cult film freak: October 2016

Written by James M. Tate / 10/31/2016 / No comments / creature , horror , jill haworth , roddy mcdowall , sixties

HALLOW'S ENTRY: IT! WITH RODDY MCDOWALL & JILL HAWORTH

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MKht06r6CzU/WBOr6JDJOHI/AAAAAAAAu_k/kJK4YtW5OH4vSWEC_JKh_iBDQZjXCMZfACLcB/s1600/14563424_215758638853320_4101680133942886179_n.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MKht06r6CzU/WBOr6JDJOHI/AAAAAAAAu_k/kJK4YtW5OH4vSWEC_JKh_iBDQZjXCMZfACLcB/s400/14563424_215758638853320_4101680133942886179_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roddy McDowall figuring IT! all out slowly YEAR: 1967 </u></td></tr>
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Since it came out twenty or so years before the much more famous Stephen King novel turned miniseries centering on a group of children fearing a clown in the sewer (who wouldn't?), the 1967 IT!, starring Roddy McDowell, is definitely original...<br />
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That's until the main character — an awkward little weakling named Pimm, barely holding an assistant job at a British museum (it's an English film) — while in a lonely apartment, speaks to his mother, who's seated neatly in a corner chair with her back to the audience... It's obvious what will happen once she's turned around since, that is, she can't do it by herself — PSYCHO revisited! Well, not really; what Pimm does at home means very little. It's all work and no play that makes IT! a subtle body-count horror where the large, menacing statue of an ancient Golem didn't burn in an all-engrossing fire at another museum. And now it has a brand new home, and master.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qs3SK46PT8Q/WBOl4w7xFwI/AAAAAAAAu_E/sS0MVRKbQe84dtM9r89psI1ZJZ6DcVqBQCLcB/s1600/14591621_215758652186652_7224468298712264081_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qs3SK46PT8Q/WBOl4w7xFwI/AAAAAAAAu_E/sS0MVRKbQe84dtM9r89psI1ZJZ6DcVqBQCLcB/s400/14591621_215758652186652_7224468298712264081_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Not a Hammer Film but IT! sure flows like one Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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The best, most intriguing and suspenseful scenes concern our curious underdog progressively figuring out, through dialogue, historical investigation and hands-on application, how the big fella works — the story told with the same kind of meticulous, expository timing that makes up the first half of just about any TWILIGHT ZONE episode, including eerie music tempered sporadically by foreboding, haunting tribal drums...<br />
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Without giving too much away, the creature is controlled to move about and maneuver the same way a hippie (of that same era) would "drop acid" — a tiny scroll replacing a paper square, and without being swallowed. Then, by use of verbal commands, soon enough (yet without seeming rushed) IT! does our ragged little man's evil bidding, which initially isn't all that terrible being that the victims... especially the museum's new curator/Pimm's nightmare boss... are pretty much asking for it...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d7xVKOG-fhQ/WBOmrtzCFyI/AAAAAAAAu_M/rLeXz0xJLgIKbdF0w52PRTD5_iz1T_NjgCLcB/s1600/14642455_215758648853319_5945887090683404776_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-d7xVKOG-fhQ/WBOmrtzCFyI/AAAAAAAAu_M/rLeXz0xJLgIKbdF0w52PRTD5_iz1T_NjgCLcB/s320/14642455_215758648853319_5945887090683404776_n.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The fitfully vulnerable Jill Haworth</u></td></tr>
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That's until an American museum curator romances EXODUS teen starlet Jill Haworth as Ellen, who continuously dodges Pimm's clumsy advances. And she's the one person intended for the audience to invest in besides McDowall, who is, like Anthony Perkins' Norman Bates, a killer and anti-hero both...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-86VFyq39w/WBOo60sYoVI/AAAAAAAAu_Y/YiJ-TqKU4hkAokXdpFbnObZESvO8c-ZqwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-28%2Bat%2B12.36.46%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-b-86VFyq39w/WBOo60sYoVI/AAAAAAAAu_Y/YiJ-TqKU4hkAokXdpFbnObZESvO8c-ZqwCLcB/s200/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-28%2Bat%2B12.36.46%2BPM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>IT!Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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Like any horror flick, without the antagonist figuring out ways to do bad things, there's simply no movie at all...<br />
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And this movie doesn't quite know how or when to sum up. Between the second and third act, the pace drags a bit until the finale, concerning the use of what's usually the "last resort" to destroy an impenetrable menace: Thus, the finale is well deserved when it does finally happen since the young man and his ancient beast had played their cards long enough, and hell, it was fun while IT! lasted, especially during their (Roddy and The Golem) sadistic Honeymoon Phase!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajgq_C97nuE/XkhdQ0NbocI/AAAAAAABOYI/FVXTxT3D4n89TmxAWHF3GHTIRXgWJjvdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/86374855_907158559713321_1445097654328492032_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ajgq_C97nuE/XkhdQ0NbocI/AAAAAAABOYI/FVXTxT3D4n89TmxAWHF3GHTIRXgWJjvdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/86374855_907158559713321_1445097654328492032_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jill Haworth as Ellen Grove in IT!</u></td></tr>
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creature, horror, jill haworth, roddy mcdowall, sixties

