging to the muscular pilot and they pose in various locations... from land to sea to miles in the air... A cemented, determined hero unlike his bizarre title role in... <br> <br> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VV0rbf9a6PI/W6lu1s7R-jI/AAAAAAAA56I/7NbPW5Z-0D0ssmL93952GF-Z1tc6DorHQCLcBGAs/s1600/45.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="556" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VV0rbf9a6PI/W6lu1s7R-jI/AAAAAAAA56I/7NbPW5Z-0D0ssmL93952GF-Z1tc6DorHQCLcBGAs/s400/45.jpg" width="322"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Patricia Blair & John Bromfield in Crime Against Joe</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>CRIME AGAINST JOE</u>, taking the popular Film Noir "Wrong Man" template to the hilt, and beyond. This isn't the picture to turn people onto John Bromfield since, during the first act, he slurs in the exaggerated manner of those "old movies" where "town drunks" speak from the side of their mouths in the same annoying, garbled, haranguing manner... <br> <br> Although the content during the blackout binging set-up is intriguing, half occurring in the day-lit hours as Joe, after being established as a complete mother's boy loser despite heroic Korean War experience, isn't quite playing with a full deck. Ma supports his dreams of becoming a professional painter, and he attempts painting beautiful women but can't seem to get them <i>just right</i>: think Norman Bates meets Vincent Van Gogh...<br> <br> The fact each and every dame he comes across takes to him instantly... from nice girl Julie London as "Slacks," a carhop with a heart of gold, to torchlight lounge singing Alika Louise as Irene Crescent... is a reminder that he's a very handsome fella, and a strong "real man" type despite the fact his character's personality, drunken or otherwise, borders on mental retardation: which altogether feels contrived and awkward. But JOE is an intriguing melodrama that works despite the fact it's completely miscast. Bromfield fits more into the womanizing diver role in perhaps his most well-known mainstream venture, Jack Arnold's BLACK LAGOON sequel REVENGE OF THE CREATURE, which came out around the same time he was reigning here in proverbial movie hell. And yet, his cool cat characters have brains and a genuine soul while this creepy, whining loser lacks the usual inborn charm he's more comfortable with as an extremely affable and comfortable actor... <br> <br> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQdB1WtQ7Zc/W6lvIJ-WfuI/AAAAAAAA56Y/6VopNth12nIjD_t3PDU6QnlBVtHkOlOngCLcBGAs/s1600/22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="960" height="310" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HQdB1WtQ7Zc/W6lvIJ-WfuI/AAAAAAAA56Y/6VopNth12nIjD_t3PDU6QnlBVtHkOlOngCLcBGAs/s400/22.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nice artistic title sequence with Noir lighting and neat font</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Despite holding onto that cliché soused slur, even through some of the police procedural process of being semi-accused of the singer's murder while hungover the next day...<br> <br> His performance and the picture itself narrows into a decent little thriller where Joe, with faithful Julie London, goes on a makeshift investigation and, thankfully, is sober soon enough... <br> <br> The culprits are a handful of his former high school classmates (one had left behind a class ring), who seem to make up half the town: a friendly cab driver; a quiet, timid lawyer; a shallow politician; a jealous, ticked-off bartender; and mysterious "cowboy" Rhodes Reason (brother of THIS ISLAND EARTH actor Rex Reason), who is a temperamental "obvious choice" in what also dips into the Mystery genre (which the IMDb main photo spoils completely)...<br> <br> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nAt8StH3XWE/W6yU4iIzC3I/AAAAAAAA6CM/fyRV_xhaYyUKxhI-Po1xvS8aYP-1mYkKACLcBGAs/s1600/0%2B4.15.31%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="681" height="278" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nAt8StH3XWE/W6yU4iIzC3I/AAAAAAAA6CM/fyRV_xhaYyUKxhI-Po1xvS8aYP-1mYkKACLcBGAs/s400/0%2B4.15.31%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scores for Three Bad Sisters: ***1/2 Crime Against Joe: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> This blind spot ups the suspense despite a lack of urgency since there's no real "race against time" element (despite Joe's stress that there is); but at least some of Bromfield's edginess (his voice sounds like Ralph Meeker here) creeps into the tight, new improved 11th hour. There's also an underlined theme of the battle fatigued war veteran's awkward and painful return to hometown life... <br> <br> Overall, CRIME AGAINST JOE is Bromfield's weirdest role, and yet it's a decent if standard venture for Bel Air Productions. What really stands out about these forgotten, neglected, backroom Noirs, including and especially <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/HotCARS.html">HOT CARS</a>, are the bleak yet sunny California exteriors of sparse industrial tracts and suburbs that were most likely barren desert terrain or orange groves a mere decade earlier. <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HfBR-CnR8kM/W6yZ2H3tr7I/AAAAAAAA6DI/wfaWfJiNMJo0ZiVoVtVt8spFX4v8BQBlgCLcBGAs/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="639" data-original-width="930" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HfBR-CnR8kM/W6yZ2H3tr7I/AAAAAAAA6DI/wfaWfJiNMJo0ZiVoVtVt8spFX4v8BQBlgCLcBGAs/s1600/3.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Bromfield with Kathleen Hughes in Three Bad Sisters</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

