CHRISTOPHER LEE IN HAMMER FILMS 'THE TERROR OF THE TONGS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PdX4OOz9Q8c/YEXKhqRajGI/AAAAAAABd6w/C_286H-NLdQD82SFFbz0E36ujfSwrFH_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1137/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-07%2Bat%2B9.42.24%2BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="825" data-original-width="1137" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PdX4OOz9Q8c/YEXKhqRajGI/AAAAAAABd6w/C_286H-NLdQD82SFFbz0E36ujfSwrFH_QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-07%2Bat%2B9.42.24%2BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for Hammer's TERROR OF THE TONGS with Christopher Lee Year: 1961</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Geoffrey Toone, as the hero in Hammer's THE TERROR OF THE TONGS, is an extremely passive one, and shows extremely sparse emotion, even after his daughter's killed by the titular menace played by an "Asianized" Christopher Lee, who also does surprisingly little except for — like many all-controlling-heavies — sitting in a large chair giving orders...</p><p></p><p>It's Marne Maitland's undercover Beggar... providing Toone's British captain in Hong Kong expository information of what to do and when... working the hardest. That's if you don't count the also Asian-turned British starlet Yvonne Monlaur, who headlined Hammer's previous years' <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/03/richie-ramone-of-hammer-dracula.html">BRIDES OF DRACULA</a> and becomes Toone's faithful, lovely yet equally tough and resilient Geisha girl, and future NIGHT CREATURES bald, muscular Milton Reid as a precursor to the James Bond GOLDFINGER henchman Oddjob...   <br></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uk0srJpF7Do/YEW9ApXLy7I/AAAAAAABd50/3qEVygqitzIvuTKF91WBxzyr2RTsqaX2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s909/158721804_1193817904380717_1715005062622510856_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="574" data-original-width="909" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uk0srJpF7Do/YEW9ApXLy7I/AAAAAAABd50/3qEVygqitzIvuTKF91WBxzyr2RTsqaX2ACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/158721804_1193817904380717_1715005062622510856_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Milton Reid as a Tong Henchman in TERROR OF THE TONGS Movie Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In fact, there's a Bond vibe before Bond movies existed, but with Toone's sophisticated aura it's more Moore than Connery and, despite the flaws, TERROR is a worthwhile action-packed experience, lacking the thriller-style of the non-horror Hammer entries, replacing suspense with a myriad of fist fights...</p><p></p><p>With little downtime, our intrepid dandy wanders throughout Hong Kong avoiding various murder attempts from Lee's Tong henchmen, thus showcasing the terrific looking sets that bring the Asian port-town to splendid reality the way Hammer made Victorian-era Europe it's own colorful, timeless playground. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, christopher lee, espionage, geoffrey toone, hammer films, milton reid, sixties, yvonne monlaur

CHRISTOPHER LEE IN HAMMER FILMS 'THE TERROR OF THE TONGS'

Poster for Hammer's TERROR OF THE TONGS with Christopher Lee Year: 1961 Geoffrey Toone, as the hero in Hammer's THE TERROR OF THE TO...

DAVID PEEL & PETER CUSHING IN HAMMER'S 'THE BRIDES OF DRACULA'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WgtaaLd-EUc/YEXA3GLo83I/AAAAAAABd6o/JkUzngvsH14mxog2CfRdSDnwL5bKtQv6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1641/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-07%2Bat%2B8.54.49%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1324" data-original-width="1641" height="323" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WgtaaLd-EUc/YEXA3GLo83I/AAAAAAABd6o/JkUzngvsH14mxog2CfRdSDnwL5bKtQv6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h323/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-07%2Bat%2B8.54.49%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brides of Dracula Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A young, blond-haired, pretty boy Hammer DRACULA works since David Peel has such little screen-time, and it's not that he's unsuited for the role. In fact, dealing with the titular BRIDES, which is really a singular character played by Yvonne Monlaur, a younger, more apparently-attractive neck-sucker fits...</p><p>Having been held captive by his mother in the family castle, Monlaur's Marianne, a teacher on her way to working at an all-girl's school, has only to look at this particularly vulnerable, chained-up Dracula to fall in love — hypnotic eyes aren't needed, at least not up front... </p><p>But it's no surprise that the true lead is returning Hammer star Peter Cushing in what's a separate case file for Van Helsing, and, during scenes without him, there's wasted potential in that girl's school replete with beautiful, virginal maidens: If only they'd ALL have been brides, Van Helsing's task would garner more urgency and momentum, which this second Hammer Dracula needed more of. Although, the two or three bitten babes do look terrific, and there's an attempted lesbian seduction till Cushing cuts in and saves the day... or rather, night. Damn him! The movie, though, under 90-minutes, is entertaining enough to fill the absence of Christopher Lee, who'd return a few years later — and let it be noted that some of those entries aren't as good as this one.</p><p><span></span></p>

body count, david peel, dracula, exploitation, franchise, hammer films, horror, peter cushing, sixties, thriller, vampire, yvonne monlaur

DAVID PEEL & PETER CUSHING IN HAMMER'S 'THE BRIDES OF DRACULA'

Brides of Dracula Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2 A young, blond-haired, pretty boy Hammer DRACULA works since David Peel has such little screen-t...

