ROBERT MITCHUM IN 'THE WRATH OF GOD' WITH KEN HUTCHISON

<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/-JPOJx-fc8Ac/YMtWxG6pG0I/AAAAAAABiVE/JdeTvnDqZCgxGYW7mbpOA_W3r2k0lz6NgCLcBGAsYHQ/s923/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-17%2Bat%2B6.22.27%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="923" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPOJx-fc8Ac/YMtWxG6pG0I/AAAAAAABiVE/JdeTvnDqZCgxGYW7mbpOA_W3r2k0lz6NgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h310/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-17%2Bat%2B6.22.27%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Wrath of God Year: 1972 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/11/SWEENEY2.html">Ken Hutchison</a>, from intimidating Dustin Hoffman in STRAW DOGS to beating up GANDHI, played mostly villains except THE WRATH OF GOD opposite Robert Mitchum; the latter a foul-mouthed <i>priest </i>to Hutchison's feisty/fun Irish rogue, all taking place in Central America. And the best scenes have the trio, including likable con man Victor Buono, pursued by antique cop cars, involved in various shoot-outs and almost getting executed, right down to the black eye-mask... Then given a mission to kill dictator Frank Langella, a role he underplays... </p><p>Split by Catholic mom Rita Hayworth and a personal hatred of religion, especially priest Mitchum, he's not evil enough for our heroes to spend so much time preparing a revolution by training ill-prepared townspeople for battle. So what works AND fails are the sub-genres ranging from Spaghetti Western Revenge; Classic Gangster involving Mitchum, a Tommy-gun and an attempt to smuggle prohibited booze; and a barrage of Sam Peckinpah style slow-motion firing squad deaths in the opening credits. And since a world-weary Mitchum and rambunctious Hutchison (the latter romancing gorgeous mute local Paula Pritchett) are always game to either fight or run away, it's a shame things got so serious halfway through.  </p><p><span></span></p>

frank langella, ken hutchison, mexico, modern western, rita hayworth, robert mitchum, seventies, spaghetti western, victor buono

ROBERT MITCHUM IN 'THE WRATH OF GOD' WITH KEN HUTCHISON

Title: The Wrath of God Year: 1972 Rating: *** British actor Ken Hutchison , from intimidating Dustin Hoffman in STRAW DOGS to beating up GA...

BRITISH FILM NOIR 'SPIN A DARK WEB' ORIGINALLY 'SOHO INCIDENT'

<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/-buAmEWZvnb0/YMtRBYXGBvI/AAAAAAABiU0/Sp9x0hT6SvkFNVqXFp0Yh1plFiM9OdEMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s399/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-14%252Bat%252B7.16.46%252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="399" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-buAmEWZvnb0/YMtRBYXGBvI/AAAAAAABiU0/Sp9x0hT6SvkFNVqXFp0Yh1plFiM9OdEMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h358/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-14%252Bat%252B7.16.46%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SPIN A DARK WEB Year: 1956 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A sort of British version of 711 OCEAN DRIVE has a young naïve tech expert hired to wire up a horse race betting scheme so the villains can get the inside tip straight from the bookie's mouth... </p><p>Yet it begins like a boxing noir since the lanky and passive Canadian import Lee Patterson is a wannabe prizefighter set with a girl-next-door girlfriend, daughter of a trainer and his fighter son... the latter killed by a no-good hood played by Bernard Fox before his signature mustache made him an endearing magical character-actor... <br></p><p></p><p>His gruff character here breaking SPIN A DARK WEB into two parts: one has our hero sent by plan-plotting criminals Martin Benson and Robert Alden to pay or catch or maybe even kill hideaway Fox while working out the aforementioned con... </p><p>And there needed more of the first as the sting/con gets too complicated while the best scenes, in and out of actual Soho London streets/locales, clash with phony-looking rear-projection driving... thankfully there's<i> less</i> of the latter. And like all Noirs it's a sexy (American) femme fatale who makes our blank-slate boy turn savage-sappy while he neglects the (British) good girl who knew him first... but she isn't very interesting... and token wildcard Faith Domergue doesn't have enough time to SPIN that DARK titular WEB with all those literal wires getting crossed and uncrossed, again and again.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

bernard fox, boxing, british film noir, con, fifties, heist, martin benson, robert arden, thriller

BRITISH FILM NOIR 'SPIN A DARK WEB' ORIGINALLY 'SOHO INCIDENT'

Title: SPIN A DARK WEB Year: 1956 Rating: *** A sort of British version of 711 OCEAN DRIVE has a young naïve tech expert hired to wire up a ...

PETER STRAUSS VS WILLIAM SMITH 'RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II'

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ou7n_Q-5BeE/YMggK7E6elI/AAAAAAABiLc/9z2w77OPJxMsFzpumqbrjhRzlJh1yQH6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s901/66.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="901" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ou7n_Q-5BeE/YMggK7E6elI/AAAAAAABiLc/9z2w77OPJxMsFzpumqbrjhRzlJh1yQH6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/66.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II Year: 1976-1977 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II is no <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/02/RMPM1.html">RICH MAN, POOR MAN</a> being impossible to replace Nick Nolte after he dies in the original's climax, it's a pretty great sequel, mostly thanks to William Smith as crazy villain Anthony Falconetti who, while shaping-up and tearing-down the last four episodes of the first venture, is now a continuously formidable presence, not only stealing scenes but destroying anyone and anything in his wake...</p><p></p><p>And this time the POOR MAN are young <i>men</i>... Since there's no luckless boxer/sailor Nolte to contrast returning star and now sole headliner Peter Strauss as ambitious, sometimes idealistic Senator/businessman Rudy Jordache, Nolte's beloved son, Wesley (Gregg Henry) and con artist Billy (James Carroll Jordan), neglected son of Bill Bixby and Susan Blakely (the latter killed off/written out early), both take the POOR spot in different ways... </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cFaTjDahmM/YMaCuuf0DoI/AAAAAAABiGI/p0hmvuOy_8wWHkainP6hO6Xz9sfZNakjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1876/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-13%252Bat%252B12.39.01%252BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1876" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cFaTjDahmM/YMaCuuf0DoI/AAAAAAABiGI/p0hmvuOy_8wWHkainP6hO6Xz9sfZNakjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-13%252Bat%252B12.39.01%252BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Penny Peyser and Gregg Henry in RICH MAN POOR MAN BOOK II Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Wesley's broke despite being taken in by his RICH uncle while Billy fights to make it big in the music industry, so he's basically the young climber version of Peter Strauss while Wesley, blond and muscular like dad, takes Nolte's hapless workingman route, <i>almost</i> having an affair with tough, stubborn yet incredibly cute girl-next-door/union man's daughter Penny Peyser... until Billy gets in quicker and ignites an addictive whirlwind romance/love triangle...</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>And there are so many characters to cover, including a resilient, quick-witted Susan Sullivan as Rudy's girlfriend lawyer (particularly during senate hearings straight from THE GODFATHER II including a crooked G. D. Spradlin and Peter Donat), whose daughter Kimberly Beck is a flirtatious teenager smitten with Wesley when, by the 11th hour,<i> all</i> the characters wind up in Sin City Vegas to square-off against the show's two polar opposite antagonists...</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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUtHH7d7gD4/YMdh42o7GzI/AAAAAAABiGo/sVxNdk3WOH4YDBx_B_wR66BWI-1LyQIIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s943/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="943" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUtHH7d7gD4/YMdh42o7GzI/AAAAAAABiGo/sVxNdk3WOH4YDBx_B_wR66BWI-1LyQIIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Smith and Kimberly Beck in RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Besides Falconetti is a callous yet still somewhat charming/monopolizing billionaire Peter Haskell as Charles Estep, who Strauss's Rudy is after and whose wife, the beautiful Laraine Stephens, holds an anticipated/game-changing secret...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The most fun's had with Billy and his up-and-down dealings working at then co-owning a once-great record company (run by endearingly grouchy gambler Sorrell Booke); he basically sells his soul to protect a fickle and neurotic knockout version of Janis Joplin in Cassie Yates, taking the otherwise womanizer on a proverbial ride... <br></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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njVmUL89PkM/YMZUJKo9Y0I/AAAAAAABiE0/sEElaSGRdlkd-0_Hs3q_B21Ocrr4Wi99QCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/196143560_1256252508137256_8637572101747373707_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njVmUL89PkM/YMZUJKo9Y0I/AAAAAAABiE0/sEElaSGRdlkd-0_Hs3q_B21Ocrr4Wi99QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/196143560_1256252508137256_8637572101747373707_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Russell Johnson as a detective with Peter Strauss in RICH MAN POOR MAN BOOK II</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Meanwhile, William Smith's powerfully methodical method-acting is what really stands out, shaking the dust off particular moments where the original series' edgy (semi-historical) drama becomes kitschy melodrama; he's busy too, fending off Nolte's vengeful partner Herbert Jefferson Jr., and, also returning is Kay Lenz, Nolte's sexy little widow, this time a kooky laughing girl in a contrived/forced affair with Strauss...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And yet, despite the soap operatic tropes and romantic distractions, like any good televised serial, the characters and situations leave viewers salivating for the next episode... while Peter Strauss is even more intense and dogged, likable, sympathetic and hardcore in the leading role (providing more than a few fantastic monologue-lectures)... making both RICH MAN, POOR MAN shows a "binge-watch" experience far before there was such a thing. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

