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...

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...

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;"><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, caution is the pulse to Nicolas Roeg's strange thriller DON'T LOOK NOW taking place 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 Catholic art than priest Massimo Serato...</p><p>The best scenes involve Sutherland's dark, brooding journey into the ancient city of channels surrounding by gorgeous, dilapidated buildings; and inside, the famous overlong sex scene between the couple seems like director Roeg finishing an unrealized student film, far less important than what he (and she) is <i>really</i> going after: Julie Christie's haunted Laura is more in touch with her deceased child because of a creepy yet gentle, blue-eyed Hilary Mason, a blind seer led around by a talky sister. But Sutherland's as aloof to that concept as the priest is to the restoration. Meanwhile, the second half gets into a Neo Noir investigation with baby-faced detective Renato Scarpa. And the scariest sequence happens at the end, and you'll know where THE BROOD 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 dolls...

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 ...

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...

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 her 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>), saccharine 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 a...

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

<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/-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 television'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 and troublesome 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, which is effectively humorous compared to more contrived setups: like Papa's crowded house of poker buddies, a crooked cop friend, and a much too perfect pregnant girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold), sporadically 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: an action-packed<i> </i>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 sadly never came to pass. <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 television's WANTED: DEA...

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

<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/-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 — what <i>seems</i> like her being 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 throughout... </p><p>Meanwhile, GODFATHER <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/06/dirtier-rats1.html">villain Al Letteri </a>(initially partnered with Bo Hopkins) would have <i>perfectly</i> contrasted against McQueen, only <i>he too</i> gets burdened by an annoying actress role as a screeching Sally Struthers plays Letteri's 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 aforementioned 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.  <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'

<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/-PAkpqQbztHM/X6CBvNDC70I/AAAAAAABZUw/JybVD25_ehgurf82GbiEFprZh8jX0wzsQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2048" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PAkpqQbztHM/X6CBvNDC70I/AAAAAAABZUw/JybVD25_ehgurf82GbiEFprZh8jX0wzsQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h260/0.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><br></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>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) motion picture 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, 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...

PETER YATES DIRECTS A SLOWBURN 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

<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/-ddyLa33l_1Q/X2g58hD2hzI/AAAAAAABYaQ/WBM_FbUUNbw-eyGB16kD5yBt4XWb7mT4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1427/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1427" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ddyLa33l_1Q/X2g58hD2hzI/AAAAAAABYaQ/WBM_FbUUNbw-eyGB16kD5yBt4XWb7mT4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h310/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steven Keats in EDDIE COYLE Year: 1973 Rates: ****1/2</u><br></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>Turning in a natural, 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 superior, groovy soundtrack (by Dave Grusin) that also blows away the hippie-jazz of BULLITT. </p><span></span>

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

PETER YATES DIRECTS A SLOWBURN 'THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE'

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

PETER YATES STAGED THIS 'ROBBERY' BEFORE TAKING A BULLITT

<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/-vguw7-G2N5E/X2iq7veqsbI/AAAAAAABYbE/pMOCwLBzjPIvZW_i24OcvYC1Xw_vvQ8yACLcBGAsYHQ/s501/00387645.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="466" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vguw7-G2N5E/X2iq7veqsbI/AAAAAAABYbE/pMOCwLBzjPIvZW_i24OcvYC1Xw_vvQ8yACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/00387645.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>ROBBERY Year: 1967 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Best known as the little 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 uncaring British Neo Noir Heist-Thriller... </p><p>And it's not just 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 the male leads 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 extremely 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. <br /></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

ROBBERY Year: 1967 Rating: **** Best known as the little obscure crime film that gave English director Peter Yates his big game-changing opp...