HALLOW'S ENTRY: IT! WITH RODDY MCDOWALL & JILL HAWORTH

Roddy McDowall figuring IT! all out slowly YEAR: 1967 Since it came out twenty or so years before the much more famous Stephen King nove...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/25/2016 / No comments / action , fifties , marilyn monroe , otto preminger , robert mitchum , western

ROBERT MITCHUM & MARILYN MONROE IN 'RIVER OF NO RETURN'

action, fifties, marilyn monroe, otto preminger, robert mitchum, western

ROBERT MITCHUM & MARILYN MONROE IN 'RIVER OF NO RETURN'

Mitch & Monroe take Preminger's RIVER OF NO RETURN Year: 1954 Robert Mitchum is not a devilish rogue this time... In fact he sil...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/23/2016 / No comments / 2016 , cable , walking dead , zombie

NEGAN & MAREK: 'NO ESCAPE' FROM 'THE WALKING DEAD'

2016, cable, walking dead, zombie

NEGAN & MAREK: 'NO ESCAPE' FROM 'THE WALKING DEAD'

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as the deadly & caustic Negan on WALKING DEAD Jefferey Dean Morgan isn't exactly a replica of Dennis Hopper&...

GENE TIERNEY COLORS THE FILM NOIR 'LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Intentionally flowery artwork for LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN Year: 1945</u></td></tr>
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Surprisingly enough, given the Cult Film Freak spotlights from the last two months, this isn't a Film Noir review centered on either Dana Andrews or Otto Preminger...<br />
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Although it<i> is</i> connected to both the actor and director: a partial LAURA reunion with Gene Tierney in the leading role and Vincent Price given an initial cameo with a stormy 11th hour courtroom monologue: in her favor... But most important are two beautiful actresses that appeared in over three or more films with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Andrews</a>: the first is LAURA ingenue Tierney, who (for the most part) began with him in John Ford's TOBACCO ROAD and would continue together in several other projects — as well as his other starlet, Jeanne Crain, as Gene's younger cousin who's more of an adopted sister.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6vfIx8yAkXQ/Xs5GjLMMSaI/AAAAAAABUX8/fhJkL4dl4LgcBfwEgQl8nNo5Md2I8rmSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-27%2Bat%2B3.40.18%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="876" data-original-width="921" height="304" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6vfIx8yAkXQ/Xs5GjLMMSaI/AAAAAAABUX8/fhJkL4dl4LgcBfwEgQl8nNo5Md2I8rmSgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-27%2Bat%2B3.40.18%2BAM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Just Wilde about Tierney</u></td></tr>
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Both are smitten with ROAD HOUSE stud Cornel Wilde, the true lead and overall vulnerable, deer-caught-in-headlights protagonist. Tierney, usually prone to sweet and lovely, delicate types, breaks out with venomous finesse as the manipulative heavy — a rural, weaponless, surreptitious Femme Fatale! In a movie that's one of "modern day" ultra-violent guru Martin Scorsese's personal favorites, she takes the proverbial spiked baton and runs with it, but not without an even-keeled, monotone, slow-burn buildup.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Insert Poster</u></td></tr>
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<span id="goog_1022571722"></span><span id="goog_1022571723"></span>"If you lived in Salem a hundred years ago," Cornel Wilde says to this mysterious woman, "they would have burned you." And this ironical compliment would alter its meaning by the film's near-conclusion — a blazing stake would be getting off easy...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-16PRwidZ0R0/WAf_Wz_ChOI/AAAAAAAAu08/18XUlE46CY8nUy-YQfNx48BcYdxi1WJhgCLcB/s1600/14666311_209722079456976_5109232453042059125_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-16PRwidZ0R0/WAf_Wz_ChOI/AAAAAAAAu08/18XUlE46CY8nUy-YQfNx48BcYdxi1WJhgCLcB/s320/14666311_209722079456976_5109232453042059125_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Welcome to Camp Tierney... avoid the water sports</u></td></tr>
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For what Tierney eventually does, or lets be done, is beyond awful, and while it's somewhat impossible to not — at the very least — divulge a hint or two about the wretched act itself, her literally overboard action shouldn't be spoiled completely. It's a shock such a lovely lass would become so wicked. Although, in re-watching (recommended) LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN, derived from a Shakespeare line — within the first few minutes of an introductory conversation between Tierney's classy, brooding Big City to New Mexico rich girl, Ellen Berent, and the man she sets her narrowed eyes on, it's the subtle expressions that count...<br />