DIANA DORS IN THE HAMMER FILMS FILM-NOIR 'MAN BAIT'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1r4i9pGlIo/YETIEMzJnsI/AAAAAAABd34/kiTvel3b0okMwO4S5hY3-rs_IMLq8F6PACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="314" data-original-width="400" height="314" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-S1r4i9pGlIo/YETIEMzJnsI/AAAAAAABd34/kiTvel3b0okMwO4S5hY3-rs_IMLq8F6PACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h314/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1952 cast: Diana Dors, George Brent rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With blonde beauty Diana Dors’ full-full lips, any expression wields a pout. And it's a seductively vicious pout as the story, centering on blackmail at a high-end English bookstore, unfolds...</p><p></p><p>Dors plays Ruby Bruce, whose stunning appearance alone turns men into jelly. Although her rich boss, with a lucrative insurance policy, is tougher than most...</p><p>So Ruby teams with ex-convict con artist Jeffrey Hart to collect the money, and the deliberately slow nature in which the plot pans out is intriguing... </p><p>As Jefferey coaches Ruby from the sidelines (at a posh bar), she becomes more and more guilt-ridden (a Noir staple) and desperate, proving Dors, known as the “British Marilyn Monroe,” had more ability to carry a storyline than the American bombshell... </p><p>Without her presence, MAN BAIT becomes your typical "wrong man" melodrama; although the talented cast of Brits (including Marguerite Chapman and Raymond Huntley as the manipulative secretary and boss), and a few neat surprises, will keep your interest. Especially the last ten minutes when the antagonist gets really wicked.</p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, diana dors, exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, george brent, hammer films, hammer noir, jeffrey hart, marguerite chapman

DIANA DORS IN THE HAMMER FILMS FILM-NOIR 'MAN BAIT'

year: 1952 cast: Diana Dors, George Brent rating: ***1/2 With blonde beauty Diana Dors’ full-full lips, any expression wields a pout. And it...

STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S WAR DRAMA 'YESTERDAY'S ENEMY

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yh3eM3Ekf_s/YESB6EuUSlI/AAAAAAABd2k/jA6Fiv16eY8EGHJR9exCLgr0zX9r0FMhACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2044" data-original-width="2048" height="399" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Yh3eM3Ekf_s/YESB6EuUSlI/AAAAAAABd2k/jA6Fiv16eY8EGHJR9exCLgr0zX9r0FMhACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h399/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stanley Baker in Edwina Carroll Year: 1959 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This Hammer WWII b-movie was originally a stage-play, and with the contained setting and tons of dialog it's apparent.. but Stanley Baker turns in his greatest performance... a one-man show despite being surrounded by character-actors like faithful sergeant Gordon Jackson countered by idealistic reporter Leo McKern and priest Guy Rolfe, driving the central moral-quandary plot-line...<br></p><p></p><p>Beginning with their troop of disheveled British soldiers, lost and trudging through the Burmese jungle, happening upon a two-hut village where Baker's no-nonsense captain figures he MUST scare an informer by killing two elderly locals... </p><p>The best scenes occur during this first half when Baker's lethal, cold-blooded methods start becoming more clear and, because of the vital information gained, somewhat logical, and he never wavers to the ethical humanity in a village foreshadowing future Vietnam films (and their tropes) about murderous white soldiers...  </p><p>These include Brian De Palma's CASUALTIES OF WAR and Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning PLATOON, still paling to this low budget, obscure gem mostly thanks to Stanley Baker, keeping up the same stubborn, determined intensity when the Japanese — led by a philosophizing Philip Ahn — turns the tables, and the adaptation becomes even more stagey and yet with tight, edgy suspense by Val Guest, one of Hammer's best directors, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY keeps the audience as locked-in and tightly-wound as its unflappable leading man.  </p><span></span>

action, adventure, bryan forbes, burt kwouk, edwina carroll, fifties, gordon jackson, guy rolfe, hammer films, leo mckern, philip ahn, stanley baker, val guest, war

STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S WAR DRAMA 'YESTERDAY'S ENEMY

Stanley Baker in Edwina Carroll Year: 1959 Rates: **** This Hammer WWII b-movie was originally a stage-play, and with the contained setting ...