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'

<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/-D6GZziDpWKs/X5xitbUTTHI/AAAAAAABZMk/Elm2CPNFBOk0e7G0u6SzX2Eg4aVAEiWDwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1589/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1263" data-original-width="1589" height="318" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D6GZziDpWKs/X5xitbUTTHI/AAAAAAABZMk/Elm2CPNFBOk0e7G0u6SzX2Eg4aVAEiWDwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h318/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Glenn Anders & Orson Welles Year: 1947 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous for the house-of-mirrors 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 producers right off the bat...</p><p></p><p>Not that it matters... Hayworth's performance never seems that interesting or sinister, upfront or deep down, but she <i>is</i> fitfully vulnerable: particularly in a horse-and-carriage opening Welles was forced to shoot, introducing both his contentedly poor Irish seaman, 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 — 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: Welles the initially reluctant captain of Sloane's yacht, taking his "party" around South America up to San Fransisco: The best scenes taking 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. Basically, he's the Fun House before the Fun House.  </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'

Glenn Anders & Orson Welles Year: 1947 Rating: **** THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous for the house-of-mirrors ending, but there are som...

OLIVER REED IN MICHAEL WINNER'S BRITISH NEW WAVE 'THE SYSTEM'

<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/-L-8Vt3N38zs/X5pneBaWR4I/AAAAAAABZGo/Ntk7cP9RSf4iw3oiPpmjbtcbj1a4goTewCLcBGAsYHQ/s1749/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1325" data-original-width="1749" height="303" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L-8Vt3N38zs/X5pneBaWR4I/AAAAAAABZGo/Ntk7cP9RSf4iw3oiPpmjbtcbj1a4goTewCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h303/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oliver Reed & Jane Merrow Year: 1964 Rating: *****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE GIRL-GETTERS is really THE SYSTEM as the other title makes little sense — and 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 post-Hammer villain Reed, and this is <i>both</i> their best work: Winner providing a looser LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER vibe with similar satirical montage breaks; and Reed who, as Tinker... the local womanizing photographer... is all smiles and robust energy, hardly frowning or scowling before a long career playing scowling villains...<br></p><p>Taking place during two weeks at a British vacation spot, there's a kind of 24-hour feeling, and THE SYSTEM must've influenced AMERICAN GRAFFITI as we're put <i>right there</i> with the characters (including a female version of Tinker; a sullen married lady; a "finally grown up" engaged guy; and RUNNER starlet Julia Foster as a ditsy conquest): All hanging out at this sunny retreat where tourists abound, and our boys use their titular SYSTEM to cover the entire area (for girls and money), saving up for the approaching Winter, a plot-point mentioned many (perhaps too many) times throughout. And although they never reach that particular season, you can still feel the foreboding chill move in, ironically after Reed's creative and, for the first time, 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.   <br></p><p><span></span></p>

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

OLIVER REED IN MICHAEL WINNER'S BRITISH NEW WAVE 'THE SYSTEM'

Oliver Reed & Jane Merrow Year: 1964 Rating: ***** THE GIRL-GETTERS is really THE SYSTEM as the other title makes little sense — and alt...

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 ...

REST IN PEACE TO RHONDA FLEMING FROM THE NOIR 'CRY DANGER'

<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/-rE4OMkM3vIs/X4qv72yb0wI/AAAAAAABY_Q/0yjZtrnlBnsEkQWTRuksUgP-YfwbLskIQCLcBGAsYHQ/s482/aab84cb6855700f964cfcfea3f3a5c31.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="482" height="315" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rE4OMkM3vIs/X4qv72yb0wI/AAAAAAABY_Q/0yjZtrnlBnsEkQWTRuksUgP-YfwbLskIQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h315/aab84cb6855700f964cfcfea3f3a5c31.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Powell & Rhonda Fleming 1951 Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The recently-departed Queen of Technicolor Rhonda Fleming also reigned in a few B&W Film Noirs, like the famous OUT OF THE PAST... and the obscure CRY DANGER starring Dick Powell as a pardoned convict who, five years earlier, was falsely accused of stealing a load of still-missing cash...</p><p>And the first twist involves Richard Erdman as a limping war hero, providing Powell's Rocky a false alibi, with a motive — making him an endearing sidekick but one that spouts too much exposition, filling Powell and the audience in on what could've panned-out more creatively otherwise...</p><p></p><p>Like the fact Rocky's still-incarcerated partner's pretty/perfect wife is even crazier about Rocky, and here's where an intensely dedicated, immensely worried (if somewhat underused) Rhonda Fleming enters, living in a trailer park where the boys — having hatched a comeback plan — temporarily reside. Meanwhile chief villain William Conrad scowls behind his big bookie desk, and Rocky threatens him endlessly while being endlessly dogged by a determined cop: Which all sounds pretty complicated, as Noirs usually involve a mazy plotline, or two. But what works here are the simplistic and (even back then) nostalgic 1930's Gangster-era shoot-outs within a sparse aesthetic — and yet, peppered with so many nifty, convenient one-liners, CRY DANGER is often too clever and self-aware for its own good. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

