HARVEY KEITEL 'THAT'S THE WAY OF THE WORLD' CYNTHIA BOSTICK

<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/-ftPXW_bVsDg/XS2J6pPnM_I/AAAAAAABE-A/BFthbsQj9gM4CikY98h4rhL2fDdv2AhxwCLcBGAs/s1600/23.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="1600" height="295" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ftPXW_bVsDg/XS2J6pPnM_I/AAAAAAABE-A/BFthbsQj9gM4CikY98h4rhL2fDdv2AhxwCLcBGAs/s400/23.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harvey Keitel and Cynthia Bostick driving fine YEAR: 1975 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A music group's outright propaganda vehicle, promoting the soulful funk band Earth, Wind & Fire. And with Harvey Keitel as a sane version of record-producing phenom Phil Spector, this should've been a goldmine... or at least silver...<br> <br> But THAT'S THE WAY OF THE WORLD spends too much time on an uninteresting romance between Keitel's Coleman Buckmaster and the lead singer of a white milquetoast singing trio, who have as little talent as Earth, Wind & Fire's fictional band The Group has soul and motivation. Sadly, we only see the latter jamming twice: the best during an opening credit sequence liken to, say, a car racing flick with a line of rod rods revving at the starting gate as The Group warms up each instrument with funky delight in the studio. Then when Keitel's given the task to instead record a single for the other outfit, called The Pages, the ingenue alone is the best thing going: But mostly for her looks — think exploitation starlet Angel Tompkins had she joined The Partridge Family morphed with a disco-era Bridget Fonda...  <br>

cynthia bostick, ed nelson, harvey keitel, melodrama, michael dante, music, romance, seventies

HARVEY KEITEL 'THAT'S THE WAY OF THE WORLD' CYNTHIA BOSTICK

Harvey Keitel and Cynthia Bostick driving fine YEAR: 1975 A music group's outright propaganda vehicle, promoting the soulful funk ba...

ROCK HUDSON 'BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY' W/ MARCIA HENDERSON

<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/-oPr7cciU0l4/XSsLUP6v0_I/AAAAAAABE4U/LTN8tpa-bCwXuWgHTaQAcXc9abqCH52xQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-07-08%252Bat%252B12.22.02%252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1230" data-original-width="1600" height="307" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oPr7cciU0l4/XSsLUP6v0_I/AAAAAAABE4U/LTN8tpa-bCwXuWgHTaQAcXc9abqCH52xQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-07-08%252Bat%252B12.22.02%252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dog attacks Steve with a whipped Rock at bay YEAR: 1953</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY, based loosely on two silent films, leans on the strength of b-starlet Marcia Henderson, who's been covered already in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/anders1-HYP-EYE.html">THE HYPNOTIC EYE</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/04/canyon-river.html">CANYON RIVER</a>...<br> <br> She saves both the picture and her ship captain husband, played by newly-famous heartthrob Rock Hudson, almost solely beaten-up by main menace Steve Cochran before unfairly teamed by Cochran and his more ambiguous partner-in-crime, a randomly crooning Hugh O'Brien, in this rather strange little adventure featuring a faithful killer dog and a confusing heist-plot involving a load of coveted cargo on Hudson's boat: one that <i>must</i> set sail before being frozen into dock, and much of the initial time's spent making up for the sheer loss of it: Rock and chubby partner Chubby Johnson go after two arrant sailors, who turn out being a red-herring distraction all along... <br>

action, adventure, fifties, hugh o'brien, joseph pevney, marcia henderson, remake, rock hudson, steve cochran

ROCK HUDSON 'BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY' W/ MARCIA HENDERSON

Dog attacks Steve with a whipped Rock at bay YEAR: 1953 BACK TO GOD'S COUNTRY, based loosely on two silent films, leans on the stren...

ROBERT REDFORD CHILLS 'DOWNHILL RACER' W/ GENE HACKMAN

<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/-pgwRbHwgDHo/XR71VRP0_gI/AAAAAAABEvM/mRKZfB2ePAgvugo3lBt4AXTGROHYx2QpQCLcBGAs/s1600/11.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="1600" height="233" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgwRbHwgDHo/XR71VRP0_gI/AAAAAAABEvM/mRKZfB2ePAgvugo3lBt4AXTGROHYx2QpQCLcBGAs/s400/11.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Redford looking down on Downhill Racer YEAR: 1969</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A movie has to be about <i>something</i> or <i>someone</i>, and reading any synopsis for DOWNHILL RACER, you'd think the main character, played by Robert Redford, was the biggest jerk on the planet. And while he<i> is</i> difficult and stubborn, childish and bitter, aren't all great athletes? At least the ones who have only winning on the brain...<br> <br> Which is what RACER is about: not only striving to win but the formidable urge to never lose. And the U.S.A. Men's Ski Coach, Gene Hackman, along with his assistant Dabney Coleman and team captain Jim McMullan, knows right off that Redford's golden-haired upstart isn't a team player. But what seems to matter one minute is forgotten the next since there's hardly a plot in this underrated, avant garde curio, directed by future comedy icon Michael Ritchie, maneuvering the camera like we're on the snow with the athletes, including strategic P.O.V. shots of Redford's rushing and crushing Dave Chappellet...<br>

camilla sparv, carole carle, dabney coleman, drama, gene hackman, jim mcmullan, kathleen crowley, michael ritchie, robert redford, sixties, sport

ROBERT REDFORD CHILLS 'DOWNHILL RACER' W/ GENE HACKMAN

Robert Redford looking down on Downhill Racer YEAR: 1969 A movie has to be about something or someone , and reading any synopsis for DO...

