GOODBYE WILDER GENE: A MEMORIAL FOR GENE WILDER

<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/-Za83rUKYPq0/V8TMMxo4FBI/AAAAAAAAuFU/vpL2_URO1cwmEG49w7yQPtO61PuZPoKIQCLcB/s1600/gthmb-wonka-gene-wilder-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Za83rUKYPq0/V8TMMxo4FBI/AAAAAAAAuFU/vpL2_URO1cwmEG49w7yQPtO61PuZPoKIQCLcB/s400/gthmb-wonka-gene-wilder-jpg.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>We Rushed this Rushed Tribute, so FORGIVE any Unedited Mistakes!</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What was it about Gene Wilder that worked? That really, really worked? To go back to WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, the trickster who limped until suddenly being able to roll himself over, hop back up and shake hands, was all part of an unexplainable magic... outside the script and outside the box... that put everyone, young and old, in a spell – and for decades we were completely spellbound...<br> <div> <br></div> <div> It's difficult to fathom that such a good thing couldn't last... longer than the long time it did. After a while, Wilder became like a magic trick everyone just kind of... stopped using. Of course, we all remember the Mel Brooks' double-genre parody of BLAZING SADDLES and YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN: in the first, his character's jail-cell introduction ended a string of laugh-a-minute introductory jokes and is where the story really began, and the latter, co-written by Wilder and Brooks, is his most famous venture. Most also recall STIR CRAZY, with Richard Pryor, where both had an equal share of screen-time following Gene's lead in SILVER STREAK, a train-set homage to Alfred Hitchcock that only sporadically featured the black comedian and both, as a team, collaborated on four films together...<br> <div> </div></div>

gene wilder, tribute

GOODBYE WILDER GENE: A MEMORIAL FOR GENE WILDER

We Rushed this Rushed Tribute, so FORGIVE any Unedited Mistakes! What was it about Gene Wilder that worked? That really, really worked? ...

DEFENDING THE NOIR-HORROR CAMP OF 'THE LEECH WOMAN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wh1ezCPNFAk/V8PSGI8z5EI/AAAAAAAAuEs/upUayrezIewkDb8mVvRDFopbwZwvrYKYACLcB/s1600/the-leech-woman-horror-film-1960-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wh1ezCPNFAk/V8PSGI8z5EI/AAAAAAAAuEs/upUayrezIewkDb8mVvRDFopbwZwvrYKYACLcB/s400/the-leech-woman-horror-film-1960-poster.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of the Universal Science Fiction Collection YEAR: 1960</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> While it's rare, Mystery Science Theater (or what they've become, Riff-Trax) can be a misleading device in which to discover or uncover vintage b-movies, and while the "b" technically stands for the production value, or lack of, and the lower spot given on the marquee, it usually refers to a movie being just plain "bad."<br> <br> That's not always the case – THE LEECH WOMAN, one of many victims of the MSTK-3000 treatment, should also be called a C-movie, for Creative: What it lacks in budget, it makes up for in... other ways, like how the title character, an aged, formerly attractive wife of a doctor seeking an impossible cure for aging, winds up on a killing spree. The first act plays out economically inside two interior locations, the most important being the Doctor's Office where Coleen Gray's bitter June Talbot verbally tears into her husband, Dr. Paul Talbot, played by BORN TO KILL stiff-suit Philip Terry...<br>

coleen gray, cult, exploitation, gloria talbott, horror, jazz score, kim hamilton, philip terry, science-fiction, sixties

DEFENDING THE NOIR-HORROR CAMP OF 'THE LEECH WOMAN'

Part of the Universal Science Fiction Collection YEAR: 1960 While it's rare, Mystery Science Theater (or what they've become, Ri...

