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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5kiYXefzlQK4IZJeuqtlChoLRBCKk7bqKzRlHWG4uWNeRqVc5fu5VUjQJ4N5SIXEKzUXNZjWG8DBosWCjKxRAvMOtSsBUvM4MPUXJ46e_UhJ3J9tDEWdoiSq3tt8Vz-cVCF5H_YJEdkN/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy5kiYXefzlQK4IZJeuqtlChoLRBCKk7bqKzRlHWG4uWNeRqVc5fu5VUjQJ4N5SIXEKzUXNZjWG8DBosWCjKxRAvMOtSsBUvM4MPUXJ46e_UhJ3J9tDEWdoiSq3tt8Vz-cVCF5H_YJEdkN/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ez-ER91d16ceWiwnacvLBr5hDSkx4OCyfK2EfZrTbMfMECQzlL7-zwnRx0DTnY6llDObl7z4iF7yFG0bF9v5uxt17HKZzatMRm4AMovRIKXz2xUfYqTximxt8ovnjNsMKvnSK-2zuLaR/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1ez-ER91d16ceWiwnacvLBr5hDSkx4OCyfK2EfZrTbMfMECQzlL7-zwnRx0DTnY6llDObl7z4iF7yFG0bF9v5uxt17HKZzatMRm4AMovRIKXz2xUfYqTximxt8ovnjNsMKvnSK-2zuLaR/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 ...

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32mM5rXOXw8VwAiZpfskDvgRjMX28l5rY3rlgCziyvuzvpJCW8pxR0wt9zRTrAQME5j-XAnVfaxYgAo0FQwzBd5PuV7wEKdL2c6WZK9JLwOLXxiH192L3vczznaCuyVfauTPyjsY9rh83/s1313/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+10.48.20+PM+2.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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg32mM5rXOXw8VwAiZpfskDvgRjMX28l5rY3rlgCziyvuzvpJCW8pxR0wt9zRTrAQME5j-XAnVfaxYgAo0FQwzBd5PuV7wEKdL2c6WZK9JLwOLXxiH192L3vczznaCuyVfauTPyjsY9rh83/w400-h300/Screen+Shot+2021-03-05+at+10.48.20+PM+2.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 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'

<p></p><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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR4Tpkq7cNZWo0xblVmc5aArgvtAE1taOi5My4R-JVlLqsu3S0DZ4GB8OSitBmCxYOeS3R2kELEbvlIh53odp4NHNhryclIpy0-gsrFN_NWnd3LleWnroAIsIR5F_ClQ-UOeIwa1TMmTfevyWFbnPSRED_6qZc9Be8wp8U7doEP4leV1hmfPVCIvdTiQ=s960" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="934" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjR4Tpkq7cNZWo0xblVmc5aArgvtAE1taOi5My4R-JVlLqsu3S0DZ4GB8OSitBmCxYOeS3R2kELEbvlIh53odp4NHNhryclIpy0-gsrFN_NWnd3LleWnroAIsIR5F_ClQ-UOeIwa1TMmTfevyWFbnPSRED_6qZc9Be8wp8U7doEP4leV1hmfPVCIvdTiQ=w389-h400" width="389"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BLOODTIDE Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2</u></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..."</p><p>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></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... </p><p>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 ANIMAL HOUSE starlet 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.”</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/AVvXsEh6Jupd2XJwVrN4R5kHk0XvxD2pmIXXI7ealRXMuXzHpZIjZz5do64o-FJsiu--E-YgQCmeqTsWIfwxcFHj78Aed-wljTlOI0sMByjwNU0nhMel9CoQRJ7scLtst_DI500Jm5qtxhperkBjgHccLj7CevWg7pU0r6lxWGO1rXZtFLWtPwvS7r8VU0hkqw=s1181" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6Jupd2XJwVrN4R5kHk0XvxD2pmIXXI7ealRXMuXzHpZIjZz5do64o-FJsiu--E-YgQCmeqTsWIfwxcFHj78Aed-wljTlOI0sMByjwNU0nhMel9CoQRJ7scLtst_DI500Jm5qtxhperkBjgHccLj7CevWg7pU0r6lxWGO1rXZtFLWtPwvS7r8VU0hkqw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Martin Kove and Mary-Louise Weller in BLOODTIDE with James Earl Jones & Lydia Cornell</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX1QvJO2Xxfkttw3OF26zOhKuvpSwdSJD8fqlIXrSLO73KoMacEFPpTgs7tT2cjO4CMmYK2-mh0qymGIGeGSPux1pQpg8gZmdK9c0zMpf5xLl1VM5-Jrr6SKSPGfMQgetYz0_LWtx1uH0f/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX1QvJO2Xxfkttw3OF26zOhKuvpSwdSJD8fqlIXrSLO73KoMacEFPpTgs7tT2cjO4CMmYK2-mh0qymGIGeGSPux1pQpg8gZmdK9c0zMpf5xLl1VM5-Jrr6SKSPGfMQgetYz0_LWtx1uH0f/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_i82NaEgwyNa6-o1iZqtF0K9HNcJypDbgsX-PEXs4Zrm73IPsRps3UFdLLlYxoKUc2wNk3mR9Y2jBmPTkjPNcSF5jtAqS9Wxtp1NKZQyzHSGVPPo_jjYLl5tp3kMM4pwHH497uAisERF/s1031/Screen+Shot+2020-12-07+at+12.06.41+AM.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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR_i82NaEgwyNa6-o1iZqtF0K9HNcJypDbgsX-PEXs4Zrm73IPsRps3UFdLLlYxoKUc2wNk3mR9Y2jBmPTkjPNcSF5jtAqS9Wxtp1NKZQyzHSGVPPo_jjYLl5tp3kMM4pwHH497uAisERF/w344-h400/Screen+Shot+2020-12-07+at+12.06.41+AM.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 aspects really work made the movie fail at the box office: No big stars to outshine the subject matter along with 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>

carl reindel, 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...

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle7iqbqn-UK0spO_TIEY3j3nUsjkT1F35Dp5DJ7U49b3_IiOcSchHvtMO5AoSrOcbjXfMUF5sqzeRiiCk8wwTQGO2U-Ou2-wGZNJammc9wXq-kO6o1i2WtnZ7_F9z0FmmeXUoVaYe1ZnT/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhle7iqbqn-UK0spO_TIEY3j3nUsjkT1F35Dp5DJ7U49b3_IiOcSchHvtMO5AoSrOcbjXfMUF5sqzeRiiCk8wwTQGO2U-Ou2-wGZNJammc9wXq-kO6o1i2WtnZ7_F9z0FmmeXUoVaYe1ZnT/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06O5OOXEiZnE7u-sMb61FdluV9-weQfKJTF26HEEwj5Som9INA7zsuPng6fwJP2gcIxm2uMnVe8GHH_Ez4JFAZVG6uC7E8ecEw1Oz529JrUtQLGJ1HcEDtnQ0wegYjdWj430kQ5oeeLTz/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi06O5OOXEiZnE7u-sMb61FdluV9-weQfKJTF26HEEwj5Som9INA7zsuPng6fwJP2gcIxm2uMnVe8GHH_Ez4JFAZVG6uC7E8ecEw1Oz529JrUtQLGJ1HcEDtnQ0wegYjdWj430kQ5oeeLTz/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>And 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, conrad phillips, donald pleasence, erika remberg, exploitation, horror, sixties, thriller, yvonne monlaur, 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><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" 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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEtzfhsEVMZYAqtz0FAXvWTp140CDGaT33K4f2xPRSfknqlq-_FjWlQ2Bd9DT_dB8_SjRl8UBVVcXu7Ryj2pkO24BxLPmVFFo4rhyphenhyphenyvHXZ3MzRxVNO6Vv8Kd2K_WFEbPRXnVGbJjH2hAEXsiAVKjPgaZA4tmjYUr6p9gCLKcuQy9vNg-gi5QYZB9s_Soa/s1560/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-13%20at%208.13.03%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="1560" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmEtzfhsEVMZYAqtz0FAXvWTp140CDGaT33K4f2xPRSfknqlq-_FjWlQ2Bd9DT_dB8_SjRl8UBVVcXu7Ryj2pkO24BxLPmVFFo4rhyphenhyphenyvHXZ3MzRxVNO6Vv8Kd2K_WFEbPRXnVGbJjH2hAEXsiAVKjPgaZA4tmjYUr6p9gCLKcuQy9vNg-gi5QYZB9s_Soa/w400-h356/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-13%20at%208.13.03%20PM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2</u></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></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>A sculptor living in a dark spooky mansion with lush mom Bette Davis, a mellower BABY JANE here... but since horror leans towards youth, Sian Barbara Allen is both the ingenue <i>and</i> antagonist... As in, antagonistic, nosy and downright pushy to her new boss (hired for light housekeeping) played by benign THAT GIRL actor Ted Bessell... </p><p>Who, it turns out, harbors a crazy sister in the guest house and, well, let's just say the end twist of this Universal TV-Movie is both predictable and blasphemous to a theatrical classic 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 as today, a wider view uncovers all the dated flaws... yet there's still a nice little short-story vibe showcasing both the creepiness of a slowburn-creepy little tale and the monkey-cuteness of the ingenue (who'd appear on a Columbo with the same stock music). </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'

Year: 1973 Rates: ***1/2 Sian Barbara Allen is one of those artsy-looking actresses that could only derive from the 1970's: A round-face...