DANA ANDREWS STARS IN 'SMOKE SIGNAL' WITH WILLIAM TALMAN

<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/-nAaUblc2z8w/XRreWe6ivVI/AAAAAAABErA/4gOzNUc0KuMgUyQBPA0V8FX3PPtxqMFFgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-07-01%2Bat%2B9.22.57%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="954" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nAaUblc2z8w/XRreWe6ivVI/AAAAAAABErA/4gOzNUc0KuMgUyQBPA0V8FX3PPtxqMFFgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-07-01%2Bat%2B9.22.57%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews with William Talman YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Dana Andrews was both right and wrong for SMOKE SIGNAL, an Western Adventure where the good guys must survive against advancing and surrounding Indians while battling a formidable water-splashing menace called a Wild River...<br> <br> Originally, Charlton Heston was intended to play the part of Brett Halliday, a Calvary deserter who'd previously sided with some good Indians, which these particular antagonists are not...<br> <br> Actually, they're the same tribe whose minds have been changed, and it's blood they're after in a group of Calvary men led by an extremely determined and stubborn William Talman, who does have some reason for bitterness and resentment: because of Halliday's help with the Redskins, his brother had been killed...<br>

action, adventure, dana andrews, fifties, milburn stone, piper laurie, rex reason, robert wilke, western, william talman

DANA ANDREWS STARS IN 'SMOKE SIGNAL' WITH WILLIAM TALMAN

Dana Andrews with William Talman YEAR: 1955 Dana Andrews was both right and wrong for SMOKE SIGNAL, an Western Adventure where the good...

DANA ANDREWS & JEANNE CRAIN BACK FOR 'DUEL IN THE JUNGLE'

<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/-M0GDqamcz3g/XRMrKHHKJOI/AAAAAAABEnE/y_p3llJTdEcTBYcCRWLE60QGhlOfky1LACLcBGAs/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="596" data-original-width="827" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M0GDqamcz3g/XRMrKHHKJOI/AAAAAAABEnE/y_p3llJTdEcTBYcCRWLE60QGhlOfky1LACLcBGAs/s400/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews & Jeanne Craig from Duel in the Jungle YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> "Destiny seems to insist on throwing us together," Dana Andrews tells his STATE FAIR, MADISON AVENUE and HOT RODS TO HELL three-decade co-star in their second film, DUEL IN THE JUNGLE, an adventure where Andrews seems more a reluctant gentlemen the likes of Cary Grant than an intrepid action star: a proverbial kite in a breeze instead of a determined salmon moving upstream...<br> <br> Andrews often tried to stretch beyond the limited leading man persona even when he played the leading man, so the part as a New York insurance investigator in England, about to catch a plane stateside but being called back at the last minute, fits like brand new expensive gloves. His voice is a tad higher-pitched as if sped-up while delivering witty one-liners: imagine if his LAURA co-star Clifton Webb were his dialect coach.<br>

action, adventure, dana andrews, england, fifties, import, jeanne crain

DANA ANDREWS & JEANNE CRAIN BACK FOR 'DUEL IN THE JUNGLE'

Dana Andrews & Jeanne Craig from Duel in the Jungle YEAR: 1954 "Destiny seems to insist on throwing us together," Dana An...

JACK NICHOLSON 'GOIN' SOUTH' W/ DANNY DEVITO 'GOING APE'

<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/-usjljMP6z_g/XRNKqNmK2iI/AAAAAAABEok/iH4Gtx2qpeMZpakDKp-V5c_19l-aL42OwCLcBGAs/s1600/120792.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="521" height="326" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-usjljMP6z_g/XRNKqNmK2iI/AAAAAAABEok/iH4Gtx2qpeMZpakDKp-V5c_19l-aL42OwCLcBGAs/s400/120792.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lobby Card w/ Jack Nicholson & John Belushi YEAR: 1978</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Jack Nicholson channelling Strother Martin while giving his CUCKOO'S NEST fans the eyebrow-raised crazy-fun guy in a Comedy/Western that Jack himself directed about a scruffy outlaw who, to avoid being hanged, marries a classy gal with plenty of heart and even more gold.<br> <br> Quirky ingenue Mary Steenburgen begins her career as June Tate, using new husband, Nicholson's Henry Moon, for menial chores...<br> <br> Putting him through a sort of honeymoon boot camp wherein they eventually, inevitably, predictably fall for each other. "Women love outlaws like little boys love stray puppies," he grins mischievously in this decent time-filler (think of Nicholson's 1976 Western misfire THE MISSOURI BREAKS with a slightly tighter aim) that works until the last half-hour, when Henry's foes return to steal the gold...<br>

action, christopher lloyd, jack nicholson, john belushi, mary steenburgen, romantic comedy, western

JACK NICHOLSON 'GOIN' SOUTH' W/ DANNY DEVITO 'GOING APE'

Lobby Card w/ Jack Nicholson & John Belushi YEAR: 1978 Jack Nicholson channelling Strother Martin while giving his CUCKOO'S NEST...

ROBERT DUVALL & JOE DON BAKER STEAL FROM 'THE OUTFIT'