FIFTIES & EIGHTIES: GLOSSING OVER TWO DECADES OF D.O.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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-undLh5Dj2Xs/V8E-vtMS5jI/AAAAAAAAuDE/RsYPkpNk5Sg8XtWFBgkFqMfSMc1Fktz9wCLcB/s1600/3333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-undLh5Dj2Xs/V8E-vtMS5jI/AAAAAAAAuDE/RsYPkpNk5Sg8XtWFBgkFqMfSMc1Fktz9wCLcB/s320/3333.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1950 D.O.A. starring Edmond O'Brien</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>D.O.A. 1950</u>: Before the ball really gets rolling, and things become serious for a small town businessman on vacation in San Francisco, an unbelievable sound occurs, more befitting a zany comedy caper, perhaps even a cartoon, than the sparsest, most serious of Film Noir vehicles...<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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gllninCs9Fo/V8E-ErMgt5I/AAAAAAAAuC4/745YdMBcizgpE444txAFw7D5xxf25TN7gCLcB/s1600/44.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gllninCs9Fo/V8E-ErMgt5I/AAAAAAAAuC4/745YdMBcizgpE444txAFw7D5xxf25TN7gCLcB/s320/44.png" width="125"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Eighties One</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Inside a lavish hotel, whenever an attractive "dish" passes our rural fish out of water, an intentionally corny and contrived wolf-whistle chimes... Not coming from any character in the movie but from the "author" intruded editing room: Like PULP FICTION's Uma Thurman drawing an animated box outside Jack Rabbit Slims, the viewer must simply go with it. So in this severe tale of a dying man frantically in search of who "killed him," perhaps that silly noise existed to separate the two halves – and that's the gist of this particular nightmarish odyssey. Loaded with whodunit potential since what's been done can't be set back, it's never a question since, with the exception of those convention partiers who left town before O'Brien wakes up with a lethal hangover, no one's really known to us or him other than a faithful secretary, back home, on the phone, talking to her frantic boss who, poisoned at a jazzy bar that the hotel party had moved to, he has only a few days to live, and has to find out who, and why?<br>

dennis quaid, edmond o'brien, eighties, fifties, film noir, jazz score, neo noir, remake

FIFTIES & EIGHTIES: GLOSSING OVER TWO DECADES OF D.O.A.

1950 D.O.A. starring Edmond O'Brien D.O.A. 1950 : Before the ball really gets rolling, and things become serious for a small town bu...

DAVID CARRADINE & KATE JACKSON IN 'THUNDER & LIGHTING'

<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/-S5ruLsVJhNI/WNxy1-_EUyI/AAAAAAAAxRw/i8ltJcxbuJgJ25obYFyrUhOx_Ox7QWRBACLcB/s1600/14040200_171687846593733_7187887356935017578_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S5ruLsVJhNI/WNxy1-_EUyI/AAAAAAAAxRw/i8ltJcxbuJgJ25obYFyrUhOx_Ox7QWRBACLcB/s400/14040200_171687846593733_7187887356935017578_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Car chase in THUNDER & LIGHTNING</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Around the same time as Ingmar Bergman's THE SERPENT'S EGG and Hal Ashby's BOUND FOR GLORY, David Carradine, free from his career-making stint on TV's KUNG FU, had some moonshine downtime in the everglades... <br /> <br /> Although only the opening twenty minutes takes place knee-deep in the muddy water during a local goon bully session, leading to a vengeful fan-boat chase (ala LIVE AND LET DIE), and while the film peaks early, there's still loads of adventure left during a prolonged car chase that takes up the entire second half, mirroring (not copying) that exact same year's "grungy maverick with a fancy dame in a fast car" road run in the wildly popular SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT. The characters that'd been... well... fleshed-out – enough for this kind of movie – are all but forgotten and/or completely insignificant when action trumps storyline... Hell, it doesn't even matter what names these people have after a while, or who's in the cast, although, THUNDER & LIGHTING is a nostalgic TV fanatic's dream as Carradine's near-past ("Knock off the Kung Fu shit!" Charles Napier growls during a fight), and Jackson's role on CHARLIE'S ANGELS following an eclectic small-screen career ranging from THE JIMMY STEWART SHOW sit-com to a Movie of the Week exploitively titled: SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.<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/-3Z7pJhD4uKg/V74KHHDspFI/AAAAAAAAuBs/XQ6PjVLzLbQv679k7AnlKOcLuroW6C5qgCLcB/s1600/MPW-39048.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="295" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3Z7pJhD4uKg/V74KHHDspFI/AAAAAAAAuBs/XQ6PjVLzLbQv679k7AnlKOcLuroW6C5qgCLcB/s400/MPW-39048.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for Thunder and Lightning 1978</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Fanning through the water or roaring over roadsides, pretty much anyone could have been driving the long stretch of highway where things wind up, just beyond the wet marshes that provided a misleading rudimentary impression on what the landscape would be, and it's a long, long road at that...<br /> <br /> Too bad because the plot's buildup is actually somewhat intriguing, putting a spin on the cliche moonshine motif: Kate Jackson's crooked father runs competing 'shine against her boyfriend Carradine's makeshift yet good quality swamp-still (run by underdog character-actor Sterling Holloway) while dad's soda company turns out crap including six gallons of toxic rotgut. But crime doesn't pay. While Carradine has good ol' boys, a beautiful girl and a vintage car on his side, the token heavy has thugs either breathing down his neck or out for his hyde: Soon enough, everyone's caught in the crossfire – Carradine breezing his way throughout like he did in some of his pictures (BOUND FOR GLORY, THE LONG RIDERS and KILL BILL are a few grand exceptions), yet he maintains an organic worldweary realism: when it matters most, he means what he says and, doing a lot of his own stunts, the hard work shows.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

action, adventure, david carradine, moonshine, seventies

DAVID CARRADINE & KATE JACKSON IN 'THUNDER & LIGHTING'

Car chase in THUNDER & LIGHTNING Around the same time as Ingmar Bergman's THE SERPENT'S EGG and Hal Ashby's BOUND FOR GL...

