cult film freak: September 2016

Written by James M. Tate / 9/28/2016 / No comments / bob rafelson , eighties , jack nicholson , neo noir , nineties

JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIO

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SJjfoA9RMWM/WRQgzkw-HVI/AAAAAAAAxwQ/8yXGXkvLs50mUmdoKyBxIiBJXqJWyZjFACLcB/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SJjfoA9RMWM/WRQgzkw-HVI/AAAAAAAAxwQ/8yXGXkvLs50mUmdoKyBxIiBJXqJWyZjFACLcB/s400/11.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jack Nicholson enters Atlantic City in our first Neo Noir outing</u></td></tr>
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In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when both were relatively unknown, a cinematic partnership was born, and of their five total we'll center on three Neo Noir vehicles, one per decade, ending in the later-1990's and starting in the early-1970's...<br>
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<u>THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS</u>: Who knows, maybe directors never really outgrow their primal, rudimentary, symbolic, allegorical, idealistically pretentious, metaphysical, narcissistic, nostalgic mindset of film school: And in that, following what would forever remain their collaborative pinnacle, FIVE EASY PIECES director Bob Rafelson gave his close friend and future multi-collaborator Jack Nicholson a break from the (possible) stereotype of being the discontented, blunt, feisty rebel type, which he's proven... even in early Roger Corman vehicles and Richard Rush biker flicks... which he was perfectly suited for...<br>

bob rafelson, eighties, jack nicholson, neo noir, nineties

JACK NICHOLSON & BOB RAFELSON NEO-NOIR TRIO

Jack Nicholson enters Atlantic City in our first Neo Noir outing In the late 60's, Jack Nicholson and director Bob Rarelson, when bo...

ALLAND & AGAR DOUBLE: TARANTULA & THE MOLE PEOPLE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4XAXCJleyA/V-X22hRgMQI/AAAAAAAAucg/4WAMZsvHNS00GmgI8LE-4IcimviDaopJACLcB/s1600/222222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R4XAXCJleyA/V-X22hRgMQI/AAAAAAAAucg/4WAMZsvHNS00GmgI8LE-4IcimviDaopJACLcB/s400/222222.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The man who shoots the TARANTULA is pictured below YEAR: 1955</u></td></tr>
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<u>TARANTULA</u>: The now obsolete special-effects method of superimposing insects or critters to make them seen giant, menacing and formidable only works since they're something we humans can easily otherwise hunt, shoot or step on – and now it's their turn to turn <i>us</i> into roadkill, or dinner...<br>
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But, using the enlarging-of-nature device for a contrived short-cut, producer William Alland's THE LAND UNKNOWN had footage of Gila Monsters to seem like dinosaurs, which didn't work since turning something naturally (relatively) small into what's supposed to be gigantic is just plain cheap – a possible one of several reasons his most capable and talented stock director, Jack Arnold, backed out of the project. But a year earlier, not only did Arnold direct TARANTULA, one of the best 1950's b-movie creature features, it's derived from a story he himself co-created.<br>

clint eastwood, creature, fifties, hugh beaumont, jack arnold, john agar, science-fiction, william alland

ALLAND & AGAR DOUBLE: TARANTULA & THE MOLE PEOPLE

The man who shoots the TARANTULA is pictured below YEAR: 1955 TARANTULA : The now obsolete special-effects method of superimposing insec...

ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

2016, angelina jolie, brad pitt, neo noir, romance

ARTHOUSE MELANCHOLY OF ANGELINA JOLIE'S BY THE SEA

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt in BY THE SEA Year: 2015 Those who haven't yet experienced BY THE SEA are probably wondering, Is It Rea...

WAYNE CRAWFORD DOUBLE: JAKE SPEED & WHITE GHOST

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHetfCNw0Lk/V-IMyUWmtaI/AAAAAAAAuao/FUIkcIUJNEgifUnz_89yN9vA4lS-uJZXgCLcB/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VHetfCNw0Lk/V-IMyUWmtaI/AAAAAAAAuao/FUIkcIUJNEgifUnz_89yN9vA4lS-uJZXgCLcB/s400/1.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Wayne Crawford enters the scene of WHITE GHOST</u></td></tr>
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Writer, director, producer and actor Wayne Crawford is a household name... Granted, it was his own house, but hey, quips aside...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>With Lee Purcell</u></td></tr>
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The late, recently departed (in May of 2016) Crawford <i>did </i>co-write and produce a beloved and, at the time, highly successful movie where he's not so happily married to gorgeous Lee Purcell, keeping an eye on her at their house party where she has her eyes on a teenage boy – that motion picture being the 1980's cult staple, VALLEY GIRL...<br>
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And then he had a chance to dive into the spotlight as the title character in what seemed intended for an action/adventure franchise titled JAKE SPEED, co-starring Karen Kopins along with John Hurt and Dennis Christopher. Then, two years later, he talked real life friend William Katt into starring as his fellow soldier turned worst enemy in the Post-Vietnam action drama WHITE GHOST featuring Katt's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/05/lee-purcell-big-wednesday.html">BIG WEDNESDAY</a> crony Reb Brown: So here is, drum roll please – a Wayne Crawford Double Feature, beginning at the top with...<br>

action, comedy, dennis christopher, eighties, karen kopins, reb brown, war, wayne crawford