cult, fifties, film noir or melodrama, regis toomey, rhonda fleming, thriller, william conrad, william powell

REST IN PEACE TO RHONDA FLEMING FROM THE NOIR 'CRY DANGER'

William Powell & Rhonda Fleming 1951 Rates: ***1/2 The recently-departed Queen of Technicolor Rhonda Fleming also reigned in a few B&...

JOHN THAW DIGS MYRA FRANCIS ON 'THE SWEENEY: COUNTRY BOY'

<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/-p9TNOOwMTz4/X4XQae-XyGI/AAAAAAABY9Y/0I7bX198QH8t2ckwxh-OLE3MtUyBztiqACLcBGAsYHQ/s773/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="687" data-original-width="773" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p9TNOOwMTz4/X4XQae-XyGI/AAAAAAABY9Y/0I7bX198QH8t2ckwxh-OLE3MtUyBztiqACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h355/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Myra Francis on The Sweeney Year: 1975 Grade: A</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE SWEENEY: COUNTRY BOY has our own London boys joined by a well-dressed/well-educated tech guy, naïvely grabbing the front car seat where <i>only</i> John Thaw's Det. Insp. Jack Regan rides...</p><p></p><p>As the central crime involves banks robbed by an inside man using underground wiring, the plot thickens when Myra Frances is introduced as... well... at first the flirtatious Regan thinks she's merely the annoying new guy's old college friend... </p><p>But Thaw thaws out to Det. Sgt. David Keel (<i>IF</i> actor Robert Swann) before he's shot in a warehouse and laid out, bleeding badly, exposed in the open: And with every attempt Regan and Dennis Waterman's Det. Sgt. George Carter make to locate the hidden shooter, another bullet's intentionally fired into another non-vital yet painful spot... </p><p>A dead-eye warning of what could happen if they don't back off (foreshadowing Stanley Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET with Dorian Harewood's brutally tortuous, drawn-out demise)...: But it's the very, very end when the lovely Myra Francis's Dr. Liz Keel tells Regan who she really is: He simply didn't know the badly wounded (though not dying) victim has the same last name as the now deeply concerned female surgeon — a last name she wasn't born with, providing our famously womanizing Regan the epitome of not only the perfect girl who got away, but one that wasn't his to begin (or end up) with... For all the SWEENEY ingenues, she had both looks and brains... The genuine article — with perfect punctuation!  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, british neo noir, british tv, buddy, cop, crime, dennis waterman, heist, john thaw, myra francis, robert swann, seventies, suspense, tv series

JOHN THAW DIGS MYRA FRANCIS ON 'THE SWEENEY: COUNTRY BOY'

Myra Francis on The Sweeney Year: 1975 Grade: A THE SWEENEY: COUNTRY BOY has our own London boys joined by a well-dressed/well-educated tech...