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First on a train on the way to where he's visiting and she lives (with his lawyer and her friend, played by a semi-narrating Ray Collins, in common) — look closely at not only the expressions but the haunted reactions and distractions on her porcelain-smooth face. Meanwhile, Cornel Wilde's Richard Harland, a smooth and successful author, is such a clean, naïve slate he's simply begging to be pushed to the limit. As usual in these kind of "Women Stalking Men" vehicles, the reality of how long it takes for the nice guy to start catching on almost becomes annoying, or at least, unrealistic — it seems intentional, though, since this is what yields the most palpable suspense...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A fitting image here</u></td></tr>
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It's an all-out tour-de-force performance by Tierney — playing a psychotic woman in a subtle fashion, going beneath the usual overboard stereotypes, which, having been made in 1945, decades before popular vehicles like PLAY MISTY FOR ME, THE BABYSITTER or FATAL ATTRACTION, any comparison is like saying CITIZEN KANE's time-shifting, non-linear approach borrowed from PULP FICTION: She's one of the first otherwise docile, good girl starlets to break from a sweet and predictable rhythm to portray a woman seething with an under-current of monstrous jealousy. And, as an adored and (seemingly) adoring wife instead of the usual jilted lover or one-night-stand, her "stalking" is far more intriguing, bizarre, and meaningful...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f87fvHQQLi0/WAf-wNOpVNI/AAAAAAAAu00/hseDExWUn2EG0orSrFxz239Vu3xHNgDZwCLcB/s1600/14590324_209719632790554_2486932142953643956_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f87fvHQQLi0/WAf-wNOpVNI/AAAAAAAAu00/hseDExWUn2EG0orSrFxz239Vu3xHNgDZwCLcB/s320/14590324_209719632790554_2486932142953643956_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tierney spreads dad's ashes in a melodramatic stride</u></td></tr>
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As for the other tall and beautiful actress: Jeanne Crain doesn't do much but look pretty. She was a lot busier with her and Gene's reoccurring co-star, Dana Andrews, in STATE FAIR — the biggest difference is, she's a tomboy here, and looks even better dressed-down. The most important factor is how different she is in style and tone than Tierney, who, as both are equally attractive, through Crain we're able to see what really pulls Wilde in — to making the wrong choice...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SCORE: ****</u></td></tr>
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For in this hellish HEAVEN, whether she's holding back or letting go — it's about Tierney, fully backed by a roaring, melodramatic soundtrack extenuating her character above and beyond the scene it represents — in particular, an unintentionally funny moment as she, stone-faced yet fervent, rides a horse (obviously in a studio) while spreading her father's ashes: And throughout, Tierney absorbs the two important factors differentiating this particular melodrama from the usual Film Noir template...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vincent Price storms out to the storm outside</u></td></tr>
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Not without a touch of corny camp value, this visually postcard-perfect <i>Fancy Film Noir</i> strays miles from the usual sparse B&W cinematography as every frame's splashed with rich, vibrant colors — a hybrid of a vintage fashion ad and a Norman Rockwell magazine cover: a delicate, dressed-up, intentionally borogue package harboring sinister contents...<br />
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In-place of the typical shadowy alleyways and sizzling neon motel rooms, the amount of time spent under bright sunlight, in either the desert or forest/wilderness, accentuates the plush and organic, soap operatic spender that, for a motion picture adapted from a novel and, after the starting credits, opens up with a book cover followed by sporadic chapter titles, LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN is a delicious and vicious, pulpy, page-turning experience.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Weh_mzIQwg/Xs5DUBjglYI/AAAAAAABUXE/OeOpcYlQx0wysg0lYdrgzpJ1-m7TKMgTACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-27%2Bat%2B3.37.49%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1011" data-original-width="1451" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_Weh_mzIQwg/Xs5DUBjglYI/AAAAAAABUXE/OeOpcYlQx0wysg0lYdrgzpJ1-m7TKMgTACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-05-27%2Bat%2B3.37.49%2BAM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jeanne Crain eyes Cornel Wilde who's wild for Gene Tierney</u></td></tr>
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color noir, cornel wilde, film noir or melodrama, gene tierney, jeanne crain, ray collins, vincent price