cassie yates, gregg henry, herbert jefferson jr., james carroll jordan, kimberly beck, laraine stephens, melodrama, miniseries, penny peyser, peter strauss, seventies, susan sullivan, TV, william smith

PETER STRAUSS VS WILLIAM SMITH 'RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II'

Title: RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II Year: 1976-1977 Rating: **** While RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II is no RICH MAN, POOR MAN being impossible t...

JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'THE FEARMAKERS' WITH DANA ANDREWS

<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/-2bCeh_8zGuM/YMNH1jBpF2I/AAAAAAABh4w/mk1GOvlQMOIirbRgFo9E7MSjUL78yQEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1115/zzz.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1115" height="365" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bCeh_8zGuM/YMNH1jBpF2I/AAAAAAABh4w/mk1GOvlQMOIirbRgFo9E7MSjUL78yQEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h365/zzz.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Fearmakers Year: 1958 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE FEARMAKERS is <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>' peak as a dramatic lead, and, circa 1958, is one of the last genuine Film Noirs while serving as an early Cold War Political-Paranoia Thriller (a decade after Dana's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/iCURTAIN.html">THE IRON CURTAIN</a>); directed by his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/CPassage.html">CANYON PASSAGE</a> and the previous years' <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/12/DemonCurse.html">CURSE OF THE DEMON </a>auteur Jacques Tourneur, this is a kind of suspenseful programmer where the plot's spelled out quick, economically... </p><p>Having returned from being a tortured POW in Korea, and suffering sporadic fainting spells, Dana's Alan Eaton returns to Washington D.C. where his business partner has died, suspiciously, and their business taken over by some "pretty big fish with a bad smell" and, so, Dana has to investigate, completely from the inside...</p><p></p><p>Basically providing Tourneur a low-budget one-office setting, not counting a few restaurants and perhaps the best sequence inside an apartment/B&B owned by mouthy/muscular thug Kelly Thorsden and promiscuous, fatale-like wife Veda Ann Borg, and eventually everything falls into b-movie place with young sympathetic secretary/love-interest Marilee Earle of main boss Dick Foran... the latter both shady and sophisticated, the perfect rival to Dana's genuinely proficient businessman who'd ran this same Statistic-Research firm with precise honesty, and it's now become a hot-bed for political corruption... </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqvOcrbw2RM/YMMxO1Af-tI/AAAAAAABh4A/0H-JXZHt5hEfMfA7hIF7wwYa8Ow4DMuVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s665/3201757.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="665" height="219" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CqvOcrbw2RM/YMMxO1Af-tI/AAAAAAABh4A/0H-JXZHt5hEfMfA7hIF7wwYa8Ow4DMuVgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h219/3201757.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in THE FEARMAKERS</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Which isn't entirely clear as the underlying theme is kind of half-baked, preachy, including shots of the Abe Lincoln stature to suit all patriotic tastes: Which is how THE FEARMAKERS suits both those firmly backing America and those not completely trusting the behind-the-scenes wheeling/dealing; which are teased just enough for the plot-line, all part of an efficient Late Noir where Andrews, after basically skating through (while literally drinking through) two Fritz Lang media-centered Noirs, might not look so great physically... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet his old school intensity is back, as tight and calculating as ever, even usurping the DEMON performance. But the real surprise is musician Mel Torme as the most ambiguous, perhaps even most ambitious character: A nerdy numbers guy doing slave-work for the villain, he's smitten with the girl hence jealous of the hero, and caught perfectly in-between as a sublime scene-stealer. </p><span></span>

dana andrews, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jacques tourneur, kelly thorsden, marilee earle, mel torme, political, thriller, veda ann borg

JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'THE FEARMAKERS' WITH DANA ANDREWS

Title: The Fearmakers Year: 1958 Rating: **** THE FEARMAKERS is Dana Andrews ' peak as a dramatic lead, and, circa 1958, is one of the l...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'SPY IN YOUR EYE' WITH GASTON MOSCHIN

<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/-pvwpBgBRzgw/YLxseAgjDXI/AAAAAAABhm4/E_ZakakOHRwUj7tOMCHD5EH9_s4HO0X8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1948/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-05%2Bat%2B11.13.56%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1948" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pvwpBgBRzgw/YLxseAgjDXI/AAAAAAABhm4/E_ZakakOHRwUj7tOMCHD5EH9_s4HO0X8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h290/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-05%2Bat%2B11.13.56%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in Spy in your Eye Year: 1965 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of eight movies <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">DANA ANDREWS</a> appeared in from 1965, the unknown SPY IN YOUR EYE aka BANG YOU'RE DEAD has the lowest budget, seeming as if filmed on 16MM as Dana's an eye-patched operative provided a glass eye in its place and, unbeknownst to him there's a camera inside care-of villainous surgeon Gastone Moschin, who'd later become the most formidable, deserving-to-die baddie The Black Hand in THE GODFATHER 2...</p><p>But like most situations when big (or once big) veteran actors get star treatment, there's a young buried lead here in Brett Halsey, whose mission, including taking a train aided by an intrepid cohort with a hunchback that's actually a knife, is to... well... he travels around a lot and winds up in Arabic countries (supposedly) with intriguing blonde ingenue Pier Angeli, holding back a few mysteries and countered by a brunette femme fatale in Tania Béryl, whose actually more vulnerable than wicked since Gastone, her boss, is as bad as they get. Meanwhile, an expository Andrews merely bookends the adventure, leaving the action sequences... which actually flow pretty well... to Halsey in a curio too obscure for a cult following but that's, overall, surprisingly satisfying, fitting neatly into Dana's other 1965 low-budgets <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/citizen-cannon.html">BRAINSTORM</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/04/town-tamer.html">TOWN TAMER</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/dana-cracked.html">CRACK IN THE WORLD</a>. </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJF4qtGvL5o/YLylN6Lf93I/AAAAAAABhn8/bpK9bbOxf9kLZcn9gt_XRU543_WB5yXTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2534/195253670_1746206438915826_1705395466814395833_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2534" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJF4qtGvL5o/YLylN6Lf93I/AAAAAAABhn8/bpK9bbOxf9kLZcn9gt_XRU543_WB5yXTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/195253670_1746206438915826_1705395466814395833_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in the movie trailer for SPY IN YOUR EYE</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, brett halsley, dana andrews, espionage, exploitation, gastone moschin, pier angeli, sixties, spy, tania béryl

DANA ANDREWS IN 'SPY IN YOUR EYE' WITH GASTON MOSCHIN

Dana Andrews in Spy in your Eye Year: 1965 Rates: *** Of eight movies DANA ANDREWS appeared in from 1965, the unknown SPY IN YOUR EYE aka B...