<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/-74VTvbUchmA/XRJiDiTDB8I/AAAAAAABEjE/Mi9bkc6xbfMtcyl0ZiM5bfgm6qEzXuJEQCLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BNWIyMmNjZDYtOGQwNi00Zjk4LWE2ODAtMGU0ZTlkN2I1MGNkL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjU4NzU2OTA%2540._V1_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="596" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-74VTvbUchmA/XRJiDiTDB8I/AAAAAAABEjE/Mi9bkc6xbfMtcyl0ZiM5bfgm6qEzXuJEQCLcBGAs/s400/MV5BNWIyMmNjZDYtOGQwNi00Zjk4LWE2ODAtMGU0ZTlkN2I1MGNkL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjU4NzU2OTA%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sheree North & Robert Duvall poster art YEAR: 1973 Rates: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> After serving two years in prison, a paroled bank robber learns his brother was killed (shown in the prologue) by the same mob that set him up. So he gets all kinds of revenge with the help of his former partner/sidekick while cranky gun moll Karen Black basically goes against the grain of the boys crashing various hot spots where the money's at (Sheree North would have fit this role better)...<br> <br> The two main characters played by Robert Duvall and Joe Don Baker seem so protected by the gods, there's little urgency or suspense since nothing and no one can stop them... <br> <br> Meanwhile, the targeted mobsters include Film Noir icons Timothy Carey and Robert Ryan, and THE OUTFIT has a Neo Noir template combined with a modern day Western's guns, guts and bravado. And about the only challenge is assassin Felice Orlandi, moving through night shadows after the small town boys do all their stealing and shooting in the daylight. Making this a kind of CLYDE AND CLYDE meets THE GETAWAY. <br> <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/-G0HkNwz3rhY/XRJgwrSXTPI/AAAAAAABEi0/BciS_TsgKwYPeTkgw0pPAsSiJgwpLbsHACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-25%2Bat%2B10.56.52%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1094" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G0HkNwz3rhY/XRJgwrSXTPI/AAAAAAABEi0/BciS_TsgKwYPeTkgw0pPAsSiJgwpLbsHACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-25%2Bat%2B10.56.52%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nice and simple VHS for THE OUTFIT with Robert Duvall and Karen Black</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

gangster, joe don baker, karen black, neo noir, road movie, robert duvall, robert ryan, seventies, sheree north, small town, timothy carey

ROBERT DUVALL & JOE DON BAKER STEAL FROM 'THE OUTFIT'

Sheree North & Robert Duvall poster art YEAR: 1973 Rates: *** After serving two years in prison, a paroled bank robber learns his br...

RONALD REAGAN IN 'KINGS ROW' ALSO STARRING ROBERT CUMMINGS

<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/-W-Ea4qtVxh8/XRB2o2TD4uI/AAAAAAABEg4/XH4M9Nb2ou4s_8ivU1aJSBZkQk8AFqZVgCLcBGAs/s1600/MV5BZjdmYjM3NWQtZWQyOC00MWE4LThhODYtNzgxZGE3NzllZWY3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%2540._V1_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="695" height="312" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-Ea4qtVxh8/XRB2o2TD4uI/AAAAAAABEg4/XH4M9Nb2ou4s_8ivU1aJSBZkQk8AFqZVgCLcBGAs/s400/MV5BZjdmYjM3NWQtZWQyOC00MWE4LThhODYtNzgxZGE3NzllZWY3L2ltYWdlL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1942 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's something thoroughly hypnotic and intoxicating about this melodrama centering on a handful of unlucky individuals growing up in a strange dusty town the film's named after.<br> <br> Ronald Reagan, never celebrated for his acting ability, has enough charm to make you forget his limited range, and Robert Cummings is his perfect corny counterpart, always seeming ready to break into proverbial song, and a sad one at that. <br> <br> The best performances are from the ever-competitive envy-ridden women, either going insane or just about to as the camera sweeps to all the right angles and the music flows heavenward, but, by the end, since most of the story-line jumps to and fro at a rather quick pace, KINGS ROW seems like a condensed epic, raising the enviable question: Where's the rest of it? <br>

ann sheridan, drama, forties, melodrama, robert cummings, romance, ronald reagan

RONALD REAGAN IN 'KINGS ROW' ALSO STARRING ROBERT CUMMINGS

Year of Release: 1942 Rating: ***1/2 There's something thoroughly hypnotic and intoxicating about this melodrama centering on a han...

JOHN CANDY GETS HIS OWN FLETCH IN 'WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?'

<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/-Pug3FYrzScM/XRAuXI7CD0I/AAAAAAABEgI/cqIGd9Ui2OQpEU1lpiFc7Nyju-hjuR6IgCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-23%2Bat%2B6.27.31%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="721" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pug3FYrzScM/XRAuXI7CD0I/AAAAAAABEgI/cqIGd9Ui2OQpEU1lpiFc7Nyju-hjuR6IgCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-23%2Bat%2B6.27.31%2BPM.jpeg" width="357"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>VHS/DVD Slip-Cover YEAR: 1989 Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> This underrated comedy, with the title-character going from place to place to figure out who kidnapped a rich man's gorgeous daughter, learning he's inept at filling the shoes at his family-owned detective agency while always screwing things up, is an enjoyable time-filler... <br> <br> It's John Candy's FLETCH and, while paling to the Chevy Chase classic (yet far superior to FLETCH LIVES), both wear disguises for each undercover scenario, taking the Film Noir gumshoe/snoop template into the bright and glossy late-1980s (there's even a mini orange tree on Harry's desk, a subtle nod to CHINATOWN)... <br> <br> The funniest moments don't seem intentional like the forced Peter Sellers style physical gags, especially as Crumb flounders for the right words around comparably classy, educated tricksters (like Annie Potts and snobby villain Jeffrey Jones). And despite the overall humor being hit and miss, the eclectic RUTHLESS PEOPLE style characters interact well, especially the unique and flowing chemistry between Candy and "ugly duckling" Shawnee Smith as the younger sister of the kidnapped supermodel. And beware of the <i>totally awesome</i> video rental cover (shown above): it's merely a flimsy cardboard slip-cover over the actual DVD/Blu Ray with same artwork sans the retro VHS gimmick.   <br>

annie potts, comedy, eighties, jeffrey jones, john candy, neo noir, shawnee smith

JOHN CANDY GETS HIS OWN FLETCH IN 'WHO'S HARRY CRUMB?'

VHS/DVD Slip-Cover YEAR: 1989 Score: ***1/2 This underrated comedy, with the title-character going from place to place to figure out who...

