cult film freak: 2019

Written by James M. Tate / 12/30/2019 / No comments / action , cult , exploitation , fifties , jack arnold , mamie van doren , russ tamblyn , teen

RUSS TAMBLYN IN JACK ARNOLD'S 'HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL'

action, cult, exploitation, fifties, jack arnold, mamie van doren, russ tamblyn, teen

RUSS TAMBLYN IN JACK ARNOLD'S 'HIGH SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL'

Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 Director: Jack Arnold Russ Tamblyn is so good in this, so self-assurred and natural and villainously awesome ...

LOVELY, LYRICAL, LILTING SUE LYON FANTASY MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

drama, fantasy, hilarie thompson, michele lee, pamela franklin, seventies, sue lyon, tribute, TV

LOVELY, LYRICAL, LILTING SUE LYON FANTASY MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

Michele Lee, Sue Lyon and Hilarie Thompson on FANTASY ISLAND Year: 1978 We learned about the death of this site's patron starlet SUE...

ROGER CORMAN PRESENTS 'THE FANTASTIC FOUR' REBECCA STAAB

action, adventure, alex hyde-white, cult, fantasy, import, jay underwood, marvel, nineties, rebecca staab, roger corman, science-fiction, stan lee, superhero, tv movie

ROGER CORMAN PRESENTS 'THE FANTASTIC FOUR' REBECCA STAAB

Roger Corman Presented The Fantastic Four from 1994 The unaired Roger Corman FANTASTIC FOUR television-movie stars Alex Hyde-White as t...

CHRISTMAS GLANCE AT THE BIBLICAL SATIRE 'WHOLLY MOSES!'

dudley moore, eighties, james coco, john ritter, laraine newman, parody, paul sand, religion, richard pryor, road movie, satire

CHRISTMAS GLANCE AT THE BIBLICAL SATIRE 'WHOLLY MOSES!'

John Ritter temping Dudley Moore on a WHOLLY MOSES! Lobby Card circa 1980 AD Similar to the following years' Mel Brooks Old Testamen...

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2019 FROM CULT FILM FREAKS DOT COM

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Personally, on a personal basis, this year, 2019, especially the last month, has been the very, very worst Holiday season in ages, maybe forever, but movies keep things moving, always on the run, so, despite being too damn lazy to review a Christmas-based vehicle or to even think of one, don't pick your feet, and Merry Christmas from Cult Film Freak...<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Alan Weeks pursued by Roy Scheider and Gene Hackman dressed as Santa Clause in THE FRENCH CONNECTION</u></td></tr>
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2019, christmas, holiday, tribute

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2019 FROM CULT FILM FREAKS DOT COM

Personally, on a personal basis, this year, 2019, especially the last month, has been the very, very worst Holiday season in ages, maybe f...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'COLD SWEAT' W/ LIV ULLMANN & JILL IRELAND

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson starring in COLD SWEAT Year: 1970</u></td></tr>
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In-between Charles Bronson appearing in Film Noir and his mid-70's vigilante game-changer, he took the "Reign in Hell or Serve in Heaven" approach that Quentin Tarantino's cowboy actor struggled with in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD. And like Rick Dalton, Chuck's resume was an eclectic hit, miss... or both, like the pulpy thriller COLD SWEAT, based on a novel by Richard Matheson titled RIDE THE NIGHTMARE...<br>
<br>
Which doesn't fit this picture as it occurs mostly in daylight; is too controlled for a bad dream; and like many a Neo Noir... usually ones set in the Florida Keys but here taking place in France... the main character's a charter boat captain who, returning home after work, gets a phone call from the past followed by a visitor from the present, attempting to use that past to his extortion-plotting advantage, which Bronson puts a wrestling lethal end to...<br>

action, import, james mason, jean topart, jill ireland, liv ullmann, neo noir, race against time, seventies, terence young, yannick delulle

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'COLD SWEAT' W/ LIV ULLMANN & JILL IRELAND

Charles Bronson starring in COLD SWEAT Year: 1970 In-between Charles Bronson appearing in Film Noir and his mid-70's vigilante game-...

FINAL SKYWALKER SAGA 'STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER'

action, adam driver, adventure, billy dee williams, carrie fisher, daisy ridley, fantasy, harrison ford, mark hamill, oscar issac, science-fiction, star wars

FINAL SKYWALKER SAGA 'STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER'

Retro artwork for Star Wars THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Year: 2019 There's a popular term in internet circles for THE RISE OF SKYWALKER, c...