WAYNE CRAWFORD DOUBLE: JAKE SPEED & WHITE GHOST

Wayne Crawford enters the scene of WHITE GHOST Writer, director, producer and actor Wayne Crawford is a household name... Granted, it wa...

STEPHEN LANG DIRTIES-UP THE NEON-80'S IN BAND OF THE HAND

bob dylan, eighties, ensemble, gang, james remar, lauren holly, laurence fishburn, military, stephen lang, teen

STEPHEN LANG DIRTIES-UP THE NEON-80'S IN BAND OF THE HAND

Neat Opening Credit Title Card for BAND OF THE HAND Year: 1986 Stephen Lang, the nefarious military man from AVATAR currently spooking a...

Written by James M. Tate / 9/17/2016 / No comments / dana andrews , disaster , kieron moore , sixties

DANA ANDREWS FROM 1965 TO 1966: MAD SCIENTIST DOUBLE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in THE FROZEN DEAD and CRACK IN THE WORLD</u></td></tr>
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The ongoing Cult Film Freak retrospective continues with actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>, who was especially important during the 1940's...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRKpjoc-L20/WTvEJ8qoSsI/AAAAAAAAx_Y/VjRRWH_GuUEk5XAn1NWjtBMFTevIyfeDwCLcB/s1600/19030195_327339751028541_609699625416996013_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="413" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oRKpjoc-L20/WTvEJ8qoSsI/AAAAAAAAx_Y/VjRRWH_GuUEk5XAn1NWjtBMFTevIyfeDwCLcB/s320/19030195_327339751028541_609699625416996013_n.jpg" width="137" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>CRACKED Andrews</u></td></tr>
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As a leading man he was one helluva character-actor, and, like many square-jawed, handsome "movie star" types, didn't have to try proving he could be versatile since his roles, beginning with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/U-Been-Cottonmouth-Bit.html">SWAMP WATER</a>, were eclectic and part of an ensemble. During his peak in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BYOOurLIVES.html">THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES</a> he was the person for the audience to genuinely relate with, and in Otto Preminger's DAISY KENYON he was a fairly decent guy for a cheating, otherwise one-dimensional louse: Then, in the the 1950's, it's said he basically blacklisted himself with alcohol. If you look at how his overall disposition changed from two Preminger Noirs – Dana's catapulting role in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/Loir.html">LAURA</a> and only six years later, returning with ingenue Gene Tierney, who hadn't changed a bit, <i>he</i> looked over a decade older, world-weary and hardened, and that's not just for his part as a tough, abusive <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/WTSends.html">WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS</a> cop as opposed to LAURA's meticulous, smitten one. And like any former leading man, the inevitability of morphing from the first star to a fifth or sixth banana took place in the 1960's when he would serve in heaven, again under Preminger's wing in a small but important turn in the John Wayne war-picture, IN HARM'S WAY, and that colorful decade was also the hell in which to reign as the lead, once again, only in low-budget, campy programmers as villainous characters, and a few mad scientists – those include the ultra low-budget FROZEN DEAD and starting out with...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3K0eE22UFs0/V9zJDDPyQvI/AAAAAAAAuWg/tN99wVM8cooGxhIJVi6p2wK_pdm1jAALwCLcB/s1600/14344167_189102161518968_5144142337117860853_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="306" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3K0eE22UFs0/V9zJDDPyQvI/AAAAAAAAuWg/tN99wVM8cooGxhIJVi6p2wK_pdm1jAALwCLcB/s320/14344167_189102161518968_5144142337117860853_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in CRACK IN THE WORLD Year: 1965</u></td></tr>
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<u>CRACK IN THE WORLD</u>: Not really a Mad Scientist but more an impatient one, with a soft yet distinguished voice, he's surprisingly secure and relaxed – and perhaps that fits, since brilliant lunatics don't know they're going a little off-kilter, and his Dr. Stephen Sorenson is only driven by a lack of time: Dying of a blood disease, he wants to put his immense experiment beyond the testing stage, a great risk in the eyes of younger British scientist Kieron Moore as Dr. Ted Rampion, the older doc's antithesis who would actually make a better fit for a young trophy wife – another scientist, Maggie, played by gorgeous b-starlet Janette Scott (Moore and Scott <i>did</i> play husband and wife in THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS): And as for the plot, the reasons are as good as is usually the case in what causes a Disaster Flick to ignite... Working in a large underground laboratory by way of a high-tech elevator (Dana's brother, Steve Forrest, would ride a similar one in SPIES LIKE US), there are some dated computers larger than filing cabinets figuring out clues while the group is very close to reaching their goal. And, so, liken to striking oil, the concept is easy enough: Once breaking through to the Earth's Core, they can use the molten contents to eventually light factories, entire cities, you name it – in other words, this groundbreaking experiment could possibly save the environment <i>and</i> the planet.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kj5otMjrFNs/V9zJRAngw-I/AAAAAAAAuWk/ih_MXGcTgwcln91NmcdLbLjMIY0KM05QwCLcB/s1600/Crack_In_The_World_1965_poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kj5otMjrFNs/V9zJRAngw-I/AAAAAAAAuWk/ih_MXGcTgwcln91NmcdLbLjMIY0KM05QwCLcB/s400/Crack_In_The_World_1965_poster.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>CRACK poster with Dana on left</u></td></tr>
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Only there's great risk involved and, without our younger, soon-to-be hero's theory – a bulwark in allowing his mentor to drop a nuclear warhead down a giant steel pipe into the crust where their machines can't penetrate – there'd be no suspense at all since he alone warns of the immense danger. In that, CRACK IN THE WORLD is another of many "Beware of Nukes" science-fiction programmers but with a creative twist, and an overall message – that nuclear weapons, even if they might actually do some good for once, are simply <i>good for nothing</i>.<br />