JACK PALANCE IN THE NOIR REMAKE 'I DIED A THOUSAND 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/-m8UhUsCGspM/XRyRa-TXSRI/AAAAAAABErI/gmxRzJeYTTgghrF6ozyn5wMhBAbhwfHvQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-07-03%2Bat%2B4.26.09%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1199" data-original-width="854" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m8UhUsCGspM/XRyRa-TXSRI/AAAAAAABErI/gmxRzJeYTTgghrF6ozyn5wMhBAbhwfHvQCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-07-03%2Bat%2B4.26.09%2BAM.jpeg" width="226"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warner Archives DVD Year: 1955</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> HIGH SIERRA is a great book that became an even greater film: With Raoul Walsh's tight direction from an adapted screenplay by Humphrey Bogart's (soon to be) most famous collaborator, John Huston, the iconic MALTESE FALCON, KEY LARGO and TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE star was finally, after playing villains in George Raft and James Cagney vehicles (Walsh directed THE ROARING TWENTIES), turned into a bonafide Hollywood A-lister, whose heavies would become anti-heroes thereafter...<br> <br> Although, just like John Wayne in his career-catapult, STAGECOACH, Bogie takes second-billing to a dame in tough and determined Ida Lupido...<br> <br> Which doesn't occur in the 1955 remake as Shelley Winters is far more vulnerable and passive, and, while not as pretty, does fit the role – had some knockout bombshell co-starred opposite Jack Palance as Roy Earle, he wouldn't be so initially dead-set on getting rid of her... That is, asking her to split from the woodsy fishing lake locale where four men, including himself, are poised to rob safe-kept jewels in a luxurious hotel not far away...<br>

earl holliman, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, jack palance, lee marvin, perry lopez, remake, shelley winters

JACK PALANCE IN THE NOIR REMAKE 'I DIED A THOUSAND TIMES'

Warner Archives DVD Year: 1955 HIGH SIERRA is a great book that became an even greater film: With Raoul Walsh's tight direction from...

'FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT' HAS RELOCATED

<div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><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;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gU2Grt8h7gA/V7fTCp3VJDI/AAAAAAAAt_E/EU9VlCaZ2jwmjqzRUhnLMwtlqA71tQ9vACLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-19%2Bat%2B8.47.55%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gU2Grt8h7gA/V7fTCp3VJDI/AAAAAAAAt_E/EU9VlCaZ2jwmjqzRUhnLMwtlqA71tQ9vACLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-19%2Bat%2B8.47.55%2BPM.png" width="198" /></a></span></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u>Martin Kosleck as Tramp</u></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/02/kosleck2.html">CLICK HERE TO THE NEW HOME OF 'FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT' </a></span>

action, adventure, alfred hitchcock, espionage, forties, george sanders, joel mccrea, laraine day, martin kosleck, war, world war II

'FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT' HAS RELOCATED

Martin Kosleck as Tramp CLICK HERE TO THE NEW HOME OF 'FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT'

ANATOMY OF A COURTROOM AGENDA: TWILIGHT OF HONOR

<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/-eAZGwZev5_8/V7GRF3lkb5I/AAAAAAAAt7M/sPtnnD6WRNwxlGndEz4IN4e93cVuqnAngCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-15%2Bat%2B2.50.42%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="333" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eAZGwZev5_8/V7GRF3lkb5I/AAAAAAAAt7M/sPtnnD6WRNwxlGndEz4IN4e93cVuqnAngCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-15%2Bat%2B2.50.42%2BAM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Chamberlain faces Joey Heatherton YEAR: 1963</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Once again, Hollywood puts Capitol Punishment on trial along with another of their favorite targets, the Middle American small town – and in the case of TWILIGHT OF HONOR, it's a double whammy...<br> <br> Since the 1940's (Elia Kazan's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/capital-noir-punishment.html">BOOMERANG!</a> was our last review) the Courtroom Drama has shared similar traits: an idealistic underdog Defense Attorney, who's an alone and easy target against a usually Fascist-like prosecutor in bed with everyone, including the judge and literally, in this case, even the jury: Although here, Richard Chamberlain's young, inexperienced David Mitchell isn't completely by himself with an old mentor in his corner – during this time, working alongside veteran actor Raymond Massey on TV's popular DR. KILDAIRE, Richard's scenes with Claude Rains as retired defense attorney Art Harper (an ancient, creaky-boned version of Orson Welles in COMPULSION, who was channelling Clarence Darrow) is a cakewalk, their scenes providing color-commentary following each day in court or leading to the next round...<br>

claude reins, courtroom drama, joey heatherton, nick adams, richard chamberlain, sixties

ANATOMY OF A COURTROOM AGENDA: TWILIGHT OF HONOR

Richard Chamberlain faces Joey Heatherton YEAR: 1963 Once again, Hollywood puts Capitol Punishment on trial along with another of their ...