GENE TIERNEY COLORS THE FILM NOIR 'LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN'

Intentionally flowery artwork for LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN Year: 1945 Surprisingly enough, given the Cult Film Freak spotlights from the last...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/16/2016 / No comments / drama , elizabeth taylor , helmut berger , henry fonda , keith baxter , margaret blye , melodrama , romance , seventies

ELIZABETH TAYLOR STARS IN 'ASH WEDNESDAY' WITH KEITH BAXTER

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N5L0gz28TOE/XeEpPT_ZzwI/AAAAAAABL5A/Hr1onqQBMVcq4K08peT55oTKE0WXaDQ5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-11-29%2Bat%2B6.19.14%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="608" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N5L0gz28TOE/XeEpPT_ZzwI/AAAAAAABL5A/Hr1onqQBMVcq4K08peT55oTKE0WXaDQ5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-11-29%2Bat%2B6.19.14%2BAM.jpeg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>VHS Cover for Ash Wednesday</u></td></tr>
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A brilliant idea for former A-list actress and sex symbol who had been turning the first slightly-wide curve of her late-thirties and early-forties: With the famously lean, young, pointed beauty long gone, in 1973 Elizabeth Taylor plays a woman of around sixty-five that gets a facelift in Switzerland...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday</u></td></tr>
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Having her seem not only terribly ancient but life-beaten, weathered, bushed, and downright horribly melancholy — thus her "new" face is really what Taylor actually looked like in 1973, and the way the surgery is treated, shown in an up-close, realistically bloody montage...<br />
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And as learned through five minutes of exposition... it's obvious the entire procedure wasn't as as common as today, providing a science-fiction vibe beneath the mundane surface, but only inside the hospital, which is more of a rest home for the super rich and where injections cannot stop the aging process from the inside to fit the outside, but will "retard" the process of aging and, having lost a fair amount of weight, Liz winds up looking better here 
than other 1970's films... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ash Wednesday Scores ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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The scene-stealer of Act One is dapper, cleft-chinned Keith Baxter as a wry, blunt, flamboyant fashion photographer going through a followup procedure...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Liz annoyed by a moose-faced gay hairdresser</u></td></tr>
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That Liz's morose Barbara Sawyer, who has bandages covering most of her face for at least thirty minutes, has to <i>not</i> look forward to, and that the expository Baxter "teaches" her and the audience about... <br />
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After which, Taylor and her new self winds up at a Swiss hotel, waiting for the love of her life — her lifelong husband, Mark, played by Henry Fonda, a man she completely depends on — and the only reason she got the facelift in the first place although we get plenty of hints, especially from her visiting daughter — the only person who knows the truth: that the marriage was in peril, facelift or not. In that, Taylor is a humble yet equally oblivious version of Blanche DuBois, and you have to watch twice to see her reactions to particular moments when she realizes that the inevitable is in fact, inevitable... <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Liz Taylor has a Helmet Berger in Ash Wednesday</u></td></tr>
