cult film freak: August 2010

Written by James M. Tate / 8/16/2010 / No comments / comedy , forties , margaret o'brien , marshall thompson , wallace beery , western

BAD BASCOMB

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/TGnTqiHwFVI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/SCv_mTvyQrw/s1600/200px-Bad_Bascomb_1946.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5506164747104425298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/TGnTqiHwFVI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/SCv_mTvyQrw/s200/200px-Bad_Bascomb_1946.jpg" style="MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 161px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 200px; CURSOR: pointer" /></a><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">title:</span> BAD BASCOMB<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">year: </span>1946<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">cast: </span>Wallace Beery, Margaret O'Brien, Marshall Thompson<br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">rating: </span>**<br /><br />A Western involving a few salty marauders who happen upon a stagecoach-circle with woman of slain soldiers, and one little girl, played by Margaret O'Brien, who ends up melting the lead baddie's heart. Scenes with Wallace Berry and child actress O'Brien (around six years of age) are the creepiest thing I've witnessed in an "old movie" as O'Brien keeps telling Beery she wants to marry him, and in one particular scene they are off in the brush away from the camp, and she teaches him how to kiss. I realize this film, about the old codger being changed by the cute little girl, has its heart in the right place: but the beat is highly irregular. Other than that the story moves along pretty decently, although seems quite stagy and claustrophobic overall.

comedy, forties, margaret o'brien, marshall thompson, wallace beery, western

BAD BASCOMB

title: BAD BASCOMB year: 1946 cast: Wallace Beery, Margaret O'Brien, Marshall Thompson rating: ** A Western involving a few salty mara...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/04/2010 / No comments / alfred hitchcock , anthony dawson , crime , fifties , film noir or melodrama , grace kelly , perfect murder , ray milland , robert cummings , suspense

DIAL M FOR MURDER

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7cYRIBwMn4/UBRgeAH4elI/AAAAAAAAJgY/l3UNJOEP2V4/s1600/dial+m+for+murder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="138" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-a7cYRIBwMn4/UBRgeAH4elI/AAAAAAAAJgY/l3UNJOEP2V4/s640/dial+m+for+murder.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>1954 <b> rating: </b>***</td></tr>
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Perhaps it's Alfred Hitchcock's fault. He made his villain so likable that the third act of this classic melodrama becomes a let-down when the somewhat one-dimensional good guys, including a cop and a crime novelist, hone in on the wrathfully delightful Ray Milland...<br />
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The always-intense actor deliciously plots a "perfect murder" of his rich wife during a gloriously long scene (with Anthony Dawson) in that sublimely <i>executed</i> second act, thus leading to the pivotal "homocide" that still packs a wallop.<br />
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What Hitchcock and his actors do with few locations, and tons of dialogue, is amazing.<br />
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alfred hitchcock, anthony dawson, crime, fifties, film noir or melodrama, grace kelly, perfect murder, ray milland, robert cummings, suspense

DIAL M FOR MURDER

year: 1954 rating: *** Perhaps it's Alfred Hitchcock's fault. He made his villain so likable that the third act of this classi...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/03/2010 / No comments / action , bio , lawrence tierney , robert shaw , robert siodmak , sixties , suspense , western

CUSTER OF THE WEST

<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/TFhqYkOyUJI/AAAAAAAAAiE/-nsDoeuia94/s1600/custer+of+the+west.gif"><strong><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5501263915108159634" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bFgFFecXa_Q/TFhqYkOyUJI/AAAAAAAAAiE/-nsDoeuia94/s200/custer+of+the+west.gif" style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" /></strong></a><strong>title:</strong> CUSTER OF THE WEST<br /><div><strong>year:</strong> 1967</div><div><strong>cast:</strong> Robert Shaw, Lawrence Tierney, Ty Hardin, Mary Ure</div><div><strong>director:</strong> Robert Siodmak</div><div><strong>rating:</strong> ***1/2 </div><div><br />Two action-packed scenes sum up this entire film of the famous general who died infamously: or vice versa. One has two miners tied down by Indians to a stage coach trying to survive as they wind along a mountainous trail; another has a soldier riding down a log-jam as he escapes from a band of Indians. In both situations, the characters wind up like our title character, and yet the suspense, thanks for director Robert Siodmak, keeps the viewer interested till the bitter end. Sporadic conversations between Custer and General Sheridan (Lawrence Tierney), showing Custer in a sympathetic light, are highlights in a somewhat muddled bio that goes on too long but has some great moments: Robert Shaw's mesmerizing style of delivering monologues enhance a mediocre script. The last twenty minutes, leading up to, and then rushing the battle of, Little Big Horn, is a let-down: but it's the build-up, thanks to a capable director and cast, that works. </div>

action, bio, lawrence tierney, robert shaw, robert siodmak, sixties, suspense, western

CUSTER OF THE WEST

title: CUSTER OF THE WEST year: 1967 cast: Robert Shaw, Lawrence Tierney, Ty Hardin, Mary Ure director: Robert Siodmak rating: ***1/2 ...

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)THE CROWDED SKY 2)OTLEY 3)THE FEARMAKERS 4)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 5)JUNGLE STREET 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)CANYON PASSAGE 9)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 10)HARDCORE 11)CURSE OF THE DEMON 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)PULP 15)ANATOMY OF A MURDER 16)THE SYSTEM 17)ASH WEDNESDAY 18)THE SERGEANT 19)AL CAPONE 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)THE ROARING TWENTIES 22)THE DEFECTOR 23)NIGHT CREATURES 24)DUEL IN THE JUNGLE 25)WAR OF THE WORLDS 26)AIR PATROL 27)WHITE HEAT 28)THE BREAK 29)EASY LIVING 30)ATLANTIC CITY 31)COMPULSION 32)THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN 33)THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY 34)MADISON AVENUE 35)THE SHARKFIGHTERS 36)DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS 37)MY BLOOD RUNS COLD 38)ROYAL FLASH 39)SWAMP WATER 40)THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND 41)BEAT GIRL 42)THE HIJACKERS 43)THE HEARSE 44)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 45)PLUNDER ROAD 46)KILLER FISH 47)FRENZY 48)LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN 49)THE KILLING 50)FORCE TEN FROM NARAVONE 51)BULLITT 52)WICHITA 53)QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS 54)KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE 55)LAURA 56)THE LINEUP 57)DEATH WISH 58)SORCERER 59)THE STONE KILLER 60)WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS

ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)MARLON BRANDO 4)JACK NICHOLSON 5)ORSON WELLES 6)PETER O'TOOLE 7)TOM COURTENAY 8)CHARLES BRONSON 9)GENE HACKMAN 10)VICTOR MATURE ACTRESSES 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN CARPENTER 7)MAURY DEXTER 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)MICHAEL WINNER 10)SAM PECKINPAH