SIX NON-STEREOTYPICAL GAY CHARACTERS IN 1970'S CRIME FILMS

al lettieri, al pacino, anthony james, crime, exploitation, homosexual, list, mafia, richard burton, robert deman, roy scheider, seventies, sixties, steve mcqueen

SIX NON-STEREOTYPICAL GAY CHARACTERS IN 1970'S CRIME FILMS

Roy Scheider facing Lawrence Olivier, Marathon Man, 1976 Roy Scheider, Marathon Man : Gay characters from older movies... in this case w...

LEE MARVIN & ERNEST BORGNINE IN 'EMPEROR OF THE NORTH'

action, adventure, depression-era, ernest borgnine, keith carradine, lee marvin, robert aldrich, seventies

LEE MARVIN & ERNEST BORGNINE IN 'EMPEROR OF THE NORTH'

Foreign Poster for EMPEROR OF THE NORTH Year: 1973 EMPEROR OF THE NORTH has us believe that, during the Depression when hobos made thei...

EIGHTIES 3D 'SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Molly Ringwald getting her mind sucked by the villain YEAR: 1983</u></td></tr>
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One  of those deliberate cult films without much of a 
following, shot in 3D in  the early 1980's, and when formatted to 2D things zoom at the  screen for what seems like no reason, which... like <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/10/jaws-3-sucks-greatly.html">JAWS 3D</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/04/friday-13th-3d.html">FRIDAY THE 13TH 3D</a> and other gems from this era... is half the campy fun...<br>
<br>
The sets, meanwhile, resemble a MAD 
MAX future combined with executive producer Ivan Reitman's nostalgically stylistic, homage-driven 1950's
sci-fi b-movie aesthetic (with a Harold Ramis intercom voice-cameo). Then again, since Ivan's not exactly broke, there <i>are</i> gorgeous STAR WARS style matte paintings and theatrical-STAR TREK inspired ships, and the plot too is old school and pulpy, centering on a rogue bounty hunter, Peter Strauss as Wolff, sent to this not-so-desolate planet where three vixens have been kidnapped...<br>

3D, action, adventure, andrea marcovicci, eighties, ernie hudson, exploitation, fantasy, harold ramis, ivan reitman, michael ironside, molly ringwald, peter strauss, science-fiction

EIGHTIES 3D 'SPACEHUNTER: ADVENTURES IN THE FORBIDDEN ZONE'

Molly Ringwald getting her mind sucked by the villain YEAR: 1983 One of those deliberate cult films without much of a following, shot ...

SMOKING HOT MALE FANTASY CAITLIN CLARKE IN 'DRAGONSLAYER'

action, adventure, caitlin clarke, cult, eighties, fantasy, peter macnichol

SMOKING HOT MALE FANTASY CAITLIN CLARKE IN 'DRAGONSLAYER'

Star Wars like Leia hair poster of DRAGONSLAYER Year: 1981 Rates: ** DRAGONSLAYER looks great but lacks overall magic — at the same time...

ROBIN WILLIAMS PLAYS RUSSIAN IN 'MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON'

comedy, drama, eighties, elya baskin, maria concheta alonso, robin williams

ROBIN WILLIAMS PLAYS RUSSIAN IN 'MOSCOW ON THE HUDSON'

Clevon Derricks, Robin Williams and Maria Concheta Alonso 1984 Plot centers on a Russian saxophonist, part of that dying country's c...

KEVIN COSTNER & WOODY HARRELSON PLAY 'THE HIGHWAYMEN'

2019, action, adventure, depression-era, gangster, kevin costner, netflix, new, road movie, thriller, william sadler, woody harrelson

KEVIN COSTNER & WOODY HARRELSON PLAY 'THE HIGHWAYMEN'

Kevin Costner as a straight-shooter in THE HIGHWAYMEN Year: 2019 Arthur Penn's BONNIE AND CLYDE hasn't really aged all that well...

BEWARE OF 'BLOOD BEACH' W/ DARRELL FETTY & LENA POUSETTE

beach, body count, burt young, darrell fetty, eighties, horror, jaws-clone, john saxon, lena pousette, marianna hill, otis young, thriller

BEWARE OF 'BLOOD BEACH' W/ DARRELL FETTY & LENA POUSETTE

Darrell Fetty as Hoagy in BLOOD BEACH Year: 1980 BLOOD BEACH is an inspired, intentionally campy Jaws-clone that intentionally never rea...

GENE TIERNEY & DANA ANDREWS IN OTTO PREMINGER'S 'LAURA'

classic, clifton webb, cop, crime, dana andrews, film noir, forties, gene tierney, mystery, otto preminger, vincent price

GENE TIERNEY & DANA ANDREWS IN OTTO PREMINGER'S 'LAURA'

Nothing like a spoiler built into a poster for LAURA Year: 1944 Dana Andrews as Det. Lt. Mark McPherson has fallen in love with a ghost...