DANA ANDREWS IN FRITZ LANG'S 'BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT'

<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/-2WjGx8nkLOQ/YMg3vwUTh0I/AAAAAAABiL8/zVjVn21Y27UjbLGJdZmBgWZpvxrr0ynYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-06-09%25252Bat%25252B11.49.04%25252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="400" height="363" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2WjGx8nkLOQ/YMg3vwUTh0I/AAAAAAABiL8/zVjVn21Y27UjbLGJdZmBgWZpvxrr0ynYwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h363/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-06-09%25252Bat%25252B11.49.04%25252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Year: 1956 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Frtiz Lang, whose early German movies influenced American Film Noir, made one of the greatest of that <i>genre</i>, THE BIG HEAT, after which his crime-thrillers lost steam, ending with his last U.S. venture, the anti-capital-punishment melodrama BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT starring his previous WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS leading man Dana Andrews, whose future reporter father-in-law concoct a plan to prove that that "reasonable doubt" constantly propelled by a pigheaded D.A. rival is a lot of bunk... by having Andrews frame himself for a stripper's murder, wherein the best scenes take place backstage in the seedy dive she'd worked, romancing her co-workers, street savvy blonde Barbara Nichols to the chagrin of jealous (yet suspicious) floozy friend Robin Raymond... </p><p></p><p>The latter played the doomed carnival dunk-tank girl in THE SNIPER, which starred this film's jilted wing man for Dana's jilted fiance Joan Fontaine... But Arthur Franz's scenes are mostly during the 11th hour when REASONABLE DOUBT reveals a twist ending that, while loathed by many, actually takes the picture to a level above the too-obvious left wing agenda, giving Dana's squeaky-clean idealist... whose usual minimalist style is a bit too minimal here... more edge than he has during the rushed murder trial. But the best scenes had already come and gone with those bickering strumpets, and too few scenes as Andrews and Blackmer contrive the perfect murder that supposedly never took place. So while intriguing enough to pass the time, BEYOND is beneath Fritz Lang's style; in fact, his visual presence seems somewhat absent here. If only those two scene-stealing burlesque girls had their own movie together. Particularly Barbara Nichols, who, the following year, would have a similar yet far juicier role in THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS. <br></p><span></span>

arthur franz, barbara nichols, courtroom drama, dana andrews, dorothy ford, edward binns, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fritz lang, joan fontaine, joyce taylor, robin raymond, sidney blackmer, thriller

DANA ANDREWS IN FRITZ LANG'S 'BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT'

Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Year: 1956 Rating: *** Frtiz Lang, whose early German movies influenced American Film Noir, made one of the greate...

DANA ANDREWS AND BETTY HUTTON FLING IN 'SPRING REUNION'

<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/-UN4r-cK9L80/YMEhGH8gLVI/AAAAAAABhyA/nBH7X-1UJfsj5HJZi_SQ9YU4ZQnjk3IqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%252540._V1_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="400" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UN4r-cK9L80/YMEhGH8gLVI/AAAAAAABhyA/nBH7X-1UJfsj5HJZi_SQ9YU4ZQnjk3IqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%252540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews & Betty Hutton Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>By the middle of the 1950's, Dana Andrews had swung full circle, back to playing either the secondary handsome guy... who doesn't get the girl... or in the case of SPRING REUNION, the handsome guy whose part is secondary to the leading actress, and was basically cast because... well... he's handsome enough for her... <br></p><p>And the picture's biggest flaw is that the entire cast looks far too old to be celebrating their 15-year high school reunion, including flaky-cute Jean Hagan in a troubled marriage almost hooking up with jovially oblivious has-been footballer (also in a troubled marriage) Gordon Jones....</p><p>But this REUNION belongs almost entirely to former musical darling Betty Hutton, suffering from too much contentment and way too much love from daddy (she still lives with her parents); and that actor, Robert F. Simon, doesn't think his little girl is good enough for anyone, including a successful Dana Andrews: A popular fella voted most likely to succeed, Dana's Fred Davis only partially lives up to the title since he walks away from any successful job he tires of... </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5skAuXcGkIQ/YLprcv71URI/AAAAAAABhgY/jgsm8tVzd8IBZjP1_WpaWj_KxX5msALWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1329/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%2540._V1_%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1329" height="145" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5skAuXcGkIQ/YLprcv71URI/AAAAAAABhgY/jgsm8tVzd8IBZjP1_WpaWj_KxX5msALWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h145/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%2540._V1_%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>What is it so great about Foreign Posters anyway?</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So basically what's here is a kind of romantic programmer (ghost-produced by Dana's future IN HARM'S WAY co-star Kirk Douglas) that serves a bittersweet reminder of the post-war years when idle time seemed to stand still... </p><p>And while the scenes at the REUNION itself are corny and fun (featuring drunken chaperone Irene Ryan; snarky Ken Curtis; and deliberately untalented celebrity-impersonator Sara Berner), it's the moments between Andrews (despite being an impatient grouch whose striped shirt annoyingly morays) and Hutton that, in what pans out like its own cozy stage play... even at sea and under a romantic lighthouse beacon... is worth the reclining hour-long viewing. <br></p><span></span>

betty hutton, comedy, dana andrews, fifties, gordon jones, jean hagen, kirk douglas, melodrama, robert f. simon, romance

DANA ANDREWS AND BETTY HUTTON FLING IN 'SPRING REUNION'

Dana Andrews & Betty Hutton Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2 By the middle of the 1950's, Dana Andrews had swung full circle, back to playin...

GASTON MOSCHIN IN 'CALIBER 9' ORIGINALLY 'MILANO CALIBRO 9'

<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/-MztZPExt8rM/YMAq_e4zrlI/AAAAAAABhss/fUA-WcEAeQYO35eU6cRhTq511mMqQqYVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1829/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-08%2Bat%2B5.06.19%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="1829" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MztZPExt8rM/YMAq_e4zrlI/AAAAAAABhss/fUA-WcEAeQYO35eU6cRhTq511mMqQqYVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-08%2Bat%2B5.06.19%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Caliber 9 Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Gravelly-voiced, physically-imposing Italian actor Gastone Moschin made the greatest villain in THE GODFATHER franchise as Fanucci aka The Black Hand in Part II, a monopolizing bully that Robert DeNiro's young Vito Corleone had to kill, but, two years earlier, Gastone gets more bullied than perhaps anyone in crime cinema history... </p><p>Freed on parole and still blamed for stealing then hiding 300K meant for a powerful mob boss, he's followed and beaten by thugs of "L'Americano" Lionel Stander, whose chief gangster Rocco... played by a fat and feisty, thin-mustached Mario Adorf... is the deadliest and noisiest in an extremely deadly/noisy Italian crime flick by Fernando Di Leo, wielding creative camera angles within the deliberately complicated plot, taking an hour to reveal an important trick that Gastone's Ugo Piazza... more vulnerably-subdued than slowburn-cool... has up his sleeve. Meanwhile, the only safe harbor's in the arms and plush apartment of stripper Barbara Bouchet; but things aren't what they seem in this action-packed exploitation you can't keep your eyes off, and that your ears won't escape from as CALIBER 9, harboring a sonic Jethro-Tull-like guitar/flute score, is a complete assault of the senses. </p><p><span></span></p>

barbara bouchet, crime, exploitation, gastone moschin, italian, lionel stander, mario adorf, seventies

GASTON MOSCHIN IN 'CALIBER 9' ORIGINALLY 'MILANO CALIBRO 9'

Caliber 9 Year: 1972 Rating: **** Gravelly-voiced, physically-imposing Italian actor Gastone Moschin made the greatest villain in THE GODFAT...