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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-14bby8pvBFk/V6glPTW64UI/AAAAAAAAt2M/dN4WEhXoDIka_Q4E5g_lO8sVwvWlHZGawCLcB/s1600/The_Fearmakers_Dana_Andrews_MOD_DVD-R_MGM_Limited_Edition_Collection_spy_movie.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-14bby8pvBFk/V6glPTW64UI/AAAAAAAAt2M/dN4WEhXoDIka_Q4E5g_lO8sVwvWlHZGawCLcB/s320/The_Fearmakers_Dana_Andrews_MOD_DVD-R_MGM_Limited_Edition_Collection_spy_movie.jpg" width="228"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1958 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Of the three motion pictures actor Dana Andrews starred in under the direction of Noir-Horror guru Jacques Tourneur, we'll cover two, made a year apart: CURSE OF THE DEMON and THE FEARMAKERS...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWbDgR_J6Fg/XUZgpXfkQII/AAAAAAABFkw/kjX_9-TIKqoLtCB0Arc--dvvwX_1frtZwCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-03%2Bat%2B9.35.17%2BPM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="694" height="282" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZWbDgR_J6Fg/XUZgpXfkQII/AAAAAAABFkw/kjX_9-TIKqoLtCB0Arc--dvvwX_1frtZwCLcBGAs/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-08-03%2Bat%2B9.35.17%2BPM.png" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews w/ Marilee Earle & Dick Foran's shadow</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Very rare a film go after the "Peace at any price" groups even and the 1950's when <i>not a</i> sci-fi flick played out without a hidden or not so subtle message against nuclear weapons — and FEARMAKERS is a reverse sermon in a vacuum, and it's not a "Red Scare" film, which would center on Americans fearing Americans but instead, having been captured and tortured by actual Communists in their country, fear is real, palpable, and has merit: Herein beginning with a low-budget, rushed version of patriotism about as obvious as Michael Rennie leaving Earth following his Martian State of the Union Address...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJk000pCjSY/WCD2UwW2nKI/AAAAAAAAvLA/wfetrtBiP7YzDiGo0wsGMcH76ZFkaNCZQCLcB/s1600/14939381_222372341525283_5841347958043316284_o.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJk000pCjSY/WCD2UwW2nKI/AAAAAAAAvLA/wfetrtBiP7YzDiGo0wsGMcH76ZFkaNCZQCLcB/s400/14939381_222372341525283_5841347958043316284_o.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews gives to faint spells no thanks to Korea</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> But enough of all that... FEAR is no space movie or the usual Noir despite one of that genre's signature leading men from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">LAURA, FALLEN ANGEL, BOOMERANG, DAISY KENYON, WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS</a>, and especially OUT OF THE PAST director Jacques Tourneur, who Andrews requested after the surprise success and worthy turnout of their first collaboration (reviewed below) the year before, CURSE OF THE DEMON...<br> <br> Our heroic when tortured after being captured in Korea war-vet Andrews has a horrible fake-looking beard in the prologue — and thereafter flashbacks — and it's nice to see him all cleaned up and suited, back home, processed by the Army as sane (despite reoccurring dizzy spells), ready to dive back into work — his own business: A somewhat complicated operation that has a big surprise waiting, and it's no party...<br>

cold war, dana andrews, dick foran, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jacques tourneur, kelly thordsen, marilee earle, mel torme, politics, thriller

JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'THE FEARMAKERS' WITH DANA ANDREWS

Year Released: 1958  Of the three motion pictures actor Dana Andrews starred in under the direction of Noir-Horror guru Jacques Tourneur...