bel air productions, film noir or melodrama, jazz score, john bromfield, julie london, kathleen hughes, marla english, mystery, sara shane, thriller, wrong man

JOHN BROMFIELD BEL AIR PRODUCTIONS NOIR DOUBLE FEATURE

Kathleen Hughes facing Marla English and John Bromfield "Say, Joe, park the hot rod in the hanger, wontcha," says John Bromfie...

WARREN DOUGLAS IN THE GANGSTER NOIR 'BELOW THE DEADLINE'

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ae4JVKP3Kss/W6yca0EIzYI/AAAAAAAA6DU/Hbc5xtvDr7s8mRfpUtO9VEeX6Q6FHi_LgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-27%2Bat%2B1.59.49%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="695" data-original-width="1032" height="269" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ae4JVKP3Kss/W6yca0EIzYI/AAAAAAAA6DU/Hbc5xtvDr7s8mRfpUtO9VEeX6Q6FHi_LgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-27%2Bat%2B1.59.49%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Douglas and Ramsay Ames in Below the Deadline 1946</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Little known or discussed Gangster Film Noir where our main man "Jumpin' Joe" Hilton is just that... And in the role, Warren Douglas is perfect. He seems ready for anything and yet is cool as that proverbial cucumber... in an ice box: Just returned from World War II, having inherited his slain, more proper and distinguished (and pretentious) older brother's gambling outfit, he's got just about everything, literally...<br> <br> Including a beautiful young dame in Ramsay Ames's Lynn, going from a roulette wheel worker to the girl who chips at his icy heart... Which is what makes Joe a worthy Noir persona, initially moving forward like a torpedoed shark: But as cold-blooded as he may be, his recent-past... which had lasted five grueling years... provides a light at the end of the tunnel...<br>

film noir or melodrama, forties, gangster, ramsay ames, warner archives, warren douglas

WARREN DOUGLAS IN THE GANGSTER NOIR 'BELOW THE DEADLINE'

Warren Douglas and Ramsay Ames in Below the Deadline 1946 Little known or discussed Gangster Film Noir where our main man "Jumpin&#...

BLAZING THROUGH 'BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS'

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZwvCI5j0L2c/W6TCs1N73lI/AAAAAAAA5y4/_Vbvj0OOXP8Og7NjGgq7qbMZOJLLT6lZgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-21%2Bat%2B3.01.49%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1343" height="223" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZwvCI5j0L2c/W6TCs1N73lI/AAAAAAAA5y4/_Vbvj0OOXP8Og7NjGgq7qbMZOJLLT6lZgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-21%2Bat%2B3.01.49%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Butch & Sundance The Early Days Year Released: 1979</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> For those <i>not</i> diehard BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID fanatics, this prequel isn't blasphemous like it must be to many nostalgic cinema goers...<br> <br> It's actually pretty entertaining, following a young Butch, played by a more loose, affable and resilient Tom Berenger than his psychopathic LOOKING FOR MR GOODBAR role which he'd already watered-down with two forgettable romantic comedies, and who does in fact resemble a young Paul Newman, only bigger, more primal: herein freed from prison and, despite his promises to the warden, quickly returns to a <i>brand old life</i> of crime, where he witnesses the coming and going of a skinny blond "kid" robbing a saloon: that being CARRIE prom king/BIG WEDNESDAY lifeguard/future GREATEST AMERICAN HERO and haunted HOUSE pawn William Katt as a young Sundance...<br>

brian dennehy, prequel, seventies, tom berenger, western, william katt

BLAZING THROUGH 'BUTCH AND SUNDANCE: THE EARLY DAYS'

Butch & Sundance The Early Days Year Released: 1979 For those not diehard BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID fanatics, this preque...