PETER CUSHING LIMPING THROUGH HAMMER'S 'THE MUMMY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8v83nYTMJg/YEE6uZ9V3LI/AAAAAAABdoU/QNy30fv_VlosZQLOZfbnQcs0aXqQjHwfACLcBGAsYHQ/s826/91dNMS3Xs%252BL._SL1500_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="826" height="348" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8v83nYTMJg/YEE6uZ9V3LI/AAAAAAABdoU/QNy30fv_VlosZQLOZfbnQcs0aXqQjHwfACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h348/91dNMS3Xs%252BL._SL1500_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Mummy Year: 1961 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The greatest HAMMER director Terence Fisher's third of four Universal Classic Monster remakes, and unlike the darkly plush Victorian scenery of Frankenstein, The Werewolf and Dracula, the rudimentary Egyptian locale basically resembles a movie set. And yet the story's economically shot and easy to follow as Peter Cushing's archeologist father loses his sanity after unveiling an entombed princess, later experienced via flashbacks where even Christopher Lee's title character... her dedicated high priest Kharis... is, like that sunny locale, too exposed for the sake of Hammer's otherwise eerie, enigmatic style... </p><p></p><p>But when the characters return to England with rolling hillsides and in this case, boggy swamp marshes, it's all more natural, palpable, lived-in, and thus the revenge tale begins, providing Lee's MUMMY... like his Frankenstein's Monster and Dracula... an lean, energetic agility, deliberately contradicting Boris Karloff's lumbering powerhouse in Fisher's least inspired venture, hollow even during a narrated flashback told by a permanently limping Cushing to token constable Eddie Byrne. Meanwhile, the "present timeline" feels rushed after Lee's too easily awakened by an Egyptian zealot's chant: And our bandaged beast conveniently seeks/finds his victims like a traveling salesman covering familiar ground. Which isn't altogether unworthy since the body-count aspect pays off. Just realize THE MUMMY is Hammer's ready-made popcorn flick instead of their usual fine wine; which doesn't mean there's nothing vintage here: John Williams must have been influenced by the awestruck tomb-entering music for RAIDERS but, overall, compared to the more famous, fleshed-out Monster revamps, this one kinda sphinx. <br></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MDvMcOBcJgE/YEFqRhGSQ6I/AAAAAAABdoc/ofje287j6CAZ7vUzN1hWWOrs-o5uucJxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/155582283_1189810608114780_4286442690254861351_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MDvMcOBcJgE/YEFqRhGSQ6I/AAAAAAABdoc/ofje287j6CAZ7vUzN1hWWOrs-o5uucJxQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/155582283_1189810608114780_4286442690254861351_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hammer Films presents THE MUDDY from 1959 (got a big laugh on the Hammer group)</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span></span></p>

body count, christopher lee, creature, eddie byrne, fifties, hammer films, horror, monster, peter cushing, terence fisher, universal monster

PETER CUSHING LIMPING THROUGH HAMMER'S 'THE MUMMY'

Title: The Mummy Year: 1961 Rating: **1/2 The greatest HAMMER director Terence Fisher's third of four Universal Classic Monster remakes,...

OLIVER REED IN HAMMER FILMS 'PARANOIAC' WITH JANETTE SCOTT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IgFGcCROw0Q/YD16-6oa_4I/AAAAAAABdW8/kcoo2MlikiQ9-L6rma-89qupyI9kNHxUwCLcBGAsYHQ/s826/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-01%2Bat%2B11.45.51%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="826" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IgFGcCROw0Q/YD16-6oa_4I/AAAAAAABdW8/kcoo2MlikiQ9-L6rma-89qupyI9kNHxUwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h272/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-01%2Bat%2B11.45.51%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for PARANOIAC Year: 1963 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If Terence Fisher was the <i>Universal Classic Monsters </i>version of England's HAMMER FILMS, vividly bringing Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and The Werewolf to life, then Freddie Francis was their Hitchcock, and PARANOIAC one of Hammer's best psychological thrillers, providing stock actor Oliver Reed a grand performance, showcasing what would become his two signature traits: moody brooding and overboard intensity...<br></p><p></p><p>He's the brother of troubled, haunted ingenue Jeanette Scott, set to inherit a bundle and holed up in the family's sea-cliff estate, but not if Reed (with moll Liliane Brousse) can help it...</p><p>And while mostly working alone, he's <i>not</i> alone in agenda: The leading man is a con artist, which we learn soon enough for PARANOIAC to not quite reach Mystery-genre status: But those fifteen minutes when handsome Alexander Davion may or may not be her adored prodigal brother are the most intriguing: After which Reed's boisterous persona takes over, making this a frantic game of wits using creative camera angles within a shadowy B&W aesthetic that'd perfectly suit Film Noir... and it's only five years shy of being one — for then it'd get a lot more praise and attention beyond the lot of We the faithfully dedicated/eternal Hammerheads.  <br></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

anthony davion, hammer films, horror, janette scott, liliane brousse, oliver reed, sixties, suspense, thriller