TOM COURTENAY TURNS ANTAGONIST FOR 'A DANDY IN ASPIC'

<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/-onFQtAbXhzg/X4Q59GpeFFI/AAAAAAABY7s/z_H9oK-TU58sBuCISmjKqDsPtBz6iXYxgCLcBGAsYHQ/s480/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="472" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-onFQtAbXhzg/X4Q59GpeFFI/AAAAAAABY7s/z_H9oK-TU58sBuCISmjKqDsPtBz6iXYxgCLcBGAsYHQ/w394-h400/0.jpeg" width="394"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Courtenay gels in ASPIC Year: 1968 Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"I do believe that you two would have got on well together," Tom Courtenay as a stuffy, cautious and paranoid, cold-blooded British agent named Gaitiss tells Mia Farrow's flaky model Caroline after she beds Laurence Harvey, a far more sympathetic agent that <i>we</i> think is named Alexander Eberlin. "You haven't got a past, and <i>he</i> hasn't got a future."</p><p></p><p>Sadly, either did veteran director Anthony Mann, who started with Film Noir using creative camera angles before turning to traditional Westerns, making A DANDY IN ASPIC a kind of halfway visual comeback as he... before dying on set... is behind everything during the first forty-minutes in England — following the assassination of a top spy— before moving to Germany where Laurence took over direction, sustaining that era's zoom shots and surreal perspectives... </p><p>But the main motivation involves Laurence Harvey's Eberlin with the real name of Krasnevin: not only a Russian spy but THE Russian that everyone — during the last half of an uneven yet unique espionage thriller — wants to seek out and destroy: Especially scene-stealing Courtenay, playing it so vile, vicious and unlikable that his strict Prisoner-of-War rat from KING RAT is <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/02/otley.html">OTLEY</a> (a charming rogue) by comparison. Meanwhile the best scenes don't involve Harvey at all... especially his banal romance with an annoying Farrow, whose dated hippie threads clash against the more timeless grey/gritty Cold War aesthetic: It's the two suspenseful meetings between Courtenay (while sticking to Harvey like glue) and Russian Lionel Stander that really stand out: Reminding both the audience <i>and</i> the secretly hunted anti-hero of an impending fate which, in this case, might have deserving company. </p><p><span></span></p>

anthony mann, british neo noir, espionage, laurence harvey, mia farrow, sixties, spy, suspense, thriller, tom courtenay

TOM COURTENAY TURNS ANTAGONIST FOR 'A DANDY IN ASPIC'

Tom Courtenay gels in ASPIC Year: 1968 Rates: ***1/2 "I do believe that you two would have got on well together," Tom Courtenay as...

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

<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/-THcQLwBHKtg/X3-_PicLybI/AAAAAAABYwY/UGO-TePn7bccrJGRmFmqZU_emUSH6Ea8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1530/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-08%2Bat%2B6.21.50%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="947" data-original-width="1530" height="248" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-THcQLwBHKtg/X3-_PicLybI/AAAAAAABYwY/UGO-TePn7bccrJGRmFmqZU_emUSH6Ea8gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h248/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-08%2Bat%2B6.21.50%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Britt Ekland in AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: **1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with agent Martin Balsam about doing or <i>not</i> doing a French existential film, you'll simply want things to narrow into what the <i>real</i> movie's about...</p><p></p><p>And AFTER THE FOX doesn't mean <i>what follows</i> but <i>who's followin</i>g Peter Sellers' criminal named Fox: He broke out of prison, in disguise, and there's plenty of humor but not enough laughs outright... <br></p><p>Shame since the cinematography's so gorgeous, a satire on the pretentious side of 1960's French New Wave cinema, ironically directed by 1950's minimalist BICYCLE THIEVES auteur Vittorio De Sica, who doesn't allow either his funny (Sellers) or straight man (Mature) enough time together... leaving the best scenes to Britt Ekland as The Fox's film-buff little sister he lives to protect, even more important than the plot to recover his previously stolen loot. But, like that bogus art film (badgered by noisy, annoying villagers), all that matters is the deliberately pointless running around, which is entertaining yet tiresome. And not always in that order<span style="color: grey;">.</span></p><p><span style="color: grey;"><span></span></span></p>

brit ekland, british, comedy, french, heist, peter sellers, sixties, victor mature

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

Britt Ekland in AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: **1/2 Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with age...