ORSON WELLES AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON IN 'THE STRANGER'

<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/-03dmWPeZf6c/YLi3uD07SiI/AAAAAAABhQ4/gRhQBDemfhUKSyVRwb-YDI2IJ-IKIFXYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s491/71OgY1Ue4gL._AC_SY879_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="459" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03dmWPeZf6c/YLi3uD07SiI/AAAAAAABhQ4/gRhQBDemfhUKSyVRwb-YDI2IJ-IKIFXYwCLcBGAsYHQ/w374-h400/71OgY1Ue4gL._AC_SY879_.jpeg" width="374"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spouting teacher about to marry the beautiful daughter of a renown judge in a small town epitomizing post-war, postcard America. And he's the perfect man: brilliant, handsome, and determined, with only one drawback — he's a former Nazi; on top of which, he still believes in "the cause" and that it could possibly sustain... <br></p><p></p><p>But he keeps this secret from everyone, especially Edward G. Robinson as a dogged, determined yet sophisticated FBI agent posing as an antique collector (which Robinson was in real life), who soon discovers the real identity but needs proof before moving in... <br></p><p>Before and after there's a fair share of unrealistic, melodramatic situations; and scenes bridging the second and third act tend to drag, especially Welles attempting to keep his poor, unstable wife by his ever-crumbling side... </p><p>But the detailed framing and exquisite camerawork, especially Welle's use of shadows and the climax involving a clock tower adorned with sword-wielding angel statures, makes this, if anything else, a visual masterpiece: and one of the few box-office successes in the maverick auteur's artistically brilliant but financially unsuccessful directorial career, and has a nifty side-cast including a young idealistic (brother of the bride) Richard Long; Welles's redeemed hence doomed Nazi sycophant Konstantin Shayne; a goofy albeit likable Billy House housing checkers with town gossip; and Joseph Cotten doppelganger Byron Keith as Welles's best man. </p><p><span></span></p>

billy house, byron keith, edward g. robinson, film noir or melodrama, forties, loretta young, nazi, orson welles, richard long, thriller

ORSON WELLES AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON IN 'THE STRANGER'

Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: **** Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spoutin...

ROD TAYLOR LITERALLY VS WILLIAM SMITH IN 'DARKER THAN AMBER'

<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/-PpGV67NHv8A/YMh2D6yV4sI/AAAAAAABiMM/GTtQrrVelEoGbdsnhrzmGrDwiCRuLzzNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s778/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-14%2Bat%2B10.53.03%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="778" height="369" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpGV67NHv8A/YMh2D6yV4sI/AAAAAAABiMM/GTtQrrVelEoGbdsnhrzmGrDwiCRuLzzNQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h369/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-14%2Bat%2B10.53.03%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Book Cover Darker than Amber Year: 1970 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"And speaking of that... What about that?" is some of the clunky dialogue in Robert Clouse's cinematic venture for pulp author John D. McDonald's beach bum/salvage seller Travis McGee, here played by an aged-to-granite Rod Taylor, more befitting a suit during the cruise ship second half than bulky shirtless on his own boat... a balmy Florida Keys Neo Noir during an intriguing set-up when Taylor's McGee rescues a beautiful blonde dumped off a bridge with weighted ankles... </p><p></p><p>The kind of colorfully psychedelic counter-culture clashing an otherwise gray-toned detective-style thriller, and especially vivid is the young girl, all open-minded and groovy in Suzy Kendall, who, pretty enough to fall for quickly, there's not enough romantic chemistry to merit McGee such severe depression after her death...<br></p><p>Quickly followed by a contrived resurrection as Kendall plays a different girl, used to trick muscular bleach-blond psycho <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/falcon-eddie.html">William Smith</a>: And what DARKER THAN AMBER is known for is the climactic fight between Taylor and Smith that wound up real, captured by director Clouse that landed him Bruce Lee's ENTER THE DRAGON: Which also featured blonde bombshell Ahna Capri who, like Smith and beautiful black actress Janet MacLachlan as well as pinch thug Robert Phillips, isn't given enough screen time in a deliberate b-movie that's more a scattered collection of scenes. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

ahna capri, chris robinson, gumshoe, janet maclachlan, neo noir, robert clouse, robert phillips, rod taylor, seventies, suzy kendall, william smith

ROD TAYLOR LITERALLY VS WILLIAM SMITH IN 'DARKER THAN AMBER'

Book Cover Darker than Amber Year: 1970 Rates: *** "And speaking of that... What about that?" is some of the clunky dialogue in Ro...

BLASTING THROUGH THE URBAN FILM NOIR THRILLER 'THE SNIPER'

<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/-oJDCqqrjYBs/YLNydFZ-HJI/AAAAAAABhLM/kij19OYhzvcDJ_jkwbREinBZzh9_92HTgCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/sniperposter.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="351" data-original-width="480" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oJDCqqrjYBs/YLNydFZ-HJI/AAAAAAABhLM/kij19OYhzvcDJ_jkwbREinBZzh9_92HTgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h293/sniperposter.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sniper with Arthur Franz Year: 1952 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Most of this film, centering on THE SNIPER sniping female targets, is wonderfully <i>executed</i>...</p><p>Particularly while centered on the gunman himself, roaming from one hit to the next to the next, led by various dames bringing out the outright dame-hating nasty in him... </p><p></p><p> Channeling real life serial killers, Arthur Franz's titular loner leaves behind subtle clues for the police; the latter used only sparingly during the first half; after which we mostly just <i>hear about</i> the killings from head cop Adolphe Menjou teamed with psychologist Richard Kiley, dissecting each remaining murder through pulpy discourse... <br /></p><p></p><p>Well enough acted dialogue that does, however, eventually interrupt the addictive, ultra-violent flow that might've been too much for audiences back then, making THE SNIPER a Film Noir bordering on Exploitation. And so, when the picture works, it works just fine, with a disturbing Arthur Franz excellent in the lead alongside Edward Dmytryk's taut direction — they both work together like a killer and his gun.  </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdHMDMviG6g/YLUcdLmbtHI/AAAAAAABhLg/dOytsmjHFYcyj13ncefzKOyj-mdRL75AwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1880/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-31%2Bat%2B10.25.34%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1380" data-original-width="1880" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vdHMDMviG6g/YLUcdLmbtHI/AAAAAAABhLg/dOytsmjHFYcyj13ncefzKOyj-mdRL75AwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-31%2Bat%2B10.25.34%2BAM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robin Raymond heckles in THE SNIPER dunk tank carnival sequence</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

adolphe menjou, arthur franz, body count, cop, crime, edward dmytryk, exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, richard kiley, robin raymond, suspense, thriller

BLASTING THROUGH THE URBAN FILM NOIR THRILLER 'THE SNIPER'

The Sniper with Arthur Franz Year: 1952 Rates: ***1/2 Most of this film, centering on THE SNIPER sniping female targets, is wonderfully ex...

CHARLES GRODIN AND FARRAH FAWCETT BASKING IN 'SUNBURN'

<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/-FPfGP1r9xPQ/YKYLzONjLaI/AAAAAAABgcY/ZNokaPzq-rkQ5p3Br9m7QoRDCy2T8rskwCLcBGAsYHQ/s869/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-19%2Bat%2B7.44.08%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="869" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FPfGP1r9xPQ/YKYLzONjLaI/AAAAAAABgcY/ZNokaPzq-rkQ5p3Br9m7QoRDCy2T8rskwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h318/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-19%2Bat%2B7.44.08%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sunburn poster resembling Killer Fish circa 1979 Rates: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Around the time <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/04/saturn-3.html">Farrah Fawcett</a> and husband <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/Majors-of-Steel.html">Lee Majors</a> produced <i>his</i> <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/08/blackfish.html">KILLER FISH</a> in sunny Brazil, <i>she</i> went to sunnier Acapulco in an action-comedy almost entirely lacking humor; and yet, helmed by VANISHING POINT director Richard C. Sarafian, the action sequences are pretty good along with neat shots of the glistening locale with a scantily-clad Farrah who, having just left CHARLIE'S ANGELS, was so hot/popular that anything she starred in could pass as Exploitation Cinema, although SUNBURN is mostly a mainstream venture juggling too many characters while losing focus on the main plot: A rich old man's car crash might not be accidental, and his insurance company has to reluctantly shell out 5M...</p><p>So Grodin, supposedly a troublesome private eye, is sent with Fawcett as his fake wife... But there's hardly any trouble or suspense surreptitiously investigating the man's family that includes a lusty Joan Collins and the dead man's kids in a quaint <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/09/buster-and-billie.html">Joan Goodfellow</a> and her playboy brother. Meanwhile, Art Carney... as a gumshoe's gumshoe mentor... gets lost in a mix of neo noir crime and chaos wherein, since Grodin plays it so dry he hardly seems there at all, only Fawcett really shines... Which was obviously this film's backup plan that ultimately becomes pretty much everything.  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, charles grodin, comedy, exploitation, farrah fawcett, gumshoe, joan collins, joan goodfellow, neo noir, robin clarke, romance, seventies