WHERE 'CRASH DIVE' FITS WITHIN EARLY DANA ANDREWS CINEMA

<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/-NM3fiZdBaIc/XQwv5Y0eZtI/AAAAAAABEfY/tLpEOdqXTOobNlLkktXO01poH_HgCgeYQCLcBGAs/s1600/64911736_729753404120505_3664326982956482560_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="921" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NM3fiZdBaIc/XQwv5Y0eZtI/AAAAAAABEfY/tLpEOdqXTOobNlLkktXO01poH_HgCgeYQCLcBGAs/s400/64911736_729753404120505_3664326982956482560_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews w/ Anne Baxter in CRASH DIVE Year: 1943 Rates: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In CRASH DIVE, Tyrone Power is credited with his actual war rank, adding to the WW2 propaganda about a PT-boat enthusiast under the submarine command of Dana Andrews and also featuring Harry Morgan in the second of four pictures together. But it's the romance that matters as a flirtatious courtship between Power and Anne Baxter takes up most of the love-triangle story... <br> <br> Enter Dana's SWAMP WATER (and NORTH STAR) ingenue Baxter, who winds up under Tyrone's inevitable and predictable spell. Which comes to very little once their secret is revealed but gives Andrews a little more than a one-dimensional role as the stalwart captain. And the following the next years' LAURA, Andrews would be done losing the girl, but a decade later would return to the third wheel spot in films like ELEPHANT WALK and BRAINSTORM.<br>

action, dana andrews, forties, harry morgan, love triangle, tyrone power, war, world war II

WHERE 'CRASH DIVE' FITS WITHIN EARLY DANA ANDREWS CINEMA

Dana Andrews w/ Anne Baxter in CRASH DIVE Year: 1943 Rates: *** In CRASH DIVE, Tyrone Power is credited with his actual war rank, adding...

JEFF MORROW 'THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US' W/ REX REASON

<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/-AOZK5vlQ00M/XQsw-2yFJdI/AAAAAAABEdk/LTPAMIi0jcQucS9qkZr1BgkJgafMvDtFQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-19%2Bat%2B1.13.44%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1064" data-original-width="1365" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AOZK5vlQ00M/XQsw-2yFJdI/AAAAAAABEdk/LTPAMIi0jcQucS9qkZr1BgkJgafMvDtFQCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-06-19%2Bat%2B1.13.44%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Morrow can't Reason with The Creature in the YEAR: 1956</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The easiest way to turn the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON into FRANKENSTEIN is to lose the gills: Which conveniently yet somewhat creatively happens after the third film's third group of scientists, led by sneaky Jeff Morrow and stalwart Rex Reason, captures the aquatic beast, who not only WALKS AMONG US but stomps around the boat's interior in a perplexed yet murderous rage, and even more sympathetically than the intentionally empathetic sequel...<br> <br> And like each predecessor, both directed by Jack Arnold as John Sherwood takes the helm under William Alland's omnipresent production, there are nice moments underwater as good and bad/mad scientist compete for gorgeous ingenue Leigh Snowden, suffering Nitrogen Narcosis (Raptures of the Deep) after the initial Creature's attack between diving sequences that lack the suspenseful vulnerability of the first and the formidable menace of the second... <br>

creature, fifties, franchise, jeff morrow, leigh snowden, rex reason, sequel, universal monster, william alland

JEFF MORROW 'THE CREATURE WALKS AMONG US' W/ REX REASON

Morrow can't Reason with The Creature in the YEAR: 1956 The easiest way to turn the CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON into FRANKENSTEIN...

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

<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/-Zxk0eb5Tu50/XQm-Zu3byaI/AAAAAAABEbE/9FQu0ClQc3kF-iDXnAWUH6jfliCl8QuWACLcBGAs/s1600/111%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="415" data-original-width="549" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zxk0eb5Tu50/XQm-Zu3byaI/AAAAAAABEbE/9FQu0ClQc3kF-iDXnAWUH6jfliCl8QuWACLcBGAs/s400/111%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of a great foreign poster from the YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Several films were inspired by CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON; two in particular, and both are connected: The first X-MEN was directed by Bryan Singer ala <i>Bad Hat Harry</i> Productions, a homage to the movie JAWS. And when you see various underwater shots with the camera aimed up at Julia Adams swimming, it's extremely similar to the famously doomed skinny-dipper in the Steven Spielberg killer shark opus... <br> <br> As is the built-in suspense of completely vulnerable characters unaware of what's directly beneath them in the water, where humans have very little control in the first place. As for X-MEN: both that and CREATURE start out with an expository lecture on Evolution, with images... Only in this case it's oddly coupled with Creation, and... well.... the Big Bang <i>does</i> need explaining for how that <i>big fuse</i> got lit: Or at least it did back then...<br>

creature, fifties, franchise, horror, jack arnold, julie adams, thriller, universal monster, william alland

WILLIAM ALLAND PRESENTS 'CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON'

Part of a great foreign poster from the YEAR: 1954 Several films were inspired by CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON; two in particular, and...