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And yes, there is romance — sort of — as Barbara is flirted with in the hotel by a handsome, has-been ski-bum played by a stern and brooding Helmut Berger: Throughout the entire picture, Liz discovers her youth through everyone else's reaction, and scenes where she catches glimpses of her image provide moments of her usual graceful, royal acting skills, without words... Most of the dialogue is taken by reoccurring visits from Keith Baxter, with a quip for just about everything — and everyone...<br />
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An entertaining yet slow-paced film that's neither arthouse or conventional, ASH falls within a sort of wish-fulfillment romantic melodrama with a heavy theme on marriage — or love lost — or both. During the one bedroom scene, Berger's Erich turns to Barbara and says she shouldn't have waited so long. She thinks she might have been inexperienced in bed and he really meant, to sleep with <i>him</i>...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor in ASH WEDNESDAY</u></td></tr>
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Well if the one sexually-driven romantic moment happened any quicker, ASH WEDNESDAY, with glorious and rich, cascading score by Maurice Jarre like an Italian music box befitting the Italian locale, would be nothing short of straight-out propaganda for face-lifts, or a just another Harlequin romance novel on screen...<br />
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In which there are hints of each and yet, as a whole, it's one of many counter-culture era films about finding oneself, but with a pretty neat twist: And last but certainly not least, the biggest surprise is the lack of unintentionally funny moments, as occur in many ambitious low budget vehicles of this decade, often referred to as "Howlers" like, for example, Taylor and husband Richard Burton's BOOM! — that's with the exception of the opening credit sequence, pasting images of the young and famous Taylor and Fonda to look as if they're actually a couple — getting the camp value out of the way early.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Helmut Berger as Erich in ASH WEDNESDAY aka Meu Corpo em Tuas Mãos</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1970's hottie Margaret Blye as Taylor's stunned daughter in ASH WEDNESDAY aka </u><u>Die Rivalin</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Chimes at Midnight's Keith Baxter in Ash Wednesday a hybrid of Timothy Dalton and Ron Wood</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday aka Unutulan hatıralar aka Δεν μπορούμε να ζούμε με αναμνήσεις</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Larry Peerce directs Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday aka Porque morre o nosso amor? </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor in Ash Wednesday aka </u><u>Mercoledì delle ceneri aka Środa popielcowa </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor (looking like a shot from a Beatles album cover) in ASH WEDNESDAY</u></td></tr>
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drama, elizabeth taylor, helmut berger, henry fonda, keith baxter, margaret blye, melodrama, romance, seventies

ELIZABETH TAYLOR STARS IN 'ASH WEDNESDAY' WITH KEITH BAXTER

VHS Cover for Ash Wednesday A brilliant idea for former A-list actress and sex symbol who had been turning the first slightly-wide curve...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/11/2016 / No comments / art metrano , christopher guest , eighties , harry nothup , jan-michael vincent , jerry reed , joe pesci , june chadwick , list , matt dillon , peter sellers , seventies , sixties , vic morrow , walter matthau

COMEDY FILM CHARACTERS WHO TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY

art metrano, christopher guest, eighties, harry nothup, jan-michael vincent, jerry reed, joe pesci, june chadwick, list, matt dillon, peter sellers, seventies, sixties, vic morrow, walter matthau

COMEDY FILM CHARACTERS WHO TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY

Only one of these two USED CAR actors made the cut This List, originally conceived as THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A COMEDY, involves ten...