DECADE-SPANNING BLOODY BAGFUL OF ARCHIVE MOVIE REVIEWS

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<u>title: THE BETSY</u>
<br />
<div>
<u>year: 1978</u></div>
<u>
</u>
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<u>cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Lawrence Olivier, Kathleen Beller, Robert Duvall</u></div>
<u>
</u>
<div>
<u>rating: **1/2</u></div>
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<div>
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Like something off TV from the late seventies/early eighties night soaps
 ala "Dallas" or "Dynasty" but centering on a car company and with curse
 words and full-frontal nudity (the Kathleen Beller pool scene is quite a
 nice surprise). Tommy Lee Jones is a race car driver/designer hired by a
 rich family to make a new affordable fuel efficient car and gets tangled in 
the web that always permeates the rich and powerful in literature and 
films. This is just fluff, but sometimes entertaining fluff. Robert 
Duvall is surprisingly dull as the somewhat villainous grandson of 
Lawrence Olivier, Olivier who plays wholeheartedly a Henry Ford meets 
Darth Vadar type matriarch of a powerful family that's falling apart at 
the seams.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--hn7MTMJD6w/XedEUs4Su6I/AAAAAAABMG8/3BWg608P7ic80tuy17Sqgv2oBQr40U0HQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/MV5BMGZjMzBhN2YtNjdmOC00YTk5LThjMDgtOTRhOTdlMDJjNjg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE%2540._V1_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="640" height="145" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--hn7MTMJD6w/XedEUs4Su6I/AAAAAAABMG8/3BWg608P7ic80tuy17Sqgv2oBQr40U0HQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/MV5BMGZjMzBhN2YtNjdmOC00YTk5LThjMDgtOTRhOTdlMDJjNjg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>title: THE AMAZING HOWARD HUGHES</u><br />
<u>year: 1977
</u>
<br />
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<u>cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Ed Flanders, Lee Purcell</u></div>
<u>
</u>
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<u>rating: **1/2</u></div>
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<div>
Okay so this was edited from a longer version and comes off as a 
greatest hits of Howard Hughes. The story merely glosses through 
different aspects of his life without much detail.  Tommy Lee Jones was 
good... but at the end you're not sure what made him driven, or crazy, 
in the first place.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ij4RSZoa2kE/XedEeIif_ZI/AAAAAAABMHI/EaUykB610GsUhoXvlQ--ImhSn2mZ2uYdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.14.03%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1184" height="210" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ij4RSZoa2kE/XedEeIif_ZI/AAAAAAABMHI/EaUykB610GsUhoXvlQ--ImhSn2mZ2uYdgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.14.03%2BPM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>title: FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER </u></div>
<div>
<u>year: 1991<br />
cast: Brad Johnson, Willem Defoe <br />
director: John Milius<br />
rating: *</u><br />
<br />
This John Milius Vietnam flick has low-budget written all over it, 
especially when it counts. The talented actors are wasted, and a 
romantic subplot that borders on ludicrious helps waste them, and action
 scenes that leave the viewer wondering not only "What's going on?" but 
"When it gonna end?" Perhaps Milius, who wrote a good percentage of 
"Apocolypse Now", in trying for another Vietnam epic, ends up with a 
"G.I. Joe" meets "Top Gun" in the process. This isn't even corny in an 
endearing sense, it's just plain bad.  </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQpbihnW_WQ/XedElyQ_wGI/AAAAAAABMHM/NfqXE9cBanQeEHPcYylUkdvw6s4psTNqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%252Bshot%252B2012-03-12%252Bat%252B1.28.18%252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1050" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sQpbihnW_WQ/XedElyQ_wGI/AAAAAAABMHM/NfqXE9cBanQeEHPcYylUkdvw6s4psTNqACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%252Bshot%252B2012-03-12%252Bat%252B1.28.18%252BAM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<u>title: MOTORCYCLE GANG</u><br />
<u>year: 1994</u></div>
<u>
</u>
<div>
<u>cast: Carla Gugino, Gerald McRaney, Jake Busey, Richard Edson, Julia Mueller </u></div>
<u>
</u>
<div>
<u>rating: **</u><br />
<br />
This is a bad made-for-TV film that's not so bad, at least the first 
half centering on a family consisting of a father, a mother, and a 
teenager daughter who - during the 1950s - move from Texas to 
California. On the way they run into the element that ruins the flow of 
the movie, and ironically it's the Motorcycle Gang, led by Jake Busey 
who resembles a flaky nineties surfer more than a fifties gang member 
and is about an intimidating as a housefly. This is where the movie hits
