DANA ANDREWS CRASHES CHRISTMAS FOR 'HOT RODS TO HELL'

<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/-U4nM8eSrU2g/X_LQogaKFlI/AAAAAAABbQ0/QxoMrZBITfMIofWVAV_TLWPncQydruVjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="286" data-original-width="400" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-U4nM8eSrU2g/X_LQogaKFlI/AAAAAAABbQ0/QxoMrZBITfMIofWVAV_TLWPncQydruVjwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h286/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Caine in GET CARTER Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"The horns blowing, the lights, the brakes," says a jaded Dana Andrews to wife Jeanne Crain. "<i>Jingle bells </i>(on the radio), the whole thing!" </p><p>As HOT RODS TO HELL only <i>begins</i> as a Christmas movie after East Coast traveling-salesman Dana Andrews suffers a major car accident on December 24th, and, after months of traction, winds up with a motel in Arizona... But only IF he and his family can survive the red convertible (titular) menace with only 80 miles left to their new destination...<br></p><p></p><p>The cocky speed demon behind the wheel is Paul Bertoya with jerky sidekick Gene Kirkwood riding shotgun while instigating blonde <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/04/hot-rods-to-sunset-strip.html">Mimsy Farmer</a> holds the roll-bar in-between... </p><p>And while her fickle driver/beau seduces Dana's daughter Laurie Mock... first at a rest stop and then at the motel's connected live-band nightclub (a better climax than the overlong midnight "chicken" match later on)... Pink Floyd's MORE starlet Farmer flirts with the middle-age swinger who sold the motel being tired of those bratty delinquents... who are now dead set against the "square" new owners (with peppy son Jeffrey Byron) in what's mostly a stalking car chase along the sunlit desert road... that actually <i>can</i> <i>be</i> intense until the heated havoc shows up on Jeanne Crain's hilariously overacting expressions. Meanwhile, one-time A-list Andrews spouts vapid, halting-speech dialogue like "What kind of animals are those?" for which he gets no reply, only a load of HELL that's pure heaven for b-movie fans who thought they'd seen everything!<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, cult, dana andrews, drive-in, gene kirkwood, george ives, jeanne crain, laurie mock, mimsy farmer, race, road movie, sixties

DANA ANDREWS CRASHES CHRISTMAS FOR 'HOT RODS TO HELL'

Michael Caine in GET CARTER Year: 1971 Rating: ***1/2 "The horns blowing, the lights, the brakes," says a jaded Dana Andrews to wi...

DANA ANDREWS & JEANNE CRAIN RETURN FOR 'MADISON AVENUE'

<p></p><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/-9aReRQhIRCE/X9PwfpGC_MI/AAAAAAABajc/RRT3oXXSVzUeSk-dgZcTu9g8ic3EjmNqACLcBGAsYHQ/s1174/81OcNqar1zL._AC_SL1500_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="894" data-original-width="1174" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9aReRQhIRCE/X9PwfpGC_MI/AAAAAAABajc/RRT3oXXSVzUeSk-dgZcTu9g8ic3EjmNqACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/81OcNqar1zL._AC_SL1500_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain in Madison Avenue Year: 1961</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Based on the novel <i>The Build-Up Boys,</i> Dana Andrews is similar to a con artist decades earlier from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/FallenAngel.html">FALLEN ANGEL</a> — only with a place to sleep and worth far more than a crumpled bottom dollar, his suit-and-tie, smooth-talking Clint Lorimer is out of a job after being duped by his big boss — a classy backstabber wary that his top employee's skills could tempt away any and all clients in an advertising firm on MADISON AVENUE... </p><p></p><p>Dana's Clint seeks tunnel-vision vengeance by going over his now rival by thinking outside the box and joining with a nowhere agency — to turn dented bronze into shiny, luminescent gold... </p><p>That's where much of the story plays out, concerning a business relationship between Dana and sophisticated yet vulnerable beauty Eleanor Parker as Anne Tremaine. Their chemistry is smart and interesting while Jeanne Crain, as a smitten reporter who Clint uses, again and again — till she eventually has a personal grudge and score to settle — takes a backseat: Thus the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/01/DUEL-In-The-JUNGLE-Madison-Avenue.html">STATE FAIR</a> (and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/06/andrews-crain-two.html">DUEL IN THE JUNGLE</a>) couple aren't as important despite sharing plenty of scenes. Instead, most of Clint's time is spent not only making Parker's Anne go from a plain-Jane to a beautiful woman on the move, but they're both challenged to turn Eddie Albert's eccentric, hands-on milk company owner into a terrific speech maker, and possibly a politician...</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wlCYv6TYCIU/X9Pw2kKKTwI/AAAAAAABajk/HtWj0R_jVusL2dBtAULhseN62H-6b67BACLcBGAsYHQ/s951/19247911_828805787322567_7077877181247472501_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="951" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wlCYv6TYCIU/X9Pw2kKKTwI/AAAAAAABajk/HtWj0R_jVusL2dBtAULhseN62H-6b67BACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h321/19247911_828805787322567_7077877181247472501_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in Madison Avenue Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A pivotal scene has Eddie Albert's Harvey Ames reading from Clint's assorted cue cards, and then having to wing the rest of an important, game-changing speech on his own...</p><p>Initially a nervous, oddball underdog, Eddie's character is the most intriguing and likable, which makes it awkward and contrived when the tables turn, and the inevitable conflict of ideals arise in which Dana has to knock the suddenly overconfident Ames off his newfound pedestal...</p><p></p><p>Thankfully we're finally left with more meaningful interplay between Dana and Jeanne, stuck in the ruins of so many twists and turns that aren't explained enough to be completely involving or that make complete sense...</p><p>But it's still an entertaining b-picture, directed by eclectic veteran H. Bruce Humberstone. And the two ingenues aside, Andrews's most endearing co-star is homely secretary Kathleen Freeman, more faithful than anyone else on board. Even during a muddled third act when it's Andrews against former boss Howard St. John (now joined with Crain), she gives both <i>her own</i> boss, and the audience, a smooth, relaxing baseline. </p><p><span></span></p>

bruce humberstone, dana andrews, david white, drama, eddie albert, eleanor parker, howard st. john, jeanne crain, kathleen freeman, romance, sixties, wall street

DANA ANDREWS & JEANNE CRAIN RETURN FOR 'MADISON AVENUE'

Dana Andrews & Jeanne Crain in Madison Avenue Year: 1961 Based on the novel The Build-Up Boys, Dana Andrews is similar to a con artist ...

OLIVER REED DOES ITALIAN CRIME IN 'REVOLVER' W/ FABIO TESTI

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kehbwn3nBWg/X8To79mwS-I/AAAAAAABaRA/7bx06wGaA1smOFtUs_i6jQA7KjUOOY5qACLcBGAsYHQ/s599/213d893b595fbac41c737dab309c3718.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="599" height="291" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kehbwn3nBWg/X8To79mwS-I/AAAAAAABaRA/7bx06wGaA1smOFtUs_i6jQA7KjUOOY5qACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h291/213d893b595fbac41c737dab309c3718.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oliver Reed in Revolver Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A promising, clever premise of a government official, played by the genuinely tough Oliver Reed, who surreptitiously allows a prisoner to escape and quickly abducts him as exchange for his kidnapped wife... occurring between steely, intentionally claustrophobic scenes in dingy offices harboring dingier jail sells... almost succeeds...</p><p></p><p>The best moments of this action/crime/thriller hybrid involve polar opposites Reed ("a stray dog without a home") and prisoner Fabio Testi on the run, the latter's rogue territory... </p><p>Testi teaching Reed to steal a car is a standout, and there needed more of this kind of Noir-inspired ambiguity combined with a two movie star teamup instead of the pretty boy musician connected to a powerful politician subplot... Leading to an 11th hour escape by use of hiking a mountain border. But Italian ingenue Paola Pitagora brightens up the joint, and Reed, using the same fake American accent he did in the Beatnik drama THE PARTY'S OVER (sans the goading irony) and THE SYSTEM, doesn't need to overact to show the audience his love for this woman. Any sane man would.  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, crime, escape, fabio testi, italian, oliver reed, seventies, teamup, thriller, wrong man

OLIVER REED DOES ITALIAN CRIME IN 'REVOLVER' W/ FABIO TESTI

Oliver Reed in Revolver Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 A promising, clever premise of a government official, played by the genuinely tough Oliver...