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfXz07UIJefJREII7VP4_Vfc3pWKPjHLC768VmpzyAmTyB8JJiIQGPFwiT9zjoC-mMo9QV57Om7yM8Sve4xGHMV2IbfCLKEKOlniTrTUfv5FoCvrcIpzXVR3zViBuGTXnaIgPIBTiddPr/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggfXz07UIJefJREII7VP4_Vfc3pWKPjHLC768VmpzyAmTyB8JJiIQGPFwiT9zjoC-mMo9QV57Om7yM8Sve4xGHMV2IbfCLKEKOlniTrTUfv5FoCvrcIpzXVR3zViBuGTXnaIgPIBTiddPr/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 Adrienne 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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgqdCqAiHadwv3Z6B9Z8c3pGGj-vVfz7-OcWfeQaTr8YyOGnFUvvWoVTkmKhi6uYWbWn0oP4mxTstXhRuwiIOjEBPFpodukGlrzGMvcUVnca_MBh76BFPouCKv1ZFTAnAxThX-pj308np/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihgqdCqAiHadwv3Z6B9Z8c3pGGj-vVfz7-OcWfeQaTr8YyOGnFUvvWoVTkmKhi6uYWbWn0oP4mxTstXhRuwiIOjEBPFpodukGlrzGMvcUVnca_MBh76BFPouCKv1ZFTAnAxThX-pj308np/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><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDfTVI-ipW-kkxbS2H2AuMawme_A_id19NB4uJDY2ioYvBKQAsJcy_FTpLj5vg_L_pYHcB8YxBL76Vo_YvDDSHna4B6PA6tpqcf5q9Ytb1jaf7xzt6tw_rlEeuAlqX-_WhubS81NccRvwUX_ugbMFFRN302T7AHBAuI3XKVPAU1fhOTh0nbQa9tM3LQ/s1774/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-08%20at%2010.45.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="1774" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwDfTVI-ipW-kkxbS2H2AuMawme_A_id19NB4uJDY2ioYvBKQAsJcy_FTpLj5vg_L_pYHcB8YxBL76Vo_YvDDSHna4B6PA6tpqcf5q9Ytb1jaf7xzt6tw_rlEeuAlqX-_WhubS81NccRvwUX_ugbMFFRN302T7AHBAuI3XKVPAU1fhOTh0nbQa9tM3LQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-08%20at%2010.45.46%20PM.png"></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></p><p>Their last mistake was entering the dollmaker's backroom where a sci-fi genre laser-cannon awaits; 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... </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...

KENT TAYLOR & GENE NELSON IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'THE PURPLE HILLS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhH12DC6AXPuxaXAq9EzHyeVk3jIyog7XQMFwLTU17kOkUbJhfwxorKkYxqpONz0LsVHaaSiaHoUOJtV2fXqvd0QulkeCFQ_UmLf8IO6ZgKW8lRGdoQr2aZW_5GCFtIU_H4aa_VSeccNL/s863/23+2.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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhH12DC6AXPuxaXAq9EzHyeVk3jIyog7XQMFwLTU17kOkUbJhfwxorKkYxqpONz0LsVHaaSiaHoUOJtV2fXqvd0QulkeCFQ_UmLf8IO6ZgKW8lRGdoQr2aZW_5GCFtIU_H4aa_VSeccNL/w400-h353/23+2.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, floyd crosby, gene nelson, jerry summers, joanna barnes, kent taylor, maury dexter, russ bender, western

KENT TAYLOR & GENE NELSON IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'THE PURPLE HILLS'

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3Rurx-TSdI4fnRYFRGsExxI320soz6j5BnmYMDPM9YC8qAwm3C0-Q2D0yb8pqdwAe7n_tKg0r9Ul-5BLIwOz4XOJ6cGMugPW4EteTFSPEY2I8pnepasKUiIwrI9Zi5MdtDCryaBGkY5I/s1609/Screen+Shot+2020-11-05+at+11.57.30+PM.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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju3Rurx-TSdI4fnRYFRGsExxI320soz6j5BnmYMDPM9YC8qAwm3C0-Q2D0yb8pqdwAe7n_tKg0r9Ul-5BLIwOz4XOJ6cGMugPW4EteTFSPEY2I8pnepasKUiIwrI9Zi5MdtDCryaBGkY5I/w400-h259/Screen+Shot+2020-11-05+at+11.57.30+PM.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...

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmxhloCYF9hH1QoeGTuT9xwL32GaAgkQ3Xe2efzLjTmfUME4fqVfBxLr3LV8s1hdDf55mxDNlt126RLbmD-M8msshl4CL1C66avHDrUSxjBjMtAFWiQQJFKsnULg_ZSiMR7NpZfXVlO6n/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGmxhloCYF9hH1QoeGTuT9xwL32GaAgkQ3Xe2efzLjTmfUME4fqVfBxLr3LV8s1hdDf55mxDNlt126RLbmD-M8msshl4CL1C66avHDrUSxjBjMtAFWiQQJFKsnULg_ZSiMR7NpZfXVlO6n/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...

FREDERIC FORREST AND STEACH KEACH ARE 'THE DION BROTHERS'

<p><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfj22cRCTIPe7Ti8pAW5k6sxJKVx34aVUSsH_rCIZgWA71T_Pm-qSZ9A1VEykR6E7sZVkBM194XsaK2lL8BpGdSwlXQwoNJni4g3vw341icCYW4FOcEAqBvbV4JjUWnejf7_uUoDB3JUFba68LdAXRZ9VYEiaoiucNLyc3vYYZmbXYT8GmZuajdEb8Iec/s1386/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%208.47.00%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1386" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwfj22cRCTIPe7Ti8pAW5k6sxJKVx34aVUSsH_rCIZgWA71T_Pm-qSZ9A1VEykR6E7sZVkBM194XsaK2lL8BpGdSwlXQwoNJni4g3vw341icCYW4FOcEAqBvbV4JjUWnejf7_uUoDB3JUFba68LdAXRZ9VYEiaoiucNLyc3vYYZmbXYT8GmZuajdEb8Iec/w400-h314/Screen%20Shot%202023-06-24%20at%208.47.00%20PM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Dion Brothers Year: 1974 </u><u><span>Rating:</span> ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p> THE DION BROTHERS, originally titled THE GRAVY TRAIN, if taken as a serious crime film, seems kinda bad at first; even, at times, embarrassing. Terrence Malick and co-writer Bill Kerby's script is riddled with cliches, and the characters banter the words like a mediocre Las Vegas standup act... </p><p>But when you realize it's a comedy/action team-up, it's apparent they knew what they were doing: creating a fun, and sporadically gritty, heist flick...</p><p>Frederic Forrest and Stacy Keach are blue collar brothers from West Virginia. Keach has moved to Washington DC and is a con-man in the Insurance Industry i.e. a guy who wants to get rich quick. Forrest is an ex-convict working in a coal mine who joins Keach and some other slackers (including Denny Miller and Robert Romanus) to rob an armored truck, which, like all heist films, doesn't go as planned, so the last half consists of the siblings, a cross between Laurel/Hardy and Dillinger/Nelson, escaping police and mob assassins as the two leads, both terrific actors, get better as the film itself improves during the third act: when the situation gets more and more desperate. And tough guy actor/director Jack Starrett guides the few actions scenes nicely, resulting in a terrific old-school shootout reminiscent of the classic gangster movies: where crime doesn't pay.</p><p></p>

action, buddy, comedy, crime, frederic forrest, gangster, heist, jack starrett, neo noir, seventies, stacy keach, terrence malick

FREDERIC FORREST AND STEACH KEACH ARE 'THE DION BROTHERS'

Title: The Dion Brothers Year: 1974  Rating: *** THE DION BROTHERS, originally titled THE GRAVY TRAIN, if taken as a serious crime film, s...

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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPSJN4DxDaLIpy3sOq78e_A7O6fpK10hDfnzgULcZR9B_kgh-O4ipnYysfXwwM7f0bnW78hDqe5GiM_9qUPFeOecoaeabVENiXDlTZWFTmAYDNINZEK46xYFCtf0z0foO1RDBuvqd5vS2/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguPSJN4DxDaLIpy3sOq78e_A7O6fpK10hDfnzgULcZR9B_kgh-O4ipnYysfXwwM7f0bnW78hDqe5GiM_9qUPFeOecoaeabVENiXDlTZWFTmAYDNINZEK46xYFCtf0z0foO1RDBuvqd5vS2/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...