 a wall, and explodes. Sadly, once-great John Milius directed this. </div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yB3BvgPDVkg/XedE7O66QWI/AAAAAAABMHY/lqsJyFpgOeYdfS5RaP8bCwVfnB_52oeZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.15.07%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="1378" height="239" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yB3BvgPDVkg/XedE7O66QWI/AAAAAAABMHY/lqsJyFpgOeYdfS5RaP8bCwVfnB_52oeZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.15.07%2BPM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>title: CONVOY</u><br />
<u>Year: 1978 </u><br />
<u>cast: Kris Kristofferson, Ali McGraw, Ernest Borgnine </u></div>
<u>
</u>
<div>
<u>rating: *</u></div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
After directing the brilliant anti-war film <i>Cross of Iron</i>, Sam 
Peckinpah went into a dizzy retirement, and here's what he made at his 
dizziest. Truckers on CB radios versus a crooked cop. This should be 
called "BJ and the Billy the Kid", as Kris Kristofferson stars as the 
rebel trucker, and his usually dependable laidback personality is 
boring. Ali McGraw, who was pretty bad in the brilliant Peckinpah film <i>The Getaway</i>,
 is just as bad here, but without a good story to lift her above the 
fray. Burt Young and Ernest Borgnine are lackluster, as is Peckinpah's 
signature style... full of slow-motion action and snappy edits... which 
is hardly visible at all.<br />
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIFqBeZEmt0/XedFJmVVmbI/AAAAAAABMHc/sbUZDWI4_9EsbodF5ZAwAV3r-YpDL_pqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.15.45%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1092" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HIFqBeZEmt0/XedFJmVVmbI/AAAAAAABMHc/sbUZDWI4_9EsbodF5ZAwAV3r-YpDL_pqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-03%2Bat%2B9.15.45%2BPM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>title: THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD </u></div>
<div>
<u>year: 1951</u>
<u>cast: James Arness</u>
<u> </u><br />
<u>director: Christian Nyby </u><br />
<u>rating: *1/2</u><br />
<br />
The John Carpenter version has a relatively small number of men trapped 
in an Arctic outpost, and you get to know them all by name, personality,
 share their claustrophobic frenzy and follow their fates accordingly. 
In this movie there's two main characters, a woman who is totally 
misplaced, and about a dozen nameless men who walk from room to room 
talking about a spaceship. John Carpenter told the story in a far better
 fashion... where you can at least follow each character through the 
nightmare as opposed to watching a dated stage play with too many 
characters parading before a stagnate camera. And the famous line, 
"Watch The Skies," is uttered by a lanky scientist. Which makes sense 
since there's nothing to see on the ground. </div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LCN-Pv_nV_E/XedFRyTDnTI/AAAAAAABMHk/LAktxcm4t_sVi_r8aqGrdL7dbYgoxmH7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/bloody-mama.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="528" height="231" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LCN-Pv_nV_E/XedFRyTDnTI/AAAAAAABMHk/LAktxcm4t_sVi_r8aqGrdL7dbYgoxmH7gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/bloody-mama.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>title: BLOODY MAMA</u></div>
<div>
<div>
<u>year: 1970</u></div>
<div>
<u>cast: Shelley Winters </u></div>
<div>
<u>rating: *1/2</u></div>
<br />
<div>
How
 can a movie directed by Roger Corman and starring Shelley Winters as a 
bank robber with sons played by Don Stroud, Robert Walden and last but 
not least Robert DeNiro not be great? Judging Corman films can be 
difficult since they don't aspire for much, but this is a lazy exercise 
in a filmmaker pushing an envelope with nothing inside. For DeNiro fans 
there's not much here. His character just stands around with a dumb look
 and every once in a while says something in an over-the-top hillbilly 
accent. Don Stroud is really the focal point as "Herman", the psychotic 
eldest son, but his performance does nothing but grate on the nerves. 
And Shelley Winters collects a paycheck. Corman produced BOXCAR BERTHA 
and CRAZY MAMA are much better.<br />
<br />
</div>
<div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o90w10NfSe8/XedFZfolXwI/AAAAAAABMHo/-J4zb0P4CvIgGyd3m7VPDkH_HQm4dsNtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/DxyUPA5XQAAjl_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="470" height="223" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-o90w10NfSe8/XedFZfolXwI/AAAAAAABMHo/-J4zb0P4CvIgGyd3m7VPDkH_HQm4dsNtgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DxyUPA5XQAAjl_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div>
<u>title: STUNTS </u><br />
<u>year: 1977</u></div>
<u>
</u>
<div>
<u>cast: Robert Forster, Fiona Lewis</u><br />