EDDIE MURPHY 'COMING 2 AMERICA' (BACKPOSTED FROM 3/5/2021)

<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/-B3ixvyHlm2M/YEMns6tfLEI/AAAAAAABd2M/CmVq67cileYQKmV-1PBasNV1Gg1IgpPNgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1313/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-05%2Bat%2B10.48.20%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="1313" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3ixvyHlm2M/YEMns6tfLEI/AAAAAAABd2M/CmVq67cileYQKmV-1PBasNV1Gg1IgpPNgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-05%2Bat%2B10.48.20%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>COMING 2 AMERICA Year: 2021 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The original COMING TO AMERICA was no accident. It took experienced filmmaker John Landis to pull off what he did for THE BLUES BROTHERS, which came out before working with Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES: That is, blending music into comedy without it being a musical-comedy, and very few directors could pull that off, and this sequel is proof... they still can't.<br /><br />It's understandable that the semi-retired Landis isn't on board, but in trying to recreate that same magic originally sparked by the collaboration of Landis and Murphy with only an older, overweight Murphy on board just doesn't feel or look right... </p><p>The biggest problem is his "bastard son" from Queens, Jermaine Fowler, with a loud, annoying mother. Then again, their Bad Sit-Com rhythm fits this contrived sequel more than the once-great Murphy, again alongside sidekick Arsenio Hall, who, like the other familiar faces, is going through the motions. The only new characters that kind of work, allowing Fowler's "young Prince" to stretch beyond the intentionally recycled plot, is KiKi Layne as his half-sister, reluctantly aiding in a semi-involving, dangerous task... And Nomzamo Mbatha as his royal hair-cutter and basically the new version of Sheri Headly: a free-thinking bride to change the age-old rules. Unfortunately, this love story is far too rushed to matter, inserted into the 11th hour what took the entire original movie to pan-out more naturally, and humorously.  <br /></p><p></p>

2021, arsenio hall, comedy, eddie murphy, john amos, new, sequel, shari headley

EDDIE MURPHY 'COMING 2 AMERICA' (BACKPOSTED FROM 3/5/2021)

COMING 2 AMERICA Year: 2021 Rating: *1/2 The original COMING TO AMERICA was no accident. It took experienced filmmaker John Landis to pull o...

UNEARTHING 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'DEMON ISLAND' AKA 'BLOOD TIDE'

<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/-L8Y0ePM8Pi4/YAUvp5iPvTI/AAAAAAABbpE/IJl1DzdZtdU-TZppk0H1xeRDTRFAHSD5wCLcBGAsYHQ/s755/139995477_1162923994136775_7114132835169625578_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="645" data-original-width="755" height="341" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L8Y0ePM8Pi4/YAUvp5iPvTI/AAAAAAABbpE/IJl1DzdZtdU-TZppk0H1xeRDTRFAHSD5wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h341/139995477_1162923994136775_7114132835169625578_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>New marrieds Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller visit a Greek island to find <i>his</i> missing sister who turns out alive but "isn't quite there."And the mystery is what happened to her before, during and... basically the entire movie is <i>the after</i>... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>As James Earl Jones eventually helps out: a kind of Robert Shaw hybrid from both JAWS and especially THE DEEP, advising the handsome couple to dive while he's interested in hidden treasure... </p><p>Meanwhile, the town locals, led by a grimacing Jose Ferrer, have something to hide as young women begin to vanish/die, in particular Frye’s girlfriend Barbara, played by bubbly-blonde Lydia Cornell, victim of a JAWS-like attack (much <i>too close for comfort</i>) by a mysterious underwater predator. </p><p>And another girl... a preteen virgin... could be next. And if this review reads more like a patchwork of ideas, that’s what BLOODTIDE (actually BLOOD TIDE) is... yet it’s not completely awful, Although Horror fans will be disappointed as the creature's hardly seen... But according to Mary-Louise Weller: “It wasn't scripted to be about any monsters, but since it was actually blocked currency from numerous countries... Mexico, UK, Greece, USA... they used the movie as a way to move cash around. It was just amazing that it even cut together at all.” And now it's on Blu Ray! Hip Hip...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ze-BM39suKI/YAU0W62JbNI/AAAAAAABbpc/1tXRchbhHGMiIlvyKLlRKkY3C4xtNgiUACLcBGAsYHQ/s711/140040139_1162933887469119_6052985579194002278_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="711" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ze-BM39suKI/YAU0W62JbNI/AAAAAAABbpc/1tXRchbhHGMiIlvyKLlRKkY3C4xtNgiUACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/140040139_1162933887469119_6052985579194002278_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Deborah Shelton paints like the devil in BLOOD TIDE</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eT1ISCz6mPM/X_LS89PMWqI/AAAAAAABbQ8/ZsJ9EKJsvwwmuSD1_F3xgtImmu4SJgUYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s840/135517446_1153906368371871_9144435897815874566_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="840" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eT1ISCz6mPM/X_LS89PMWqI/AAAAAAABbQ8/ZsJ9EKJsvwwmuSD1_F3xgtImmu4SJgUYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/135517446_1153906368371871_9144435897815874566_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller in BLOODTIDE</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table>

action, beach, deborah shelton, eighties, exploitation, horror, james earl jones, jaws-clone, jose ferrer, lydia cornell, martin kove, mary-louise weller, thriller

UNEARTHING 'BLOODTIDE' AKA 'DEMON ISLAND' AKA 'BLOOD TIDE'

Title: BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2 New marrieds Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller visit a Greek island to find his missing sister ...

DECEMBER 7TH POST OF RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'TORA! TORA! TORA!'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMez7bUgzl8/X83zjjYJJII/AAAAAAABacI/S7qLX3zBDIgNzVlZfAfDr8uv8NxuriNyQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1031/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-07%2Bat%2B12.06.41%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="885" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tMez7bUgzl8/X83zjjYJJII/AAAAAAABacI/S7qLX3zBDIgNzVlZfAfDr8uv8NxuriNyQCLcBGAsYHQ/w344-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-12-07%2Bat%2B12.06.41%2BAM.jpeg" width="344"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Tora! Tora! Tora! Year: 1970 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>American director/producer Richard Fleischer mans only half of TORA! TORA! TORA! centering before and during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, leaving the rest to the equal perspective of Japanese military leaders by Japanese filmmakers Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda, a device you wouldn't get about the German Leaders' side of World War II... </p><p></p><p>But what really works is perhaps what made the movie fail at the box office: No big stars to outshine the subject matter, rapid-fire subtitles, a non-dramatic, documentary realism and the true <i>main characters</i> are E.G. Marshall and Wesley Addy playing two Washington D.C. insiders using an early "fax machine" that provides enigmatic yet foreboding information, inserting a little espionage into the war genre... <br></p><p>While on the other side of the Pacific, Sô Yamamura plays Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto with far more empathy and prowess than Navy flakes Jason Robards and Martin Balsam as Generals Short and Kimmel: One demanding/commanding an extremely unwise location for all "parked" aircraft, the other ready for a cozy round of golf (exactly 79-years from today) on the fateful early morning of December 7th, 1941...</p><p>Taking up the action-packed third act with explosive widescreen glory mixed with cold and calculating reality like actually being there, though mostly as an<i> </i>impartial observer since there aren't any cliché movie-soldiers (like some naïve freckle-faced kid with a "girl back home" or the cynical cigar-chomping maverick he'd look up to): Unlike most other films on this subject, TORA! TORA! TORA! is about historical accuracy, not fictional history... <i>take that </i>Michael Bay!</p><p><span></span></p>

e.g. marshall, espionage, history, japanese, jason robards, martin balsam, richard fleischer, seventies, war, wesley addy, world war II

DECEMBER 7TH POST OF RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'TORA! TORA! TORA!'