YOUNG MARRIEDS EDDIE & VALERIE BET 'THE SEDUCTION OF GINA'

<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/-tOR-xfzAnw4/X4LgPyRNN8I/AAAAAAABY3I/r9ueyiPELBgMV54txRVGNCT7kqVmxNjYQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1993/00.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1497" data-original-width="1993" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tOR-xfzAnw4/X4LgPyRNN8I/AAAAAAABY3I/r9ueyiPELBgMV54txRVGNCT7kqVmxNjYQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h300/00.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Valerie Bertinelli as GINA Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was love and marriage that prompted premiere rock god Eddie Van Halen to score this 1984 TV-movie THE SEDUCTION OF GINA for wife Valerie Bertinelli; only don't expect cool beachy grooves like the same years' <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/11/THEwildLIFE.html">THE WILD LIFE</a> that he <i>thoroughly</i> composed: herein among three prerecorded instrumental tracks, a <i>Jump</i>-like synth-driven opener introduces Valerie's titular GINA as a flaky college student married to a serious med student, and after a beginner's luck bout of barroom horse race gambling, she winds up a desperate addict...</p><p></p><p>Which is not only constrained by television standards, but someone as adorable as Valerie hitting rock bottom isn't very rocky, or bottomy...</p><p>The casino mogul (Michael Brandon) she owes and ultimately "has to" sleep with is both better looking and more aptly suited than her downer husband; and then a streetwise bookie hardly puts pressure since she gets trust fund money so easily. But that doesn't mean this SEDUCTION doesn't have value. There's a good amount of suspense while she's actually gambling (mostly Black Jack) within the plush Tahoe casino, and one morning-after as she rushes to her apartment seconds before her husband arrives is a genuine nail-biter. Meanwhile, best pal Dinah Manoff has potential as a boy-crazy sidekick... <i>if</i> this were a series-pilot instead... But GINA is a basic tale about what happens when a gorgeous young lady has too much free-time that winds up costing. If only she stuck with the polite millionaire and dropped the whiny loser... But then she'd have no more problems and this is — while doing for gambling what PRETTY WOMAN does for prostitution<i> </i><i>— </i>an addiction melodrama that's a decent bet for passing the time. </p><p><span></span></p>

dinah manoff, edward van halen, eighties, exploitation, gambling, melodrama, michael brandon, TV, tv movie, valerie bertinelli

YOUNG MARRIEDS EDDIE & VALERIE BET 'THE SEDUCTION OF GINA'

Valerie Bertinelli as GINA Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 It was love and marriage that prompted premiere rock god Eddie Van Halen to score this ...

AND GOD RESTED: A RAMBLING FAREWELL TO EDDIE VAN HALEN

<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxBZTn_z-4A/X30G2-9zWxI/AAAAAAABYus/xmF1kAXMRVMKwqUF9QHcQ_bDadWdkKL0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s500/R-2120293-1265128957.jpeg.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BxBZTn_z-4A/X30G2-9zWxI/AAAAAAABYus/xmF1kAXMRVMKwqUF9QHcQ_bDadWdkKL0ACLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h320/R-2120293-1265128957.jpeg.jpeg" width="320"></a></div><p>Faded memory of two long-haired kids riding a BMX bike... The one on the handlebars holds a ghetto blaster as they're leaving the high school campus while Van Halen's <i>Feel Your Love Tonight</i> blares from outta those circular speakers...<br></p><p>Well that was very long ago when Eddie Van Halen existed on radios and television AND IN MOVIES too... </p><p>One to catch is <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/11/THEwildLIFE.html">THE WILD LIFE</a> where as SOLE COMPOSER he's not burdened by temperamental (or just plain MENTAL) lead singers... ... And throughout Cameron Crowe's counter <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/robert-romanus-fast-times-at-ridgemont.html">FAST TIMES</a> tale of two former high school buddies (and one hippie little brother) are blues and rock instrumentals, and even a lightning-fast jazz track taking place in a donut shop... </p><p></p><p>And before that was Jonathan Kaplan's miraculous teen-angst cult classic OVER THE EDGE... </p><p>Made in 1979 (and released on cable in 1982) where Van Halen's first album's Kinks cover YOU REALLY GOT ME orchestrated heavy metal kids Matt Dillon, Michael Kramer and Tom Fergus entering a two-story suburban house filled with rowdy movie kids representing rowdier kids from real life... mainly influenced by movies, and music: Most of who would eventually either burn out from or grow out of those lean young crazy years... But some of us never forgot the tunes that those seemingly endless great times grooved to... And how Eddie Van Halen's beachy rhythm/riffs could exceed even his signature/legendary hammer-on solos... And... So... Anyways... REST IN PEACE to an eternal Guitar God: This post's for you!<br></p><span></span>