HOT CARS JOHN BROMFIELD DRIVES 'REVENGE OF THE CREATURE'

<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/-0JO39NQwsCM/XQiFO7sDKnI/AAAAAAABEag/-ZA4fkzuMR86qozwwwb1wM_Ory2w3QdwwCLcBGAs/s1600/lf.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="508" height="298" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0JO39NQwsCM/XQiFO7sDKnI/AAAAAAABEag/-ZA4fkzuMR86qozwwwb1wM_Ory2w3QdwwCLcBGAs/s400/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lobby Card with an artful John Bromfield YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A maligned yet terrific sequel, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE has a title that somehow <i>slowly rushes</i> its climax during the second half following a comparably sparse and nifty setup...<br> <br> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1XtGuO6oq0k/XQhbCn7ZcWI/AAAAAAABEZw/RfqbjLU0MTAePGJtJ1y5kDuTczH5GCL6gCLcBGAs/s1600/48429488_395000681266041_2149442367835340800_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1481" data-original-width="516" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1XtGuO6oq0k/XQhbCn7ZcWI/AAAAAAABEZw/RfqbjLU0MTAePGJtJ1y5kDuTczH5GCL6gCLcBGAs/s400/48429488_395000681266041_2149442367835340800_o.jpeg" width="138"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Creature Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Where cocky Marineland diver John Bromfield moves the captured "Gill Man" to an underwater tank where<i> he</i> falls for ingenue Lori Nelson, Fay Wray style, compatible with male scientist John Agar while the flirtatious Bromfield moves in: one of several intriguing premises that could've played out longer, until the Creature predictably escapes through the usual screaming crowd; but it's in captivity where the best scenes occur...<br> <br> Especially the underwater shots where, tethered within a limited space, it's the original film in reverse: People (especially classic ingenue Julie Adams) had been vulnerable to the phantom lurking somewhere beneath, evoking the kind of nervy suspense later delivered by Steven Spielberg in JAWS, but now humans are in control... they think.... making REVENGE more of a RETURN, and instead of horror it's an exploitation for the fictional and actual audience both, making The Creature far more sympathetic this time around. All flowing well till the last act around a woodsy lakeside locale, playing cat-and-mouse with our ingenue: At which point returning-director Jack Arnold (again under producer William Alland) doesn't quite know how to end the thing, which should have stayed longer back at the water park.  <br>

creature, cult, fifties, horror, john agar, john bromfield, lori nelson, thriller, universal monster, william alland

HOT CARS JOHN BROMFIELD DRIVES 'REVENGE OF THE CREATURE'

Lobby Card with an artful John Bromfield YEAR: 1955 A maligned yet terrific sequel, REVENGE OF THE CREATURE has a title that somehow slo...

KATHLEEN TURNER IN 'CRIMES OF PASSION' W/ ANTHONY PERKINS

<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/-QZyce0FROL8/XQdOy4JxrnI/AAAAAAABEXw/cuIaIWaHP6ANjcgdEo2Walo4Rd4Fh3XgwCLcBGAs/s1600/crimes%252Bof%252Bpassion.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="297" data-original-width="407" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QZyce0FROL8/XQdOy4JxrnI/AAAAAAABEXw/cuIaIWaHP6ANjcgdEo2Walo4Rd4Fh3XgwCLcBGAs/s400/crimes%252Bof%252Bpassion.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kathleen turner and Anthony Perkins YEAR: 1984 Score: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a kid, it'd hang around Ken Russell's CRIMES OF PASSION starring Kathleen Turner as a fashion designer by day, anything-goes hooker by night, crossing paths with sexually-frustrated family man John Laughlin who, in a Neon Neo-Noir fashion, is hired by Turner's daytime boss to trail her nightlife... <br> <br> Laughlin, more comfortable as a fourth or fifth banana (like the faithful muscle-head in the same years' FOOTLOOSE), tries hard to wield the intensity to learn the taboo trade and, fitfully curious, becomes one of her most loyal, and beloved, customers in sexy/steamy scenes perhaps too intense for casual viewers and not enough for the hardcore crowd. Meanwhile, on the main peripheral is Anthony Perkins, resembling a dilapidated Muppet and doing an over-the-top impersonation of what people expect of his post-PSYCHO purgatory career: a wacky street preacher out to "save" the whore — only he wants some on the side, and steals what borders on an intentionally bad movie like a criminal cracking his own safe. <br>

anthony perkins, drama, eighties, john laughlin, kathleen turner, ken russell, neo noir, romance, thriller

KATHLEEN TURNER IN 'CRIMES OF PASSION' W/ ANTHONY PERKINS

Kathleen turner and Anthony Perkins YEAR: 1984 Score: *** If Brian De Palma and Paul Schrader had a kid, it'd hang around Ken Russe...

DOLORES FAITH & COLEEN GRAY ARE HOT IN 'THE PHANTOM PLANET'

<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/-aObaD_vBXJg/XPicrtI3gaI/AAAAAAABEU0/3hJDrqt5QUAIqcFCnzTN3Kdb8vLxRUraACLcBGAs/s1600/f5a3cff1457994785c92059b11457368.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="1600" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aObaD_vBXJg/XPicrtI3gaI/AAAAAAABEU0/3hJDrqt5QUAIqcFCnzTN3Kdb8vLxRUraACLcBGAs/s400/f5a3cff1457994785c92059b11457368.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for The Phantom Planet introducing Dolores Faith YEAR: 1961</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Another "bad space movie" that's not so bad, held back by a meager budget that also provides its charm: centering on an astronaut shot not from the Earth to the Moon but, in this particular future, 1980 viewed from 1961, the moon's space station into deeper space where another rocket had already vanished. When Captain Chapman lands from a magnetic pull, he finds a world hybrid of a Biblical Epic and B-Western...<br> <br> The inhabitants are miniaturized, which means nothing since we mostly see Dean Fredericks the same size among them: a square-jawed, high cheek-boned, dyed-blond-haired actor best known as television's really white STEVE CANYON, he also played a score of Native Americans, which, ironically, the leaders of this planet share the same cinematic wisdom of: with technology far beyond our own, they still choose to live in a primal setting, leading to a man-to-man fight between our hero and the only other virile young man around (this scene and their overall anti-chemistry's reminiscent of Sam Jones and Timothy Dalton in FLASH GORDON years later)... <br>

adventure, coleen gray, cult, dean fredericks, dolores faith, science-fiction, sixties

DOLORES FAITH & COLEEN GRAY ARE HOT IN 'THE PHANTOM PLANET'