OLIVER REED IN HAMMER FILMS 'PARANOIAC' WITH JANETTE SCOTT

Poster for PARANOIAC Year: 1963 Rating: **** If Terence Fisher was the Universal Classic Monsters version of England's HAMMER FILMS, viv...

HAMMER CONNECTED DIRECTOR & ACTRESS MAKE A 'BREAKOUT'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-Enzxmdu-w/YECGmUPJV0I/AAAAAAABdiE/dd75To_L8uwCKzFBAukN1AS2_HJ6-rv5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1732/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-03%2Bat%2B11.01.26%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1409" data-original-width="1732" height="325" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G-Enzxmdu-w/YECGmUPJV0I/AAAAAAABdiE/dd75To_L8uwCKzFBAukN1AS2_HJ6-rv5gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h325/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-03%2Bat%2B11.01.26%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hazel Court in BREAKOUT Year: 1959 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Yet another cautious, severely unpretentious British heist flick where tight calculation and timing are everything, and, directed by Peter Graham Scott... who'd soon make Hammer's splendid NIGHT CREATURES... this is a Post Noir where the characters discuss more than they actually do while their conversations have a page-turning cadence sans the b-movie pulp... </p><p>Making BREAKOUT not very fun but there's another slowburn role for underrated English actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/william%20lucas">William Lucas</a> (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/02/gimme-a.html">THE BREAK</a>) as a cool, classy and crooked businessman... paired with a spectacle-wearing wolf, seducing the gorgeous wife of the man they're hired to BREAKOUT... <br></p><p>And that's CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN good girl Hazel Court as the token bad girl... But the key player, hired for the risk-taking dirty work, is handsome Lee Patterson, a government paper-pusher on an urgent search for the perfect "drive in and pick up" escape truck, and here director Scott wields palpable 11th hour suspense, especially since our anti-hero has the most to lose with adoring, crime-oblivious wife Billie Whitelaw at home. But other than a pint-sized Irish barfly trucker, deliberately jailed for Patterson to take the wheel, it's Hazel Court's ride: Had this been more than a sixty-minute dialog-driven programmer, she has the femme fatale potential to seduce BOTH partners (Lucas and the sweet-talking Terence Alexander) whose job's to free a husband she doesn't want or care about. Which, on its own, is NOIR defined: but in 1959 it was a year too late.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FLzaqUymE4/YD91SrBolbI/AAAAAAABddk/QLAFrzt1svMsauBu-KTTTG_gV6q8wHtHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-03%2Bat%2B2.56.08%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2FLzaqUymE4/YD91SrBolbI/AAAAAAABddk/QLAFrzt1svMsauBu-KTTTG_gV6q8wHtHQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-03%2Bat%2B2.56.08%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Lucas in BREAKOUT </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><span></span>

billie whitelaw, british, british neo noir, british new wave, crime, fifties, hazel court, jail break, lee patterson, peter graham scott, terence alexander, thriller, william lucas

HAMMER CONNECTED DIRECTOR & ACTRESS MAKE A 'BREAKOUT'

Hazel Court in BREAKOUT Year: 1959 Rates: *** Yet another cautious, severely unpretentious British heist flick where tight calculation and t...

GILLIAN HILLS STARRING IN HAMMER'S 'DEMONS OF THE MIND'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NfNQD0kKV8k/YDEn_0il6hI/AAAAAAABdNk/5QH7xlVDdOI5E-lcqfWgDWumozd0V_IvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1785/2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="1785" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NfNQD0kKV8k/YDEn_0il6hI/AAAAAAABdNk/5QH7xlVDdOI5E-lcqfWgDWumozd0V_IvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gillian Hills in Demons of the Mind Year: 1972 Rates: **</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was inevitable to become a disappointing spooky-titled horror flick since DEMONS OF THE MIND means that there are none... </p><p>No demons, and for one of Hammer's last psychological thrillers, no monsters at all, unless you count a young man slaying young ladies along the countryside, not far from a Gothic castle where a manipulative father attempts keeping his children locked up, believing they're cursed...</p><p></p><p>Hammer wanted James Mason in this patriarchal role, and it would have made a huge difference since Robert Hardy seems too young and lacks magnetism in controlling his bed-ridden daughter Gillian Hills <i>and</i> especially the beastly son, who share an incestual lust between killings... </p><p>Random violence which there needed <i>much more of</i> to counter nowhere subplots and ultimately wasted side-characters (like nice guy med-student Paul Jones and his mad scientist mentor Patrick Magee), who take time away from Hills' victimized ingenue, a Hammer scream queen with very little to scream about: Damn shame since she alone, with such intense, bewildered beauty, had the most potential to really <i>possess</i> this thing!</p><span></span>