Title: Tora! Tora! Tora! Year: 1970 Rating: **** American director/producer Richard Fleischer mans only half of TORA! TORA! TORA! centering ...

SERVING NORMAN LEAR'S 'COLD TURKEY' FOR THANKSGIVING

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJw8C2vFW5S7YKPcNDv0dA73r3qgmcHiTz8LaVcp0epEdoloyFRT-ajsReKylWl0LwR8zDnfZTFZKgK8pAvMl1gSDGgCrEYjeQj76pxhmyXBhdnf48rolVRXjBu4lAQJIHDSsMi75yt_rqFbLugZcnQTmVxnWu-BufZPJeZT9kYOQS50idl91IOyU3Pw=s2048" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJw8C2vFW5S7YKPcNDv0dA73r3qgmcHiTz8LaVcp0epEdoloyFRT-ajsReKylWl0LwR8zDnfZTFZKgK8pAvMl1gSDGgCrEYjeQj76pxhmyXBhdnf48rolVRXjBu4lAQJIHDSsMi75yt_rqFbLugZcnQTmVxnWu-BufZPJeZT9kYOQS50idl91IOyU3Pw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dick Van Dyke preaches in Norman Lear's COLD TURKEY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While Halloween and Christmas themes/names are easy to find, Thanksgiving is more difficult unless just happening upon the one and only feature film that TV-producing icon Norman Lear ever directed, fitfully titled COLD TURKEY and, with the abundance of extreme facial close-ups by a barrage of actors and actresses mostly known either then or later for the small screen, it's more of a TV-movie in nature...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The plot is simple, silly and farfetched, and a bit too complicated for its own good, taking over halfway through to pick up: A billion dollar Tobacco company's willing to pay $25 million to any town that quits smoking for a month... </p><p><span></span></p>

bob newhart, comedy, dick van dyke, exploitation, jean stapleton, norman lear, parody, paul benedict, pippa scott, seventies, sixties, vincent gardenia

SERVING NORMAN LEAR'S 'COLD TURKEY' FOR THANKSGIVING

Dick Van Dyke preaches in Norman Lear's COLD TURKEY Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2 While Halloween and Christmas themes/names are easy to find...

DONALD SUTHERLAND & JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'DON'T LOOK NOW'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/-XdOhZvdP0uw/X7spaC73fEI/AAAAAAABaBQ/YveBbmTlgBwe1uUl4LRurmON3pckIn4bACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/6.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1235" data-original-width="1280" height="386" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XdOhZvdP0uw/X7spaC73fEI/AAAAAAABaBQ/YveBbmTlgBwe1uUl4LRurmON3pckIn4bACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h386/6.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Julie Christie in Don't Look Now 1973 Rates: ***12</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Never let your young daughter play outside, around water... and if she plays with dolls, why a windup military man with a gas mask? That aside, <i>caution</i> is the pulse to Nicolas Roeg's eerie/offbeat thriller DON'T LOOK NOW set in Venice where marrieds Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie deal with their daughter's prologue-drowning a few years prior... </p><p></p><p></p><p>And while Christie is always great, the mainline is Sutherland's John Baxter, restoring the antique ruins of a Catholic church and, while most likely an Atheist, he cares more about the significance of the religious art than priest Massimo Serato...</p><p>As the best scenes involve Sutherland's dark, brooding journey into the ancient city of channels surrounding by antique buildings while indoors, the (in)famous overlong sex scene feels like director Roeg finishing an unrealized racy student film, less important than what we're <i>really</i> after... <br></p><p>Julie Christie's haunted Laura is more in touch with her deceased child because of a bright-blue-eyed Hilary Mason, a blind seer led around by a talky sister. But Sutherland's as close-minded to that concept as the priest is to the restoration. Meanwhile, the second half gets into a Neo Noir investigation with detective Renato Scarpa asking those subtle yet pointed questions. Leaving the scariest sequence till the end, and you'll know where <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/10/cronenbrood.html">THE BROOD</a> children came from after witnessing the most nightmarish of nightmarish female demon dwarfs in an eclectic, arthouse horror that, while all over the place textually, <i>does </i>have a destination... just as long as you know who to follow. And what's following them. </p><p><span></span></p>

cult, donald sutherland, exploitation, hilary mason, horror, julie christie, massimo serato, mystery, nicolas roeg, renato scarpa, seventies

DONALD SUTHERLAND & JULIE CHRISTIE IN 'DON'T LOOK NOW'

Julie Christie in Don't Look Now 1973 Rates: ***12 Never let your young daughter play outside, around water... and if she plays with dol...

JOANNA GOING AND REBECCA STAAB IN A NEWER 'DARK SHADOWS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-533nR3L_ReY/X7YNymhbeHI/AAAAAAABZ54/MDRCdBoMKNwbf6N9PAQT7W4KTpww8WKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1719/00.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="1719" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-533nR3L_ReY/X7YNymhbeHI/AAAAAAABZ54/MDRCdBoMKNwbf6N9PAQT7W4KTpww8WKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h358/00.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that holds up pretty well with a younger Barnabas Collins in Ben Cross, seeming more like a lovelorn college professor than vampire, but he does bare his fangs enough times into the likes of Rebecca Staab for a Body Count element that ups (and progresses) the terror and suspense, mostly taking place in an old seaside manor where Collins rises/returns to an eccentric family that only knew him through a looming portrait from many, many years ago...</p><p></p><p>And it's no wonder the poor fella falls so quickly in love with the newly arrived (yet very familiar) babysitter of troubled boy Joseph Gordon-Levitt — and Joanna Going is the most beautiful actress to ever hit the small screen, ever, and is what makes this DARK SHADOWS intriguing and worthwhile. </p><p>Also like the original, we go back in time to Collins' own turf, the 1700's where snaky/flaky uncle Roy Thinnes can act sinister with the other family members, all somewhat benign before the Salem Inspired/Religious Zealot transition. But the show hits a big wall with the otherwise talented Lysette Anthony as an all-knowing/all-seeing phantom/wraith so powerful, vicious and vile, Collins loses his bite, and purpose (a young girl ghost is also a cop-out). Although by the end of the one and only season, Going and Cross's romance keeps the viewer intrigued... as we shall be, for eternity. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

ben cross, dan curtis, franchise, horror, joanna going, joseph gordon-levitt, nineties, roy thinnes, TV, vampire

JOANNA GOING AND REBECCA STAAB IN A NEWER 'DARK SHADOWS'

Joanna Going in Dark Shadows Year: 1991 Rating: ***1/2 Dan Curtis turned his daytime soap DARK SHADOWS into a nighttime soap/miniseries that...