AN OLDER JAMES CAGNEY IN THESE WILDER YEARS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dxXRl-nNP-0/V6jjkPY-bhI/AAAAAAAAt3s/nqqwkY96qGMe1BSs6b7wNGEXS-3sxawigCLcB/s1600/wilder1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dxXRl-nNP-0/V6jjkPY-bhI/AAAAAAAAt3s/nqqwkY96qGMe1BSs6b7wNGEXS-3sxawigCLcB/s400/wilder1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1957</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> While the Studio System may have been difficult for the talent, forced into project after project using whatever style that makes them shine again and again in various stories with similar plots and characterizations, it's great for anyone just turning on to a particular actor or actress...<br> <br> James Cagney is a prime example. During the 1930's after accidentally hitting it big as the lead in PUBLIC ENEMY, a role that was supposed to go to the taller, more standard, typical Hollywood-looking guy and then wound up becoming Cagney's to own: the minute he smashed food on that dame's face a long journey had been ignited, and during that decade there are over ten programmers where his swagger, bravado, confidence, and dancing is in full form: From B-Pictures like PICTURE SNATCHER, WINNER TAKE ALL and our personal favorite, THE ST. LOUIS KID to crime flicks like G-MEN and EACH DAWN I DIE, con artist flicks like <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/01/cagney-bogart.html">LADY KILLER</a> and BLONDE CRAZY, patriotic but never too corny or cliche ventures like HERE COMES THE NAVY and eventually, Early Film Noir/Melodrama classics like CITY FOR CONQUEST and especially THE ROARING TWENTIES...<br>

barbara stanwyk, drama, fifties, james cagney, small town, teen

AN OLDER JAMES CAGNEY IN THESE WILDER YEARS

Year Released: 1957 While the Studio System may have been difficult for the talent, forced into project after project using whatever sty...

OTTO PREMINGER AND GENE TIERNEY REUNITE FOR 'WHIRLPOOL'

<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/-uEyyTXhGidc/V6QqZ-Li3zI/AAAAAAAAt14/RB818gDRc5Ek0doM614cqhanjrVv0m9ZwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-04%2Bat%2B10.53.28%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uEyyTXhGidc/V6QqZ-Li3zI/AAAAAAAAt14/RB818gDRc5Ek0doM614cqhanjrVv0m9ZwCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-04%2Bat%2B10.53.28%2BPM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1949</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Before Jose Ferrer played despicable villains he played intellectual/sophisticated ones... In Otto Preminger's WHIRLPOOL starring his own LAURA actress Gene Tierney as a bored wife of a rich and famous psychiatrist in Richard Conte, she meets our manipulating super-skinny heavy who's not so bad at first, helping her out of a real jam after she's caught shoplifting items she could easily afford...<br /> <br /> Because of a mysterious, troubled childhood and wanting to keep her problem a secret at home, Tierney's put-upon Ann Sutton can't depend on her husband as a shrink. Making Ferrer's Dr. David Korvo the perfect match: his treatment using hypnosis just might successfully reach back into her subconscious. And like all Film Noir melodramas there's a big catch in attempting a short cut... Soon enough she's doing his dirty work, and eventually the "Wrong Man," or in this case "Wrong Woman" or simply put "Falsely Accused" sub-genre kicks into gear, and that's where the movie, only halfway through, wanes considerably.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--9gnSJJDQIM/V6Qqj4kcLDI/AAAAAAAAt18/KQIkHTYwFlARWLMIW0oo7l8-Ejx0QQWYACLcB/s1600/whirlpool-cover-small.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--9gnSJJDQIM/V6Qqj4kcLDI/AAAAAAAAt18/KQIkHTYwFlARWLMIW0oo7l8-Ejx0QQWYACLcB/s320/whirlpool-cover-small.jpg" width="226" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Whirlpool SCORE: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Not that the buildup was anything extraordinary, other than Preminger's camerawork that can turn mere conversations into visually hypnotic chess matches. How he sticks to his leading lady isn't as mesmerizing as LAURA, and that's because of the actors surrounding...<br /> <br /> While Richard Conte is always capable, this role as a one-dimensional nice guy is a letdown since he usually has a few tricks up his sleeve. Leaving all the punch to Ferrer, who plays a good enough snake but hardly has a bite (a touch of wry Clifton Webb dark-humor is much needed).<br /> <br /> As the tough cop from FALLEN ANGEL, Charles Bickford returns but with a lot more dimension, and he basically carries the picture. While not falling in love with a ghostly portrait like Dana Andrews, he holds an unpredictable hybrid of sympathy and contempt: It often feel like it's his case to lose, even more than Tierney herself, who has everything, including her freedom, at risk during an overlong conclusion that takes the last half to conclude.<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/-ZrwILbJhT4Y/XlDaWX2yMyI/AAAAAAABOeM/04F6CxbSnm8OYkjYAAFirPGRqXxvNsbSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/87151250_911920879237089_987037549669122048_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZrwILbJhT4Y/XlDaWX2yMyI/AAAAAAABOeM/04F6CxbSnm8OYkjYAAFirPGRqXxvNsbSwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/87151250_911920879237089_987037549669122048_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jose Ferrer plays cat and mouse with Gene Tierney in WHIRLPOOL</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

charles bickford, film noir or melodrama, forties, henry fonda, joan crawford, otto preminger, wrong man

OTTO PREMINGER AND GENE TIERNEY REUNITE FOR 'WHIRLPOOL'

Year: 1949 Before Jose Ferrer played despicable villains he played intellectual/sophisticated ones... In Otto Preminger's WHIRLPOOL ...