Poster for The Phantom Planet introducing Dolores Faith YEAR: 1961 Another "bad space movie" that's not so bad, held back ...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'NIGHT SONG' BACKED BY HOAGY CARMICHAEL

<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/-NyaJ9-w30JQ/XPB01Kspi-I/AAAAAAABETE/0f-y_dGvhks55B2IEgTmh8qR5pQdUDy6gCLcBGAs/s1600/61243505_713440795751766_6148394607920021504_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="741" height="370" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NyaJ9-w30JQ/XPB01Kspi-I/AAAAAAABETE/0f-y_dGvhks55B2IEgTmh8qR5pQdUDy6gCLcBGAs/s400/61243505_713440795751766_6148394607920021504_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in NIGHT SONG Year: 1947</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The third of three films featuring Dana Andrews and musician Hoagy Carmichael, and this time, Andrews, after playing frontiersman/entrepreneur or a war veteran to Carmichael's mandolin and then piano playing, progressively-minded moral conscious... like in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/CPassage.html">CANYON PASSAGE</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BYOOurLIVES.html">THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES</a>... Dana's a musician too: a blind pianist and pissed off about it, working for and living with Carmichael's jazz club manager, Chick, who winds up in cahoots with lovely rich girl Merle Oberon...<br> <br> The best scenes happen early when she first meets Andrews at the nightclub with her stuffy friends in tow and he, between jazz sets, is playing a smoky classical composition only she seems to hear, and then pretends to "run into him," first at the beach, and then meeting up for private piano lessons: all the while pretending to be blind. And she's got her own insightful advise-giving friend in Ethel Barrymore.  <br>

dana andrews, ethel barrymore, forties, hoagy carmichael, melodrama, merle oberon, music, romance

DANA ANDREWS IN 'NIGHT SONG' BACKED BY HOAGY CARMICHAEL

Dana Andrews in NIGHT SONG Year: 1947 The third of three films featuring Dana Andrews and musician Hoagy Carmichael, and this time, Andr...

KNOCKOUT BARBARA PAYTON IN THE BOXING NOIR 'BAD BLONDE'

<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/-N8Ft-XI514Q/XO0SvFA30JI/AAAAAAABEOA/VR1rxndhV_8mH27qI5iWInnim4kxU34NQCLcBGAs/s1600/71oWvoctREL._RI_SX300_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="191" data-original-width="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8Ft-XI514Q/XO0SvFA30JI/AAAAAAABEOA/VR1rxndhV_8mH27qI5iWInnim4kxU34NQCLcBGAs/s1600/71oWvoctREL._RI_SX300_.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1953</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the Hammer British Film Noir BAD BLONDE originally titled THE FLANAGAN BOY, a bulky and not altogether brilliant English boxer gets a shot when his trainer connects with a rich Italian promoter who can make it all happen: But there are a few catches... First, everyone has to live at a rural lakeside estate where the fighter, Charlie Sullivan (Tony Wright), will prepare for future moneymaking matches...<br> <br> Second and most important, Charlie needs to get along with the rich man’s baby-faced, perpetually pursed-lipped wife Lorna, played by  goading, manipulating, voluptuous and built-for-action with sparks-flying starlet Barbara Payton. Basically, the first moment Charlie sets his smitten eyes on the sullen temptress, his edge is gone… As is his sanity, to his trainer's chagrin. Liken to, years later, when Burgess Meredith barks at Sylvester Stallone's dame-distracted Rocky Balboa: "Women weaken legs!" Nothing changes in the boxing game, it seems...  <br>

barbara payton, boxing, british film noir/melodrama, hammer noir, love triangle, sport, thriller

KNOCKOUT BARBARA PAYTON IN THE BOXING NOIR 'BAD BLONDE'

Year of Release: 1953 In the Hammer British Film Noir BAD BLONDE originally titled THE FLANAGAN BOY, a bulky and not altogether brillian...

GEORGE SEGAL SLUMS IN 'BORN TO WIN' WITH ROBERT DENIRO

<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/-inC1_oyHoOc/XOh-SWdCEmI/AAAAAAABEIM/8bvwIQmPsUMNXruOmP7xf9kpZ-XoNWn5ACLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-24%2Bat%2B1.34.08%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1346" data-original-width="1600" height="336" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-inC1_oyHoOc/XOh-SWdCEmI/AAAAAAABEIM/8bvwIQmPsUMNXruOmP7xf9kpZ-XoNWn5ACLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-24%2Bat%2B1.34.08%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Segal and Marcia Jean Kurtz YEAR: 1971</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With a title full of irony about a current junkie/former hairdresser doing all he can to score smack on the streets of New York City, there's far too much downtime...<br> <br> And it happens right when things are at a nice rudimentary pace, beginning with a groovy soundtrack during an attempted small-time heist by George Segal and his cool black sidekick...<br> <br> Who soon separate... and while it's clever that Segal's "J" meets his lady while attempting to steal her car, a contrived bedroom scene with Karen Black happens far too soon. Ironically, given her super-cool track record at that point, she doesn't seem like the renaissance era starlet from the likes of FIVE EASY PIECES or the gem that started it all, EASY RIDER. Her part here is a mainstream role in a would-be full-blown avant garde exploitation flick....<br>

counter-culture, drug culture, exploitation, george segal, hector elizondo, karen black, marcia jean kurtz, paula prentiss, robert deniro, seventies

GEORGE SEGAL SLUMS IN 'BORN TO WIN' WITH ROBERT DENIRO

George Segal and Marcia Jean Kurtz YEAR: 1971 With a title full of irony about a current junkie/former hairdresser doing all he can to s...