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The first half is intriguing – building-up to the underground explosion that will lead to a suspenseful ten minutes or so, even during a rather subdued celebration once the molten rises triumphantly to the surface: For soon enough, after herds of wild beasts are seen running for their lives with no one behind them, the film's title could very well become a reality...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tfu3nLM6iX4/V9zJiBP6U8I/AAAAAAAAuWo/SLJQ0-HIGjUAAdWSL3YSRtdwykQde-7rwCLcB/s1600/14322231_189105228185328_7039582971505813497_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Tfu3nLM6iX4/V9zJiBP6U8I/AAAAAAAAuWo/SLJQ0-HIGjUAAdWSL3YSRtdwykQde-7rwCLcB/s320/14322231_189105228185328_7039582971505813497_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>CRACK IN THE WORLD Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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As explained on the same chart (to the left) where Dana's older doc conducted his lecture for a group of visitors to green-light the project, his once reluctant protégé points out a sort of "current" running along the shelf of the Earth, causing giant quakes along particular tropical islands and atolls extended from the test's location as the Disaster-genre element becomes almost entirely hands-on – the more daring, physically-equipped workers climbing down giant holes from the exterior (liken to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/09/b-movie-bagful.html">THEM</a>) as Dana remains indoors, dying and yet, while popping pain pills, he still attempts to outthink his own mistake...<br />
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In a few years, like <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/04/towering-inferno.html">THE TOWERING INFERNO</a> would have fireman Steve McQueen surpass Paul Newman's central character simply by doing his job, Kieron Moore progresses as the bonafide hero partaking in adventurous tasks to stop the catastrophe in its tracks. And as Dana's performance could have easily been played by any aged actor, his distinguished presence helps make this CRACK more than just Drive-In fodder – then again, so does the plot and overall execution.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SWX4h8JUH0s/V9zJ2I6HUhI/AAAAAAAAuWs/gA1jauxFuG89NTWfuV6vxCECYfjYaxVUgCLcB/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SWX4h8JUH0s/V9zJ2I6HUhI/AAAAAAAAuWs/gA1jauxFuG89NTWfuV6vxCECYfjYaxVUgCLcB/s400/3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A Chilly Font for THE FROZEN DEAD Year: 1966</u></td></tr>
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<u>THE FROZEN DEAD:</u> In one film of the ongoing Dana Andrews retrospective that will never be covered, THE FORBIDDEN STREET, a late 1940's period piece co-starring Maureen O'Hara, has Dana playing a distinguished British patriarch, and in real life it's said he worked for months to nail an English accent, only to have, on the European theatrical release and most of the DVDs (including the one yours truly purchased and refuses to view past Dana's entrance), his voice dubbed-over by someone sounding like a classy David Niven type, which is pure blasphemy for fans of Dana Andrews, and is something understandable for any actor or actress who weathered such disappointment – like Andie McDowell's Jane in GREYSTOKE or like that poor forgotten fella from the early-1980's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/07/lone-ranger-legend.html">LEGEND OF THE LONE RANGER</a> – after all, a voice is about 80% of the performance, or at least seems that way...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Mv4UqLyFV8/V9zWMnSEQDI/AAAAAAAAuXI/QIBdNw-rStUGuXOcC5sb5JUHM9dDihOaQCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-09-16%2Bat%2B10.34.25%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--Mv4UqLyFV8/V9zWMnSEQDI/AAAAAAAAuXI/QIBdNw-rStUGuXOcC5sb5JUHM9dDihOaQCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2016-09-16%2Bat%2B10.34.25%2BPM.png" width="145" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>FROZEN hot Anna Palk</u></td></tr>
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And so, there's one good thing to say about THE FROZEN DEAD: at least Dana's German accent, which sounds pretty authentic, was left alone... And his gorgeous niece, played by Anna Palk, makes this almost worth the price of admission and the torture of sitting through... But Cult Movie fans can't weather just about anything... right?<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J8zJnyRYxLM/V9zJ9kSTH_I/AAAAAAAAuW0/aw6cujFS0Ls2PG18FIt-nqLhKEucfgzSwCLcB/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J8zJnyRYxLM/V9zJ9kSTH_I/AAAAAAAAuW0/aw6cujFS0Ls2PG18FIt-nqLhKEucfgzSwCLcB/s320/2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews headlines a stinker</u></td></tr>
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Well this time, as a German scientist, Dana's Dr. Norberg keeps his cool, acting gentlemanly to his niece like Joseph Cotten did with (Dana's BEST YEARS starlet) Teresa Wright in the first half of Alfred Hitchcock's personal favorite of his own resume, SHADOW OF A DOUBT...<br />
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But Palk's doubt has nothing to do with Uncle, who has clandestine meetings with strange men that she doesn't know are his fellow secret-Nazis, gathered within a brick-laden, underground parlor (not as deep as the last venture): more of a basement or cellar where body parts hang from a wooden wall connected to life-giving electrodes. A hilarious low-budget visual in itself, and even more b-movie-embarrassing than Roger Corman, who at least tries for authenticity, and usually succeeds...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KAtAhrGSNk0/V9zKJxlUCbI/AAAAAAAAuW4/AACmZ39wnVsGO7074ubUVvqHUmMb9g14ACLcB/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KAtAhrGSNk0/V9zKJxlUCbI/AAAAAAAAuW4/AACmZ39wnVsGO7074ubUVvqHUmMb9g14ACLcB/s200/5.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>FROZEN Score: *</u></td></tr>
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Anna Palk's Jean, a lonely, lovely school girl, can't shake the feeling that her best friend wouldn't possibly just up and leave the house without a proper goodbye. So whatever tension or suspense that's supposed to pan out relies on a slow-moving, in-house "investigation" aided by the stock handsome hero from New Scotland Yard, who himself isn't so perfect.<br />
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The promising storyline of a scientist reanimating dead Nazis to make the Third Reich march forth once again – to take over the world the "right way" this time – has a lot of exploitation cinema potential. But any and all shock value is moved about limply with pallid direction, attempting to – following a ton of scientific gibberish – merge all the chills into one severed head that has only a few lame expressions, none of them scary, eerie or even funny to poke fun at: And so, here's the lessoned learned – on bad movie night, it's best to thaw out something else, or just watch CRACK IN THE WORLD for an genuinely worthwhile experience that's not just campy drivel.