MERRY ANDERS & ROBERT DIX IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'AIR PATROL'

<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/-I-QXB3XOEW4/V6LNpMlEqEI/AAAAAAAAt0g/qHbapC31CAEVujaVc7QjXs7hhginzbNBQCLcB/s1600/61OopBURO4L._SL1000_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I-QXB3XOEW4/V6LNpMlEqEI/AAAAAAAAt0g/qHbapC31CAEVujaVc7QjXs7hhginzbNBQCLcB/s400/61OopBURO4L._SL1000_.jpg" width="280"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Terrific Fox DVD Cover Art YEAR: 1962</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In AIR PATROL, one of many low-budget movies directed by Maury Dexter, the wheels of justice move slowly, and the blades even slower. Scenes with the police helicopter dotting the blue sky of what seems like the rural suburbs just beyond a skyscraper-laden landscape, takes some time, but are still suspenseful and entertaining: Beginning with a soundtrack like any cop program of that era, though leaning on a jazzy upbeat over the usual forceful punch... other times providing bits of Halloween horror flick Tiburon sounds... as a faceless male thief steals a painting, and then takes off in a helicopter that meets him on that high-rise building's roof...<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cc6LTa3d9Aw/V6LNWl4xqHI/AAAAAAAAt0Y/cqSVPRQxXWkjOitLF71kidFAtNTlkdytgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-03%2Bat%2B10.06.12%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cc6LTa3d9Aw/V6LNWl4xqHI/AAAAAAAAt0Y/cqSVPRQxXWkjOitLF71kidFAtNTlkdytgCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-03%2Bat%2B10.06.12%2BPM.png" width="280"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Merry Anders as Mona</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The one-man knockoff went easy enough, and only one lady, working late, got in the way: but only for the amount of time to get bonked unconscious in this breezy Late Noir with a beautiful, edgy, cranky, cop-hating ingenue, with old school chops of one of those brisk and edgy Femme Fatalle's, or the curt best friend of the leading lady on here, she's in the lead...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eXjoATOZlOQ/W6d5IFIUG0I/AAAAAAAA53k/4i5nIOBo5qExkOPHwc1OkIec05KWWQLRACLcBGAs/s1600/42346149_575684696194044_39225807465349120_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="821" data-original-width="802" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eXjoATOZlOQ/W6d5IFIUG0I/AAAAAAAA53k/4i5nIOBo5qExkOPHwc1OkIec05KWWQLRACLcBGAs/s320/42346149_575684696194044_39225807465349120_n.jpg" width="312"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Merry Anders plays it tough in Air Patrol</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Waking up after the heist with a feeling liken to a hangover, or worse, and she's our primary starlet, looking better than ever: that being Merry Anders, as part of our ongoing "Merry Anders Cinema" and/or, on other flicks sans the exotically wide-eyed ingenue, Maury Dexter Cinema, for her already covered in b-movie write-ups of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/anders1-HYP-EYE.html">THE HYPNOTIC EYE</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/merry-anders-cinema-raiders-from.html">RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA</a>, here playing Mona, under questioning in the same office building by a wise, patient yet assertive veteran cop Lt. Taylor played by Willard Parker and then our hero, a mellow, younger lawman whose primary task is a flier in the AIR PATROL. Bob Dix is a personal friend of Cult Film Freak, having starred of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/08/hells-bloody-devils-fakers.html">HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/08/satans-sadists.html">SATAN'S SADISTS</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/robert-dix-five-bloody-graves.html">FIVE BLOODY GRAVES</a>, and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/06/first-archive-bagful.html">FORBIDDEN PLANET</a>. His Sgt. Castle slowly melts Anders down into not being so feisty and aggravated... But that's skipping ahead...<br>

cop, douglass dumbrille, jack younger, jazz score, larue farlow, maury dexter, merry anders, neo noir, robert dix, russ bender, sixties, willard parker

MERRY ANDERS & ROBERT DIX IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'AIR PATROL'

Terrific Fox DVD Cover Art YEAR: 1962 In AIR PATROL, one of many low-budget movies directed by Maury Dexter, the wheels of justice move ...