body count, gillian hills, gothic, hammer films, horror, patrick magee, seventies, thriller, virginia wetherell

GILLIAN HILLS STARRING IN HAMMER'S 'DEMONS OF THE MIND'

Gillian Hills in Demons of the Mind Year: 1972 Rates: ** It was inevitable to become a disappointing spooky-titled horror flick since DEMONS...

VICTOR MATURE AND DIANA DORS TRUCKING IN 'THE LONG HAUL'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V-VW_VX6EqM/YCZXNPzrDTI/AAAAAAABc5s/qnxzgI0WtXQVObkMHvdvxFAPIa3UVTo6wCLcBGAsYHQ/s608/the-long-haul-poster-victor-mature-diana-dors-1957-picture-id1137200804.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="464" data-original-width="608" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V-VW_VX6EqM/YCZXNPzrDTI/AAAAAAABc5s/qnxzgI0WtXQVObkMHvdvxFAPIa3UVTo6wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/the-long-haul-poster-victor-mature-diana-dors-1957-picture-id1137200804.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE LONG HAUL Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What begins as a kind of lightweight HELL DRIVERS with token yankee Victor Mature joining a breakneck trucking company, having to drive as quickly and dangerously as possible, turns into an ON THE WATERFRONT of rural British hauling... </p><p>Where a time-worn yet leathery-tough Mature... sprung from Army life and stuck in Liverpool with a wife who wants to stay put (plus a young son)... screws up company mob boss Patrick Allen's caper of robbing his own business... </p><p>Thus making both the verbal and physical altercations between Mature and Allen... equally square-jawed, stubborn and no-nonsense... fairly entertaining Noir... </p><p></p><p>But it's full-lipped Diana Dors as this film's femme fatale and vulnerable moll hybrid who makes Mature snap to life, remaining intense and narrowed even when he agrees to help the villain (her abusive lover) in a British crime/heist flick that cruises along at an intentionally slowburn pace. It's just hard figuring out what exactly the good guy and bad guy are after.. except for time spent with Dors, which is a given. </p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

british film noir/melodrama, caper, diana dors, fifties, gene anderson, patrick allen, victor mature

VICTOR MATURE AND DIANA DORS TRUCKING IN 'THE LONG HAUL'

Title: THE LONG HAUL Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2 What begins as a kind of lightweight HELL DRIVERS with token yankee Victor Mature joining a b...

MODEL ACTRESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BVBVWlcINA/YC69YhAU11I/AAAAAAABdJc/uon-u-16T7QYXf5AEuoOIvn7Rwl__Y9BACLcBGAsYHQ/s1079/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-18%2Bat%2B11.14.45%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1079" height="264" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0BVBVWlcINA/YC69YhAU11I/AAAAAAABdJc/uon-u-16T7QYXf5AEuoOIvn7Rwl__Y9BACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h264/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-18%2Bat%2B11.14.45%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Campbell & Christina Gregg in The Young Racers</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><i>Christina Gregg turned up in a handful of British movies and television shows from 1959 to 1964, and was one of England's top models at the same time... And we asked some questions about those years where she juggled two trades that combined immense talent and beauty... </i></p><p><u>START IN MODELING & ACTING</u>: I won a huge beauty contest when I was 17… Miss ABC Television… I would have won Miss Great Britain as well, but they told me I was too young to win! With this prize was a film test with Robert Day, director of <i>Women</i> Magazine, leading to a theatrical coach, Flossy Freedman, who also helped train Marlon Brando, and Angela Lansbury! </p><p>I was provided with an agent, so I had film training, and films came my way afterwards. Modeling took off with the cover of <i>Women</i> magazine, a huge circulation at that time, followed by many more. But it was not an advantage to be advertising products and acting at the same time… I lost opportunities because of this; however, I needed to earn money so I continued: Did advertisement commercials for Camay soap, which cost me a big part in a film.  </p><p></p><span></span>

british, british new noir, british new wave, christina gregg, christopher plummer, crime, interview, jess conrad, lance comfort, mel ferrer, race car, robert urquhart, roger moore, sixties, william campbell

MODEL ACTRESS: AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

William Campbell & Christina Gregg in The Young Racers Christina Gregg turned up in a handful of British movies and television shows fro...