SUE LYON BATHES IN 'THE ASTRAL FACTOR' W/ ROBERT FOXWORTH

<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/--EKZYvrAv8w/W6R8hkX0sFI/AAAAAAAA5xw/BXVQQl_aKVQ9ocPlyOFwZNtI6ub4sXvIQCLcBGAs/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1350" height="227" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--EKZYvrAv8w/W6R8hkX0sFI/AAAAAAAA5xw/BXVQQl_aKVQ9ocPlyOFwZNtI6ub4sXvIQCLcBGAs/s400/1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of THE ASTRAL FACTOR is 1977</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> One of those bad movies that isn't so bad since it tries to be so many things at once. When you think a good deal of time's gone by given all the eclectic content — in this case from primal slayings to boat chases — there's still a lot to go... despite the overall run-time being just over 90-minutes... <br> <br> And yet everything here is, for the most part, scattered in a brisk, even pace throughout a partial investigative Neo Noir, with cop Robert Foxworth on the trail of an escaped psychopath who, through that decade's popular exercises like Transcendental Meditation, learned the art of disappearing and reappearing at will aka THE ASTRAL FACTOR... This followed by the usual "police procedure" jazz of gathering crime-scene clues after the murder — only here dealing with stuff that isn't entirely... visible... <br>

body count, elke sommer, exploitation, frank ashmore, horror, leslie parrish, robert foxworth, science-fiction, seventies, stefanie powers, sue lyon, supernatural

SUE LYON BATHES IN 'THE ASTRAL FACTOR' W/ ROBERT FOXWORTH

Year of THE ASTRAL FACTOR is 1977 One of those bad movies that isn't so bad since it tries to be so many things at once. When you th...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY CINEMA 'MIDNIGHT' WITH MELANIE VERLIN

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93LrC-S8WUM/W6HXccLUytI/AAAAAAAA5qE/3gsKVwCH-B8ZumivGrpzgAgeR_FAhdk5QCLcBGAs/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="960" height="302" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-93LrC-S8WUM/W6HXccLUytI/AAAAAAAA5qE/3gsKVwCH-B8ZumivGrpzgAgeR_FAhdk5QCLcBGAs/s400/15.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Melanie Verlin rides a groovy van to hillbilly hell YEAR: 1982</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A teenage girl runs away from home, and with good reason: Her alcoholic cop step-dad, played by Lawrence Tierney, tried to rape her, and the Noir icon/future RESERVOIR DOGS actor is always an intimidating presence on (and off) screen... <br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0nTr-hG4oA/W6T18A6Q9gI/AAAAAAAA50Y/bqsoNnj3QHAmr-NR40rp4WFtbZ0YDbBhgCLcBGAs/s1600/midnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="470" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--0nTr-hG4oA/W6T18A6Q9gI/AAAAAAAA50Y/bqsoNnj3QHAmr-NR40rp4WFtbZ0YDbBhgCLcBGAs/s320/midnight.jpg" width="193"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>It was actually a book</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Although he's a medium-heat frying pan compared to the blazing fire that awaits, all in the name of "Girls In Cages" drive-in exploitation: Our tomboy heroine, Nancy, played with natural ease by Melanie Verlin, makes for a terrific ambiguous, semi-androgynous, exploitation pawn.<br> <br> The following sequence (as these kind of movies roll more in numerous "parts" than the standard three acts) feels more 70's than 80's: Nancy hitches a ride with two college-aged guys in a van, and, since one is black, they face racism in a town so small it probably had to rent that one horse. Targeted as lowlifes, they purposefully live up to their name for an illegal beer run: A strange break of joviality while a sense of rural doom is palpable; or maybe with such a low budget, the grainy "last known photo" aesthetic has no choice but to thrust the characters (and viewer) into chaotic oblivion... and beyond...<br>

body count, eighties, exploitation, horror, indie, lawrence tierney, melanie verlin, rural, slasher

LAWRENCE TIERNEY CINEMA 'MIDNIGHT' WITH MELANIE VERLIN

Melanie Verlin rides a groovy van to hillbilly hell YEAR: 1982 A teenage girl runs away from home, and with good reason: Her alcoholic c...