VAN HALEN'S EDDIE & VALERIE BETTING 'THE SEDUCTION OF GINA'

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghINeX97nxeawKfmQgE7qkFE9a-YineYHZ7725eI0jZSicZHdrotmfPYAqd0zN2YDJzXvNJOeltQc0CfWR4RbMgWaB1fgrIHTOE4KDrDyA6-AwC0lHzKiq32UY_aKGXaECOFuOV0BjQTGE/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghINeX97nxeawKfmQgE7qkFE9a-YineYHZ7725eI0jZSicZHdrotmfPYAqd0zN2YDJzXvNJOeltQc0CfWR4RbMgWaB1fgrIHTOE4KDrDyA6-AwC0lHzKiq32UY_aKGXaECOFuOV0BjQTGE/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 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: 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 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, fredric lehne, gambling, melodrama, michael brandon, randy brooks, TV, tv movie, valerie bertinelli

VAN HALEN'S EDDIE & VALERIE BETTING 'THE SEDUCTION OF GINA'

Valerie Bertinelli as GINA Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 It was love and marriage that prompted Eddie Van Halen to score this 1984 TV-movie THE ...

RICHARD WIDMARK SCORNED IN THE FILM NOIR ROAD HOUSE

<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KX8TwWtDwykx7TffO2-fxA56TJ0gjnIDWl6y2WeTaeJv5uvqjTxUqsKFdU6hRvLLUfKHg-_xWjzgIDwswabS0ureEp9kdF3JN50GPtlmSY1J1xGLZIYgXZCA_r603f48gr7XwGuIGevLMluiCG-rcggDvrYVZMLloTSZ7iEon38RXbtZm7CDDjf_g/s1468/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-11%20at%203.52.01%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="961" data-original-width="1468" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6KX8TwWtDwykx7TffO2-fxA56TJ0gjnIDWl6y2WeTaeJv5uvqjTxUqsKFdU6hRvLLUfKHg-_xWjzgIDwswabS0ureEp9kdF3JN50GPtlmSY1J1xGLZIYgXZCA_r603f48gr7XwGuIGevLMluiCG-rcggDvrYVZMLloTSZ7iEon38RXbtZm7CDDjf_g/w400-h261/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-11%20at%203.52.01%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR OF RELEASE: 1948</u></td></tr></tbody></table>No this doesn't star Patrick Swayze... ROAD HOUSE was originally a Noir title </span>—<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> t</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">he third of Richard Widmark's sleazy villain roles igniting with the staircase-shoving Tommy Udo in KISS OF DEATH followed by a nervous and edgy gang-boss in THE STREET WITH NO NAME...</span><br> <br> <span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">Widmark is the guy who, in these early roles, is far from pretty, or even manly, but does have either power or money, or both, and here he's just the rich part, owner of the title location where bowling is the forefront till he brings Ida Lupino to sing in the lounge: starting out, me mostly see her from the perspective of hero Cornel Wilde as Peter, the manager and bouncer who does all the work: one scene taking down a large and lusty drunk equalling two of Patrick Swayze's rowdy opponents. </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">So Peter has the least amount of fun. That is, until Lupino begins to shun the man who hired her... </span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">And like in many a Noir, the rich guy practically hands a woman, his woman (in this case, only in his mind) into the arms of the younger, handsome stud, and seems completely puzzled when they turn out falling in love... Although at one point, when Lupino describes her scary boss to Pete, he responds: "You don't understand </span>—<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"> Jefty just needs to have somebody around." And how!</span><br> <br>

british film noir/melodrama, cornel wilde, ida lupino, richard widmark

RICHARD WIDMARK SCORNED IN THE FILM NOIR ROAD HOUSE

YEAR OF RELEASE: 1948 No this doesn't star Patrick Swayze... ROAD HOUSE was originally a Noir title  —  t he third of Richard Widmark...

AND GOD RESTED: A RAMBLING FAREWELL TO EDDIE VAN HALEN

<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDqcIRz6lCILCbtYYjxdu0fxY7xxs49uBaSobgHJ0by1lXClndBc5Lmb-AU-yjtJKc214C3K2XutAIJwyHHTk79e_V05wSz-NnLolnYm0VaFjgXJ5WCL0BNDdany83r8XzblaqkhysxsC/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQDqcIRz6lCILCbtYYjxdu0fxY7xxs49uBaSobgHJ0by1lXClndBc5Lmb-AU-yjtJKc214C3K2XutAIJwyHHTk79e_V05wSz-NnLolnYm0VaFjgXJ5WCL0BNDdany83r8XzblaqkhysxsC/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; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5y-6D7HCVYK1RRSk9eSJnoxOHIPlzcpvHQY2MZHW3Qcc6IB3O_wyd_IeEu_upscmLljUAzM2rYBORzbuiQfX7oKpgAqbOxRCrHqmDWY-NECnuMVVEnludJK88p5seG-ZHkohBCuuRmcRB/s1061/Screen+Shot+2020-09-28+at+2.37.21+PM.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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5y-6D7HCVYK1RRSk9eSJnoxOHIPlzcpvHQY2MZHW3Qcc6IB3O_wyd_IeEu_upscmLljUAzM2rYBORzbuiQfX7oKpgAqbOxRCrHqmDWY-NECnuMVVEnludJK88p5seG-ZHkohBCuuRmcRB/w363-h400/Screen+Shot+2020-09-28+at+2.37.21+PM.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 secret monster in 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, 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... 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; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6ii85O16p1vYN46OapZzBvWATK6kBxnAEHljjEEW09uqw-wd76MhGMmhAClCsy9snQMdKgAh90uRW7XH0rj5-iJJP6Az626FlTFkESnl6WzrdxHMxvnZ-R-WavKMfm5bH8t101TgoNdd/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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6ii85O16p1vYN46OapZzBvWATK6kBxnAEHljjEEW09uqw-wd76MhGMmhAClCsy9snQMdKgAh90uRW7XH0rj5-iJJP6Az626FlTFkESnl6WzrdxHMxvnZ-R-WavKMfm5bH8t101TgoNdd/w400-h299/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dione Inman in SCREAMTIME Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"They're British," says New York lowlife Vincent Russo after stealing three video rentals, "I can tell by the way they talk." But it's more than that: the mellow pace and steady acting punctuates British cinema while SCREAMTIME involves a wraparound story where two thieves insert and eject short films that <i>they and we</i> are viewing...</p><p></p><p>And the best is the first, THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT, about creepy puppet Punch handled by an old man with a nagging wife — <i>plus</i> a goading stepson whose girlfriend Dione Inman becomes the "final girl" as the deaths leading to her climactic chase are predictably well-deserved... <br></p><p>Followed by DREAMHOUSE where a married woman is tortured by images of the title location's past: This one's more cerebral and a bit plodding yet ultimately saved by a fantastic twist, which is <i>all</i> DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRIES amounts to: a dirt-bike racer housesits for two ecentric old ladies... and while a Punch puppet is the first tale's tiny killer, here it's a slew of Garden Gnome statues led by wide-eyed Kim Thomson's telekinetic Fairy Queen ghost. And it's lucky those East Coast punks actually robbed a London video store since Britain's super-cheap horror flicks are usually worthwhile: Like a broken antique clock can't tell time but is still magnificent to look at, there's plenty here to savor. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

ann lynn, british, cult, dionne inman, eighties, exploitation, haunted house, horror, horror anthology, kim thomson, robin baily, vincent russo

LOW BUDGET BRITISH ANTHOLOGY HORROR FLICK 'SCREAMTIME'

Dione Inman in SCREAMTIME Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2 "They're British," says New York lowlife Vincent Russo after stealing thre...

PETER VAUGHAN LEADS 'SMOKESCREEN' WITH YVONNE ROMAIN

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6oWF6zc8Xxfoe1SMN_lTrL4_4y0dgYErFggNcBlHmRsaeox-gjlGJJid89P1VJ9qqpsh5GMbE-CkxhWWmp5LYp46obW4FhtsGYlL0sIukav9qz7RfgVj8HVfeYoOlfrxYkvtfAP2stLmKTTjjorYKRcNVuqspghmWvQSrTvP_whow5LAJSFVh7fyTA/s1600/0+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq6oWF6zc8Xxfoe1SMN_lTrL4_4y0dgYErFggNcBlHmRsaeox-gjlGJJid89P1VJ9qqpsh5GMbE-CkxhWWmp5LYp46obW4FhtsGYlL0sIukav9qz7RfgVj8HVfeYoOlfrxYkvtfAP2stLmKTTjjorYKRcNVuqspghmWvQSrTvP_whow5LAJSFVh7fyTA/s16000/0+2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Vaughan & Yvonne Romain in SMOKESCREEN Year: 1964 Rates: ****<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The biggest shame about Jim O'Connolly's quirky low-budget British post-noir SMOKESCREEN is that it was a film instead of a television series since Peter Vaughan's perpetually cautious and stingy insurance adjuster Roper had so many more adventures in him....<br> <br> His particular case involves what the audience and a young couple witness from the very beginning: a burning car driving off a cliff, and we never see a driver, which is what Roper searches for throughout the hour-long programmer, going from one person to the next in the usual "gumshoey" investigative fashion... <br> </p><p></p>

british neo noir, british new wave, david gregory, derek francis, glynn edwards, jill curzon, jim o'connolly, john carson, penny morrell, peter vaughan, sixties, yvonne romain

PETER VAUGHAN LEADS 'SMOKESCREEN' WITH YVONNE ROMAIN

Peter Vaughan & Yvonne Romain in SMOKESCREEN Year: 1964 Rates: **** The biggest shame about Jim O'Connolly's quirky low-budget B...