dana andrews, disaster, kieron moore, sixties

DANA ANDREWS FROM 1965 TO 1966: MAD SCIENTIST DOUBLE

Dana Andrews in THE FROZEN DEAD and CRACK IN THE WORLD The ongoing Cult Film Freak retrospective continues with actor Dana Andrews , who...

Written by James M. Tate / 9/15/2016 / No comments / 2016 , exploitation , horror , jane levy , stephen lang , suspense

BELATED NEW HORROR FLICK REVIEW OF: DON'T BREATHE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oV-gWpytYfw/V9r8NBFTBcI/AAAAAAAAuVE/s2Cyk2FVQAUd6IWLMheY5O8TSdjl34H-gCLcB/s1600/dont-breathe-poster-banner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oV-gWpytYfw/V9r8NBFTBcI/AAAAAAAAuVE/s2Cyk2FVQAUd6IWLMheY5O8TSdjl34H-gCLcB/s400/dont-breathe-poster-banner.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jane Levy on the DON'T BREATHE Poster YEAR: 2016</u></td></tr>
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"An impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or managed with great skill" is the definition of a term, <i>Tour de force</i>, that, albeit overused in Film Writing, when hybrid with a "special honor or respect shown publicly" i.e. <i>Homage</i>, the new horror flick DON'T BREATHE is a <i>Tour de Homage</i>, and then some...<br>
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Our first glance at the ruthless antagonist, a blind war veteran played by Stephen Lang (who represented all that Hollywood perceives as evil about the American Military in AVATAR), sitting upon his bed, reaching his muscular arms forward with what seems like frightened vulnerability of a child spooked from an imaginary closet monster – and the ride's about to begin...<br>

2016, exploitation, horror, jane levy, stephen lang, suspense

BELATED NEW HORROR FLICK REVIEW OF: DON'T BREATHE

Jane Levy on the DON'T BREATHE Poster YEAR: 2016 "An impressive performance or achievement that has been accomplished or manage...