INFAMOUS JOHN CARPENTER 'VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED' REMAKE

<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/-8JU6o2SZp3A/XOSxAqRneCI/AAAAAAABEDQ/0pTwYCbVG3soje5mkhcl1BUOliH1rw4TwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-21%2Bat%2B3.08.23%2BAM%2B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1029" data-original-width="1215" height="338" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8JU6o2SZp3A/XOSxAqRneCI/AAAAAAABEDQ/0pTwYCbVG3soje5mkhcl1BUOliH1rw4TwCLcBGAs/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-05-21%2Bat%2B3.08.23%2BAM%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Front and back left Lindsay Haun with </u><u><u>Jessye Quarry</u>  YEAR: 1996</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What happened to John Carpenter's filmmaking skills in the 1990's is a mystery. Even more mysterious is why it took four years after THEY LIVE to enter that decade, and then direct an unnecessary remake,  MEMOIRS OF THE INVISIBLE MAN, which is THE THING compared to what's possibly his worst film, also a remake, titled VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED — although it's still pretty fun to watch i.e. make fun of... <br> <br> Starring a handful of actors and actresses who all starred in franchise films, there's main man Christopher Reeve in his last role before the tragic horse-jumping accident. But, alas, the four-time SUPERMAN is pretty wooden here as the politically-correct husband of one of several townswomen who — after the entire town of Midwich falls unconscious at the same time — wind up impregnated by what the characters later learn are alien children: Who are the best thing going, especially the leader played by an icy-cold  Lindsey Haun, with a penetrating expression of experience and cunning, and she's more worthy to fear than the one good kid is to sympathize with...<br>

camp, christopher reeve, horror, john carpenter, kirsty alley, linda kozlowski, mark hamill, michael pare, nineties, remake, thriller

INFAMOUS JOHN CARPENTER 'VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED' REMAKE

Front and back left Lindsay Haun with Jessye Quarry   YEAR: 1996 What happened to John Carpenter's filmmaking skills in the 1990'...

TIM CONWAY & GARY GRIMES STAR IN DISNEY'S ASS KICKING 'GUS'

<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/-3kQpcPLJTlU/XNuXP86yqQI/AAAAAAABD3I/9KRZT9FdMUUK_isE054Ejtp0lOCF5d97gCLcBGAs/s1600/60262937_704054333357079_7221663985517461504_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="727" data-original-width="960" height="302" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3kQpcPLJTlU/XNuXP86yqQI/AAAAAAABD3I/9KRZT9FdMUUK_isE054Ejtp0lOCF5d97gCLcBGAs/s400/60262937_704054333357079_7221663985517461504_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Bosley with Tim Conway in GUS Year: 1976</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Despite the fact it's about a Donkey kicking field goals... a literally ass kicking movie... GUS is one of the most entertaining Disney live action ventures made during the 1970's. The plot involves an underdog teen from some foreign land who is the younger brother of a perfect, square-jawed soccer star sibling, worshiped by his father. But Gary's Andy Petrovic has something that will make him famous without making him famous, but rather, his pet mule has all the talent: able to kick a football far into the surrounding forest. Although Gary's Andy is not altogether worthless.<br /> <br /> Gus only kicks after hearing the important word, spoken by Andy and, for the most part, Andy only: "Oyage!" Thus, mule and boy is witnessed by a football scout for a losing team called THE ATOMS played by Ronnie Schell, voice-star of the second best Disney venture, THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE, who was sent to the Petrovic farm to witness the older brother for his magic foot for the team's punter. But compared to the ball kicking jackass, Soccer boy means nothing.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </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/-M5jqCR_Dg7I/XNuV7ttXKeI/AAAAAAABD20/DLOwNEE3jdw0Yq9eDdkbGyN2JqtCP_A1ACLcBGAs/s1600/60119418_704056560023523_3183284207648505856_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="671" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M5jqCR_Dg7I/XNuV7ttXKeI/AAAAAAABD20/DLOwNEE3jdw0Yq9eDdkbGyN2JqtCP_A1ACLcBGAs/s400/60119418_704056560023523_3183284207648505856_n.jpeg" width="280" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Signed by Tim Conway and Ed Asner</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The best scenes occur when Andy and Gus get slowly, awkwardly warmed up with the team and his fans, and like the first half of most Disney films, our title hero just can't loose. Eventually, Andy gets lost in the mix despite falling in love (and vice versa, which rarely occurs so quickly) with one of the cutest Disney ingenues ever, Louise Williams as Debbie, who, along with Don Knotts, is on the DVD cover (shown above) autographed by Ed Asner, as the team's grumpy coach who really has to put faith into this risky decision, while Tim Conway plays...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/-uS8m8aezBGY/Vtdhqy07ifI/AAAAAAAArRQ/5KxQdFafcjA/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uS8m8aezBGY/Vtdhqy07ifI/AAAAAAAArRQ/5KxQdFafcjA/s320/3.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>GUS Score: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> So let's center on the bad guys who rule one particular scene that intentionally steals the entire movie; Gus causing two hired thugs, Tom Bosley as Alpha Male ex-con Spinner with his dopey sidekick, Tim Conway's Crankcase, to chase the escaped-kidnapped donkey around in a supermarket. Wide-eyed when experienced on the big screen as a child, this fifteen minute scene, occurring while Gus is trying to return to a big climactic game.<br /> <br /> And hell, if this store scene doesn't bring a smile to your face, something is wrong. But poor actor Gary Grimes despises GUS for ruining an already fledgling, at that time, career... And yet, GUS doesn't hurt <i>our </i>career one bit, but provides an eclectic two-hours of one of the most bizarre, wonderfully campy and genuinely creative comedy films ever. And you CAN'T quote the film's star on that, but Cult Film Freak stands behind it fully: "OYAGE, Muthas!"<br /> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pAwqGuUsVq4/XNuWKFMdA6I/AAAAAAABD24/GLi_QgqivSwq-QZk5y3l7hBUaM36hsAMACLcBGAs/s1600/60348712_704054330023746_8234371601232035840_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="789" data-original-width="960" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pAwqGuUsVq4/XNuWKFMdA6I/AAAAAAABD24/GLi_QgqivSwq-QZk5y3l7hBUaM36hsAMACLcBGAs/s1600/60348712_704054330023746_8234371601232035840_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Bosley's skeleton fighting Gary Grimes' with a cat in GUS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div>

comedy, disney, don knotts, gary grimes, seventies, sports, tim conway

TIM CONWAY & GARY GRIMES STAR IN DISNEY'S ASS KICKING 'GUS'

Tom Bosley with Tim Conway in GUS Year: 1976 Despite the fact it's about a Donkey kicking field goals... a literally ass kicking mo...