CHRISTINA GREGG STALKED IN 'DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6-0oRCa_g14wUc65oCABXn4vzDVMoTxJltli9cuXYibel9t0F0sSr5DYPw_rBZG6MDnfsOwfTALH8LKxImqJ871DBzYtULX5p-QfgQQ5zTwoJwpnB6QX86nwnXX5yM-epEBCTM9_8EZQH3mJ0ft8_PGtFn346XEzAO6Uc3bj35C2Ku_CnIBHmt21wg/s1600/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="1600" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6-0oRCa_g14wUc65oCABXn4vzDVMoTxJltli9cuXYibel9t0F0sSr5DYPw_rBZG6MDnfsOwfTALH8LKxImqJ871DBzYtULX5p-QfgQQ5zTwoJwpnB6QX86nwnXX5yM-epEBCTM9_8EZQH3mJ0ft8_PGtFn346XEzAO6Uc3bj35C2Ku_CnIBHmt21wg/w400-h293/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS Year: 1962</u></td></tr></tbody></table>With shows like CATFISH it may seem somewhat new: grown men soliciting and seducing young naïve girls into their clutches, online, but in the 1961 British New Wave Thriller, it happened pretty much the same way, via payphone...<br> <br> And while a title like DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN sounds like a public service announcement, it's ironic that the stranger on the phone is the one advising this to his target, gorgeous girl-next-door Christina Gregg, over five-years older than the character but doing a fantastic job in the vulnerable part: looking a hybrid of two babyface starlets, Diane Baker (before) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (after): she's part of what's more a teenage crush movie than a serial killer suspense, and it's not a one way street despite her doing all the acting facially...<br>

british new wave, christina gregg, crime, janina faye, serial killer, suspense, thriller

CHRISTINA GREGG STALKED IN 'DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN'

Christina Gregg DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS Year: 1962 With shows like CATFISH it may seem somewhat new: grown men soliciting and seducing ...

LANCE COMFORT DIRECTS WILLIAM SYLVESTER IN 'BLIND CORNER'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQpI0GP3xuq4UNUZWd3xLDhskYCtKWgPkndGAfsWMPzrt0IMbGimK6k1yo3BChBjFCoCqzPmDMkqwTunXF_k80KqamFZWsWa0OKxPbcQC1HL2BsQpJ41E2GJv7HPPFPmyZrhTE6ew9Cvp/s1600/11111.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVQpI0GP3xuq4UNUZWd3xLDhskYCtKWgPkndGAfsWMPzrt0IMbGimK6k1yo3BChBjFCoCqzPmDMkqwTunXF_k80KqamFZWsWa0OKxPbcQC1HL2BsQpJ41E2GJv7HPPFPmyZrhTE6ew9Cvp/s1600/11111.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Barbara Shelley (the cheater) and William Sylvester (the cheated) in BLIND CORNER Year: 1964</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is known for its outer space special effects, prehistoric monkeys and a nefarious computer. As for humans there are two British actors (Keir Dullea and Gary Lockwood) and one American as that pair of astronauts' chief. But William Sylvester, though born in Oakland, California, is as much a British actor as they are, trained in RADA and a fixture of England's cinema since after World War II...<br> <br> Though known mostly for the Godzilla/King Kong homage GORGA (that is, before 2001), Sylvester's best performance is the main character from MAN IN THE DARK, actually titled BLIND CORNER, which sounds more like the Noir that it is, one of many low budget 1960's crime flicks from the British New Wave. <br>

alexander davion, barbara shelley, british neo noir, british new wave, lance comfort, mark eden, perfect murder, sixties, thriller, william sylvester

LANCE COMFORT DIRECTS WILLIAM SYLVESTER IN 'BLIND CORNER'

Barbara Shelley (the cheater) and William Sylvester (the cheated) in BLIND CORNER Year: 1964 Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY...

BEFORE TAKING A 'BULLITT' DIRECTOR PETER YATES SHOT 'ROBBERY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfKhLZcyw1UwwlvQ6LxzJzINHjUypaWMJja8yUtCcTZ3IEjgtgOaqP8iI596RUi9zYS9cqbO-o_1hVwcsymLCmY12Ig1v5M7eDMXvfZMQmlKioytmTB0k2t5YvfRAejvD0BvikgHmaiD2Ls5nYTtRQXq0EkVlIbENoOoUhgGxSKl4AxsCwCGvWY7jbI9n/s2566/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-01%20at%208.50.16%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2566" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKfKhLZcyw1UwwlvQ6LxzJzINHjUypaWMJja8yUtCcTZ3IEjgtgOaqP8iI596RUi9zYS9cqbO-o_1hVwcsymLCmY12Ig1v5M7eDMXvfZMQmlKioytmTB0k2t5YvfRAejvD0BvikgHmaiD2Ls5nYTtRQXq0EkVlIbENoOoUhgGxSKl4AxsCwCGvWY7jbI9n/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-01%20at%208.50.16%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ROBBERY Director: Peter Yates Star: Stanley Baker Year: 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, overall a sparse, deliberately cold/heartless British Neo-Noir Heist-Thriller... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's not <i>just</i> this initial chase that Yates carried over to the Steve McQueen legendary classic, but also the strategically metronomic moments leading up...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, barry foster, british neo noir, british new wave, frank finlay, glynn edwards, heist, james booth, joanna pettet, peter yates, sixties, stanley baker, william marlowe

BEFORE TAKING A 'BULLITT' DIRECTOR PETER YATES SHOT 'ROBBERY'

Title: ROBBERY Director: Peter Yates Star: Stanley Baker Year: 1967 Rating: ****1/2 Best known as the obscure crime film that gave English d...

ALICE FAYE AND CARMEN MIRANDA IN 'THE GANG'S ALL HERE'

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQJA-YIvSbwdKoSfLJgvFuJNWBYHbi7CCsflW2FdUIX5-Gn3_Hi5_kcz28p_ou5YW5P32hqIU20aBpNNX5S7FarCpfElNYbKJYWqIWzmhVYnip_ZyfhfdzYOH-nAk_ibgeEUgbCwrbcg_w-eOzMyqj_cpzQ64A-1bWN52o0Y9r58xP_YwX4SE8Ln-SEDa/s1942/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-12%20at%203.14.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1478" data-original-width="1942" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfQJA-YIvSbwdKoSfLJgvFuJNWBYHbi7CCsflW2FdUIX5-Gn3_Hi5_kcz28p_ou5YW5P32hqIU20aBpNNX5S7FarCpfElNYbKJYWqIWzmhVYnip_ZyfhfdzYOH-nAk_ibgeEUgbCwrbcg_w-eOzMyqj_cpzQ64A-1bWN52o0Y9r58xP_YwX4SE8Ln-SEDa/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-12%20at%203.14.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>THE GANG'S ALL HERE Year: 1943 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Anything featuring Carmen Miranda is interesting, and when it comes to this particular wartime propaganda by Busby Berkely titled THE GANG'S ALL HERE, it's lightly entertaining as well...<br> <br> Meanwhile, for story's sake, a bland and breezy romance encroaches upon the fantastical, borderline psychedelic (way before there was such a thing) first act combining a popular nightclub run by Phil Baker and where Benny Goodman and his band play, as a show's taking place on stage before a dinner theater crowd...<br>

alice faye, aloysio de oliveira, benny goodman, carmen miranda, charlotte greenwood, forties, musical

ALICE FAYE AND CARMEN MIRANDA IN 'THE GANG'S ALL HERE'

THE GANG'S ALL HERE Year: 1943 Rating: ***1/2 Anything featuring Carmen Miranda is interesting, and when it comes to this particular...