MERRY ANDERS CINEMA: ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rbjoZONSP_I/WNRZx33dFPI/AAAAAAAAxGc/l8KagAJrSL0IP1N8F-9Uksy7GG2uwhXRwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-23%2Bat%2B4.24.19%2BPM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rbjoZONSP_I/WNRZx33dFPI/AAAAAAAAxGc/l8KagAJrSL0IP1N8F-9Uksy7GG2uwhXRwCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-03-23%2Bat%2B4.24.19%2BPM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Devon with Merry Anders YEAR: 1957 </u></td></tr>
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Continuing an ongoing Cinema of Merry Anders, an obscure actress from B-Crime flicks that aren't usually "good enough" to be considered a bonafide, by-the-book Film Noir...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OceRyR6ggsE/WNOEk0z3I4I/AAAAAAAAw58/qtqF8SOh8OYZsqQPEaqwV8QWpkk5hY1AACLcB/s1600/kkwzpmdy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OceRyR6ggsE/WNOEk0z3I4I/AAAAAAAAw58/qtqF8SOh8OYZsqQPEaqwV8QWpkk5hY1AACLcB/s320/kkwzpmdy.jpg" width="165"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Insert Poster</u></td></tr>
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Meaning that the famous genre of what former Cult Film Freak interviewee Coleen Gray described as "B-Movies," pretty much makes this a C-Picture... Which isn't such a bad thing given how dull and listless mainstream vehicles can often be...<br>
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Merry appeared in a handful of other crime vehicles from the late 50's and early 60's; stuck in a purgatory between Noir and Cult and yet, unlike <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/AirPATROL.html">AIR PATROL</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/merry-anders-cinema-raiders-from.html">RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA</a> or <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/07/anders1-HYP-EYE.html">THE HYPNOTIC EYE</a>, this is more Noir than anything else, despite the action-faring, plot-describing title, which can mislead viewers into thinking ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN centers more on high octane breakout bedlam than dialogue-driven suspense with a side dish of gun-wielding intrigue...<br>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, merry anders, richard devon

MERRY ANDERS CINEMA: ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN

Richard Devon with Merry Anders YEAR: 1957 Continuing an ongoing Cinema of Merry Anders, an obscure actress from B-Crime flicks that ar...

LATTER LIZ CINEMA PRESENTS 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XR3YWaat5cA/WH9KcCtKbLI/AAAAAAAAvvo/lOpOtoRa6J80l-q6wXfVHWhDKPRWm_GbwCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-01-18%2Bat%2B2.33.31%2BAM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="273" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XR3YWaat5cA/WH9KcCtKbLI/AAAAAAAAvvo/lOpOtoRa6J80l-q6wXfVHWhDKPRWm_GbwCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-01-18%2Bat%2B2.33.31%2BAM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Elizabeth Taylor faces Las Vegas by daylight YEAR: 1970</u></td></tr>
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Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epic, grandiose fashion, burying the hidden lead till the conclusion without it being a letdown, or the audience feeling like they've been taken for a long, misleading ride...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ArGZh-GjwJU/V9ME2wUGA1I/AAAAAAAAuTY/X-6cXxPhxGg79H4cFgpMVzE6EqTwm864QCLcB/s1600/4226game.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ArGZh-GjwJU/V9ME2wUGA1I/AAAAAAAAuTY/X-6cXxPhxGg79H4cFgpMVzE6EqTwm864QCLcB/s320/4226game.jpg" width="265"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu Ray</u></td></tr>
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GIANT fits its title in scope but the Texas saga, with all the immense sets and widescreen landscapes, ends with a quick fist fight in a small cafe, and is actually – throughout what's a lifetime, decade-spanning melodrama – a morality tale on racism (Whites towards Mexicans). Along with Rock Hudson and a posthumous James Dean, this venture, arguably Stevens's greatest achievement, starred one of the loveliest ingenues at that time who, in 1956, was a much better suited to be a showgirl, like in the director's final film fourteen years later, THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN: And while what happens in Las Vegas stays there, what happens when someone takes a picture only showing their best features is, at a particular age, usually shot from the neck up, and Taylor's top-half is shown, twice during a fifteen second segment of a musical number on an immense Casino stage, inserted in a contrived, phony and downright hilarious fashion...<br>

elizabeth taylor, seventies, warren beatty

LATTER LIZ CINEMA PRESENTS 'THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN'

Elizabeth Taylor faces Las Vegas by daylight YEAR: 1970 Director George Stevens was great at telling a relatively simple story in an epi...