<u>rating: ***1/2 </u><br />
<u><br /></u>
Mark L. Lester rules. STUNTS involves stuntmen getting picked off by a 
mysterious killer. Robert Forster's little brother is one of them, and 
he investigates. Darrell Fetty, Joanna Cassidy, Fiona Lewis, Bruce 
Glover and the late Ray Sharky round out the cast. The acting is 
wonderful and the action is bar none. The stuntmen are killed off like 
campers in a slasher flick, and the tension mounts with precision. 
Lester is a miracle worker. He takes low budget movies and turns them 
into gold. Or at least, silver. And with Robert Forster at the helm: 
this one shines. </div>
<div>
<br />
</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUV30SZE4Vw/XedFkrEB6wI/AAAAAAABMHw/dIY2E49P55UB4RJCSg_AtmXTfxvVEPC4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/fury-5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="620" height="217" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUV30SZE4Vw/XedFkrEB6wI/AAAAAAABMHw/dIY2E49P55UB4RJCSg_AtmXTfxvVEPC4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/fury-5.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>title: THE FURY </u></div>
<div>
<u>year: 1978 </u><br />
<u>cast: Amy Irving, Kirk Douglas </u><br />
<u>rating: **1/2<br />
</u><br />
<div>
</div>
<div>
</div>
This is a pretty bad movie, but oh how it delivers. Not quite sure what it 
wants to be, it aspires for action/adventure, a little horror, 
psychological drama, and of course tons of Hitchcockesque suspense. One 
story centers on Kirk Douglas who is supposedly killed by terrorists in 
front of his son, played by Andrew Stevens, a psychic boy-wonder under 
the care of evil John Cassavetes, wants to use his "powers" for the 
military, or something. And Douglas has to avoid the evil agents and try
 finding his son again. The initial action scenes involving Douglas are 
well-done. But the real star is Amy Irving as a young high school girl 
with even more psychic powers than Stevens, and she ends up at a home 
for "gifted children" that becomes CARRIE on the Hallmark Channel.<br />
<br />
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsVoPNMIYpc/XedF2eDNX7I/AAAAAAABMH8/Ok3wn01tCuEaC3dZWiC9lnc6vz-G-JI5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/hero_EB20080918REVIEWS809180301AR.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="783" height="228" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LsVoPNMIYpc/XedF2eDNX7I/AAAAAAABMH8/Ok3wn01tCuEaC3dZWiC9lnc6vz-G-JI5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/hero_EB20080918REVIEWS809180301AR.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<u>title: GHOST TOWN</u><br />
<div>
<u>year: 2007</u></div>
<div>
<u>cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear</u></div>
<div>
<u>rating: ***1/2</u></div>
<br />
<div>
Written
 and directed by David Koepp, this gives the wry-guy Ricky Gervais a 
decent showcase. Plot centers on a grumpy dentist who goes in for 
surgery and then finds out later he died for six minutes, and as a 
result he can see ghosts... much like that kid in "The Sixth Sense", but
 this ghost-spotter is more annoyed than frightened of the pursuing 
spectors. Greg Kinnear, as the most charming and most persistant of the 
ghosts tailing our anti-charm hero, "hires" him to thwart his wife from 
marrying "the wrong guy". It then turns into a fun love story: although it's much <i>more funny</i> when the good guy is sarcastic and bitter i.e. himself. <br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgqQUxGeG1M/XedF7dG_QHI/AAAAAAABMIA/rhnEY8VEFAkE046j1pDEZOii_fj07AIWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/tropic-thunder-robert-downey-jr-movie-poster_a-G-9888885-0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="554" height="238" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgqQUxGeG1M/XedF7dG_QHI/AAAAAAABMIA/rhnEY8VEFAkE046j1pDEZOii_fj07AIWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/tropic-thunder-robert-downey-jr-movie-poster_a-G-9888885-0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
<u>title: TROPIC THUNDER</u><br />
<div>
<u>year: 2008</u></div>
<div>
<u>cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black</u></div>
<div>
<u>rating: *</u></div>
<br />
<div>
"The
 Three Amigos" centers on three dim-bulb actors who go to Mexico 
thinking they're filming a movie and end up in a real situation battling
 bad guys who want to kill them. "Tropic Thunder" centers on three 
dim-bulb actors who think they're filming a movie and end up... doing 
"Three Amigos" all over again, but very badly. This could have been an 
at least halfway decent bad movie if there wasn't the sidestory about 
Ben Stiller's character's fading career, which makes it horrificly 
horribly awful. Ben Stiller goes over the top and isn't funny, Jack 
Black is totally wasted, and Robert Downey Jr. as a pretentious 
Australian actor playing a black army officer is somewhat impressive but
 gets annoying, fast.</div>
</div>