LAURA JOHNSON HAUNTS GENA ROWLANDS IN 'OPENING NIGHT'

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3vzjyF-Ew4/W562sHb3w7I/AAAAAAAA5b0/49EsFak8eYgwhJpVRX45wP2YJMGuC3anACLcBGAs/s1600/41843222_572848109811036_8834029222793052160_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="960" height="258" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-p3vzjyF-Ew4/W562sHb3w7I/AAAAAAAA5b0/49EsFak8eYgwhJpVRX45wP2YJMGuC3anACLcBGAs/s400/41843222_572848109811036_8834029222793052160_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1977 pictured here is haunting beauty Laura Johnson </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A movie with everything. Not only centering on an actress portrayed by director John Cassevete's wife Gena Rowlands preparing for a Broadway play making initial rounds in New Haven and other small venues...<br> <br> But beneath the surface of this play-within-a-movie, there's an intense and spooky, eerie "ghost story" involving a beautiful young emotional fan, who's killed by a car after the first performance: a primal, lusty, jarring, hauntingly gorgeous Laura Johnson stalks throughout as Cassavetes takes us on a voyeuristic journey with many layers albeit with the same frantic vibe, as if real life and fiction were inseparably hybrid: backstage, on stage, and in various locations where other characters, including Ben Gazzara as the director, Joan Blondell as the writer, Paul Stewart as the producer, and Cassevetes himself as the co-star all try desperately to get Rowlands on track before <i>opening night.</i>..<br>

ben gazzara, drama, gena rowlands, independent, joan blondell, john cassavetes, laura johnson, paul stewart, seventies

LAURA JOHNSON HAUNTS GENA ROWLANDS IN 'OPENING NIGHT'

year: 1977 pictured here is haunting beauty Laura Johnson A movie with everything. Not only centering on an actress portrayed by direct...

JOHN GUILLERMIN GROUNDS IRWIN ALLEN'S 'TOWERING INFERNO'

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Og4N4aoUr-Q/W5-N1eHSHAI/AAAAAAAA5g8/fuqedY9jU-kmBLnHo9wdZCDB0H1ZKi9mgCLcBGAs/s1600/44.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="960" height="217" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Og4N4aoUr-Q/W5-N1eHSHAI/AAAAAAAA5g8/fuqedY9jU-kmBLnHo9wdZCDB0H1ZKi9mgCLcBGAs/s400/44.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Destruction: 1974</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The mother of disaster films, <span style="color: #660000;">THE TOWERING INFERNO</span> still holds up... Stars Paul Newman and Steve McQueen… or the other way around… Steve’s name is first but Paul’s higher on the screen… That's what's called the Ego Billing... Paul built the TOWERING while Steve battles the INFERNO...<br> <br> Newman’s an architect whose giant glass creation catches on fire from within thanks to Richard Chamberlain’s bad judgments to cut costs: The nefarious, downright no-good  character is the scapegoat of all scapegoats as his tycoon stepfather William Holden runs the show: his wealthy party guests on the top floor are celebrating the building’s grand opening as the first forty minutes sets up the situation – while the rich people drink, dine and dance, the employees figuring out the problem exists...<br>

action, disaster, faye dunaway, gregory sierra, irwin allen, john guillermin, mike lookinland, o.j. simpson, paul newman, robert vaughn, seventies, steve mcqueen, william holden

JOHN GUILLERMIN GROUNDS IRWIN ALLEN'S 'TOWERING INFERNO'

Year of Destruction: 1974 The mother of disaster films, THE TOWERING INFERNO still holds up... Stars Paul Newman and Steve McQueen… o...