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6VhOevKrU4/V9JIsXmc7DI/AAAAAAAAuSg/TBgL5o_TBw0g_zDSjWxrvUcxwbi2voO0QCEw/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="365" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z6VhOevKrU4/V9JIsXmc7DI/AAAAAAAAuSg/TBgL5o_TBw0g_zDSjWxrvUcxwbi2voO0QCEw/s400/2.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976</u></td></tr>
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It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation of MANDINGO, wherein real life boxing champ Ken Norton plays a "Mandingo Fighting Slave" that his new master trains to death-wrestle other slaves, or perhaps just a more contained followup would do the trick...<br>
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Not a sequel but, directed by action-auteur Steve Carver, DRUM is an effectively lean, mean, sparse and vastly underrated vehicle that would have worked with or without making up for the catastrophic predecessor that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/12/django-unchained.html">Quentin Tarantino</a> deemed "The SHOWGIRLS of the 1970's," which would make this exceptional entry, with Norton in the title role, a comeback... Although, being a boxer, where the retirement age is usually young and, after enough punches, brain damage can occur, even a bad movie is a good move, especially when surrounded by great actors such as Warren Oates and Isela Vega, together again two-years after Sam Peckinpah's BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA, a bizarre labor-of-love almost as <i>Critically-Ashamed</i> as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/09/mandingo.html">MANDINGO</a> (for completely different reasons), and unfairly so...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lal53hVTCNg/V9J5GnhGsaI/AAAAAAAAuS8/BnqlXKWYHfkRlqqbNmE44k0oPKmK3TSfACLcB/s1600/9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Lal53hVTCNg/V9J5GnhGsaI/AAAAAAAAuS8/BnqlXKWYHfkRlqqbNmE44k0oPKmK3TSfACLcB/s200/9.jpg" width="191"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bring Me the Head of DRUM</u></td></tr>
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They're only in a few scenes together, primarily the setup taking place in her mansion (following a quick Cuban-set montage/backstory) where Oates – as a Slave Trading plantation owner – buys Drum to be a (half black) "Breeder" for what were also referred in MANDINGO as "Suckers" i.e. Babies, sold for a generous profit and wanting to give his immense yet unkempt manor more class, particularly when gold-digging Fiona Lewis moves in with an ulterior (marital) motive beyond spreading proper etiquette...<br>
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Meanwhile, stealing scenes with more open sexuality and sly manipulation, is the estate's promiscuous daughter... LASERBLAST blonde starlet Cheryl "Rainbeaux" Smith... who will do anything to grab hold of Drum's stick (sorry, just had to). After he rejects her numerous advances, she sets her determined, lusty sites on his best friend, Blaze, played by the black acting-ringer herein...<br>

blaxploitation, exploitation, ken norton, seventies, slave, warren oates, yaphet kotto

KEN NORTON BEATS 'MANDINGO' WITH HIS OWN 'DRUM'

Part of a nifty Asian poster for Steve Carver's DRUM Year: 1976 It would take a miracle to erase the glorious cinematic exploitation...

BACK TO THE RADICAL EIGHTIES WITH STRANGER THINGS

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yq5R7cm2bUw/V9HLOtwSPzI/AAAAAAAAuQo/swBq_5jxwpwreYkuGWm8OShQxUb7smEwQCLcB/s1600/stranger-things.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yq5R7cm2bUw/V9HLOtwSPzI/AAAAAAAAuQo/swBq_5jxwpwreYkuGWm8OShQxUb7smEwQCLcB/s400/stranger-things.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Magical 80's Aura Owns STRANGER THINGS Year: 2016</u></td></tr>
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It's been since LOST that a show used a particularly jolting, ominous sound – like the wisp of a train roaring through a tunnel – each and every time yet another piece of an endless jigsaw puzzle are <i>suddenly</i> revealed...<br>
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Will be careful with this teaser/review since STRANGER THINGS (made by and shown on Netflix) is one of those shows where spoilers can occur even when hinting at the mere possibility of one: The time is the 1980's with a techno score reminiscent of Tangerine Dream's treatment for RISKY BUSINESS (mentioned in one scene not long before a theater marquee promotes Tom Cruise's followup vehicle ALL THE RIGHT MOVES) – plus there's an assortment of iconic songs, from Corey Hart to The Clash, providing captivating nostalgia to "The Regan Era," which is now what the 50's and 60's were back then: a platform for limitless adventure...<br>

2016, matthew modine, netflix, science-fiction, supernatural, thriller, winona ryder

BACK TO THE RADICAL EIGHTIES WITH STRANGER THINGS

The Magical 80's Aura Owns STRANGER THINGS Year: 2016 It's been since LOST that a show used a particularly jolting, ominous soun...