action, amy irving, bagful, brian de palma, comedy, eighties, fifties, horror, john milius, kirk douglas, kris kristofferson, nineties, sam peckinpah, seventies, thriller, tommy lee jones, zeroes

DECADE-SPANNING BLOODY BAGFUL OF ARCHIVE MOVIE REVIEWS

title: THE BETSY year: 1978 cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Lawrence Olivier, Kathleen Beller, Robert Duvall rating: **1/2 Like some...

Written by James M. Tate / 12/02/2019 / No comments / action , article , irvin kershner , james drury , mystery , nick adams , patricia medina , quentin tarantino , sixties , thriller , TV , western

HATEFUL SIX BEFORE THEY EIGHT 'THE REBEL' WITH NICK ADAMS

action, article, irvin kershner, james drury, mystery, nick adams, patricia medina, quentin tarantino, sixties, thriller, TV, western

HATEFUL SIX BEFORE THEY EIGHT 'THE REBEL' WITH NICK ADAMS

Nick Adams heads up THE REBEL television Western 1959-1961 It's usually fair game that homage-driven auteur Quentin Tarantino pays t...

YAPHET KOTTO ON THE 'DIRECTOR PROOF' SET OF 'BLUE COLLAR'

<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/-UgAFYBZuEQ0/XeRtycf0CaI/AAAAAAABL_E/CqPBnmWR0p8ZSZkpcY_dkh-REzpDP2yFACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-01%2Bat%2B5.45.51%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="999" data-original-width="1370" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UgAFYBZuEQ0/XeRtycf0CaI/AAAAAAABL_E/CqPBnmWR0p8ZSZkpcY_dkh-REzpDP2yFACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-01%2Bat%2B5.45.51%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel in BLUE COLLAR circa 1978</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR is a really good film with a really great cast: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and, providing his account, Yaphet Kotto as auto laborers going up against a corporation and, more dangerous, their work union.<br>
<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9tdXnSkcBFg/XeRu_nnacuI/AAAAAAABL_g/RlptPgQskusTTDvV3VGVMk1VFLxW5gOIACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-01%2Bat%2B5.54.58%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1206" data-original-width="516" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9tdXnSkcBFg/XeRu_nnacuI/AAAAAAABL_g/RlptPgQskusTTDvV3VGVMk1VFLxW5gOIACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2019-12-01%2Bat%2B5.54.58%2BPM.png" width="136"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>And Richard Pryor</u></td></tr>
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"First of all, by this point in the shoot we had gone so far off the script. I’m told Paul Schrader was annoyed, at least that’s what I’m told. The whole thing had become one improvisation after another, but if my memory serves me correct, he told me and Harvey and Richard to improvise. He said we were 'Director Proof' actors and to 'improvise when you feel it’s necessary.' Then when we did as directed, I’m told he was annoyed. Well I don’t really know if he was or not. But he was lucky to have had us. The movie is a classic.<br>
<br>
<u>How was it filming the death scene in the paint room</u>?  "It was all right, no problems. We took about two days to shoot if my memory serves me right. The only thing that bothered me was that it was the second film in which my character dies and that bugged me a little. Otherwise everything else was cool." Kotto's character would also die, the next year, in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/kotto-on-alien.html">ALIEN</a> as he did in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/05/yaphet-kotto-110th-truck-turner.html">TRUCK TURNE</a>R and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/10/yaphet-kotto-kills-live-and-let-die.html">LIVE AND LET DIE</a>. <br>

drama, harvey keitel, interview, paul schrader, richard pryor, seventies, yaphet kotto

YAPHET KOTTO ON THE 'DIRECTOR PROOF' SET OF 'BLUE COLLAR'

Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel in BLUE COLLAR circa 1978 Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR is a really good film with a really great cast:...

YAPHET KOTTO REFLECTS 'ALIEN' AND DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT

horror, interview, ridley scott, science-fiction, seventies, sigourney weaver, yaphet kotto

YAPHET KOTTO REFLECTS 'ALIEN' AND DIRECTOR RIDLEY SCOTT

Yaphet Kotto serves up intensity as Parker in ALIENS circa 1979 "All of the scenes were challenging," said Yaphet Kotto in a C...