CHARLES GRODIN AND FARRAH FAWCETT BASKING IN 'SUNBURN'

Sunburn poster resembling Killer Fish circa 1979 Rates: ** Around the time Farrah Fawcett and husband Lee Majors produced his KILLER FISH...

FARRAH FAWCETT SERVES AIRLINE MYSTERY 'MURDER ON FLIGHT 502'

<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/-mrZBRRHkXaQ/YLHreDlrDBI/AAAAAAABhGc/7fSZv14CDiIIztvL_rAIKfBbVoyPqkUjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-05-27%252Bat%252B9.34.48%252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="400" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mrZBRRHkXaQ/YLHreDlrDBI/AAAAAAABhGc/7fSZv14CDiIIztvL_rAIKfBbVoyPqkUjwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-05-27%252Bat%252B9.34.48%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Farrah Fawcett in Murder on Flight 502 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Different than most airline disaster flicks in that a gun's drawn literally minutes before the New York to England 747 makes a landing. But MURDER ON FLIGHT 502 is really a whodunnit...</p><p>And for a mystery it's pretty great; for a thriller it's surprisingly taut; as a TV movie it's creatively shot by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/01/borden-frogs.html">FROGS</a> director George McCowan and, like the AIRPORT franchise, there's a B-list of ensemble actors ranging from Laraine Day to Dane Clark to Fernando Lamas, Danny Bonaduce, Hugh O'Brien, Theodore Bikel, Walter Pigeon, Sonny Bono... </p><p></p><p>While the plane itself provides an intriguing set including a plush First Class section to a First Class lounge up to the cockpit where the always stalwart Robert Stack stands between a doctor saving the life of one of several culprits, investing the plane and passengers along with cop Hugh O'Brien as his co-pilot does all the thankless work. Meanwhile Farrah Fawcett... who alone adorns the DVD cover as if this AIRLINE were her very own vehicle (three years before CHARLIE'S ANGELS)... is the perfect eye-candy stewardess, and able to actually act a few times since there's an ongoing tension. Even providing George Maharis some nice edgy scenes back at the tower, where most plane-in-peril thrillers remain on cruise control. </p><span></span>

airplane, dane clark, disaster, ensemble, farrah fawcett, george maharis, george mccowan, hugh o'brien, mystery, robert stack, seventies, sonny bono, thriller, tv movie

FARRAH FAWCETT SERVES AIRLINE MYSTERY 'MURDER ON FLIGHT 502'

Farrah Fawcett in Murder on Flight 502 Rating: **** Different than most airline disaster flicks in that a gun's drawn literally minutes ...

JAMES GARNER AS ABEL MARSH IN 'THEY ONLY KILL THEIR MASTERS'

<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/-m4e5JudFZPY/YKsxdIFSUpI/AAAAAAABg1w/7K7wYsiOPPs7CTTQxv6OEbfz5Bc6u-x0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s888/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-23%2Bat%2B11.04.22%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="831" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m4e5JudFZPY/YKsxdIFSUpI/AAAAAAABg1w/7K7wYsiOPPs7CTTQxv6OEbfz5Bc6u-x0wCLcBGAsYHQ/w374-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-23%2Bat%2B11.04.22%2BAM.jpeg" width="374"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Artwork with Doberman Year: 1972 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the first vehicles of the 1970's catering to the 1970's Doberman craze; although this particular pooch is more a McGuffin than pet... </p><p>A friendly yet sometimes growling, possibly deadly red-herring that could provide California small town sheriff James Garner some clues... </p><p></p><p>He plays writer Lane Slate's rural lawman, Abel Marsh, in the first of three movies (Andy Griffith took over the rest); and while this is the only one made for the big screen, with a lightweight, glossy main score it both sounds and plays like a Movie Of The Week... </p><p>Even the town itself, the last chance audiences got see the Universal lot, is pure television, as is Garner's affable manner despite throwing around a few glib curse words and references to homosexuality...</p><p>The latter concerns the woman who dies in the beginning, seeming killed by the dog, Murphy... </p><p>And, adding to the sporadic attempts to fit into the progressive, post counter-culture era, the beach-drowned victim is the bisexual wife of classy Peter Lawford, hanging around a young, full-chested and very straight <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/04/skyjacked.html">Jenifer Shaw</a>... But it's natural-beauty's natural-beauty <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/10/original-stepford-wives.html">Katharine Ross</a> who provides Garner both an ingenue and a possible twist... One of several moments where THEY ONLY KILL THEIR MASTERS wakes up from its episodic daze and becomes the Old School Detective/Neo Noir Mystery it strives for (but not quite often enough).   </p><p><span></span></p>

action, crime, doberman, hal holbrook, james garner, jenifer shaw, katharine ross, lane slate, mystery, neo noir, rural, small town, thriller, warner archives

JAMES GARNER AS ABEL MARSH IN 'THEY ONLY KILL THEIR MASTERS'

Poster Artwork with Doberman Year: 1972 Rates: *** One of the first vehicles of the 1970's catering to the 1970's Doberman craze; al...

HAWN AND GRODIN CHASE NEIL SIMON'S 'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES'

<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/-snDJH25wngc/YKcuLp_-TSI/AAAAAAABggE/os3eJ76N4ss8DwNOwU8W0xfgdtJ5eMucQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1148/186493205_1241612232934617_1560445188419983339_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="945" data-original-width="1148" height="329" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-snDJH25wngc/YKcuLp_-TSI/AAAAAAABggE/os3eJ76N4ss8DwNOwU8W0xfgdtJ5eMucQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h329/186493205_1241612232934617_1560445188419983339_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>VideoDisc for Seems like Old TImes Year; 1980 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the Hitchcock-style Goldie Hawn romp FOUL PLAY got the critical accolades, with Chevy Chase as her personal Cary Grant, SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES is not only a funnier pairing but better suits Chase's physical comedy...</p><p>Even though Hawn, as the wife of a prominent D.A., is the central character, we begin with her flaky ex-husband Chase, an ex-con journalist kidnapped to rob a bank, becoming the Wrong Man and sent into hiding... into Hawn's busy house housing not only her important husband but a nagging maid, a crooked chauffeur and a bevy of orphaned dogs.</p><p></p><p>Released in 1980 with a funky disco soundtrack crashing conservative suburbia, Neil Simon's clever dialogue orchestrates frantic situations around every corner where Chase wields offbeat slapstick made famous on SNL, including one scene where only his hands provide the highjinks... better than most comedic actors do using their entire bodies. But with Charles Grodin as the foiled "straight man" victim to his defense-attorney wife's eccentric tastes (more riled-up and neurotic than his usual deadpan), including a dim spark still held for husband number one, SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES is a three-tier, bedroom-farce throwback also featuring Robert Guillaume as Grodin's governmental sidekick and Harold Gould as a perplexed judge, keeping up with the ever-changing plot along with the audience, exhausted in the best possible way.</p><p><span></span></p>

charles grodin, chevy chase, comedy, eighties, ensemble, goldie hawn, neil simon, robert guillaume, slapstick, t.k. carter, wrong man

HAWN AND GRODIN CHASE NEIL SIMON'S 'SEEMS LIKE OLD TIMES'

VideoDisc for Seems like Old TImes Year; 1980 Rates: **** While the Hitchcock-style Goldie Hawn romp FOUL PLAY got the critical accolades, w...