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5L8fOmRhzY/X7CKo65YoeI/AAAAAAABZrA/n-u2RyiHD7Ic6SD7fT8DLY4Y0eG61OXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/s922/zzz.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="922" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i5L8fOmRhzY/X7CKo65YoeI/AAAAAAABZrA/n-u2RyiHD7Ic6SD7fT8DLY4Y0eG61OXRgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/zzz.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is <i>really</i> into <i>madly</i> reconstructing once-beautiful women's injured/deformed faces, and winds up running a circus after he and two followers happen upon German drunk Donald Pleasence, who trades his small rural circus for his war-scarred daughter to be Patient X of the big tent spectacle a decade later...</p><p></p><p>When the now successful circus owner/secret doctor Schuler meets his match in Erika Remberg as a lethal, facially-deformed whore... later yearning to be the show's rope-dangling main attraction instead of voluptuous blonde <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">Vanda Hudson</a>, stunt-riding on horseback before spinning against flying knives... </p><p>Ironically, CIRCUS OF HORRORS is more a body count thriller than horror: the deaths "mysteriously" occur to the doctor's post-surgery beauties who are <i>just about</i> to move on from the "Jinxed Circus", so there's plenty of suspense hindered only by the grownup little girl, now in her beautiful twenties and romanced by an intrusive cop, sniffing around the mad yet never hammy or overboard lead antagonist's schemes far too soon, making even gorgeous British starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/yvonne%20romain">Yvonne Romain's</a> vulnerable and dangerous third act feel both rushed and overlong. <br></p><span></span>

anton diffring, body count, british, circus, donald pleasence, erika remberg, exploitation, horror, sixties, thriller, yvonne romain

ANTON DIFFRING WITH ERIKA REMBERG IN 'CIRCUS OF HORRORS'

title: Circus of Horrors Year: 1960 rating: **** Anton Diffring's England-exiled German plastic surgeon character Dr. Schuler is really ...

SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CR0zDM-E4/X7nmsh155uI/AAAAAAABZ9k/AUbebLyqPuQat9PmyeWfipypGytQ_a_fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1145/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1145" height="288" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CR0zDM-E4/X7nmsh155uI/AAAAAAABZ9k/AUbebLyqPuQat9PmyeWfipypGytQ_a_fgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h288/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only derive from the 1970's: A round-faced Jessica Harper type that a guy would hopelessly crush on <i>after</i> being her friend a little while, and is so down-to-earth she doesn't quite realize how PRETTY she is, even when that aspect pivots the title SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY... yet all she really does is <i>whine</i> the name, "Jeffrey..."</p><p></p><p>Who's a sculptor living in a dark Los Angeles mansion with mom Bette Davis, a mellower BABY JANE here... but since horror leans on youth, Sian Barbara Allen is both the ingenue <i>and</i> antagonist...</p><p>Extremely antagonistic and pushy to her new boss (for which she was hired to do some light housekeeping) played by benign THAT GIRL actor Ted Bessell, who, it turns out, harbors a crazy sister in the guest house and... the end of PRETTY PEGGY is both predictable and blasphemous to another movie about a man-child with mommy-issues. And yet the dark and contained setting serves up a nicely balanced combination of old school haunted house and modern exploitation body count, which only includes two victims but it's genuinely terrifying how "the sister" looks, knife-poised in semi-darkness, and it's no surprise this kinda show scared television audiences when we all had relatively small screens. A wider view uncovers all the dated flaws, but there's still a nice little short-story vibe extended to the usual 90-minutes, and is only on YouTube where these last-known-photo photos come from. But what the hell... it adds to the creepiness of the story, and the monkey-cuteness of the ingenue. </p><p><span></span></p>

bette davis, exploitation, haunted house, horror, seventies, sian barbara allen, ted bessell, tovah feldshuh, tv movie

SIAN BARBARA ALLEN IN THE TV-HORROR 'SCREAM, PRETTY PEGGY'

Sian Barbara Allen & Ted Bessell Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only der...

JOHN CARPENTER'S UNDERRATED GHOST STORY OF 'THE FOG'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gRQuKdQhprM/X9U04KmAl6I/AAAAAAABaoA/ilWHrSiiGQMw9zh1AIbxRVUeIeXoRQBIACLcBGAsYHQ/s540/44877151_592334171195763_9043340000082526208_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="463" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gRQuKdQhprM/X9U04KmAl6I/AAAAAAABaoA/ilWHrSiiGQMw9zh1AIbxRVUeIeXoRQBIACLcBGAsYHQ/w343-h400/44877151_592334171195763_9043340000082526208_n.jpeg" width="343"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Fog autographed DVD Year: 1980</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Depending how you look at it, John Carpenter's THE FOG is a zombie flick since the titular weather-pattern wraiths move in a slow, nightmarish pace. And within that mobile-moving, misty shroud are what you'd get from a good old fashion ghost story, which this is John Carpenter's homage version of...</p><p>Literally starting with old timer John Houseman spinning a campfire legend to kids while setting the plot in motion about their small seaport town, founded on a deception that a ship of lepers was accidentally destroyed by nature — with enough gold to get the town's proverbial ball rolling...</p><p>And now in the 100-year Centennial Celebration, the wraiths, brandishing giant hooks, blades and resembling demonic fisherman with obscured hoods and lighted eyes, are after exactly six people — their own unlucky number now unlucky for the surprisingly low body-count in what's also Carpenter's mellow "drinking movie" of sorts...</p><p></p><p>Starring Adrianne Barbeau, the director's then-wife, as a sultry-voiced deejay of mellow jazz, and otherwise providing a sort of strategic Roman Chorus for the fog's momentum, alerting both the characters where it's headed and the audience where the characters should go because of it... while Carpenter's HALLOWEEN ingenue Jamie Lee Curtis falls (way too quickly and unrealistically) head-over-heels for an older-man, and one of the director's regulars, tough guy actor Tom Atkins; both he and Curtis investigate his best friend's disappearance on a fishing boat leading to a cool "ghost ship" scenario... the duo provides an added bonus to alleviate Barbeau from having to work too hard...</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7hzZgHJHFg/X9U4kJ-6Q-I/AAAAAAABaoo/Y2WdU5dvZxUSHAQozLv9v_VioCbauR6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/s934/44544442_590180974744416_988086316258295808_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="703" data-original-width="934" height="301" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7hzZgHJHFg/X9U4kJ-6Q-I/AAAAAAABaoo/Y2WdU5dvZxUSHAQozLv9v_VioCbauR6_wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h301/44544442_590180974744416_988086316258295808_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jamie Lee Curtis in THE FOG Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Different than HALLOWEEN and similar to THE THING and PRINCE OF DARKNESS, this is more of an ensemble, and, just as he would later on, Carpenter juggles his characters nicely... <br></p><p>And unlike most main female characters of this genre, the voluptuous brunette Barbeau is definitely no cliché uptight novice: well into her thirties, she has a curious young son who, while they are separated, gives Atkins and Curtis someone to protect along with an actual urgency and purpose leading to a narrowed-down third act. But it's the town's basement-dwelling priest, played with sublime ambiguity by Hal Holbrook, who steals the show while telling half of it...</p><p>Meanwhile, added to the mix is Jamie Lee's mom, legendary PSYCHO starlet Janet Leigh who, alongside another HALLOWEEN ingenue and Carpenter regular Nancy Loomis, provide a second duo to follow towards a particular location — where everyone winds up except the lighthouse-trapped Barbeau... And the split-second surprise-ending is one of the greatest ever in this solid, vastly underrated, personal favorite Carpenter vehicle that, compared to his more celebrated films surrounding, seemed to roll under the pop culture horror movie radar: A cult film's cult film, if you will.  </p><p><span></span></p>

adrienne barbeau, eighties, george buck flower, ghost ship, horror, james canning, jamie lee curtis, janet leigh, john carpenter, john houseman, nancy loomis, thriller, tom atkins

JOHN CARPENTER'S UNDERRATED GHOST STORY OF 'THE FOG'

The Fog autographed DVD Year: 1980 Depending how you look at it, John Carpenter's THE FOG is a zombie flick since the titular weather-pa...