WILL SAMPSON DOUBLE CREATURE 'ORCA' & 'WHITE BUFFALO'

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With a brooding soundtrack, composed by genius maestro Ennio Morricone, orchestrating the title killer whale seeking revenge on Richard Harris's Neo-Ahab, Captain Nolan, for killing the whale's pregnant mate, ORCA is more an oceanic Spaghetti Western than an outright "Creature Feature."<br>
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Once narrowed into the hunt, as Harris — like JAWS scene-stealer, Quint, played by Robert Shaw, did with his two-man-crew to the Great White —leads ORCA (the name of Quint's boat, which means "a large toothed whale") out to sea, or vice versa, it's an entertaining adventure. But in order to make the audience forget about the 1975 shark thriller, this campy whale tale throws it right into our face with a menacing Great White's dorsal fin heading towards a young crewman (Robert Carradine) — only to be saved, at the last minute, by the one monstrosity more powerful than even Spielberg's Carcharodon Carcharias...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Foreign DVD Artwork beats our own</u></td></tr>
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But it's the horrendously melodramatic revenge aspect, from the whale against the seafaring Captain, that shifts ORCA into camp-howler territory. One scene involving Harris, a hunter combination of Shaw (along with scruffy boat pilot Keenan Wynn) and Roy Scheieder, and an oceanographic Richard Dreyfuss in the exotic French starlet Charlotte Rampling, the whale actually sees (with a knowing, narrowed eye) his foe seconds after <i>actually</i> causing the sea-town, curved along the surrounding shoreline, to explode in massive flames...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Will Sampson, Charlotte Rampling and Richard Harris</u></td></tr>
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Here's when our doomed anti-hero is forced seaward, going deeper and deeper into the Killer Whale's territory and, straight from the brawny pages of Herman Melville or even Ernest Hemingway, the macho captain wants the whale dead too — what the giant mammal did to Harris's gorgeous friend (a pre-fame Bo Derek) adds fiery insult to injury.... Making up for overlong bouts of tedious arguments on board, the pivotal, entertaining "body count" occurs in the style of a violent and bloody 1970's horror/exploitation flick, and like JAWS, the suspense is channelled into a steady pulse when the creature, unseen, is anticipated within the dark waters — but not for long...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nRYjfgOI8JM/V_miKVbfbmI/AAAAAAAAuvE/_YuFB6kTP_gsnCmsiyDmUtSVIEwB-wjcgCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-08%2Bat%2B6.40.04%2BPM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nRYjfgOI8JM/V_miKVbfbmI/AAAAAAAAuvE/_YuFB6kTP_gsnCmsiyDmUtSVIEwB-wjcgCLcB/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-10-08%2Bat%2B6.40.04%2BPM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Great White Shark smack-down by ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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During the third act, an iceberg becomes a HIGH NOON main street between man and beast. And, last but not least, along for the ride, to legitimize the picture and fitting within the theme of this double feature review, CUCKOO'S NEST "Chief Bromden,"<br>
<br>