HIRED DEVIL SHADE: FONDA OATES 1970'S TRIPLE FEATURE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HWSWDtaJEQs/V86LPTvjkMI/AAAAAAAAuN4/KTpRG17sBjozyINRMSof-8QQOLr_RsaQACLcB/s1600/98.jpg" 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/-HWSWDtaJEQs/V86LPTvjkMI/AAAAAAAAuN4/KTpRG17sBjozyINRMSof-8QQOLr_RsaQACLcB/s320/98.jpg" width="300"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Fonda & Warren Oates Cinematic Trilogy</u></td></tr>
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On the heels of the EASY RIDER phenomenon, the times that were a'changing had changed, giving birth to the Renaissance Era of the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's, where directors had free reign and almost full control of ventures not completely intended for mass audience consumption...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--RNOG3VZDGc/V8-FLv592UI/AAAAAAAAuQY/f6D4qyoJFB0zGNfRdrWS2kP2uwrNYVlqQCLcB/s1600/14291621_181866582242526_8992349527681274645_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/--RNOG3VZDGc/V8-FLv592UI/AAAAAAAAuQY/f6D4qyoJFB0zGNfRdrWS2kP2uwrNYVlqQCLcB/s400/14291621_181866582242526_8992349527681274645_n.jpg" width="247"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>from THE HIRED HAND</u></td></tr>
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And that revolution's masthead, "Captain America" himself, Peter Fonda, instead of taking typical leading man roles, went obscure and "eclectic" (<i>his</i> word on a Howard Stern interview) as opposed to conventional or mainstream: His mangy sidekick in Dennis Hopper had altered into a three-film collaboration with a vitally energetic and often downright dangerous Warren Oates, and this is an unrelated trilogy beginning with their final collaboration and then counting down...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5qbFnpVM5g/V88O37aaP9I/AAAAAAAAuPY/Kvwjav3S4RkKjVgGHds11Qi_gPNpYDsAACLcB/s1600/92a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q5qbFnpVM5g/V88O37aaP9I/AAAAAAAAuPY/Kvwjav3S4RkKjVgGHds11Qi_gPNpYDsAACLcB/s1600/92a.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren watching Peter hopping ashore</u></td></tr>
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<u>92 IN THE SHADE</u>: The only of the three Peter Fonda/Warren Oates movies that has the duo pitted against each other. The title describes the atmosphere while Warren's dire expression embodies the overall mood, and the very often cinema-doomed Peter Fonda, willing to die on screen in a Messianic fashion, awaits his fishing charter-boat rival's threat to kill him, caused by a retaliation from Fonda, who brought an explosive to a proverbial knife fight, blowing up his competition's boat after a practical joke done on him: two old-timer clients were intentionally hijacked after Fonda waded through the reedy waters, following a stuck-line leading to a large, beautiful fish he sets free – this scene embodies the meticulous flow and precise direction of the film's writer, future RANCHO DELUXE and MISSOURI BREAKS scribe, Thomas McGuane...<br>

neo noir, peter fonda, seventies, warren oates, western

HIRED DEVIL SHADE: FONDA OATES 1970'S TRIPLE FEATURE

Peter Fonda & Warren Oates Cinematic Trilogy On the heels of the EASY RIDER phenomenon, the times that were a'changing had chang...

LAST STAND OF STEWART & MANN WITH THE MAN FROM LARAMIE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mBlNjHCPryQ/WKJmtselGoI/AAAAAAAAwHE/3S0qiQDR4OMN2iTZgL6oo8t77NcrdKJggCLcB/s1600/16681593_270783666684150_9002526952950498275_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="272" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mBlNjHCPryQ/WKJmtselGoI/AAAAAAAAwHE/3S0qiQDR4OMN2iTZgL6oo8t77NcrdKJggCLcB/s400/16681593_270783666684150_9002526952950498275_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Stewart in Anthony MANN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955</u></td></tr>
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Going backwards in the next few month's ongoing tribute to actor James Stewart and director Anthony Mann, together or apart, THE MAN FROM LARAMIE is their last Western genre collaboration...
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Riding All Alone</u></td></tr>
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Once again, like BEND IN THE RIVER, our leading man is a drifting, hired loner in James Stewart, taking a dramatic backseat to Arthur Kennedy's far more interesting and fleshed-out character, Vic... But that's only because his story is more desperate, urgent, while with Stewart, the more times you view the movie, the deeper his character becomes: And the scene-stealing Kennedy's not much without this film's rich rancher, who's not the typical cattle baron but actually has a little soul in him, and creepily foreboding dreams. Enter Donald Crisp's Alec, with three problems, two he's aware of: The first being Stewart's title hero, Will Lockhart, a stranger from Laramie, dead-set on sticking around, eventually hired by Alec's rival... a tough old gal played by Aline MacMahon. Will's out to thwart a gun deal to the Apache's that could make them ten times as dangerous...<br>

anthony mann, arthur kennedy, james stewart, western

LAST STAND OF STEWART & MANN WITH <span style="color: #783f04;">THE MAN FROM LARAMIE</span><br />