STEVE MARTIN IS 'THE LONELY GUY' WITH (RIP) CHARLES GRODIN

<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/-VjgPZ5JsGps/YKY36gAsXAI/AAAAAAABgdY/pl0xU0PW0ksC1pZ7XSguIGOBECXDCHMagCLcBGAsYHQ/s1182/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-19%2Bat%2B9.23.05%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1182" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VjgPZ5JsGps/YKY36gAsXAI/AAAAAAABgdY/pl0xU0PW0ksC1pZ7XSguIGOBECXDCHMagCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-19%2Bat%2B9.23.05%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Grodin goes Galactica Year: 1984 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Posted in memory of Charles Grodin is this summary of THE LONELY GUY that, if based on how many particular jokes land compared to the ones that don't, this wouldn't be considered classic or groundbreaking, but the character played by Steve Martin, who, after breaking up with his gorgeously loose girlfriend (Robyn Douglass), residing in New York as a terminally lonely single fella, is so likable and relatable, GUY is, plain and simple, the journey of a man who not only hits rock bottom, but learns how to exist there. </p><p></p><p>He has an equally "pathetic" buddy Charles Grodin (choosing to watch BATTLESTAR GALACTICA instead of mingling at a party) and keeps running into the earthy woman of his dreams: always losing her phone number right after. </p><p>What works best here are the specific examples of being alone in a big city and how to deal with each particular bout of solitude (including raising plants as pets and other time-filling tips), hence THE LONELY GUY Guide book that makes him famous. Hence the last forty minutes, after our hero becomes a famous author, things dwindle considerably; but that first hour, especially the scenes shared with Grodin, is a real slice of life.<span></span></p>

battlestar galactica, charles grodin, comedy, cult, eighties, judith ivey, robyn douglass, steve martin

STEVE MARTIN IS 'THE LONELY GUY' WITH (RIP) CHARLES GRODIN

Charles Grodin goes Galactica Year: 1984 Rates: ***1/2 Posted in memory of Charles Grodin is this summary of THE LONELY GUY that, if based o...

ZACK SNYDER'S ZOMBIES IN VEGAS FLICK 'ARMY OF THE DEAD'

<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/-j2whYzQEBq4/YK5oItbSf3I/AAAAAAABhAw/kJmi674s2XM_IvKYKyy-MTop-gvBVmf8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1031/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-26%2Bat%2B1.07.22%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1031" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j2whYzQEBq4/YK5oItbSf3I/AAAAAAABhAw/kJmi674s2XM_IvKYKyy-MTop-gvBVmf8ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-26%2Bat%2B1.07.22%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Army of the Dead Year: 2021 Rates: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's no secret Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD has a Zombie Tiger. But the funny part is that, during what's supposed to be an action-packed third act, the Zombie Tiger actually yawns, watching passively as a horde of intelligent "Alpha Zombies" rush towards a building where a ragtag group of heroes, anti-heroes and just plain terrible <i>men</i> are stealing loads of cash from a casino in Las Vegas, an enclosed city much like Manhattan in ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, and the only place in America still harboring zombies from a zombie war we see via montage during the opening credits...<br><br>Long review short... The good guy, led by a stiff, monotone Dave Bautista, is, along with his daughter, so painfully idealistic they're boring, and annoying. Then there's a lesbian chopper pilot trying for the smart allecky Han Solo mixed with Ripley from ALIENS; the deliberate weak-link nerd who's technically important nonetheless; an honorably tough second-in-command; a rogue female tougher and deadlier than any male; and of course, those dirty rotten macho characters who, in today's age of preachy political correctness, you can no longer "love to hate" since their own hatred of everything the filmmaker loves makes them deserving of not only extra-horrible deaths, but they're not even supposed to be guiltily-entertaining in the process...<br><br></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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANy_GFA0qGM/YK3DQoGTKJI/AAAAAAABg7E/v4mpblx9rL8yh-WJQnENKZEIJxqOsNqlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-25%2Bat%2B8.35.50%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="2048" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ANy_GFA0qGM/YK3DQoGTKJI/AAAAAAABg7E/v4mpblx9rL8yh-WJQnENKZEIJxqOsNqlwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h228/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-25%2Bat%2B8.35.50%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Yawning Zombie Tiger of Army of the Dead</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So ARMY OF THE DEAD <i>is</i> a pretty bad movie, although not as bad as some are saying because you MIGHT want to stay till the end, to see how things pan out...</p><p>At which point the ultimate let-down finale and post-finale finale could leave you hating yourself for having wanted to stick around in the first place, but... Either way, movies, as well as their characters (far too many here to remain interesting), are just not as fun as they used to be...<br><br>The reason that spitfire-dialog comedies and pure-action action flicks were once only 90-minutes long is there's just so much we can either laugh along with or immensely marvel at... 2 1/2 hours is fine for an epic, say, like GOODFELLAS, detailing the entire life of a character in peril. But for a basic Heist Movie with a zombie twist... or a basic Zombie movie with a heist twist... it's an hour too long, and just not worth the wait. </p><p><span></span></p>

2021, action, body count, heist, horror, netflix, new, zack snyder, zombie

ZACK SNYDER'S ZOMBIES IN VEGAS FLICK 'ARMY OF THE DEAD'

Army of the Dead Year: 2021 Rates: ** It's no secret Zack Snyder's ARMY OF THE DEAD has a Zombie Tiger. But the funny part is that, ...

LARAINE STEPHENS HEADS THE 'DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS'

<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/-6dbl_MmfIno/YLI5U3x49CI/AAAAAAABhIY/Yx_ct4cCC6oz4hZRcwpEmhgNsj33Nei-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1901/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-28%2Bat%2B9.55.36%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="1901" height="319" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6dbl_MmfIno/YLI5U3x49CI/AAAAAAABhIY/Yx_ct4cCC6oz4hZRcwpEmhgNsj33Nei-ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h319/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-28%2Bat%2B9.55.36%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lauren Tewes & Laraine Stephens Year: 1979 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An exploitation propaganda for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as they're investigated by roving reporter Jane Seymour, working for sleek Bert Convy who wants to know not only what makes these girls tick, but what's wrong with the entire organization... </p><p></p><p>Other than a handful of sympathetic beauties trying desperately to become one of the famous pom pom girls, there's not much here, really; although a few decent performances eek out, not including middle-aged beauty Laraine Stephens, <i>always</i> an effective strong woman in charge... <br></p><p>Featuring Lauren Tewes as a blackmailed girl-next-door, robbing suspense from Seymour in having a race-against-time to expose the Cheerleaders; a conceited would-be actress Kathrine Baumann; and school teacher Ellen Bry (dating horrendous "actor" Bucky Dent): But it's voluptuous starlet Jenifer Shaw who steals the show, and that's within the first five minutes when she tells two new girls, including scream queen Pamela Susan Shoop, how hard she'd tried out the previous four years and REALLY HOPES to make it this time... This monologue alone captures what the entire TV-movie aspires to: The seeking/anticipation for as opposed to the excitement/pressures of being involved with one of the hottest franchises during the glitzy disco era. </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eKkUrM46CoI/YLH5uhDjr3I/AAAAAAABhHg/tEWfbOd4EMgz8QDNqx6aY7UC4OhrufRMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2004/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-28%2Bat%2B10.02.06%2BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="2004" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eKkUrM46CoI/YLH5uhDjr3I/AAAAAAABhHg/tEWfbOd4EMgz8QDNqx6aY7UC4OhrufRMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-28%2Bat%2B10.02.06%2BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jenifer Shaw in THE DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADER</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span></span></p>

bert convy, ellen bry, exploitation, jane seymour, jenifer shaw, katherine baumann, laraine stephens, lauren tewes, pamela susan shoop, seventies, sport

LARAINE STEPHENS HEADS THE 'DALLAS COWBOYS CHEERLEADERS'

Lauren Tewes & Laraine Stephens Year: 1979 Rates: *** An exploitation propaganda for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders as they're inve...