DANA ANDREWS AND CESAR ROMERO WORK IN 'DEEP WATERS'

<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/-Uc4Z47R_JD0/V5_8aSUDIAI/AAAAAAAAtzE/1vGjiXtMuoYAbQsq8aivHZNbODuRiaEGACLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-01%2Bat%2B6.49.52%2BPM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Uc4Z47R_JD0/V5_8aSUDIAI/AAAAAAAAtzE/1vGjiXtMuoYAbQsq8aivHZNbODuRiaEGACLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-01%2Bat%2B6.49.52%2BPM.png" width="382" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Future Joker from BATMAN meets the Old Guy from QUANTUM LEAP</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>How very easily DEEP WATERS could have been a sappy childhood melodrama, ripping the tears straight from the eye-sockets, but thanks to both leading men... or rather, one man and one boy... it's anything but contrived or melodramatic...</i><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NaTx1OlaHLw/WmJhloq9syI/AAAAAAAA0aY/mYYBnLzR1agXtx4pjyh_ifou6wikpXPtgCLcBGAs/s1600/3a8745a1f4b07229c6f51d6fb9bb6aed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="259" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NaTx1OlaHLw/WmJhloq9syI/AAAAAAAA0aY/mYYBnLzR1agXtx4pjyh_ifou6wikpXPtgCLcBGAs/s400/3a8745a1f4b07229c6f51d6fb9bb6aed.jpg" width="171" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana w/ Jean Peters</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Dana Andrews stars as former potential big-time architect turned full-time blood-and-sweat lobsterman Hod Stillwell, as true as a man could be during the post-war 1940's, yet he's still determined and stubborn i.e. imperfect and realistic. Meanwhile, Dean Stockwell's Donny Mitchell, turning in one of the most natural kid performances, is the real main character i.e. our buried lead...<br /> <br /> First seen being dropped off by subtle-beauty social worker Jean Peters to a nice yet strict older woman, Anne Revere as Mary in a strong performance wedged between her Oscar-winning NATIONAL VELVET turn and blacklisting in the 1950's, living in Maine where Donny, having grown-up with a local hero sailor dad, who, like a lot of men in the town, had died in one of many formidable storms. But no matter what the risk, Billy yearns for the ocean, and nothing more.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p1Y8VJrCUzE/V5_75GiO2hI/AAAAAAAAty8/mAGTvl752xwXAB4GYyq34bPX5t11orFkgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-01%2Bat%2B6.47.09%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="357" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p1Y8VJrCUzE/V5_75GiO2hI/AAAAAAAAty8/mAGTvl752xwXAB4GYyq34bPX5t11orFkgCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-01%2Bat%2B6.47.09%2BPM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mary Revere, Dean Stockwell & Dana Andrews YEAR: 1948</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Andrews and Stockwell have a easygoing chemistry that builds slowly, and is genuine enough for their ultimate plot-necessary problem/roadblock to be a near heartbreak for both the boy and the audience. And yet Stockwell's narrow-eyed determination keeps himself and the film going headstrong... Not much whining with this kid...<br /> <br /> On the adult side, Peters, always a terrific method actress, is more or less a potential ingenue, being she was formerly engaged to Andrews' character. Because of the history of deadly storms, she fears the sea, and doesn't want Billy near the water...<br /> <br /> But not Dana and especially our zesty fifth banana/comic relief in Caesar Romero as his smiling Spanish business partner: Romero's Joe Sanger yearns to become a farmer of anything, from turkeys to minks, instead of building those lobsters traps, day in and day out. As the polar opposite of Billy, these two have more of a cool uncle to nephew inside-chemistry, .<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o_jwY3Cg6Is/XiuojIuLMYI/AAAAAAABNvc/Zeh5IQ5ItQQcyL5MVQeFsypQwWvHqWR1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/LOBBYCARD337-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="468" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o_jwY3Cg6Is/XiuojIuLMYI/AAAAAAABNvc/Zeh5IQ5ItQQcyL5MVQeFsypQwWvHqWR1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/LOBBYCARD337-2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Deep Waters Review Scores: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A pleasant motion picture that has dated but very effective special effects when the ship hits a storm that was begging to happen, and it's no surprise who's life gets put in jeopardy.<br /> <br /> Sure, it's all rather predictable during the 10th and 11th hour. But when things turn-out just how you want, enough last-minute suspense occurs to where it might just <i>may not</i> fit together after-all, making DEEP WATERS an idyllic yet suspenseful excursion into a town that's as part of the sea as the sea is to the town. The performances are as natural as the actual location, outside and in. One particular sequence has Andrews searching for a bottle of wine as Revere's Mary cleans up the kitchen. It's mesmerizing how both move around in a contained space while the shot continues for about three-minutes. In a way this Henry King programmer has more than a touch of "foreign film" going for it. At one point you  may even imagine subtitles splashed across the screen. This picture sure doesn't seem created to make bundles on an opening weekend, but to exist for the long-run.<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://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiEPLCQMFD4/WVeCVvlzBnI/AAAAAAAAyIs/sKBNRFlcc4ofhTxsZBsf4Dg2NtNlihVsQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-01%2Bat%2B4.02.57%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1600" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wiEPLCQMFD4/WVeCVvlzBnI/AAAAAAAAyIs/sKBNRFlcc4ofhTxsZBsf4Dg2NtNlihVsQCLcBGAs/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-07-01%2Bat%2B4.02.57%2BAM.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Caesar Romero shows Dean Stockwell the advantages of not fishing but trying to get rich quick: not Plastics, Mink!</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zxVernosbQ/WVeCXPYtPLI/AAAAAAAAyIw/DOjjGqpwLWYpJtOtaaEVj1JrTPT9jkEegCLcBGAs/s1600/19467753_737355499800930_1114816052474846377_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="707" data-original-width="1600" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zxVernosbQ/WVeCXPYtPLI/AAAAAAAAyIw/DOjjGqpwLWYpJtOtaaEVj1JrTPT9jkEegCLcBGAs/s1600/19467753_737355499800930_1114816052474846377_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews with Mary Revere in this movie and Otto Preminger's FALLEN ANGEL: She has his number in both</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