Will Sampson, taking a break from his role as a tortured Sioux with a WHITE BUFFALO chip on his shoulder, provides a hybrid of Dreyfuss style wisdom and Shaw experience — a moral compass swing vote, dead-set against the stubborn and determined Richard Harris who, the likes of Peter O'Toole, Oliver Reed and other intense British actors, whether in good, bad or downright ugly motion pictures, doesn't hold anything back.<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wsN6MzxUfYY/XdTrAWPz68I/AAAAAAABLLs/8J5ulhMzztYGY_FZVcSdVsbe0mHU7v5jACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="957" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wsN6MzxUfYY/XdTrAWPz68I/AAAAAAABLLs/8J5ulhMzztYGY_FZVcSdVsbe0mHU7v5jACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv6-YUo7yww/XdTrAhO6ZRI/AAAAAAABLLw/MbXjzOmu83QeBcMOphLtLX4VqAxq0fs5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gv6-YUo7yww/XdTrAhO6ZRI/AAAAAAABLLw/MbXjzOmu83QeBcMOphLtLX4VqAxq0fs5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/2.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YC_q60OX4fU/XdTrBJAA3sI/AAAAAAABLL4/Nc6Quttsep4y4mOQrhRdbyqf3CkNZmNDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YC_q60OX4fU/XdTrBJAA3sI/AAAAAAABLL4/Nc6Quttsep4y4mOQrhRdbyqf3CkNZmNDgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/3.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-auQcDylCgaE/XdTrBepEhOI/AAAAAAABLL8/5GU_wlVjmosXqbPwUa7TBdjPUFDNKqN-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/4.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="737" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-auQcDylCgaE/XdTrBepEhOI/AAAAAAABLL8/5GU_wlVjmosXqbPwUa7TBdjPUFDNKqN-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/4.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xk3EJq2egI/XdTrBi1fNoI/AAAAAAABLMA/Q8yMOciG5Wwa8A_6rTpksT3xUx0PCzMjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/5.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8Xk3EJq2egI/XdTrBi1fNoI/AAAAAAABLMA/Q8yMOciG5Wwa8A_6rTpksT3xUx0PCzMjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/5.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gTCiy3W7xO4/XdTrAqZ0EHI/AAAAAAABLL0/s_TaEdi2bjUOmFYF7lZHYfsSPmFhAFGFACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/11.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gTCiy3W7xO4/XdTrAqZ0EHI/AAAAAAABLL0/s_TaEdi2bjUOmFYF7lZHYfsSPmFhAFGFACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/11.jpeg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bo Derek in ORCA THE KILLER WHALE</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson ducks for cover in The White Buffalo YEAR: 1976</u></td></tr>
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A Charles Bronson cult film that, without the hilariously dated and 
contrived title creature, is a surprisingly decent Western in its own 
right...<br>
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Haunted by nightmares of THE WHITE BUFFALO, Bronson, as a retired, 
inconspicuous Wild Bill Hickok, wakes up with guns blazing, all
 his own — first on a train and then inside a gold mining town's hotel 
run by a gracious Kim Novak...<br>
<br>
In-between we learn of the giant beast through the frantic, personal 
rage 
of the most sympathetic character, Will Sampson's Crazy Horse, who must 
go by the name 'Worm' until he avenges his family's death and, by
 the end, a stretch of terrain that resembles a neatly cut, treeless 
landing strip provides a showdown location for the killer Buff's
 three hunters — so let's cover the main JAWS similarities through the 
main characters...<br>