JAMES CAGNEY & VIRGINIA BRUCE SPAR IN 'WINNER TAKE ALL'

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FqIt0KmTXzk/W4VXp2jcz1I/AAAAAAAA4v4/0Wy4WCcVTQED2v3yXiN4bSnkgdAzkQ4vQCLcBGAs/s1600/22632902209.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="751" height="270" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FqIt0KmTXzk/W4VXp2jcz1I/AAAAAAAA4v4/0Wy4WCcVTQED2v3yXiN4bSnkgdAzkQ4vQCLcBGAs/s400/22632902209.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1932 Director: Roy Del Ruth</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Definitely one of the oddest boxing movies ever made, and the first time in James Cagney's early career where his performance is obvious: As punchy Jimmy Kane, he speaks in a forced, dumb-guy dialect that shouldn't have gotten past the rehearsal stage...<br> <br> Introduced as a total has-been, with crowds throwing money in the ring before a newer, more relevant fighter's bout, he's sent to a strange and remote New Mexico health farm (taking up the first act in a lonesome, flickering black & white that feels like another movie altogether) where he meets the good girl with a sick son, whose hopeful/helpful input pales to the gorgeous but shallow, conceited and suffocating dame who, back in New York, owns poor Jimmy right down to his flat nose and cauliflower ear —hence surgically altered to fit with her stuffy, pseudo-intellectual crowd... <br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-19DK_2diFAA/W56ouuZaZYI/AAAAAAAA5bM/KWI-J19MArcxRVUI2LXSscCiOmVfh6FsQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-16%2Bat%2B11.29.43%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="343" data-original-width="844" height="162" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-19DK_2diFAA/W56ouuZaZYI/AAAAAAAA5bM/KWI-J19MArcxRVUI2LXSscCiOmVfh6FsQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2018-09-16%2Bat%2B11.29.43%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>One day this will be Jack Nicholson WINNER Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> So to protect his facial investment, he dances around the ring instead of fighting, turning off fans and especially Virginia Bruce's sexy society gal Joan Gibson as the entire second half's ruled by her impatient, fickle attitude...<br> <br> But then, finally aware of the deplorable situation known to everyone but his hypnotized, duped self, Cagney's limited performance expands into a familiar street savvy edge. Along with fists flying in the right direction (with a jumping-bean style only Cagney could or would pull off), it's a comeback/turnaround that's long overdue. <br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div>

boxing, drama, james cagney, sport, thirties, virginia bruce

JAMES CAGNEY & VIRGINIA BRUCE SPAR IN 'WINNER TAKE ALL'

Year of Release: 1932 Director: Roy Del Ruth Definitely one of the oddest boxing movies ever made, and the first time in James Cagney...

ACTOR/DIRECTOR MARK STEVENS 'ESCAPE FROM HELL ISLAND'

<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgztSH0a9WU/W4qNxYIrC8I/AAAAAAAA4_8/2F4KgGpBL8AROPpq2-VsGYFGTKOerNBHgCLcBGAs/s1600/p47210_p_v8_aa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="890" height="288" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pgztSH0a9WU/W4qNxYIrC8I/AAAAAAAA4_8/2F4KgGpBL8AROPpq2-VsGYFGTKOerNBHgCLcBGAs/s400/p47210_p_v8_aa.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: large;">FROM HELL ISLAND" </span>year: 1963</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's filmmaking, and then there are films that somehow get made but that still don't seem like actual movies: Which is what the misleadingly titled ESCAPE FROM HELL ISLAND is... Basically an early 1960's remake of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT since actor/director Mark Stevens's ex-smuggler Captain James, a charter boat captain, is hired by two exiled Cubans to pick up refugees living in Fidel Castro's title island...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Made during JFK's presidency, an unpopular Cuba is the proverbial HELL: A locale we see for only a split second as military gunman fire at Captain James's boat while he's picking up the human cargo, and one in particular is supposed to mean everything. Surprisingly, given the tagline, "Sharing a Love That Was Not Theirs To Take," the second lead <i>isn't </i>the sexy Cuban girl played by sexy, usually blonde WESTWORLD and PSYCH-OUT actress Linda (Gaye) Scott (yet it looks nothing like her: is this an IMDb blunder?). Rather, her abusive, deranged husband is not only the main antagonist, he pretty much steals the entire show. If HELL ISLAND were made ten years later, Bruce Dern would play the part had by a skinny, chaotic Jack Donner as Kyle Dennison, who even gets the standalone "And" treatment in the opening credits...<br>

adventure, drama, indie, jack donner, jazz score, linda gaye scott, mark stevens, neo noir, sixties, thriller

ACTOR/DIRECTOR MARK STEVENS 'ESCAPE FROM HELL ISLAND'

FROM HELL ISLAND" year: 1963 There's filmmaking, and then there are films that somehow get made but that still don't seem l...