JOHN AGAR AND JUNE KENNEY IN 'ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WFFbDxQluk/X6jMQhRcnkI/AAAAAAABZmM/dztU79a75v4HgSZS9QswpVQVf65sAP_mwCLcBGAsYHQ/s750/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-18%2Bat%2B12.48.20%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="461" data-original-width="750" height="246" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--WFFbDxQluk/X6jMQhRcnkI/AAAAAAABZmM/dztU79a75v4HgSZS9QswpVQVf65sAP_mwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h246/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-18%2Bat%2B12.48.20%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Attack of the Puppet People Year: 1958 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A better-suited title for ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE would be A CASE OF DOLLS, and <i>literally</i> as dollmaker John Hoyt places real people, from strangers to former employees to, as tiny hero John Agar goes, an employee's fiance, into sealed packages, and all with one thing in common...</p><p></p><p>Their last mistake was entering the dollmaker's backroom where a sci-fi genre laser-cannon awaits... </p><p>And although director Bert I. Gordon — aptly nicknamed Mr. Big since his forte was either extra large/small protagonists in a normal sized world — is known as being campy and silly, he can tell a pretty decent story, and this is one of his best, save for that vapid title since they're NOT Puppets (although there's one creepy Dr. Jekyll puppet) and never attack anyone, being totally harmless as the best sequence has the passive ensemble realizing they're all stuck together in a world that consists of a huge dial-up telephone and a phonograph... They have a nightly recess so their mostly polite captor isn't all that bad, just really lonely, and his rudimentary kinship with secretary June Kenney is pathetically endearing... It's just too bad we couldn't hang out with these dolls... ranging from a vain beauty to a young girl singer to a soldier to a cool teenager (TOUCH OF EVIL hophead/beatnik Ken Miller)... for longer: Their interaction is so relaxing, it's a shame they decide to escape so soon, which is understandable, and also quite suspenseful but... Mr. Big knew how to make the most of his character's downtime, no matter what size.</p><p><span></span></p>

bert i. gordon, cult, exploitation, fifties, horror, john agar, john hoyt, june kenney, ken miller, science-fiction

JOHN AGAR AND JUNE KENNEY IN 'ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE'

Attack of the Puppet People Year: 1958 Rates: **** A better-suited title for ATTACK OF THE PUPPET PEOPLE would be A CASE OF DOLLS, and liter...

MAURY DEXTER WESTERN 'THE PURPLE HILLS' WITH KENT TAYLOR

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0MlBgnNweR8/X8n7LaNpPHI/AAAAAAABaa0/cLl2qiVngOMAynQN5s_ghYZptQidXElAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s863/23%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="863" height="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0MlBgnNweR8/X8n7LaNpPHI/AAAAAAABaa0/cLl2qiVngOMAynQN5s_ghYZptQidXElAwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h353/23%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries conniving and convincing a beautiful woman to go against the good guy, who doesn't seem all that good: in this case bounty hunter Gene Nelson, collecting on a bounty he has to fight for... </p><p></p><p>The twist is that classy lowlife Taylor also wants credit for the hefty sum but without being blamed by the bounty's younger, vengeful brother played by stuntman Jerry Summers, supposedly raised by beautiful Joanna Barnes, much too young as he's far too old for the role...</p><p>But Russ Bender as the aged sheriff is perfectly cast by Dexter, per usual, as most of the picture has four people after a dead body whilst fearing the inevitable collision of angry Apaches...</p><p>Winding up the finale on a dilapidated bridge where the "good guys" hole up against approaching Indians (fighting each other as well), and it's as good a shoot-em-up as anything John Ford could do. Plus these b-Western programmers (especially Maury Dexter's) get right to the point, yet there's still tons of pulpy dialogue, especially by Taylor, a genuine scoundrel while Gene Nelson stands around looking strong, blond, determined and, as they say... The Devil gets all the great lines. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, gene nelson, jerry summers, joanna barnes, kent taylor, maury dexter, russ bender, western

MAURY DEXTER WESTERN 'THE PURPLE HILLS' WITH KENT TAYLOR

The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2 Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries c...

MACKENZIE PHILLIPS DRIVES 'RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULlz9ZoP6g/X6U2Vq3JrSI/AAAAAAABZfE/cnLhPVCSVlsd3MdXP4Y7o1ww5H4ifYIqQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1609/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-05%2Bat%2B11.57.30%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1042" data-original-width="1609" height="259" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3ULlz9ZoP6g/X6U2Vq3JrSI/AAAAAAABZfE/cnLhPVCSVlsd3MdXP4Y7o1ww5H4ifYIqQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h259/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-05%2Bat%2B11.57.30%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Martin Smith & Mack Phillips Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Combine the personalities of Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips... one a mellow dreamer, the other a gun-toting schemer... and you have Kellerman's entire character from the previous years' road movie, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/james-caan-and-peter-boyle-in-noir.html">SLITHER</a>, making this affable performance seem like she's merely along for the ride, leaving all the scene-stealing edginess to her better half Phillips...<br></p><p></p><p>And basically making Alan Arkin's Rafferty, a boozing ex-Marine/DMV instructor kidnapped by the pair, along for the ride's ride as RAFFTERY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS goes from scene to scene/town to town gathering mossy strangers along the way...</p><p>From victimized gas station attendants to Las Vegas con man Alex Rocco to Arizona barfly Harry Dean Stanton to young soldier Charles Martin Smith (sharing a terrific motel scene with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/07/american-graffiti-theatrical-experience.html">AMERICAN GRAFFITI</a> alumni Phillips), they all merely serve witness to the eclectic trio who find predictable camaraderie along the breezy trip; although Arkin lacks initial reluctance: Seconds after Phillips sticks a gun to his head (and even fires it off <i>over his head</i>), elevator music lazily orchestrates a freeway wide-shot like a TV-production, which this often resembles a grungy, freewheeling version of... actually a good thing since RAFFERTY has nothing to lose or gain to either educate or annoy an audience, which refers to both the character and the movie — one worth watching over and over for that reason alone: Lethargy on wheels can be infectious.  </p><p><span></span></p>

alan arkin, alex rocco, comedy, drama, exploitation, harry dean stanton, mackenzie phillips, road movie, sally kellerman, seventies

MACKENZIE PHILLIPS DRIVES 'RAFFERTY AND THE GOLD DUST TWINS'

Charles Martin Smith & Mack Phillips Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 Combine the personalities of Sally Kellerman and Mackenzie Phillips... one...

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

<p></p><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/-t818RZyHi8Y/X6OdFJaoeqI/AAAAAAABZZY/OlELjM34nx4N3z8nyZRvOaTbSkM5u_0GwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1797/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-04%2Bat%2B9.46.36%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1252" data-original-width="1797" height="279" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t818RZyHi8Y/X6OdFJaoeqI/AAAAAAABZZY/OlELjM34nx4N3z8nyZRvOaTbSkM5u_0GwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h279/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-04%2Bat%2B9.46.36%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Debbie Miller & Steve McQueen Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on TV's WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and ended as one on the big screen, twice: TOM HORN was also a <i>rebounder</i> tale, and actually resembled a theatrical motion picture while THE HUNTER looks and plays-out like a made-for-TV movie... </p><p></p><p>But a pretty good one as McQueen's real life Ralph 'Papa' Thorson seeks various bond-skippers, each more difficult than the next: In one case the violent powerhouse nephew of McQueen's GETAWAY foe Ben Johnson; and later a literally explosive tractor vs Trans Am cornfield chase... </p><p>Leaving the best for last... That<i> finally </i>suits the big screen involving a desperate, hostage-taking young "shooter" on a subway train, obviously influenced by THE FRENCH CONNECTION as opposed to McQueen's classic BULLITT<span data-offset-key="e5ebh-0-0"><span data-text="true"> </span></span> that THE HUNTER deliberately contradicts, particularly since real life car-fanatic McQueen plays a terrible driver, effectively humorous compared to more contrived setups: like Papa's crowded house of poker buddies, an endearing black kid, a finagling Jewish boss, a crooked cop friend, and a much too perfect pregnant girlfriend, stalked by a vengeful speed-freak adding furious camp value and yet, overall, THE HUNTER delivered for McQueen's fans what they (and even he) didn't realize was a swan song. Plus it's the first and last time he'd utter the cliché line, "I'm too old for this" in a vehicle that's both the end of phase one and the beginning of a comfortably aging phase two — that tragically never happened.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, ben johnson, cop, crime, eighties, eli wallach, kathryn harrold, steve mcqueen, tribute

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

Debbie Miller & Steve McQueen Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on TV's WANTED: DEAD OR ALI...

STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

<p></p><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/-mN7s9qgnrFI/X7Mksy079aI/AAAAAAABZuE/ejha6VZX4oc4Pj-zznYt5JMpNzmE_RF9QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-16%2Bat%2B5.16.27%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1405" data-original-width="2048" height="275" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mN7s9qgnrFI/X7Mksy079aI/AAAAAAABZuE/ejha6VZX4oc4Pj-zznYt5JMpNzmE_RF9QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h275/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-11-16%2Bat%2B5.16.27%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies caged hopelessness of prison life better than most <i>entire</i>ly-<i>set-in</i>-<i>prison</i> prison flicks... plus it's the only sequence centered solely on Steve McQueen as career criminal Doc McCoy sans the uninspired acting of ingenue/partner Ali MacGraw...</p><p></p><p>During a pivotal meeting — tempted by Texas millionaire Ben Johnson after having sex to get Doc paroled and then tortured with envy — she has a vacant expression as opposed to McQueen's sharpened countenance... </p><p>Meanwhile, GODFATHER <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/06/dirtier-rats1.html">villain Al Letteri </a>(initially partnered with a cocky, trigger-happy Bo Hopkins) would have <i>perfectly</i> contrasted against McQueen, only <i>Al also</i> gets burdened by a screeching Sally Struthers as Letteri's veterinarian's wife turned traveling gun moll — all the characters on a post bank-heist GETAWAY (including the posse of crooked Texas businessman) in a road movie that, despite the flaws, is loaded with classic Peckinpah slow-motion gunfights, fistfights, slap-fights, car chases, cars exploding and a gritty aesthetic best described as classic 1950's Film Noir B&W soaked into 1970's brick-red, cash-green, burnt-brown, pallid-blue, dusk-yellow, faded-gray exploitation... Yeah, that'll do.   <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, al bright, al lettieri, ali macgraw, ben johnson, bo hopkins, crime, exploitation, heist, modern western, road movie, sally struthers, sam peckinpah, steve mcqueen

STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

Ali McGraw & Steve McQueen Year: 1972 Rating: **** The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies cag...

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

<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/-w7JD8jm6h3E/YSxY06WsSGI/AAAAAAABloU/G5gEDLaXet07JSQ1xmlOO1IUNDT76BzngCLcBGAsYHQ/s1707/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-29%2Bat%2B9.00.15%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1372" data-original-width="1707" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w7JD8jm6h3E/YSxY06WsSGI/AAAAAAABloU/G5gEDLaXet07JSQ1xmlOO1IUNDT76BzngCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h321/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-29%2Bat%2B9.00.15%2BPM%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve McQueen as BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for the media since director Peter Yates's prior chase in his British heist thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> was so admired by Steve McQueen, Yates got <i>this</i> gig... But there's more than just action in ROBBERY, and the cop/crime classic BULLITT is more about words than wheels...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p>In particular, McQueen's Frank Bullitt taking a blind chance to prove climbing politician Robert Vaughn wrong, and without even realizing what's <i>not exactly right</i> in the first place... </p><p>Hiding a dead witness that Frank and partner Don Gordon were hired to protect, the best scene has McQueen and Vaughn facing off in a quasi-polite <i>conversation</i> ("<i>who else</i> knew where he was?") leading to several less sterile c<i>onfrontations</i>... with police chief Simon Oakland as a wishbone. And what occurs <i>before and after </i>that hilly San Francisco road romp epitomizes the Police Procedural sub-genre: putting the viewer into the slow-paced, ultra-realistic, concentrated and methodical shoes of Lt. Frank Bullitt and, after proving what needed proving there's only one big action scene left, giving BULLITT two climaxes for the price of one edgy, daring and timeless (though sporadically dated, especially too-perfect hippie girlfriend Jacqueline Bisset's psychedelic workplace and the thereafter date-restaurant's jazz band) classic cop flick that should be celebrated beyond a speedy green Mustang. Although that's pretty damn cool too. Icing on a cake... with layers.  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, classic, cop, crime, cult, don gordon, jacqueline bisset, peter yates, robert vaughn, simon oakland, sixties, steve mcqueen, thriller

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

Steve McQueen as BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2 The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for...

ROBERT MITCHUM IN PETER YATES'S 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

<p></p><p></p><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/-ppHEsFmhT2g/YS3UfVVC5-I/AAAAAAABlvA/wkBN-r14nwIZoRWIG2RhFdbDkMqA3mk0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1645/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-16%252Bat%252B8.08.21%252BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1385" data-original-width="1645" height="336" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ppHEsFmhT2g/YS3UfVVC5-I/AAAAAAABlvA/wkBN-r14nwIZoRWIG2RhFdbDkMqA3mk0ACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h336/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-16%252Bat%252B8.08.21%252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steven Keats in Eddie Coyle Year: 1973 ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The miracle of Peter Yates's Crime Thriller THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is how interesting an entire movie full of long conversations can be: Especially when the title character's played by an aged and experienced Robert Mitchum... </p><p></p><p>Providing a low-key yet still tightly-wound performance as a Boston career-criminal, who knows more <i>last names</i> than it's usual to get lost in within any Noir-style flick where a bunch of them are spouted left and right, and it takes several viewings to know exactly who's who... </p><p></p><p>And while Eddie tries getting manipulative cop Richard Jordan to squash an approaching sentence, there's a trio of dispersed bank robberies led by a masked, business-like Alex Rocco (kidnapping vault-key-holding bank managers while their families wait home at gunpoint) while hot rod driving Steven Keats as "Jackie Brown" cautiously runs guns throughout the surrounding rural landscape... and his story seems like a movie all its own, with a beginning, middle and end. Meanwhile, the weak spot is Peter Boyle as a bartender ex-con who gets around too easily, making Mitchum's plight as useless as he himself had made all of Keats's busy-work via double-cross... then again this <i>is</i> the purpose of a group of eclectic crooks pushing each other out of a losing game (hence the titular irony of FRIENDS), making this Peter Yates's return to the more cerebral/existential heist template of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> but with a groovy soundtrack by Dave Grusin. <br></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

alex rocco, crime, heist, neo noir, peter boyle, peter yates, richard jordan, robert mitchum, seventies, steven keats

ROBERT MITCHUM IN PETER YATES'S 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

Steven Keats in Eddie Coyle Year: 1973 ****1/2 The miracle of Peter Yates's Crime Thriller THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE is how interesting...