ELLIOTT GOULD IN ROBERT ALTMAN'S NEO NOIR 'THE LONG GOODBYE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzlN60-CDD26JhjHwXuECcvqSnOjPKRnpp1l3UwDDe-kctzoVLCCP5i4JX18KxfVASSK-7gVFdyxPTnVP2f6Untb-UW861LId_xNFHiuyd0kc7pgU7iIbZm4HdCLzYrE5FLJZ7nz5cSe3RZ7HTA7LmPoUdmafk7gxXlPI0Ig-mNGCEf2MtkeuJnlhXw/s1686/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-09%20at%204.16.37%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="759" data-original-width="1686" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfzlN60-CDD26JhjHwXuECcvqSnOjPKRnpp1l3UwDDe-kctzoVLCCP5i4JX18KxfVASSK-7gVFdyxPTnVP2f6Untb-UW861LId_xNFHiuyd0kc7pgU7iIbZm4HdCLzYrE5FLJZ7nz5cSe3RZ7HTA7LmPoUdmafk7gxXlPI0Ig-mNGCEf2MtkeuJnlhXw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-09%20at%204.16.37%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE LONG GOODBYE Director: Robert Altman Year: 1973 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Former Noir legend Sterling Hayden is technically the most important character in Robert Altman's Neo Noir THE LONG GOODBYE, based on a Raymond Chandler novel where the 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></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Particularly a scene where he and Hayden's Roger Wade... hired by Wade's mesmerizing trophy wife guarded by a grouchy doberman within a Malibu, California colony home... 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...</p><p><span></span></p>

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

ELLIOTT GOULD IN ROBERT ALTMAN'S NEO NOIR 'THE LONG GOODBYE'

Title: THE LONG GOODBYE Director: Robert Altman Year: 1973 Rating: ***** Former Noir legend Sterling Hayden is technically the most importan...

DAVID MCCALLUM, BRIAN WESKE & JILL IRELAND IN 'JUNGLE STREET'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4U_X1yvruHLLsRYhbPnfx-K78nrb4LLfK5fK4QsxE9O91BXWzDKTv5f06lFg0LZPGjcbEwenoB_wpPo3wubYivYJYtm4nyBTwFNvsOgrcvL0O9iR3FLwx86iWET4sek2yFNpMeOOzoF1Q/s1600/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4U_X1yvruHLLsRYhbPnfx-K78nrb4LLfK5fK4QsxE9O91BXWzDKTv5f06lFg0LZPGjcbEwenoB_wpPo3wubYivYJYtm4nyBTwFNvsOgrcvL0O9iR3FLwx86iWET4sek2yFNpMeOOzoF1Q/s1600/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>David McCallum and Gillian Watt with Anne Scott in JUNGLE STREET aka JUNGLE STREET GIRLS Year: 1960</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><p>After having met and married after working together in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/HellDrivers.html">HELL DRIVERS</a> where they were basically glorified cameos, three years later David McCallum and Jill Ireland — as an aimless <i>still at home</i> loser hanging around a strip joint to catch that joint's top stripper — actually <i>starred in</i> another B&W British flick that's far superior: a heist thriller that takes an entire film to reach that heist with creative twisty avenues, and our two stars aren't alone...<br> <br> The third lead in the triangle is freshly-sprung convict Kenneth Cope, a handsome and experienced lad with a romantic background with Ireland (one scene as he charmingly converses with McCallum's kitchen sink mother is a standout); he also wants payback from former partner McCallum, who <i>didn't</i> get caught from what landed him in prison... </p>

brian weske, british new wave, charles saunders, david mccallum, faye craig, guido coen, howard pays, jill ireland, joy webster, julie shearing, kenneth cope, marian collins, sixties, stripper, vanda hudson

DAVID MCCALLUM, BRIAN WESKE & JILL IRELAND IN 'JUNGLE STREET'

David McCallum and Gillian Watt with Anne Scott in JUNGLE STREET aka JUNGLE STREET GIRLS Year: 1960 After having met and married after wo...

CAROL REED'S BELFAST NOIR 'ODD MAN OUT' WITH JAMES MASON

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2Rbtrf8pvwc-M61mzgyaM3Y8WUhjb1u32qbOMwwN8IPYnxI_IrVeHJ7EK-4F9gIi4AwV0dXIy262qiioYsDUEvXKlqbrHMgNFTI9xaAY4Is0vbkYGEW4Nq1APSqMv7YwgNPAO7eTX3Ec/s1600/55865125_675646786197834_3391611282808373248_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="721" data-original-width="794" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn2Rbtrf8pvwc-M61mzgyaM3Y8WUhjb1u32qbOMwwN8IPYnxI_IrVeHJ7EK-4F9gIi4AwV0dXIy262qiioYsDUEvXKlqbrHMgNFTI9xaAY4Is0vbkYGEW4Nq1APSqMv7YwgNPAO7eTX3Ec/s400/55865125_675646786197834_3391611282808373248_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Beatty bribes an urchin for help YEAR: 1947</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> James Mason is always intense, even when he's playing comedy, and this is no comedy: The most riveting scenes seem initially very standard and, for this seemingly doomed, wounded Irish nationalist leader left for dead, staggering through darkened alleys and hidden rooms, he seems to come across things that, at first, seem much different than they turn out being, making this ODD MAN way, way OUT there while at the same time, the audience struggles within the desperate man's perspective...<br> <br> So the suspense relies on a fish out of water almost drowning while perhaps the best moments occur in the set-up as we see through what's truly a semi-deranged mind to begin with: having been holed-up indoors, and before that prison, even his own gang don't trust his instincts and capabilities to pull off a relatively otherwise in-and-out office heist, but in fact, Mason's intrepidly lost Johnny McQueen is backed by tough, assertive Robert Beatty; weaselly, gun-toting Cyril Cusack; timid Dan O'Herlihy; and the lovely, soulfully sad yet dedicated and stubborn-tough ingenue Kathleen Ryan...<br>

british film noir/melodrama, carol reed, cyril cusack, dan o'herlihy, drama, forties, IRA, james mason, kathleen ryan, robert beatty, thriller

CAROL REED'S BELFAST NOIR 'ODD MAN OUT' WITH JAMES MASON

Robert Beatty bribes an urchin for help YEAR: 1947 James Mason is always intense, even when he's playing comedy, and this is no com...

RACHEL ROBERTS & ANNETTE WHITELEY IN 'GIRL ON APPROVAL'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVjJzVo-rlXtGs-vZLiDYWioobT-PjhnUBRjncnxC6wm9DtjzGvrM0yN5aWUhEcGu1wZ2D724-TMvE4VeyBAv1j2Ya_QkZTiEA-130c1b6tu38Oj8RB3cB4-FKBeiqB2AJHnFnCaoGIsR/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-08-26+at+1.25.24+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="829" data-original-width="1006" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTVjJzVo-rlXtGs-vZLiDYWioobT-PjhnUBRjncnxC6wm9DtjzGvrM0yN5aWUhEcGu1wZ2D724-TMvE4VeyBAv1j2Ya_QkZTiEA-130c1b6tu38Oj8RB3cB4-FKBeiqB2AJHnFnCaoGIsR/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-08-26+at+1.25.24+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Annette Whiteley in GIRL ON APPROVAL Year: 1962</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> If you didn't know the plot going in... that fourteen-year-old Sheila is an unwanted orphan who'd gone through a string of foster parents and is now "trying out for" a couple that could be her very last chance... she'd seem like any other girl her age: Bratty. Moody. Angry. Pouting. Shouting... Favoring friendly dad over competitive mom...<br> <br> Basically, GIRL ON APPROVAL is about a normal bad girl at this age, and yet the plot (more a situation) adds enough suspense for the outcome to matter, but not only for the kid...<br> <br> Parents Rachel Roberts and James Maxwell, who'd lost their daughter and, raising two young boys, wind up at each other's throat when this bad seed makes their domestic suburban life a living hell. From cutting up furniture with scissors to smashing things on the kitchen floor, the acting of young Annette Whiteley is strong and effective if one-note-grouchy: like an owl peaking through a messy nest of hair... <br>

annette whiteley, british new wave, drama, family, james maxwell, melodrama, rachel roberts, sixties

RACHEL ROBERTS & ANNETTE WHITELEY IN 'GIRL ON APPROVAL'

Annette Whiteley in GIRL ON APPROVAL Year: 1962 If you didn't know the plot going in... that fourteen-year-old Sheila is an unwanted...