DANA ANDREWS & MÄRTA TORÉN COVER 'ASSIGNMENT: PARIS'

<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/-glBP3svCITQ/YKG5iv3g6sI/AAAAAAABgSo/polk59HfZIESB7gwjW27PaiaXen7ChVFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s686/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-16%2Bat%2B4.34.07%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="686" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-glBP3svCITQ/YKG5iv3g6sI/AAAAAAABgSo/polk59HfZIESB7gwjW27PaiaXen7ChVFQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h321/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-16%2Bat%2B4.34.07%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Märta Torén in Assignment: Paris Year: 1952 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>George Saunders, the classy Brit who all but stole Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT despite being third billed, is number three again and has plenty of time to stand out in act three...<br></p><p>When mainline Dana Andrews, again playing a reporter like in another correspondent, BERLIN CORRESPONDENT, gets captured illegally, held hostage and whose enemies, in this case communist Yugo, winds up altering his voice, another BERLIN trait only more realistic as it's a far better picture... </p><p></p><p>And while the thrills aren't extremely thrilling there's a good use of suspense when needed... </p><p>Plus romance as Andrews puts on his kind of breezy, second-hand charm from the 1950's when, during this Lost Decade of drinking, he'd phone in some performances, even in good films and also, good performances, as ASSIGNMENT: PARIS is and has... also starring love-interest ingenue Märta Torén, who co-starred with Dana in SWORD IN THE DESERT, and underused Noir starlet Audrey Totter, brooding around the Paris newspaper office jealous about Torén, two-fold. </p><p><span></span></p>

audrey totter, cold war, dana andrews, fifties, film noir or melodrama, george saunders, märta torén, thriller

DANA ANDREWS & MÄRTA TORÉN COVER 'ASSIGNMENT: PARIS'

Märta Torén in Assignment: Paris Year: 1952 Rates: ***1/2 George Saunders, the classy Brit who all but stole Alfred Hitchcock's FOREIGN ...

DANA ANDREWS & MÄRTA TORÉN RULING 'SWORD IN THE DESERT'

<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/-qD4HR0F24FY/YKCyreYFnvI/AAAAAAABgSE/pUwJPvnKtx4DWNL78S7AOh_2E0qWHUTogCLcBGAsYHQ/s1046/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-15%2Bat%2B7.52.49%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="859" data-original-width="1046" height="329" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qD4HR0F24FY/YKCyreYFnvI/AAAAAAABgSE/pUwJPvnKtx4DWNL78S7AOh_2E0qWHUTogCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h329/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-05-15%2Bat%2B7.52.49%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sword in the Desert Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although approved by the British Film Board, SWORD IN THE DESERT was banned in England, and it's understandable as British soldiers are basically Nazis in this story of Jews shipped from Europe to Israel, beating Otto Preminger's EXODUS by over a decade and, starring his stock star <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>, here directed in a propaganda fashion by George Sherman, there are decent sand-leaping action sequences alongside preachy symbolism, but it could have been worse since DESERT feels like the usual WWII programmer, and Dana's in his cocky prime as a maverick freighter captain so overly reluctant to finish the job — taking the immigrants from his boat to the beach where <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/V-sat.html">Stephen McNally</a> has the payment — it's hard to believe he'd signed on at all...<br></p><p></p><p>And his bitter reluctance sustains through most of the story; usually the anti-hero would join the cause a lot sooner, and mostly because of a gorgeous dame... in this case by Dana's future ASSIGNMENT PARIS beauty <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/04/AP.html">Märta Torén</a> as the rebel's very own radio-goading Tokyo Rose, and, with handsome head honcho Jeff Chandler by her, McNally's and feisty Irishman Liam Redmond's side, the British soldiers have only their bullying tactics (only two officers feel guilty), eventually attempting to use the captured (and still on-the-fence) Andrews to name-names in the 11th hour... But as mainstream as this SWORD gets, there's no hackneyed wind-swept romance or any cheap melodramatic last words by dying soldiers, and it all goes down pretty well. The main problem, and the Brit's biggest gripe, is that the Arabs get off scot-free while hymn-singing Christians get all the blame... And in that, cinema hasn't changed one bit.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, british, dana andrews, forties, george sherman, jeff chandler, liam redmond., märta torén, stephen mcnally, war

DANA ANDREWS & MÄRTA TORÉN RULING 'SWORD IN THE DESERT'

Sword in the Desert Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2 Although approved by the British Film Board, SWORD IN THE DESERT was banned in England, and it...

WARREN BEATTY IN ALAN J. PAKULA'S 'THE PARALLAX VIEW'

<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/-ijFwGM2THDc/YJ41J2fgrBI/AAAAAAABgPw/4z_awmcNjJcmoHbLu6V5SOnPuZWX_WkBACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-05-03%25252Bat%25252B12.40.51%25252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="400" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ijFwGM2THDc/YJ41J2fgrBI/AAAAAAABgPw/4z_awmcNjJcmoHbLu6V5SOnPuZWX_WkBACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h358/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-05-03%25252Bat%25252B12.40.51%25252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW 1974 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN director Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW has a doomed politician, even before taking Seattle's Sky Needle elevator to his last speech, described as being too independent for his own good; so this political thriller is set to please any audience... </p><p></p><p>With mainstream action from a car chase to a bar fight to an exploding boat, maverick reporter Beatty investigates the growing deaths of witnesses from the rudimentary assassination...</p><p>Wielding his laidback style around the more animated likes of Hume Cronyn as his working-class editor; veteran baddie Kelly Thorsden as a small town crooked sheriff; William Daniels as this film's possible Deep Throat... </p><p>And last but not least, a shady, expository Walter McGinn, introducing Beatty into the titular PARALLAX Corporation (along with an intentionally bizarre montage meant for hypnotic indoctrination), which is basically a School for Assassins, and, right when our timid hero goes undercover as one of the students, about to embark upon the first mission, he keeps getting distracted, following "real killer" Bill McKinney around like any detective flick. Director Pakula, meanwhile, tells a nice tight story with big sets and gorgeous widescreen cinematography as the camera remains an impartial observer (or spy)... and yet, in the process, with all the running around, he ultimately lets the more intriguing premise get away.  </p><p><span></span></p>

alan j. pakula, bill mckinney, earl hindman, hume cronyn, jo ann harris, kelly thorsden, paula prentiss, political, seventies, thriller, walter mcginn, warren beatty, william daniels

WARREN BEATTY IN ALAN J. PAKULA'S 'THE PARALLAX VIEW'

Warren Beatty in THE PARALLAX VIEW 1974 Rates: **** ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN director Alan J. Pakula's THE PARALLAX VIEW has a doomed...

RICHARD RUST STEALS SAMUEL FULLER'S 'UNDERWORLD U.S.A.'