PETER YATES STAGED THIS 'ROBBERY' BEFORE TAKING A BULLITT

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipHJq73YWouoju894SKSY27ClgW7KYUkY4ir7U6TFuLz8ufj0s9BmSGwfQ-pan_KYmhzeUodxNIROcVat_P-dXdy08EiwWPty1ER_Po2DTQ1Izg1QZxP_lAeaXzOrK5LuRiKrHRNgDyPptsm1A3f5TmYW-uElTaDQAF8VeaIcfy2ADyFi_XpgI11ennA=s400" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEipHJq73YWouoju894SKSY27ClgW7KYUkY4ir7U6TFuLz8ufj0s9BmSGwfQ-pan_KYmhzeUodxNIROcVat_P-dXdy08EiwWPty1ER_Po2DTQ1Izg1QZxP_lAeaXzOrK5LuRiKrHRNgDyPptsm1A3f5TmYW-uElTaDQAF8VeaIcfy2ADyFi_XpgI11ennA=w375-h400" width="375"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ROBBERY Year Captured: 1967 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Best known as the obscure crime film that gave English director Peter Yates his big game-changing opportunity to make BULLITT stateside, after Steve McQueen had witnessed the rudimentary car chase sequence from ROBBERY, an extremely sparse, deliberately cold British Neo Noir Heist-Thriller... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's not <i>just</i> the chase that Yates carried over to the McQueen classic but the meticulous and metronomic moments leading up to it...</p><p></p><p>Starring the always tough/ultra square-jawed Stanley Baker but only because he's in charge, ROBBERY makes pretty much equal use of all male leads... </p><p>Including James Booth as the trailing cop, William Marlowe as Baker's strong-silent second, Barry Forster as his strong-silent third while Frank Finlay, as a meek though crooked banker too-easily broken out of prison, is the most vulnerable and sympathetic...</p><p>Yet there's very little sympathy for these particular devils, whose only flaw is how long and tediously methodical it takes for the actual train heist (inspired by The Great Train Robbery) to go down... the director not always considering an audience but, like real life crimes — and even the McQueen ultra-realistic police-procedure about the other side of the law — Yates showcases the slowburn reality like being right there, for better or worse since it's not always exciting, and that's the point. Just don't let the casting of beautiful poster-perfect Joanne Pettit fool you. ROBBERY cares neither about romance or the human condition. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SwKtVl5J9iM/YOLjvLq82iI/AAAAAAABi5A/S9kK44ulkLMcSzAIlD30E4F5pVek0KWZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1328/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-05%2Bat%2B3.48.41%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1019" data-original-width="1328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SwKtVl5J9iM/YOLjvLq82iI/AAAAAAABi5A/S9kK44ulkLMcSzAIlD30E4F5pVek0KWZgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-05%2Bat%2B3.48.41%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robbery movie poster artwork</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, barry foster, british neo noir, british new wave, frank finlay, heist, james booth, joanne pettit, peter yates, sixties, stanley baker, william marlowe

PETER YATES STAGED THIS 'ROBBERY' BEFORE TAKING A BULLITT

Title: ROBBERY Year Captured: 1967 Rating: ****1/2 Best known as the obscure crime film that gave English director Peter Yates his big game-...

ELLIOTT GOULD & STERLING HAYDEN DRINK TO 'THE LONG GOODBYE'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWttFnn_coI/X6eQg990x8I/AAAAAAABZh0/755LTlgkSzwbOqZNJyIhQ9_rRtrIMEaTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1476/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1476" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IWttFnn_coI/X6eQg990x8I/AAAAAAABZh0/755LTlgkSzwbOqZNJyIhQ9_rRtrIMEaTQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h270/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade Year: 1973 Rating: *****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although Sterling Hayden's semi-senile has-been writer never says anything as crazy as “I got hairy legs that turn blond in the sun... The kids used to come up and reach in the pool and rub my leg down so it was straight, and then watch the hair come back up again... I learned about roaches and I like when kids jump on my lap," he <i>is</i> a man at the end of his rope, and is technically the most important character in Robert Altman's THE LONG GOODBYE, based on a Raymond Chandler novel where the historically tough-handsome gumshoe Philip Marlowe is turned into a lazy, hippie-friendly slob in Elliott Gould, perfectly cast against type and at his very best... </p><p></p><p>Particularly a scene where he and Hayden's Roger Wade (hired by Wade's mesmerizing trophy wife) share an afternoon drink at the couple's Malibu beach-backyard, and it's here Wade learns that Marlowe's not such a "ding-a-ling" after all: And like any kind of Noir, most of the last-name-spouting/roundabout dialog is meant to put the gumshoe into mazes as puzzling to him as the audience: Though the basic plot is simple enough as Marlowe's lifelong buddy supposedly killed himself in Mexico after supposedly killing his wife in Malibu; and to give away any more would be a crime. But what makes director Altman shine behind his actors (including Mark Rydell as a surprisingly vicious gangster and David Arkin as his clumsy henchmen) is that the camera literally <i>never</i> stops moving, and yet it hardly seems to <i>noticeably </i>move all that much at all — subtle genius by the spontaneous auteur whose real agenda is to focus on the characters... despite how completely out-of-focus they may initially seem. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

arnold schwarzenegger, crime, cult, david arkin, elliott gould, gumshoe, mark rydell, mystery, neo noir, robert altman, seventies, thriller

ELLIOTT GOULD & STERLING HAYDEN DRINK TO 'THE LONG GOODBYE'

Sterling Hayden as Roger Wade Year: 1973 Rating: ***** Although Sterling Hayden's semi-senile has-been writer never says anything as cra...

SEAN CONNERY IN JOHN BOORMAN'S EXPERIMENTAL 'ZARDOZ'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KstDmudp-7U/X53geu_1ArI/AAAAAAABZS4/jo7-4fGee3oj3P8H5kB2xuxLOpVQ0w9cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1088/zardoz-pic-7.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="769" data-original-width="1088" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KstDmudp-7U/X53geu_1ArI/AAAAAAABZS4/jo7-4fGee3oj3P8H5kB2xuxLOpVQ0w9cgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h283/zardoz-pic-7.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Connery as Zed in ZARDOZ Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After scoring big with DELIVERANCE, adventurous and intrepid director John Boorman wound up with the bizarre futuristic fable ZARDOZ, a picture that could never be made today...</p><p>About a raping and pillaging (and raping) barbarian, part of a raping and pillaging barbarian race, violently riding horseback along the beachy outskirts of a world run within a hidden wilderness Utopia of sexless intellectuals, that never (really) age... </p><p></p><p>And the coolest sequence has Sean Connery's resilient muscular/shirtless title character discovering his way there, stowed inside a giant floating god-head statue; and then becoming an experimental neanderthal that these flaky neo-hippies can study — in particular the gorgeous and stubborn Charlotte Rampling and scene-stealing arthouse beauty Sara Kestelman, both shrewder than passive male counterpart John Alderton, who <i>all</i> share scenes with Connery's Zed when he isn't alone, investigating what makes this strange land tick, dating back to the 20th Century — with a twist <i>literally</i> built into the title: A cerebral STAR TREK meets TWILIGHT ZONE that needs far more pockets of action throughout endless philosophizing so heavy-handed, it's nearly impossible for an audience to fully grasp... at least the first time around. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, charlotte rampling, fantasy, future, john alderton, john boorman, memorial, sara kestelman, science-fiction, sean connery, tribute

SEAN CONNERY IN JOHN BOORMAN'S EXPERIMENTAL 'ZARDOZ'

Sean Connery as Zed in ZARDOZ Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 After scoring big with DELIVERANCE, adventurous and intrepid director John Boorman w...

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS AND STARS IN 'THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI'

<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/-wnOc93uGuH8/YA4MalSVkKI/AAAAAAABb3M/eIa98vJSx6YJBfuhk954XcL0DSuTyhxbwCLcBGAsYHQ/s325/510RfEUVimL._AC_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="325" height="371" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wnOc93uGuH8/YA4MalSVkKI/AAAAAAABb3M/eIa98vJSx6YJBfuhk954XcL0DSuTyhxbwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h371/510RfEUVimL._AC_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Lady From Shanghai Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous for the ending, but there <i>are</i> some worthy middle parts of this unique Noir that Welles cast ex-wife Rita Hayworth in, cutting off her luscious GILDA hair and ticking off studio-heads right off the bat...</p><p></p><p>Not that it matters... Hayworth's performance isn't that "wicked" and yet she <i>is</i> fitfully vulnerable: particularly in a corny horse-and-carriage scene Welles opposed, introducing both his contentedly poor Irishman, Mike "Black Irish" O'Hara to Hayworth's rich, sullen Elsa, wife of a crippled, snaky and hugely infamous lawyer played by Everette Sloane... </p><p>Sadly, he's as lackluster as she is — but on the other hand, Ted de Corsia as Sloane's secret gumshoe fulfills the "hard-boiled" edge while Glenn Anders shines in this "road movie" at sea...</p><p>Welles the initially reluctant hired/rented captain of Sloane's yacht, taking his "party" around South America/Cape Horn back up to San Fransisco as the best scenes take place in-between, at a Spanish seaport where Anders, as Sloane's law partner, George (far more spontaneous, crooked, and sometimes downright outrageous) starts messing with the good captain's head (and the audience's too) in what's mostly a breezy action/adventure yarn that (as Welles has bemoaned) wields a far too melodramatic score, making every scene concerning boy and girl seem like a soap operatic engagement instead of a seductive entanglement — all leading to that famous finale, which makes up for Anders no longer being around since he was basically all the fun before the fun house. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, glenn anders, orson welles, rita hayworth, ted decorsia, thriller

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS AND STARS IN 'THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI'

Title: The Lady From Shanghai Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous for the ending, but there are some worthy middle p...