CULT ACTRESS LINDA MANZ IS GONE BUT SHE'S NOT FORGOTTEN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jSoO7Oy1IeuA8sFz1C1G5sN5cTigFIwK-Xaq18Z_dOQT0o-JYyh0juvElCcdY71CxNRx_pkxZgGZ2v1hp6cw6-aSlou-lozwUDMuagL4oKv4ebWxnZy9cR-abwRecyd8V75lHycH9ar3/s1600/Screen%2525252BShot%2525252B2020-08-15%2525252Bat%2525252B12.18.02%2525252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="883" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jSoO7Oy1IeuA8sFz1C1G5sN5cTigFIwK-Xaq18Z_dOQT0o-JYyh0juvElCcdY71CxNRx_pkxZgGZ2v1hp6cw6-aSlou-lozwUDMuagL4oKv4ebWxnZy9cR-abwRecyd8V75lHycH9ar3/s1600/Screen%2525252BShot%2525252B2020-08-15%2525252Bat%2525252B12.18.02%2525252BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Linda Manz born August 20, 1961 died August 14, 2020 here in THE WANDERERS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Rest in Peace to one of the most unique cult actresses of all time, LINDA MANZ, who started as Richard Gere's narrating little sister in the Depression-era drama DAYS OF HEAVEN, a role that Gere himself said stole the film...<br> <br> And she starred in what's her most famous role as Dennis Hoppers troubled daughter in the EASY RIDER auteur's directorial comeback, OUT OF THE BLUE, in which Manz's character worships Elvis and Johnny Rotten; and before that, in THE WANDERERS, she's the "Pee Wee" girlfriend of giant-sized Erland van Lidth.<br> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvB189HoHsqSrOIkOgk8JJmroh8yoSeQqrfuxY3d7nZGQL-zP_If1dh7j69HiXRxmxU_0vreCyo7mtlVewV2TLuHm20K_2LV3JIB745hw7At17495eA-OuhRzlSdw8dkVzz8dbLmAvFHER/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-08-15+at+1.30.29+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvB189HoHsqSrOIkOgk8JJmroh8yoSeQqrfuxY3d7nZGQL-zP_If1dh7j69HiXRxmxU_0vreCyo7mtlVewV2TLuHm20K_2LV3JIB745hw7At17495eA-OuhRzlSdw8dkVzz8dbLmAvFHER/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-08-15+at+1.30.29+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Linda Manz in her final and most iconic roles OUT OF THE BLUE</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

2020, linda manz, tribute

CULT ACTRESS LINDA MANZ IS GONE BUT SHE'S NOT FORGOTTEN

Linda Manz born August 20, 1961 died August 14, 2020 here in THE WANDERERS Rest in Peace to one of the most unique cult actresses of all...

SUSAN HAYWARD AND DANA ANDREWS STIR 'MY FOOLISH HEART'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRVXlKPDVhnRje2eEBTkYrdepKEaDAHBqn1ATY2nPt6VCJenF1RasP6VtRk7SaxNC6-TdRUP7gL1RRTxiv-Y4QZkdreEo_4remC4HRih7MvIdc0S_L84sAiCw1E_ioR__WDuBFW6Doiwg/s1600/fool.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="379" data-original-width="500" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKRVXlKPDVhnRje2eEBTkYrdepKEaDAHBqn1ATY2nPt6VCJenF1RasP6VtRk7SaxNC6-TdRUP7gL1RRTxiv-Y4QZkdreEo_4remC4HRih7MvIdc0S_L84sAiCw1E_ioR__WDuBFW6Doiwg/s400/fool.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MY FOOLISH HEART Year: 1949 Rating: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> J.D. Salinger's short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" was adapted, to his chagrin, and with Dana Andrews discussing the titular rabbit getting into and out of trouble, it's contrived, cinematic symbolism for Susan Hayward, flashing back and forth from pre-War to post-War... a glib lush unhappily married to Kent Smith (hanging with her best friend and dealing with an introverted daughter) in the present while reminiscing about the nostalgic affair with Andrews...<br> <br> The best scenes occur before the before the war; that is, when Dana's dapper, handsome stranger meets our insecure college girl at a dance, defends her against a bullying deb, takes her home for a drink, and later gets her thrown out of college for kissing in the dorm elevator. And just as their romance gets interesting, the next scene Dana's wearing a baggy military uniform, about to fly overseas but before that, to meet her parents...<br>

adaptation, dana andrews, drama, forties, j.d. salinger, kent smith, mark robson, melodrama, robert keith, romance, susan hayward

SUSAN HAYWARD AND DANA ANDREWS STIR 'MY FOOLISH HEART'

Title: MY FOOLISH HEART Year: 1949 Rating: *** J.D. Salinger's short story "Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" was adapted, to ...

DANA ANDREWS AND FARLEY GRANGER IN 'EDGE OF DOOM'

<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/AVvXsEhxggU7uhjlOJKXcE9EHmSH8USHuYcMH_PCAM1ybapzez7rznlw3EHEq48UrzHWm_OrVHHt-Fvys3TnsGc-ItF3xvbeS_E9KsxG1UNrWw6Vw1HukmBh24UL6C86c3zzLFFDGaHe9G46yFfffLNPgI3A1Z1XeOysQ4Y-VVO8BpbLC9g4C-PV_qJN2X1yBQ=s931" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="632" data-original-width="931" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhxggU7uhjlOJKXcE9EHmSH8USHuYcMH_PCAM1ybapzez7rznlw3EHEq48UrzHWm_OrVHHt-Fvys3TnsGc-ItF3xvbeS_E9KsxG1UNrWw6Vw1HukmBh24UL6C86c3zzLFFDGaHe9G46yFfffLNPgI3A1Z1XeOysQ4Y-VVO8BpbLC9g4C-PV_qJN2X1yBQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: EDGE OF DOOM aka STRONGER THAN FEAR Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The idea of a Catholic Film Noir isn't so strange being that the "genre" and the religion are both full of guilt, and this above-average crime melodrama in the fashion of CRIME AND PUNISHMENT stars super-guilty-looking Farley Granger (equally as ashamed of his murdering-self in Alfred Hitchock's ROPE), who kills an old cranky priest that didn't give his long-dead father last rites because he'd committed suicide instead of — like Granger's beloved mother that he wants a lavish funeral for despite their shabby apartment-dwelling reality — dying more naturally, and with dignity...<br> <br> Enter Dana Andrews... not as the doomed priest but the young, more open minded Father with the normally Jewish last name of Roth (Hollywood obviously wanted to please everyone): he's called in for Ma's last rites instead of the old man, dealing with his own pointless personal family issues...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

adele jergens, dana andrews, farley granger, fifties, film noir or melodrama, mala powers, mark robson, paul stewart, robert keith, thriller

DANA ANDREWS AND FARLEY GRANGER IN 'EDGE OF DOOM'

Title: EDGE OF DOOM aka STRONGER THAN FEAR Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2 The idea of a Catholic Film Noir isn't so strange being that the ...

PETER SELLERS ENDS WITH 'THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAfpjZJHplR1aQn30upGn2ANgB3ZwUrcHAxeAwehlMbdFTH7U1NKu7QlqXreC03fgPxdwaaYotELzyHOcNbYlYMbkzxtsNjkdxAACzUKZBjw-QcA7SgAWuSZ60LhWLGM5ibc5pdE2H8wg/s1600/01.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1250" data-original-width="1458" height="342" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPAfpjZJHplR1aQn30upGn2ANgB3ZwUrcHAxeAwehlMbdFTH7U1NKu7QlqXreC03fgPxdwaaYotELzyHOcNbYlYMbkzxtsNjkdxAACzUKZBjw-QcA7SgAWuSZ60LhWLGM5ibc5pdE2H8wg/s400/01.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Artwork for THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU Year: 1980</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> What Peter Sellers' final motion picture, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU, has in common with his most popular franchise, THE PINK PANTHER, is that both parody James Bond: Especially 1976's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/StrikesAgain.html">PINK PANTHER STRIKES AGAIN</a>, so over-the-top similar to the Roger Moore outings that MANCHU feels like a homage of a homage. But there's also the Christopher Lee MANCHU b-flicks and before that, Boris Karloff...<br> <br> Sellers was obviously a fan of both as this was he and trophy wife Lynne Frederick's labor-of-love going through several directors, which shows since many overlong scenes lack any direction at all wherein, as usual, Sellers plays several roles, particularly pulp author Sax Rohmer's Tong-lord supervillain and his dogged Scotland Yard investigator Nayland Smith. In both parts, Sellers, who died not long after production wrapped, seems too old and tired to not only pull off genuinely humorous performances but to move along an already convoluted and sometimes downright confusing story (one particular scheme involving an obese guard of a British diamond is a time-wasting mess)...<br>

comedy, david tomlinson, eighties, helen mirren, lynne frederick, parody, peter sellers, sid caesar, steve franken

PETER SELLERS ENDS WITH 'THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU'

Artwork for THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANCHU Year: 1980 What Peter Sellers' final motion picture, THE FIENDISH PLOT OF DR. FU MANC...