edward van halen, eighties, memorial, music, seventies, tribute, van halen

AND GOD RESTED: A RAMBLING FAREWELL TO EDDIE VAN HALEN

Faded memory of two long-haired kids riding a BMX bike... The one on the handlebars holds a ghetto blaster as they're leaving the high s...

BRITISH WEREWOLF FROM OUTER SPACE HORROR FLICK 'PREY'

<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/-NRpxrA8L8Cw/X3luAXQPQFI/AAAAAAABYgY/cQQtgTJM8OsFAEUoMnu6_FssHHoPtQ7hQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1061/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-09-28%2Bat%2B2.37.21%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1061" data-original-width="961" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NRpxrA8L8Cw/X3luAXQPQFI/AAAAAAABYgY/cQQtgTJM8OsFAEUoMnu6_FssHHoPtQ7hQCLcBGAsYHQ/w363-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-09-28%2Bat%2B2.37.21%2BPM.jpeg" width="363"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PREY Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A shape-shifting space alien takes the form of a handsome young man on Earth and, after violently doing what he was sent for (which we learn at the end), he finds two pretty lesbians holed-up in a rural country estate... just so he can study their daily/nightly routine... Which means that men are all the same no matter what planet they derive...<br></p><p></p><p>For a robotic-like Barry Stokes it's a complicated (and often risky) lesson of love and jealousy in what's an offbeat triangle within a low-budget science-fiction horror with plenty of intended downtime...</p><p>Giving the feel that cult director Norman J. Warren's PREY is actually more of a deliberately slow-paced arthouse thriller, and, filmed in England with British actors, the acting's quite good when it really shouldn't be... </p><p>Featuring the more feminine and once straight Glory Annen (with an unseen backstory involving an ex-husband), who's given either loving/controlling kisses <i>or</i> dirty/frustrated looks by her shorter-haired yet equally attractive lover (Sally Faulkner), the most fun is how the bickering couple tries figuring out this strange male visitor, who winds up like a benign, manipulated little brother of sorts... <br></p><p>Meanwhile the taboo exploitation gets sporadically intruded upon by what hardcore horror fans would want much more of, like gruesome body count deaths by the alien, particularly while sporting full fangs, an interstellar wolfman, who, despite having plenty to watch (as a voyeur along with the intended male audience) has very little to do. </p><p><span></span></p>

barry stokes, british, exploitation, glory annen, horror, indie, lesbian, norman j. warren, rural, sally faulkner, science-fiction, seventies, thriller

BRITISH WEREWOLF FROM OUTER SPACE HORROR FLICK 'PREY'

Title: PREY Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2 A shape-shifting space alien takes the form of a handsome young man on Earth and, after violently doin...

LOW BUDGET BRITISH ANTHOLOGY HORROR FLICK 'SCREAMTIME'

<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/-prJnANdjeRI/X3vuxppXoJI/AAAAAAABYj8/xgqghSXqptAXBXM1Qws_kzY29VlCxV2HQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2042/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1523" data-original-width="2042" height="299" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-prJnANdjeRI/X3vuxppXoJI/AAAAAAABYj8/xgqghSXqptAXBXM1Qws_kzY29VlCxV2HQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h299/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dione Inman in SCRE