DORIS DAY TRIBUTE W/ JAMES CAGNEY IN 'LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME'

<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/-05OufRbF9Jw/XNtxSL_ad4I/AAAAAAABD2k/JH709RvpWeUYCHV6fCR892eqKxi4Bb3QACLcBGAs/s1600/60100696_702910533471459_8059966929395253248_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1064" height="365" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-05OufRbF9Jw/XNtxSL_ad4I/AAAAAAABD2k/JH709RvpWeUYCHV6fCR892eqKxi4Bb3QACLcBGAs/s400/60100696_702910533471459_8059966929395253248_o.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney and Doris Day YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> LEAVE ME OR LEAVE ME is both a showcase for Doris Day's voice and proof she could really act, and going up against James Cagney she plays singer Ruth Etting as a tough, stubborn, assertive dance hall girl who Cagney's jealous gangster Eddie Snyder falls for upon first sight in a scene where, as she fends off a grabby creep, she's shot from a cannon right away...<br> <br> As a biopic, it never feels like the complete truth, and when the tempestuous working relationship peaks at the halfway point, the next morning they're married without an explanation, and strangely enough, it's after what bordered on rape the night before. The real life relationship between the singer and gangster was probably more amicable albeit feisty, and they do show her as a climber who uses Snyder in what are the best scenes, going from the dance hall to a dancing gig to a jingle singer to the nightclub's lead to the radio, and then the Ziegfeld Follies and beyond.<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/-XmaZrzaOf7Y/XNni0QnZklI/AAAAAAABD1o/TRd_X-e6Mr4Jlgkxl-J562maPjukAr7bACLcBGAs/s1600/60163328_703040210125158_7080692962610380800_o.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="1280" height="178" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XmaZrzaOf7Y/XNni0QnZklI/AAAAAAABD1o/TRd_X-e6Mr4Jlgkxl-J562maPjukAr7bACLcBGAs/s400/60163328_703040210125158_7080692962610380800_o.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney and Cameron Mitchell RATING: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile the last half continues with more montage-style tunes where the drama feels too randomly injected, as if they were intruding upon the music as opposed to how things began.<br> <br> Winding up with nice guy pianist Cameron Mitchell (who is usually more natural in the creepy gangster role), the most third-act fun is how perturbed our stocky antagonist gets while being sympathetic and pathetic at the same time. Something only a great actor can pull off, and this is one of Cagney's best 1950's performances. But it's Doris Days' film, and shows she really had an edge, on and especially off the stage. <br>

biopic, cameron mitchell, doris day, drama, fifties, gangster, james cagney, melodrama, music, romance

DORIS DAY TRIBUTE W/ JAMES CAGNEY IN 'LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME'

James Cagney and Doris Day YEAR: 1955 LEAVE ME OR LEAVE ME is both a showcase for Doris Day's voice and proof she could really act, ...

GENE HACKMAN IN 'BITE THE BULLET' W/ JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT

<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/-EsFO6q9oTFQ/XNKP7mjvnjI/AAAAAAABDy4/j_6g80WgY8IAZQdDRR3EjNUc3c9oXmhowCLcBGAs/s1600/59358907_697985153963997_7976958431472910336_n.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="960" height="377" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-EsFO6q9oTFQ/XNKP7mjvnjI/AAAAAAABDy4/j_6g80WgY8IAZQdDRR3EjNUc3c9oXmhowCLcBGAs/s400/59358907_697985153963997_7976958431472910336_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Signed by Jan-Michael Vincent YEAR: 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A homesteader's chopping wood when James Coburn rides up and, after asking several questions without a response, tells the man he doesn't know nothin', for which Wood Chopper replies: "I ain't the one who's lost." And snappy dialogue is the best thing going, especially with Coburn's scene-stealing character, at one point saying to young and obnoxious Jan-Michael Vincent, more antagonistic than he'd ever been before or after: "I want you to tell me the story of your life: Just skip everything up till the last fifteen minutes."<br> <br> BITE THE BULLET is a Western action/adventure about a horse race more character-driven than horse-driven, and that's good and bad since the characters are played by wonderful actors who share a few wonderful moments, but some are borderline cliché: Like pacifist Gene Hackman as an ex Rough Rider who may have been the founder of PETA while Candace Bergen is a modern feminist in chaps, and would have been more realistic if played by tougher-looking "hooker" Sally Kirkland, who'd sell her body the same year in another Western, BREAKHEART PASS: both featuring a pivotal train and veteran actor Ben Johnson, here an old-timer with a predictable death scene...<br>

action, adventure, ben johnson, candace bergen, ensemble, gene hackman, james coburn, jan-michael vincent, richard brooks, sally kirkland, seventies, western

GENE HACKMAN IN 'BITE THE BULLET' W/ JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT

Twilight Time Signed by Jan-Michael Vincent YEAR: 1975 A homesteader's chopping wood when James Coburn rides up and, after asking se...