PEGGY CUMMINS & JOHN DALL IN THE NOIR ROAD FLICK 'GUN CRAZY'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0d9SLqKvoldw_I7veNgVk4EY_Aya_lyKwsoZz4RH7IhLqKw_Z9cNNXqyaMG5_UtrqbMVuQVaXv3LGzRNhekGrDiVpWqWPGqpSTopqUsv4Ky3lbO8yFFWX4mDwVTjNiN-vU5lJyK4uK6F/s1600/upload-2Nikos-work_poster-gun-crazy64ssed.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="741" data-original-width="1113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0d9SLqKvoldw_I7veNgVk4EY_Aya_lyKwsoZz4RH7IhLqKw_Z9cNNXqyaMG5_UtrqbMVuQVaXv3LGzRNhekGrDiVpWqWPGqpSTopqUsv4Ky3lbO8yFFWX4mDwVTjNiN-vU5lJyK4uK6F/s1600/upload-2Nikos-work_poster-gun-crazy64ssed.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster with John Dall and Peggy Cummins dead in love for GUN CRAZY Year: 1950</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The Femme Fatale, you know, the bad girl with the great face... the soulless dame with the fantastic body... Well she's just about everything in GUN CRAZY despite the lengthy prologue about the doomed young man as a precocious kid, initially played by Russ Tamblyn, with a penchant for guns who winds up in reform school...<br> <br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> And it's not long after getting out... now a twenty-something John Dall... when he and his childhood buddies go to a sideshow where Peggy Cummins' Annie Laurie Starr steals his heart — but only after he beats her at a shooting contest i.e. her very own game. The next scene, Dall's Bart Tare has a job there too, and not long after he's fired by jealous barker Berry Kroeger, smitten with the girl who gets away...</div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuVRU1RfL-W_NVsNSU0XtfhwI5uCMFjBHRQHkRzq4jFrja_4W5G9nGipeRVGavGo0utF91ZDYhiMNBdluhr8s0Xr6UZUrdiB39eU20NruqkYJ2v3TNBtDRVzbw2gstOrHdxfH9J0nnLkd/s1600/15564.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfuVRU1RfL-W_NVsNSU0XtfhwI5uCMFjBHRQHkRzq4jFrja_4W5G9nGipeRVGavGo0utF91ZDYhiMNBdluhr8s0Xr6UZUrdiB39eU20NruqkYJ2v3TNBtDRVzbw2gstOrHdxfH9J0nnLkd/s1600/15564.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The other title for GUN CRAZY is DEADLY IS THE FEMALE Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The second act has a lot of bombastic action up front but the usual Noirish guilt, here involving Dall's brooding Bart, not only happens much too quick but is intrusive and annoying, not allowing him (or the audience) to enjoy the rural Bonnie & Clyde town-hopping robberies: But there's no such cloying guilt from Annie...<br> <br> And with sparse, finely-tuned direction by Joseph H. Lewis... visually and rhythmically foreshadowing French New Wave cinema with a kind of naked/barren aesthetic... this is Peggy Cummins picture; and she had no backstory at all. Then again, do deadly dames (aka DEADLY IS THE FEMALE) even have a past? Usually theirs' is a quick shoot-em-up future. If only she had a less reluctant/whiny partner-in-crime. Mr. Dall needed a little of that ROPE gusto here! <br>

action, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, john dall, peggy cummins, road movie, russ tamblyn

PEGGY CUMMINS & JOHN DALL IN THE NOIR ROAD FLICK 'GUN CRAZY'

Poster with John Dall and Peggy Cummins dead in love for GUN CRAZY Year: 1950 The Femme Fatale, you know, the bad girl with the great fa...

PAUL NEWMAN DEFECTS ALFRED HITCHOCK'S 'TORN CURTAIN'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPWQUpqwY_sz4GcHcv_uWir2oP1TH5WzFzImTTYo56lFgDW_NWBi0M-GT4fdH_Je6AEHJSPeNfoUOJLZVfHFQX4iOVOay-LaY2xLlCx8LI41dfF28Iseb1LUT2JCSKjKPH_htIzqOWOxu-/s1600/dd.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="931" data-original-width="1234" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPWQUpqwY_sz4GcHcv_uWir2oP1TH5WzFzImTTYo56lFgDW_NWBi0M-GT4fdH_Je6AEHJSPeNfoUOJLZVfHFQX4iOVOay-LaY2xLlCx8LI41dfF28Iseb1LUT2JCSKjKPH_htIzqOWOxu-/s400/dd.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Paul Newman battling Wolfgang Kieling Year: 1966 Rating: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><p>Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War Thriller TORN CURTAIN brings back the auteur's use of teaming-up a man and woman for the best use of retaliation, which includes leading man Paul Newman but not his dutiful wife Julie Andrews: instead the real <i>she</i> is Carolyn Conwell as a Russian farmer's wife... </p><p>Who not only has more importance than her tractor-driving husband, Mort Mills, spouting exposition to Newman's American scientist, pretending to defect <i>within</i> Russia to get secret plans to take back Stateside...  <br> <br> But the good strong Russian woman helps Newman's Professor Michael Armstrong kill a seemingly impenetrable, solidly built Soviet henchman named Gromek, played by Wolfgang Kieling who, once he's out of the picture, it's all pretty much downhill, leaving the handsome, reluctant hero to deal with the film's weakest link: And in that, Julie Andrews basically stands around staring pale-eyed, hoping her husband isn't really doing what he's really not doing while she obstructs the overall suspense from its cinematic Master, only half-successfully covering new ground here (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/08/topaz.html">TOPAZ</a> is a slight improvement).<br> </p>

action, adventure, alfred hitchcock, carolyn conwell, cold war, espionage, julie andrews, paul newman, russia, science, suspense, thriller, wolfgang kieling

PAUL NEWMAN DEFECTS ALFRED HITCHOCK'S 'TORN CURTAIN'

Paul Newman battling Wolfgang Kieling Year: 1966 Rating: *** Alfred Hitchcock's Cold War Thriller TORN CURTAIN brings back the auteur...

ANN LYNN, COLIN GORDON & DERREN NESBITT IN 'STRONGROOM'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuHc5vAigKcpK8zUV3-U4Njc_S_E-INz_lWf5meU1x0Xfdm2YZe_RkTFlofgBIrmjBSauUEtcpcLyEh7PSDMJ9r_e1hNiuLUlADE0xVRUNKJqzY7yJkwTwC35hHlRKbdW2ZL93t83ysVYv2RIRCpGUh8mrDd2QraKgmAcqR2I26wRgggTT_q3twI4Mg/s1580/23.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1428" data-original-width="1580" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXuHc5vAigKcpK8zUV3-U4Njc_S_E-INz_lWf5meU1x0Xfdm2YZe_RkTFlofgBIrmjBSauUEtcpcLyEh7PSDMJ9r_e1hNiuLUlADE0xVRUNKJqzY7yJkwTwC35hHlRKbdW2ZL93t83ysVYv2RIRCpGUh8mrDd2QraKgmAcqR2I26wRgggTT_q3twI4Mg/w400-h361/23.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for STRONGROOM Year: 1962 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>STRONGROOM is an important early-1960's British crime films as it underlines what you won't find Stateside: to be extra cautious to <i>not harm anyone</i> during a heist or your jail sentence lengthens, making British bad guys not only more sympathetic but far more cautious, which includes bank robbers Keith Faulkner and Derren Nesbitt who, after locking the first guy's coworkers in the titular bank vault, is talked into by the more empathetic crook to return to the crime scene to provide some oxygen...<br></p><p></p><p>A twist ignited by the third robber's death... the older brother to the edgy Keith Faulkner, he held the key to the STRONGROOM that the oblivious cops won't let go of, so, what takes up most of the runtime is the bickering boys seeking a way back while, inside, spectacle-wearing bank manager Colin Gordon and subtle beauty Ann Lynn are running out of air, providing more race-against-time suspense than what should be occurring simultaneously outside, including investigating cops. Making for an anticipated 11th hour that everything deliberately hinges on, and a final twist that makes this one of the most Noirish of the Brit Neo Noirs. It's too bad there couldn't be a stronger man-woman chemistry inside the vault... but first-billed, far too old and completely miscast Colin Gordon seems like pretty Ann Lynn's father's accountant. A strong-silent <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/william%20lucas">William Lucas</a> type would have fit better, giving Lynn something to keep breathing for and the audience to root for. </p><p><span></span></p>

ann lynn, british neo noir, british new wave, colin gordon, crime, derren nesbitt, guido coen, heist, keith faulkner, race against time, suspense

ANN LYNN, COLIN GORDON & DERREN NESBITT IN 'STRONGROOM'

Poster for STRONGROOM Year: 1962 Rates: ***1/2 STRONGROOM is an important early-1960's British crime films as it underlines what you won...