dana andrews, dean stockwell, drama, jean peters, kids

DANA ANDREWS AND CESAR ROMERO WORK IN 'DEEP WATERS'

Future Joker from BATMAN meets the Old Guy from QUANTUM LEAP How very easily DEEP WATERS could have been a sappy childhood melodrama, ri...

FLIPPING TO SHARKNADO: THE 4TH AWAKENS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A2QOQ1RC5Ys/V6FfzZZtbGI/AAAAAAAAtzc/eNLjnns62dg6i0gB8miVBusuOkWBS8D8gCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-02%2Bat%2B8.05.34%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-A2QOQ1RC5Ys/V6FfzZZtbGI/AAAAAAAAtzc/eNLjnns62dg6i0gB8miVBusuOkWBS8D8gCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-08-02%2Bat%2B8.05.34%2BPM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sharks In Space... It's Just Dumb This Time YEAR: 2016</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With an opening scrawl and a title taken from the new STAR WARS: FORCE AWAKENS, there wasn't much use for the first, since no plot was actually revealed nor does it exist, while the latter is a semi-creative pun (most likely inspired by the popular phrase, 'May The 4th Be With You'). This one starting out in Las Vegas, epicenter of a world that's finally rid of all tornadoes thanks to a company using a "cheap" yet effective device that blasts 'em from the onset. But for some reason, the "McGuffin" doesn't work over Sin City...<br> <br> Wouldn't you know, Fin Shepard just happens to be there. His son and new wife (a couple with zero chemistry, seeming thrown together) jump out of a plane to celebrate their vows, and the pre-credit opening sequence is the best things get: involving Fin trying to bring his son down around a Casino that has particular monuments that make it all look pretty fantastic.<br>

franchise, ian ziering, science-fiction

FLIPPING TO SHARKNADO: THE 4TH AWAKENS

Sharks In Space... It's Just Dumb This Time YEAR: 2016 With an opening scrawl and a title taken from the new STAR WARS: FORCE AWAKEN...

CHUCK NORRIS IN 'GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK' W/ DANA ANDREWS

<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/-Pcobberi3SE/V5_NyNCVdQI/AAAAAAAAtyc/D9VtYK6-TT41_Qe5q7Tl0syaib1pcN1UgCLcB/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pcobberi3SE/V5_NyNCVdQI/AAAAAAAAtyc/D9VtYK6-TT41_Qe5q7Tl0syaib1pcN1UgCLcB/s320/3.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Chuck reflects the film's best kick YEAR: 1978</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> For an action star, compared to a Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and more befitting this particular fight-genre, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris isn't a great actor. Heck, he's not even half-decent when it comes down to it. But it never really <i>comes down </i>to anything short of his signature kicks: Those are what the audience will anticipate. He did get better throughout the years, peaking in the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/01/mary-louise-weller-FV.html">mid-to-late 1980's</a> as a far more energetic performer than this 1978 semi-exploitation titled GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK aka BLACK TIGERS, where his most natural moves occur about an hour into the movie: Relatively bad news for hardcore Norris fans – there are only about two real karate-fight scenes, not including a few quick wallops that get the job done in a flash – one in particular highlighted all the promotions – Norris's Secret Ops commando John T. Booker leaping forward and smashing foot-first into the windshield of a car, fully enraged, as he should be: While some awful special effects occur, a very important person is killed, and this character was way too good to be true.<br>

action, chuck norris, dana andrews, james francsiscus, war

CHUCK NORRIS IN 'GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK' W/ DANA ANDREWS

Chuck reflects the film's best kick YEAR: 1978 For an action star, compared to a Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson and more befitting t...