<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/-UGA_nvyBvok/YJ2ciOU5wpI/AAAAAAABgOA/jOe43xnxkiAKI6AbyfWF7qiMTGOrUiEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/26848426df427dbd4b7b9188d78cd58f-1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="365" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UGA_nvyBvok/YJ2ciOU5wpI/AAAAAAABgOA/jOe43xnxkiAKI6AbyfWF7qiMTGOrUiEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/w365-h400/26848426df427dbd4b7b9188d78cd58f-1.jpeg" width="365"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rust & Robertson in the USA Year: 1961 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This gritty Samuel Fuller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/neo%20noir">Post-Noir</a> has a teenage hood trained by his hoodlum father while raised by a bar-owning lush with a heart of gold, setting up your basic revenge tale since the kid witnessed his old man beaten and killed in a shadow-filled alley by four men — but he only actually <i>sees</i> one of them...</p><p>And thus grows into a contentedly crooked Cliff Robertson, whose Tolly Devlin, serving time, finds <i>that one</i> recognized killer dying in jail, of natural causes, but not before naming names so that, when Tully gets out, the body count vengeance trail begins... </p><p>Sadly, this intriguing set-up gets distracted by the UNDERWORLD crime-bosses and especially, on the other side of the fence, the District Attorney: What should have remained tighter to Robertson's dogged perspective loses steam and lacks focus... </p><p>Yet is sporadically made up for NOT by <i>his</i> character, dealing with melodramatic ingenue Dolores Dorn, looked-after by that experienced surrogate-mother Beatrice Kay (aptly channeling Thelma Ritter from Fuller's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/08/big-red-microfilm.html">PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET</a>), whose creepy doll collection adds to the director's surreal 1960's arthouse-aesthetic that'd continue with SHOCK THERAPY and THE NAKED KISS... But the scene-stealer is a coldly handsome thug/shooter played by Richard Rust as Gus, chain-smoking while killing left and right (even deliberately running over a kid on a bicycle): narrowing-down what would have been a far less effective crime-thriller without him — a reminder to the audience of what's the unapologetic <i>heartless</i> of the matter.  </p><p><span></span></p>

beatrice kay, body count, cliff robertson, crime, david kent, dolores dorn, neo noir, revenge, richard rust, robert emhardt, samuel fuller, sixties

RICHARD RUST STEALS SAMUEL FULLER'S 'UNDERWORLD U.S.A.'

Rust & Robertson in the USA Year: 1961 Rates: ***1/2 This gritty Samuel Fuller Post-Noir has a teenage hood trained by his hoodlum fath...

BILL ELLIOTT IN 'CHAIN OF EVIDENCE' WITH TIMOTHY CAREY

<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/-u4-p02BRugo/YIwcJxAnivI/AAAAAAABf6s/B_jTn5GA-_sP2qEooo1w5k4Ij_L02J2ZACLcBGAsYHQ/s805/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-04-28%2Bat%2B4.41.47%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="805" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u4-p02BRugo/YIwcJxAnivI/AAAAAAABf6s/B_jTn5GA-_sP2qEooo1w5k4Ij_L02J2ZACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h280/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-04-28%2Bat%2B4.41.47%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bill Elliott in Chain of Evidence Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The low-budget, room-to-room, television-like direction aside, CHAIN OF EVIDENCE — the penultimate thriller with former cowboy actor Bill Elliott as friendly cop <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/blindfaith.html">Lt. Andy Doyle</a> — is intriguing enough, featuring Jimmy Lydon as an ex-convict with amnesia,  a favorite Film Noir disease allowing the plot to fall into two other Noir staples: a wife and lover kills her rich husband, and poor Jimmy Lydon becomes the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/wrong%20man">Wrong Man</a>...</p><p></p><p>Why he'd gone to jail in the first place has to do with cult actor Timothy Carey, who once again clenches his teeth while talking as yet another clenched-teeth lowlife... this one a victim of getting beat up for flirting with the otherwise nice guy's girlfriend (Tina Carver); the latter whining through the more melodramatic sequences as her man goes through accusations that seem impossible to clear: he'd fought with the husband right before the wife's lover finished the job. And while these kind of cuckold pot-boilers spend most of the time building a "perfect murder," the quick pull-off is a letdown for the audience yet allows main star Elliott a chance to wander around, ask a lot of questions and chain-smoke, like movie-cops do — providing scheming wife Polly Gunther a suburban femme fatale role that deserved a better platform; yet her input here makes EVIDENCE better than it would've been otherwise. </p><p><span></span></p>

bill elliott, cop, don haggerty, fifties, film noir or melodrama, franchise, jimmy lydon, perfect murder, polly gunther, ross elliott, sequel, thriller, timothy carey, tina carver, wrong man

BILL ELLIOTT IN 'CHAIN OF EVIDENCE' WITH TIMOTHY CAREY

Bill Elliott in Chain of Evidence Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2 The low-budget, room-to-room, television-like direction aside, CHAIN OF EVIDENCE...

RALPH MEEKER AND MARLA ENGLISH IN 'DESERT SANDS'

<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/-NSm5DDQt__0/YIlf9F90jrI/AAAAAAABf4E/wYpnIW-tdXY-rNRcazVa92fJYq4iHfuNwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-04-25%252Bat%252B1.12.52%252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="400" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NSm5DDQt__0/YIlf9F90jrI/AAAAAAABf4E/wYpnIW-tdXY-rNRcazVa92fJYq4iHfuNwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-04-25%252Bat%252B1.12.52%252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marla English in DESERT SANDS Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A kind of ZULU one decade earlier, b-movie company Bel Air made this Foreign Legion adventure about a group of soldiers trapped in their fort in the middle of the Arabian desert... </p><p>During act two they fight off Arabs, and act three, after being captured from within, try outsmarting the captors, led by a very American Keith Larsen as El Zanel with sexy sister Marla English: thus the biggest flaw is how many other Americans or Brits work within the French army, and it's never really explained why Ralph Meeker's the captain or young Texan John Smith's there with Australian scoundrel Ron Randell barked at by sergeant J. Carrol Naish...</p><p>Yet DESERT SANDS is an above average war movie with many layers, including a forced yet intriguing romance between Meeker and Marla English, and a backstory where John Carradine's lethal Arab had tricked his niece and nephew into becoming the vengeful legion-haters they'd grow into, with the power to take over the fort, which includes a neat bloody battle leading to what could've been superfluous downtime as the men await their doom, but having been properly fleshed out in act one, ironically griping about not having enough to do, not only does their fate matter, but their dialogue, never filler, does as well. </p><p><span></span></p>

bel air productions, exploitation, fifties, j. carrol naish, john carradine, john smith, keith larsen, ralph meeker, ron randell, war

RALPH MEEKER AND MARLA ENGLISH IN 'DESERT SANDS'

Marla English in DESERT SANDS Year: 1955 Rating: **** A kind of ZULU one decade earlier, b-movie company Bel Air made this Foreign Legion ad...

MARY MITCHEL & RAQUEL WELCH DIGGING 'A SWINGIN' SUMMER'

<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/-DUS3MzcDpjQ/YIxcJF4tt5I/AAAAAAABf7U/ZWwoMrF001UTMs6DXJmjNzRQZi_GSJmygCLcBGAsYHQ/s391/swingin-summer-japanese-b2-movie-poster-raquel-welch-bikini-1966-nm.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="391" height="334" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DUS3MzcDpjQ/YIxcJF4tt5I/AAAAAAABf7U/ZWwoMrF001UTMs6DXJmjNzRQZi_GSJmygCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h334/swingin-summer-japanese-b2-movie-poster-raquel-welch-bikini-1966-nm.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Raquel Welch in A Swingin' Summer 1965 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This forgotten, parenthetical beach bikini movie actually takes place on a lake... Arrowhead, to be exact... where two guys and a girl run an abandoned low-rent dance-festival...</p><p>Which is pretty easy given that pretty redhead Quinn O'Hara has her rich father secretly funding the operation... A secret since her great-looking boyfriend William Wellman Jr. has too much pride to want/need anyone's help...</p><p></p><p>Well that's the plot, with hardly any urgency except a quick breakup as a local jerk eyes the girl while a sexy scheming cougar nabs the guy — plus there's a water-skiing bully and a few 11th hour thugs... </p><p>But with girl-next-door b-starlet Mary Mitchel as O'Hara's flirtatious, junk-food consuming friend and future iconic bombshell Ra<span><span>quel</span></span> Welch initially wearing geeky glasses, progressively revealing her perfect body while (for reasons unexplained) jotting notes about the main character's affably attractive sidekick James Stacy, A SWINGIN' SUMMER is more about the good times than those attempting to ruin them... A fairly decent time-filler balanced between the glossy Frankie/Annette flicks and that, despite the misleading tit