JUDD NELSON & ALLY SHEEDY IN THE BRAT PACK NOIR 'BLUE CITY'

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yNpMGD5iSDw/XhQ-2khP4EI/AAAAAAABM6Y/KIX0ni7o-8sjDzmSt3k8fEJQbmGGcv8VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%25252B4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="1128" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yNpMGD5iSDw/XhQ-2khP4EI/AAAAAAABM6Y/KIX0ni7o-8sjDzmSt3k8fEJQbmGGcv8VwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%25252B4.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Walter Hill presents Judd Nelson in Blue City directed by Breakfast Club producer Michelle Manning 1986</u></td></tr>
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This dark horse Brat Pack outing was up for a few Razzie Awards, but 
for what exactly? BLUE CITY is actually a decent action/thriller about 
the son of a beloved slain mayor returning to a Florida town, Blue City,
 now run (from inside a roadhouse bar) by seedy Scott Wilson...<br />
<br />
Seeking
 clues, Nelson gets back in touch with his old drinking buddy David 
Caruso, who is sober, paranoid, and running a fishing boat. And what 
makes this Brat a Pack in our love interest: Caruso's pretty sister, 
Ally Sheedy, who becomes smitten with Judd... a former crush resurfaced.
 She works at the local jail he was thrown into after a brawling bar 
fight.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fNBYFH-RUw/XhQ-_O_SvRI/AAAAAAABM6c/SPze464yAu4mk5FLAvz9-3GhrauYRgM1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%25252B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="884" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5fNBYFH-RUw/XhQ-_O_SvRI/AAAAAAABM6c/SPze464yAu4mk5FLAvz9-3GhrauYRgM1wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%25252B3.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ally Sheedy facing fellow Brat Packer Judd Nelson in the Neo Noir Action flick Blu City </u></td></tr>
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The best scenes are his gun-toting revenge against a 
bevy of Wilson's thugs. In the usual action flick fashion, the underdog 
is in over his head, and yet his lack of experience makes him cocky, 
reckless and assertive.<br />
<br />
"I'm new at this," Judd quips after kicking in 
the door of a racetrack office during a heist. And he soon learns how to
 get around, eventually finding out who killed his father... which isn't
 such a shocker... but there's always a cost.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YBm812Tdkco/Xd9tagB-xMI/AAAAAAABL3E/XoThLJ4eFPktKBjdqYJsP7nzK2dFCsO-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1143" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YBm812Tdkco/Xd9tagB-xMI/AAAAAAABL3E/XoThLJ4eFPktKBjdqYJsP7nzK2dFCsO-ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B2.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>An angry and wonderfully overacting Scott Wilson in Blue City RATES: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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BLUE CITY
 is colorful action Neo Noir directed by Michelle Manning, who makes 
this a Brat Pack trifecta being she produced both SIXTEEN CANDLES and THE BREAKFAST CLUB for John Hughes.<br />
<br />
And in this departure from teen 
melodrama are plenty of old school cinema stuff to keep you entertained 
like fist fights, gun fights, explosions, and a nifty side cast 
including sexy Anita Morris as his lush stepmother and the always 
watchable Paul Winfield.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-chl7AwdzReU/Xd9PBK1SHUI/AAAAAAABL2Y/BlTH_lI7J_4JTAi_NFjlxKKqlU2Rwr-BQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B5%2B2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="1132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-chl7AwdzReU/Xd9PBK1SHUI/AAAAAAABL2Y/BlTH_lI7J_4JTAi_NFjlxKKqlU2Rwr-BQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B5%2B2.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judd Nelson in Blue City aka Laiton Kaupunki aka Vromiki politeia</u></td></tr>
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But it's Scott Wilson's grimacing villain who 
really stands out like bad guys often do in Walter Hill films, this one 
produced and co-written, not directed by...<br />
<br />
In many ways,  CITY feels 
like his project, although more STREETS OF FIRE than 48 HRS. Even his 
stock musician Ry Cooder provides a beach-breezy score with more synth 
than slide.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rHo0IgNPKA/Xd9OIFOfiPI/AAAAAAABL14/0k0YJn7VIwg6C4ecQojeszgxvtCuN4IaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B6.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1145" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8rHo0IgNPKA/Xd9OIFOfiPI/AAAAAAABL14/0k0YJn7VIwg6C4ecQojeszgxvtCuN4IaQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Picture%252B6.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>David Caruso in Blue City aka </u><u>Staden bortom lagen aka Блу-сити </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judd Nelson in BLUE CITY aka Cidade Corrupta aka Ciudad corrompida</u></td></tr>
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action, ally sheedy, anita morris, brat pack, david caruso, eighties, judd nelson, neo noir, scott wilson, walter hill

JUDD NELSON & ALLY SHEEDY IN THE BRAT PACK NOIR 'BLUE CITY'

Walter Hill presents Judd Nelson in Blue City directed by Breakfast Club producer Michelle Manning 1986 This dark horse Brat Pack outing...