CHRISTINA GREGG PLAYS VICTIM FOR THE 'COVER GIRL KILLER'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msplsP7O2zc/YCO07zcOIpI/AAAAAAABc0g/FT6i4Zy6ufkfLpNX_eNdUC6DvlFDt5KEACLcBGAsYHQ/s2010/1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1386" data-original-width="2010" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-msplsP7O2zc/YCO07zcOIpI/AAAAAAABc0g/FT6i4Zy6ufkfLpNX_eNdUC6DvlFDt5KEACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg faces death in THE COVER GIRL KILLER Year: 1959 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Any chance to see model-turned-actress Christina Gregg is worthwhile, no matter how disappointing this particular British New Wave crime thriller is despite the cool title of COVER GIRL KILLER, supposedly the inspiration for PEEPING TOM. Gregg would later play a 15-year-old virgin stalked by a psychotic phone caller, while here she's an older yet equally shy, innocent and naïve victim of a spectacle-wearing photographer who kills cover girls, as the tile implies...</p><p>Sadly, most of the film has two cops blandly discussing the murders when there could have been more British beauties taken out in a body count fashion, mixing horror within the pulpy police procedural that's not very intriguing. Although lead ingenue Felicity Young, as the girl/friend of a flaky magazine owner no one takes seriously, is also worth the watch. You'll hope she fares better than poor Christina.<br></p><p><span></span></p>

body count, british neo noir, british new wave, christina gregg, crime, julie shearing, sixties

CHRISTINA GREGG PLAYS VICTIM FOR THE 'COVER GIRL KILLER'

Christina Gregg faces death in THE COVER GIRL KILLER Year: 1959 Rating: ** Any chance to see model-turned-actress Christina Gregg is worthwh...

BRITISH STARLET CHRISTINA GREGG RUNS AWAY WITH 'RAG DOLL'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-QWPay0MPI/YCzQQV5EC8I/AAAAAAABdHw/08jlX3SwWOEHIx0d13mT47y9yHOpgH2cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1655/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-17%2Bat%2B12.10.52%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="1655" height="343" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-k-QWPay0MPI/YCzQQV5EC8I/AAAAAAABdHw/08jlX3SwWOEHIx0d13mT47y9yHOpgH2cQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h343/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-17%2Bat%2B12.10.52%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg in RAG DOLL Year: 1961 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A cinematic dream come true for fans of Christina Gregg — the incredibly beautiful British model and actress — in an extremely strange programmer preaching the dangers of running away from home... even when and if home has a stepfather whose intentions aren't so innocent... </p><p>Stepdad owns a countryside cafe where married customers lust after Gregg's naïve and vulnerable Carol with the nickname RAG DOLL from when she was young and awkward... </p><p></p><p>So she storms out of a lukewarm frying pan into a guarded fire in the big city, finding immediate safety with an old lady medium moonlighting as a jazz club waitress, and the owner... an older guy so nice he's hardly creepy but should be... wants to save Carol from bad boy singer Jess Conrad... </p><p>And right when things get intriguing there's a sudden tragic downturn, similar to the decade-later BADLANDS, only without all that much danger, which there was far too little of to begin with: A shame since Christina Gregg, as pitifully innocent and naïvely curious as ever, really does seem a lot more (as the alternate title reads) YOUNG, WILLING AND EAGER than her <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/the-break.html">THE BREAK</a> director Lance Comfort allows her to be. </p><p><span></span></p>

british neo noir, british new wave, christina gregg, crime, heist, sixties

BRITISH STARLET CHRISTINA GREGG RUNS AWAY WITH 'RAG DOLL'

Christina Gregg in RAG DOLL Year: 1961 Rates: *** A cinematic dream come true for fans of Christina Gregg — the incredibly beautiful British...