OLIVER REED TINKERS WITH MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE SYSTEM'

<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/-H-lUSQPYDp0/YAUI4_FZNBI/AAAAAAABbnk/UMpyyfpS-2o06JD5a6-Qmvl3mraomcg4ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1202/71Dv7HJpk4L._SL1300_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="968" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H-lUSQPYDp0/YAUI4_FZNBI/AAAAAAABbnk/UMpyyfpS-2o06JD5a6-Qmvl3mraomcg4ACLcBGAsYHQ/w323-h400/71Dv7HJpk4L._SL1300_.jpeg" width="323"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The System Year: 1964 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE GIRL-GETTERS is really THE SYSTEM as the other title makes little sense — yet although the British New Wave comedy/drama <i>does</i> begin like a horny-dudes ensemble, it soon narrows solely onto Oliver Reed as Tinker, head of the wolf pack who "gets his" by falling in love with a rich model as cool, smooth, complicated and yes, beautiful as he is...</p><p></p><p>Director Michael Winner, before the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/01/bronson-winner-three.html">Charles Bronson action</a> flicks, began an eclectic partnership with Hammer villain Reed, and the first is their best: Winner provides a looser LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER vibe with similar satirical montage breaks; and Reed's Tinker... the local womanizing photographer... is all smiles and robust energy, hardly frowning or scowling before a long career playing frowning, scowling antagonists and anti-heroes. </p><p>Taking place during two weeks at a British vacation spot, there's a contained <i>hanging-out having fun seeking girls all-night</i> vibe as this might've influenced AMERICAN GRAFFITI putting you <i>right there</i> alongside the characters...<br></p><p>Including a female version of Tinker (Barbara Ferris); a sullen married girl (Ann Lynn); a "finally grown up" engaged friend of Tinker (John Alterton); and a ditsy conquest (Julia Foster): All working and playing at this sunny retreat where tourists abound, and our boys use their titular SYSTEM to cover the entire area (girls and money), saving up for the approaching Winter. And although they never reach that particular season, the foreboding chill is palpable, ironically after Reed's creative, genuine charm had almost completely thawed Jane Merrow's sublime dream-girl, Nicola, in what's more of a prolonged end of a party than a beginning, middle and end of a romantic summertime adventure — yet it's all that too.   </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wYa28mfQMbg/YATyjQzgIBI/AAAAAAABbnE/EVhmv-QHz1MdjqlkpsrzqNUd4-nDd5oXACLcBGAsYHQ/s1828/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-17%2Bat%2B6.22.03%2BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1310" data-original-width="1828" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wYa28mfQMbg/YATyjQzgIBI/AAAAAAABbnE/EVhmv-QHz1MdjqlkpsrzqNUd4-nDd5oXACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-17%2Bat%2B6.22.03%2BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oliver Reed and Jane Merrow in THE SYSTEM</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span></span></p>

ann lynn, british new wave, comedy, david hemmings, drama, ensemble, guy doleman, jane merrow, john alderton, melodrama, michael winner, oliver reed, sixties

OLIVER REED TINKERS WITH MICHAEL WINNER'S 'THE SYSTEM'

Title: The System Year: 1964 Rates: ****1/2 THE GIRL-GETTERS is really THE SYSTEM as the other title makes little sense — yet although the B...

DON SIEGEL'S THEATRICAL 'THE LINEUP' STARRING ELI WALLACH

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zxVl891ZbsA/X5c-mUlPnaI/AAAAAAABZFc/qh01zNxBm9UGadoeUtxDENnoWFeoaUp7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s866/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="866" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zxVl891ZbsA/X5c-mUlPnaI/AAAAAAABZFc/qh01zNxBm9UGadoeUtxDENnoWFeoaUp7wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h251/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eli Wallach and Robert Baily Year: 1958 Rating: ****1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Brazen and bizarre crime flick beginning with a police investigation of what turns out being heroin smuggled through antiques from a cruise ship, and then focusing on the criminals who collect the stuff: the first fifteen minutes a police procedural based on the television series its named after, also known as SAN FRANCISCO BEAT, a Bay Area DRAGNET from the early part of the sparse Eisenhower decade, in which this edgy theatrical adaptation came out in the hipper/jazzier crest of.</p><p></p><p>Eli Wallach, as the crazy, insecure and sometimes charming lead thug named Dancer, shipped in from Florida with a tan intact, follows subtle "orders" and etiquette lessons from elder partner Robert Keith, making for a unique and twisted partnership that could be called MY FAIR SOCIOPATH: both (along with "dipso" getaway driver Richard Jaeckel) going from the various oblivious "mules" to either take the hidden heroin, or their lives. Often both. And director Don Siegel keeps the suspense on par with the snappy Noir dialog, and there's even some homoerotic stuff thrown in. Way, way ahead of its time, THE LINEUP exceeds the very limited series it's loosely derived (there's even a Lineup scene in the beginning to attempt retrofitting the title). Thank Don for that... who fought to make this LINEUP his own way: where the cops are but a Greek Chorus for the killers. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, body count, crime, don siegel, drugs, eli wallach, fifties, film noir or melodrama, richard jaekal, robert keith, TV adaptation

DON SIEGEL'S THEATRICAL 'THE LINEUP' STARRING ELI WALLACH

Eli Wallach and Robert Baily Year: 1958 Rating: ****1/2 Brazen and bizarre crime flick beginning with a police investigation of what turns o...

QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR RHONDA FLEMING GOES 3D FOR 'INFERNO'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0JqjoxrFLQ/X4uH91WQDEI/AAAAAAABZC0/QjyYlqO2_posbE30nxaxmfguAeXV0p0cgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1130/inferno-rhonda-fleming.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="863" data-original-width="1130" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-n0JqjoxrFLQ/X4uH91WQDEI/AAAAAAABZC0/QjyYlqO2_posbE30nxaxmfguAeXV0p0cgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/inferno-rhonda-fleming.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** </u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Robert Ryan could be difficult to root for since he played contentedly bitter types who didn't need or want rooting for...</p><p>But with INFERNO his rich-husband character gets so screwed over by his wife and her lover, left in the scorching desert — without use of his legs — to trudge through rocky terrain before he's a Hot Pocket for condors, there's no other option but to have complete sympathy, if anything else for the movie (and his dire situation) to conclude...<br></p><p>Yet the most intriguing scenes not only alleviate the halting, sometimes awkward tension but add a touch of Film Noir/Melodrama to the Adventure...</p><p>Particularly when trophy wife Rhonda Fleming and cold-blooded stud William Lundigan (usually cast as a one-dimensional hero) — who'd stranded Ryan in the first place — deal with investigating cops, and, when alone, bicker nervously: proving they'd be a horrible couple if their plot <i>does</i> work. So for Survival buffs, these talky, dime-novel moments would be an intrusion. But for Rhonda Fleming fans, the Queen of Technicolor originally curved within 3 fine Dimensions works just fine.  <br></p><span></span>

3D, adventure, fifties, melodrama, rhonda fleming, robert ryan, survival, thriller, tribute, william lundigan

QUEEN OF TECHNICOLOR RHONDA FLEMING GOES 3D FOR 'INFERNO'

Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** Robert Ryan could be difficult to root for since he played contentedly bitter types ...