LAST STAND OF STEWART & MANN WITH THE MAN FROM LARAMIE

James Stewart in Anthony MANN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955 Going backwards in the next few month's ongoing tribute to actor James Stewart...

GENE WILDER & RICHARD PRYOR BREAKOUT IN STIR CRAZY

comedy, eighties, gene wilder, prison, richard pryor, teamup

GENE WILDER & RICHARD PRYOR BREAKOUT IN STIR CRAZY

Richard Pryor & Gene Wilder in STIR CRAZYear: 1980 The Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor collaboration was supposed to have begun a few ...

UNKNOWN DEADLY: AN ALLAND ARCTIC DOUBLE CREATURE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FXEcF8H3f_g/V8e8klM0WQI/AAAAAAAAuJQ/ZboUfKnSRmYzuaCmPIHaqDeavQFY2nJIgCLcB/s1600/999999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FXEcF8H3f_g/V8e8klM0WQI/AAAAAAAAuJQ/ZboUfKnSRmYzuaCmPIHaqDeavQFY2nJIgCLcB/s400/999999.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Deadly Mantis & The Land Unknown both released in 1957</u></td></tr>
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Producer William Alland had an eclectic career: starting at the top, in what many experts consider the Best Film Ever Made, which was maligned and practically destroyed from the onset, to producing b-movies that, in the case of THE CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, was enjoyed worldwide, without any fallout...<br>
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In CITIZEN KANE, Alland played, technically, the most important character – a reporter sent to find the meaning of the ultimate McGuffin, a whispered last word of a famous tycoon, "Rosebud". And by the time Alland's Mercury Theater boss, Orson Welles, became a reluctant independent filmmaker, struggling to fund surreal Film Noir projects or Noir-inspired Shakespearean tragedies (one shot on a cowboy picture set and the other taking four years to finish), Rosebud's seeker had gained some weight of his own, along with distinguishing facial hair (beating Welles in that aspect), cleaning up at the box office with popular b's including the entire CREATURE trilogy (reviewed here soon) and THE DEADLY MANTIS, which he wrote and produced, bearing a title that screams for a drive-in marquee, coincides with a sister product, THE LAND UNKNOWN, both taking place in the Arctic and released to theaters in 1957...<br>

creature, dinosaur, fifties, science-fiction, william alland, william reynolds

UNKNOWN DEADLY: AN ALLAND ARCTIC DOUBLE CREATURE

The Deadly Mantis & The Land Unknown both released in 1957 Producer William Alland had an eclectic career: starting at the top, in w...

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Written by James M. Tate / 9/22/2016 / No comments / action , comedy , dennis christopher , eighties , karen kopins , reb brown , war , wayne crawford

Written by James M. Tate / 9/19/2016 / No comments / bob dylan , eighties , ensemble , gang , james remar , lauren holly , laurence fishburn , military , stephen lang , teen

Written by James M. Tate / 9/17/2016 / No comments / dana andrews , disaster , kieron moore , sixties

Written by James M. Tate / 9/15/2016 / No comments / 2016 , exploitation , horror , jane levy , stephen lang , suspense

Written by James M. Tate / 9/13/2016 / No comments / fifties , film noir or melodrama , merry anders , richard devon

Written by James M. Tate / 9/10/2016 / No comments / elizabeth taylor , seventies , warren beatty

Written by James M. Tate / 9/09/2016 / No comments / blaxploitation , exploitation , ken norton , seventies , slave , warren oates , yaphet kotto

Written by James M. Tate / 9/08/2016 / No comments / 2016 , matthew modine , netflix , science-fiction , supernatural , thriller , winona ryder

Written by James M. Tate / 9/07/2016 / No comments / neo noir , peter fonda , seventies , warren oates , western

Written by James M. Tate / 9/05/2016 / No comments / anthony mann , arthur kennedy , james stewart , western

Written by James M. Tate / 9/02/2016 / No comments / comedy , eighties , gene wilder , prison , richard pryor , teamup

Written by James M. Tate / 9/01/2016 / No comments / creature , dinosaur , fifties , science-fiction , william alland , william reynolds

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