LANCE COMFORT MAKES 'THE BREAK' WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqkGdtorPhk/X14evWaZNNI/AAAAAAABYHI/5-TW6WJCWr8b5pKP706gRiny9ZEqt8lswCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/14.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1600" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hqkGdtorPhk/X14evWaZNNI/AAAAAAABYHI/5-TW6WJCWr8b5pKP706gRiny9ZEqt8lswCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/14.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg & William Lucas THE BREAK Year: 1962</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The same year British beauty Christina Gregg played a schoolgirl told <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/08/catfone.html">DON'T TALK TO STRANGE MEN</a>, she was the twenty-something sister of a convict who made THE BREAK from a train...<br> <br> And winds up with handful of eclectic characters that... as Quentin Tarantino attempted in HATEFUL EIGHT inspired by John Carpenter's classic THE THING... are all stuck together, here within a rural hotel: all with not only different personalities and perspectives but purpose, motivation and temperaments... Meanwhile the leading man is a sophisticated type: here a blocked author and, on the upside he quickly yet slowly finds kinship with the gorgeous Christina Gregg, but he's also being surreptitiously eyed by the most intriguing and perhaps crooked person onboard in CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN tutor Robert Urquhart as a wily-charming gumshoe insurance investigator...<br>

action, british neo noir, british new wave, christina gregg, eddie byrne, gene anderson, lance comfort, robert urquhart, sixties, thriller, tony britton, william lucas

LANCE COMFORT MAKES 'THE BREAK' WITH CHRISTINA GREGG

Christina Gregg & William Lucas THE BREAK Year: 1962 The same year British beauty Christina Gregg played a schoolgirl told DON'T...

CHRISTINA GREGG MAILING IN A STRANGE 'FATE TAKES A HAND'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ij5UKILnCco/YCW6Q4jbXVI/AAAAAAABc4g/JB7A8mx5y44P_m9ahrBscwdmKKWEJ1dLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1590/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-10%2Bat%2B10.36.44%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="1590" height="328" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ij5UKILnCco/YCW6Q4jbXVI/AAAAAAABc4g/JB7A8mx5y44P_m9ahrBscwdmKKWEJ1dLwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h328/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-02-10%2Bat%2B10.36.44%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg & Ronald Howard Year: 1961 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This British hour-long b-movie feels like a reality-TV pilot with Christina Gregg, who starred in several crime thrillers, which FATE TAKES A HAND has only a little to do with, but it's important since, fifteen-years earlier, a batch of letters were stolen in a heist — and having turned up it's now the Post Office's duty to return each to an assortment of eclectic characters...</p><p></p><p>Christina Gregg plays a reporter tagging along with mail officer Ronald Howard, meeting the would-be-recipients at home or work, each telling a flashback yarn about how bad their lives have gotten for which each letter will mend...</p><p>These tales include a love-lorn blind woman, paling to the rudimentary comic relief of a working man standing up to his boss after winning money... while the most earthy has a prisoner recollecting a little girl's kidnapping... Saving the best two for last: One about a husband being framed by a crooked wife... the only to occur before and after the letter-carrying-duo arrive: And a punchy and depressed ex-brawler who "could have been a contender" before throwing a fight... Making FATE not so much a Christina Gregg vehicle but a window seat she breezily looks out of.</p><p><span></span></p>

anthology, christina gregg, comedy, drama, jack watson, sixties

CHRISTINA GREGG MAILING IN A STRANGE 'FATE TAKES A HAND'

Christina Gregg & Ronald Howard Year: 1961 Rates: *** This British hour-long b-movie feels like a reality-TV pilot with Christina Gregg,...

JACQUELINE ELLIS IN 'ACCIDENTAL DEATH' WITH JOHN CARSON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1LlIMsFtqn4/YCNiybvMTBI/AAAAAAABcyo/EwgKtlnk6Xw_ae881R4Gv7npAaXfyMsYgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/3.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="400" height="311" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1LlIMsFtqn4/YCNiybvMTBI/AAAAAAABcyo/EwgKtlnk6Xw_ae881R4Gv7npAaXfyMsYgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h311/3.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>title: Accidental Death Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Resembling a pretty young school teacher who "doesn't look like the teachers I had," <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/hijackers.html">Jacqueline Ellis </a>is a different kind of British b-movie starlet...</p><p>And very important here as a wishbone not just between two men but three including an older rich gent who raised her; a young passive boyfriend; and a new guy in town... or actually, in the house... as flirtatious thirty-something Frenchman John Carson doesn't only have a plot to kill the old-timer for war crimes, he warns him outright so the title ACCIDENTAL DEATH fits <i>what might</i> occur...<br></p><p>Meanwhile the most fun's had between the Frenchmen (with an on/off British accent) and our gal Ellis, also from France (originally), and they have a kind of lusty windswept romance indoors, where most of the story takes place...</p><p>A polite, sophisticated DESPERATE HOURS without very much suspense, intrigue or urgency but is more a relaxing time-filling Neo Noir with a few twists and turns, including a lethal bicycle and an even more lethal swimming pool where Jacqueline Ellis almost winds up... the only character the audience, and the fellas, want protected: After all, she's got the most to lose as her bewildered heart means more than the old man's life, or the Frenchman's shifty plans to end it. <br></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h5sLPsZlf5s/YB9WwS6EDWI/AAAAAAABcwI/TKme--EXQ_4xP58xZEDlGcVmqenSjl-cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1461" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h5sLPsZlf5s/YB9WwS6EDWI/AAAAAAABcwI/TKme--EXQ_4xP58xZEDlGcVmqenSjl-cQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Carson and Jacqueline Ellis in ACCIDENTAL DEATH</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span></span></p>

british, british neo noir, british new wave, jacqueline ellis, john carson, melodrama, suspense

JACQUELINE ELLIS IN 'ACCIDENTAL DEATH' WITH JOHN CARSON

title: Accidental Death Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 Resembling a pretty young school teacher who "doesn't look like the teachers I ha...