ALFRED HITCHCOCK TAKING ON COLD WAR CUBA FOR 'TOPAZ'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHtkwfIaKMNB658jWPp3uNxomjM8-I9GFZVlWdtqnH7fuH8W1qKc49Kg7I0l-dDRLTVgO1-8k1LQfUuriBHLzdDRvGsAEzChVc_QmrKG4cEMoPYLj1GIzvnlSkHQKKypprYFCRbiDv8K1/s1600/A1gLSHxVHbL._AC_SX679_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOHtkwfIaKMNB658jWPp3uNxomjM8-I9GFZVlWdtqnH7fuH8W1qKc49Kg7I0l-dDRLTVgO1-8k1LQfUuriBHLzdDRvGsAEzChVc_QmrKG4cEMoPYLj1GIzvnlSkHQKKypprYFCRbiDv8K1/s1600/A1gLSHxVHbL._AC_SX679_.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frederick Stafford & Claude Jade 1969 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><p>In Alfred Hitchcock's underrated Cold War Thriller TOPAZ, by the time there's someone to root for in French spy Frederick Stafford, seeking info in Castro's Cuba after scene-stealing, sneak-around Roscoe Lee Browne risked his life to lift an important briefcase (the McGuffin) in Harlem, we've forgotten it all started with John Forsythe helping an important Russian family defect in what feels like its own suspenseful short film...<br> <br> The problem is length: After the splendid demise of beautiful Cuban Castro-hating Karin Dor (having had an ongoing affair with the married Frenchman) in the only <i>moment</i> TOPAZ is linked to Hitchcock's legendary style... a dress seeming to bleed into the floor... there's a lot of talky running-out-the-clock (including our French spy's worried wife Dany Robin and daughter Claude Jade getting shoved into the danger) with villain John Vernon as a bright-blue-eyed Cuban General; what's really shocking is he only <i>seems </i>miscast as his input early on is actually quite effective. But it's one outdoor sequence involving two hungry seagulls (from the director of THE BIRDS no less!)... screwing up a perfectly good spying-on-the-villains-picnic... that really feels like Hitchcock's dark comedy touch. And like his previous Cold War thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/08/gromek.html">TORN CURAIN</a>, there needed a lot more touches here. <br> </p>

adventure, alfred hitchcock, claude jade, cold war, dany robin, espionage, frederick stafford, john forsythe, john vernon, karin dor, sixties, spy, thriller

ALFRED HITCHCOCK TAKING ON COLD WAR CUBA FOR 'TOPAZ'

Frederick Stafford & Claude Jade 1969 Rating: ***1/2 In Alfred Hitchcock's underrated Cold War Thriller TOPAZ, by the time there...

JOHN SCHLESIGNER'S GLOSSY YUPPIE HORROR 'PACIFIC HEIGHTS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ptX6ksaUsxAPWtzNgssW1WJj52sSAhBM1M11bQYEtBpK3Z5ke8xgkciedYkAIwpznUiifozlmC-pO9r3BWITS89_u9wmZU-VZ8yNKuUZ1b2CmVpPy1l0B9He5jP0SWXifob3d3I9DiXk/s1515/Screen+Shot+2020-09-26+at+1.02.05+PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1183" data-original-width="1515" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9ptX6ksaUsxAPWtzNgssW1WJj52sSAhBM1M11bQYEtBpK3Z5ke8xgkciedYkAIwpznUiifozlmC-pO9r3BWITS89_u9wmZU-VZ8yNKuUZ1b2CmVpPy1l0B9He5jP0SWXifob3d3I9DiXk/w400-h313/Screen+Shot+2020-09-26+at+1.02.05+PM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PACIFIC HEIGHTS Year: 1990 Rates: **1/2</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of those Premise Thrillers: This one about a renter renting from a young couple who bought a San Fransisco townhouse and has rights that don't make sense, but are still insanely legal... </p><p>Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith look like yuppies but aren't because they have little money... so that's both their sympathy <i>and</i> motivation to desperately need payment that Michael Keaton's shyster is holding back, and back and back... </p><p>Meanwhile he's a squatter from hell who plagues the place with roaches, hammering noises and endless mind games in an annoying neo-horror that's intentionally so since the villain's  purpose is to drive the protagonists <i>and</i> the audience crazy...</p><p>But there's not enough mix and match, and Michael Keaton has very little to do but sit around in dark brooding shadows looking sinister (under director John Schlesinger's modern Noir aesthetic). A shame since we know how hyperactive-charming Keaton can be. Imagine some black comedy injected throughout. After all, is this young-couple-harasser within a refurbished old home any different than Beetlejuice? Well yes, he is... because it's simply no fun hating him, and <i>should</i> be. Thankfully, Melanie Griffith, the stronger of the two victimized landlords, unleashes an intriguing 11th hour payback.<br /></p><p><br /></p>

horror, john schlesinger, matthew modine, melanie griffith, michael keaton, neo noir, nineties, thriller

JOHN SCHLESIGNER'S GLOSSY YUPPIE HORROR 'PACIFIC HEIGHTS'

PACIFIC HEIGHTS Year: 1990 Rates: **1/2 One of those Premise Thrillers: This one about a renter renting from a young couple who bought a Sa...

WES CRAVEN'S ORIGINAL EXPLOITATION 'THE HILLS HAVE EYES'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsDSsiyVwXy81DqKp3ohheB1FQmQLsispFx1cWO1bW8Mj5BU7a_WYpyFjcnX2fKbirENW0EbLD9nzachlBldy9RsTCSbUN2E8E6Y1_7ARlCDpkXyT4k2uym6q9PYbof0RxMcDaez2WYEp/s1600/525994_185015964968563_813411646_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="457" data-original-width="841" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSsDSsiyVwXy81DqKp3ohheB1FQmQLsispFx1cWO1bW8Mj5BU7a_WYpyFjcnX2fKbirENW0EbLD9nzachlBldy9RsTCSbUN2E8E6Y1_7ARlCDpkXyT4k2uym6q9PYbof0RxMcDaez2WYEp/s1600/525994_185015964968563_813411646_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Not one horror film geek hasn't had a crush on Suze Lanier in THE HILLS HAVE EYES Year: 1977</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> THE HILLS HAVE EYES is generally regarded as a classic horror film. Because of the blood, guts, and killer cannibals, but especially since Wes Craven, who’d later scare us on ELM STREET and make the next generation SCREAM with delight, wrote and directed: Thus the plot has the usual horror elements: a trailer-traveling family gets derailed in the middle of nowhere and, like the title implies, they’re not alone.<br> <br> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The setting is fitfully spooky: the surrounding valley of sharp canyon cliffs where just about anything is possible, especially after the antagonists show themselves in the bright daylight — yet perhaps too bright for a movie meant to keep us on edge in a genre where darker is better. The Neanderthal hillbillies are liken to a group of mutant hippies had they wandered into the Town of Bedrock after hearing The Beatles White Album. Or something. <br>

body count, cult, dee wallace, exploitation, horror, indie, michael berryman, seventies, suze lanier, wes craven

WES CRAVEN'S ORIGINAL EXPLOITATION 'THE HILLS HAVE EYES'

Not one horror film geek hasn't had a crush on Suze Lanier in THE HILLS HAVE EYES Year: 1977 THE HILLS HAVE EYES is generally regard...

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & ROY SCHEIDER RUN THROUGH 'MARATHON MAN'

<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/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9MzFCRp9M-KIyOz3H_BK-jx58SVUDL9ja5Av1VDut8JQmIMkDEJan9QyierxDcrm9jFAuhvKG81QUSCP2e1eMG-MbcuVt7eo5DlBeuADbgHK0nJlb7L7ghPnlkMXF3DQOe-cbbolSNvO/s1600/tumblr_msckju3KWo1qkcj94o1_1280.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1213" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9MzFCRp9M-KIyOz3H_BK-jx58SVUDL9ja5Av1VDut8JQmIMkDEJan9QyierxDcrm9jFAuhvKG81QUSCP2e1eMG-MbcuVt7eo5DlBeuADbgHK0nJlb7L7ghPnlkMXF3DQOe-cbbolSNvO/s400/tumblr_msckju3KWo1qkcj94o1_1280.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MARATHON MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2<br></u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The epitome of a Thriller, John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN <i>can</i> be a letdown with the teaming of two legends — one an old stage actor, the other a young method actor... And we'll get the "Why don't you try acting" elephant out of the room — which was Olivier's quip to Hoffman when he needed to actually run to seem winded...<br> <br> Then again, Dustin <i>is </i>the title<i> </i>character spending most of the picture exhausted from either jogging around New York's Central Park or being chased throughout the last half when this Thriller morphs into an Action flick: Which <i>isn't</i> the best part of MARATHON MAN as Roy Scheider plays Dustin's older brother in the most suspenseful scenes: as some kind of secret agent, he's eventually connected with his passive New York collegiate sibling after being introduced in Paris, France, where director Schlesinger (reunited with MIDNIGHT COWBOY star Hoffman) evokes a fair amount of Hitchcockesque tension (plus a GODFATHER 2 style strangling) as things either explode or seem just about to... <br>

action, dustin hoffman, espionage, john schlesinger, laurence olivier, marc lawrence, marthe keller, nazi, richard bright, roy scheider, seventies, thriller

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & ROY SCHEIDER RUN THROUGH 'MARATHON MAN'

Title: MARATHON MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2 The epitome of a Thriller, John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN can be a letdown with the ...