action, adventure, bo derek, body count, charlotte rampling, creature, exploitation, richard harris, robert carradine, shark, will sampson

WILL SAMPSON DOUBLE CREATURE 'ORCA' & 'WHITE BUFFALO'

Poster for ORCA THE KILLER WHALE With a brooding soundtrack, composed by genius maestro Ennio Morricone, orchestrating the title k...

TIMOTHY CAREY IN 'THE MERMAIDS OF TIBURON' ORIGINAL CUT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Timothy Carey in MERMAIDS Year: 1962</u></td></tr>
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With a blaring soundtrack sounding as if Vincent Price starred as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, our token sea stud hero, played by George Robotham, a cookie-cutter leading man whose narrating voice hints of HAL 9000, is up against The World's Greatest Sinner himself...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YRbINdoPaFM/XjREiFtSzOI/AAAAAAABN4I/qXztFA0XgyQyb8jn5p-FYQDeAmBCGT6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/83995904_896281854134325_347696981503639552_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="858" data-original-width="395" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YRbINdoPaFM/XjREiFtSzOI/AAAAAAABN4I/qXztFA0XgyQyb8jn5p-FYQDeAmBCGT6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/83995904_896281854134325_347696981503639552_n.jpeg" width="147"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Timothy Carey</u></td></tr>
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Enter Timothy Carey as a surprisingly subdued yet still his normally villainous villain out to kill George's intrepid Dr. Samuel Jamison, who, advised from his job at Marineland to check out a hidden locale in Mexico to find priceless, rare pearls, winds up discovering, on accident, THE MERMAIDS OF TIBURON...<br>
<br>
For the best effect, and to enjoy the special-effects, make sure you watch the original version where the mermaids look very "realistic," their bodies curved nicely into a fin that doesn't resemble a cheap pasted-on get-up, and take note... Although the DVD-pack's production company (Psychotronica) saw fit to <i>only</i> remaster the rereleased "dirty" version, where shots of naked ladies replace the mermaids, swimming around with their own human legs donning actual scuba diving flippers that could be purchased at any store, you can find the wonderfully bizarre original 1962 version on the EXTRAS section at the bottom right of the screen.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Shark & Submarine</u></td></tr>
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Either way — any movie where Timothy Carey is more dangerous than a killer shark is certainly worth watching, although, even with a sparse hour-long runtime, MERMAIDS, with all the swimming around, can get rather tedious, quickly — the sexy gill-gals aren't as mysterious from the doctor's dreary narration (which kind of sounds like Hal 9000 years earlier): a bland lecture describing these half-humans as being a missing link of the evolution process, neglecting any would-be suspenseful elements of Mermaid lore, like coaxing men to their peril...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d417Wg6PDpY/V_SoP0M0NCI/AAAAAAAAung/nO4KC1i9AwQhmzm78SkiYURqsTOPxgiMwCLcB/s1600/14520572_200406630388521_1681286737199471271_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-d417Wg6PDpY/V_SoP0M0NCI/AAAAAAAAung/nO4KC1i9AwQhmzm78SkiYURqsTOPxgiMwCLcB/s320/14520572_200406630388521_1681286737199471271_n.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Timothy Carey fed up with Mariachi Music</u></td></tr>
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These bait-bitches are friendly enough, and yet our man is still lured into a slow-paced underwater "chase," past those lethargic, deadly sharks who, as described with the same narrating monotone, "must have eaten already," so not to be a threat, which turns the otherwise formidable fish into just another creature within the overall documentary-style... <br>
<br>
That's until we wind up inside a dark cove where some tension mounts, and the ladies are truly at home — a place you might imagine while reading a Mark Twain novel as director John Lamb, a real life underwater photographer turned filmmaker (who later veered into porn, which describes the banal recut with the nudity and flippers), glides the Jacques Cousteau-style "actual footage" camera with steady precision, making this not just a theatrical Exploitation piece of nice looking fish-ladies...<br>

crime, diane webber, exploitation, gaby martone, george robotham, sixties, timothy carey

TIMOTHY CAREY IN 'THE MERMAIDS OF TIBURON' ORIGINAL CUT

Timothy Carey in MERMAIDS Year: 1962 With a blaring soundtrack sounding as if Vincent Price starred as LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, our token sea...

FUTURISTIC MICE ONE: THREE TIERS OF WOODY ALLEN CINEMA

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Woody in PLAY IT AGAIN SAM with Diana Davalos</u></td></tr>
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To deconstruct the entirety of what we'll refer to, through this introduction and, thereafter, numerous yet sporadic, ongoing posts for WOODY ALLEN CINEMA, enveloped in a snappy two-word, single-punchline reference from one particular film, FUTURISTIC MICE, since each write-up will hold a "little something" for the next time, and it sounds funny...<br>
<br>
A with such a long-running timeline from either EARLY, MIDDLE or LATTER Allen Cinema, it would take three volumes to cover, and WAR AND PEACE (his inspiration for the First Tier's last picture, also the best and funniest) had only two volumes: So let's make do and, as quickly as possible, summarize Woody's Three-Tier, Career-Long Cycle, before delving into article-reviews in following posts, starting with The First, which we'll call EARLY FUNNY ALLEN, relying mostly on machine gun paced comedy (that Allen called "Slap-Dash") with genre-based themes being satirized in the process, going from 1969 to 1975 covering classic themes like American Crime, Science Fiction or Russian Literature, with TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN and LOVE AND DEATH serving as Tier One's bookends (actually, his first "directorial" was a dubbed-over Japanese movie retitled WHAT'S UP TIGER LILY?, but it's not organic enough to start with)... And to note, PLAY IT AGAIN SAM is an important part of the canon despite the fact it's Woody's hit play adapted to the screen by director Herbert Ross... According to actress Jennifer Salt in a personal correspondence, Woody was in pretty much in charge, at least during her scenes... PLAY IT AGAIN is the vehicle that made Woody's First Tier more conventional, and less completely-bizarre... Not that that's a bad thing... <br>

caper, comedy, crime, heist, ninties, woody allen, zeroes