Written by James M. Tate / 11/27/2019 / No comments / 2019 , al pacino , biopic , drama , epic , joe pesci , martin scorsese , mob , robert deniro , thriller

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

2019, al pacino, biopic, drama, epic, joe pesci, martin scorsese, mob, robert deniro, thriller

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019 At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would...

CANVASING THE PICTURESQUE 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

action, bill mckinney, catherine bach, chase, clint eastwood, geoffrey lewis, george kennedy, heist, jack dodson, jeff bridges, june fairchild, michael cimino

CANVASING THE PICTURESQUE 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges as Thunderbolt and Lightfoot circa 1974 There's a quote in THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT, a movie about ...

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' OVER JOHN PHILLIP LAW

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ScSIl1L8298/X1bjj8uwXzI/AAAAAAABX7A/F_gp9yC3XTYBtleDYdUGMCGANJz6540oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/415umZtm25L.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="348" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ScSIl1L8298/X1bjj8uwXzI/AAAAAAABX7A/F_gp9yC3XTYBtleDYdUGMCGANJz6540oQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/415umZtm25L.jpeg" width="277" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sergeant circa 1968</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's not just <i>what</i> THE SERGEANT is about, or even <i>who</i> it's about: An American World War II hero returned to France ten years later for a peacetime gig not as risky or daring: This Army Sergeant of military construction laborers wielding old-school brass tactics to shape things up — until both someone <i>and</i> something distracts him...<br />
<br />
MSgt. Albert Callan is a closet homosexual, and on the surface, Rod Steiger portrays a lonely Army lifer who finally finds a true friend he can mentor and/or simply hang around with. Of course it's deeper than that; but as a film from 1968 <i>about</i> 1952, John Flynn directs with a unique, strategic, cautious approach aptly suited for and catered to Steiger's creepy-harsh yet desperately sympathetic performance.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Sergeant RATES: ****1/2</u></td></tr>
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On the other side is  tall, handsome John Phillip Law, who often plays calm wooden types but he plays them well... His targeted Pfc. Swanson to Steiger's subtle style of persuasive bullying... after being shifted to his personal office clerk... is, in its own way, equal to the intense title role...<br />
<br />
Law's oblivious reactions to the passive/aggressive action that only an offbeat genius like Steiger could effectively pull off within this sparse, subtle maze countered by French starlet Ludmila Mikaël as Law's gorgeous town-next-door girlfriend (who he's captured to like Steiger is to Law), caught in the middle of something that would not only be considered completely impossible back then, but never fathomed in the first place. And yet, putting the controversial theme aside, THE SERGEANT is an outright buddy flick bromance coinciding with the gentle male/female love story. Surprisingly, it's the latter that lacks conviction and seduction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7eP9x0Etsr0/X1bzUbqKfII/AAAAAAABX8g/yA_Flp4e_wMxPXgCkej8G6kQ2N6303wMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1221.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="1489" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7eP9x0Etsr0/X1bzUbqKfII/AAAAAAABX8g/yA_Flp4e_wMxPXgCkej8G6kQ2N6303wMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/1221.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Phillip Law and Rod Steiger in The Sergeant  </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Phillip Law and Rod Steiger bonding in THE SERGEANT by Seven Arts Productions</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Top: Rod Steiger with Bottom: John Phillip Law gunning for THE SERGEANT</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cute and flirtatious, uncredited French girl in THE SERGEANT</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lovely French ingenue Ludmila Mikaël as Solange Gérard in THE SERGEANT</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The supercool Warner Seven Arts Logo on the bottom right for this powerful poster of THE SERGEANT</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Quentin Tarantino shouts-out THE SERGEANT in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood</u></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rod Steiger (beating Simon Oakland for the gig, thankfully) and John Phillip Law in The Sergeant </u></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMnAo506xO0/X1bx1WscbaI/AAAAAAABX8M/DyQVCqinu5ojLUg7PXBYuaHnkcCAX7glQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="624" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMnAo506xO0/X1bx1WscbaI/AAAAAAABX8M/DyQVCqinu5ojLUg7PXBYuaHnkcCAX7glQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/4.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rod Steiger as The Sergeant, a role heavily campaigned for by Simon Oakland... the right choice was made</u></td></tr>
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controversial, drama, exploitation, homosexual, john flynn, john phillip law, ludmila mikaël, military, rod steiger, sixties

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' OVER JOHN PHILLIP LAW

The Sergeant circa 1968 It's not just what THE SERGEANT is about, or even who it's about: An American World War II hero return...

JMT

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