BRITISH BEAUTY CHRISTINA GREGG IN 'TWO WIVES AT ONE WEDDING'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETIR0q_qzzQ/YCtgd0NxKqI/AAAAAAABc-s/eeUgsN4GP7MYY9XhQNPz6ANn4H6mcvXBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1398/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1398" height="280" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ETIR0q_qzzQ/YCtgd0NxKqI/AAAAAAABc-s/eeUgsN4GP7MYY9XhQNPz6ANn4H6mcvXBgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h280/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christina Gregg in Two Wives Year: 1961 Rating: **</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Watching TWO WIVES AT ONE WEDDING strictly for the presence of British model/actress Christina Gregg is a big let down... </p><p>And can be summed up in one sentence that her would-be husband, a World War II vet played by Gordon Jackson, says before facing the climatic face-off against two con artists: "Stay in the car!" </p><p></p><p>Sadly that (mostly proverbial) car includes the present time that's only half the picture, mostly taking place in flashbacks in war-torn France where he's taken into a safe house, wounded, delirious. And winds up blowing-it even worse than a few years later when he infamously utters "Good Luck" in THE GREAT ESCAPE... </p><p>The biggest let-down however is that this living-room-mystery's French-accent femme fatale, Lisa Daniely, crashing on Jackson and a passive Gregg's wedding by claiming that she married him during the war (and that flashback), never embraces or is allowed to embrace her villainy, making TWO WIVES a talky exercise in futility, and one that should have ended in a cat fight. </p><p><span></span></p>

british, british neo noir, british new wave, christina gregg, con man, drama, gordon jackson, lisa daniely, melodrama, mystery, sixties, world war II

BRITISH BEAUTY CHRISTINA GREGG IN 'TWO WIVES AT ONE WEDDING'

Christina Gregg in Two Wives Year: 1961 Rating: ** Watching TWO WIVES AT ONE WEDDING strictly for the presence of British model/actress Chri...

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER & ELLIOTT GOULD IN 'THE SILENT PARTNER'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vL1A1QmUyCc/YB4CH6Hk7qI/AAAAAAABcl8/ZW_CfoUY9aYg2U3X3CG0ut6V2E50h00xQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1714/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1239" data-original-width="1714" height="289" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vL1A1QmUyCc/YB4CH6Hk7qI/AAAAAAABcl8/ZW_CfoUY9aYg2U3X3CG0ut6V2E50h00xQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h289/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner Year: 1978</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An almost perfect vehicle for the recently-departed legendary actor Christopher Plummer, who was always intense and scowling and very intimidating... Especially in the Canadian bank-heist thriller (made in Canada showing Canadian cash) THE SILENT PARTNER; yet he's a little <i>too</i> silent and needed to be in the picture a lot more, all but vanishing halfway through until a somewhat rushed third act...</p><p>But there are topnotch suspenseful moments along the way. Which has a creative premise where Elliott Gould's lonesome, tropical-fish collecting bank teller, after finding a discarded robbery note, figures from a particular written-letter "G" that the bank in Ontario's fancy Eaton Center Mall will be robbed by Plummer, the mall's bell-ringing Santa... </p><p>And when the heist goes down, Gould's sneaky, morally-ambiguous Cullen winds up robbing the robber: keeping a large sum reported to the media for himself while giving a small amount to Plummer... then locking it into his own secret safe deposit box, which has a nifty little side-plot all its own... </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VK177H2pj0w/YB4EgjRlU4I/AAAAAAABcmE/NAwkWA-vfPcsuH9Ysgv85MLdzr5wlC4QwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1874/Z.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1228" data-original-width="1874" height="263" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VK177H2pj0w/YB4EgjRlU4I/AAAAAAABcmE/NAwkWA-vfPcsuH9Ysgv85MLdzr5wlC4QwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h263/Z.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Plummer & Elliott Gould RATING: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But the initial scenes <i>equally</i> involving both Gould and Plummer... a cat-and-mouse game where the latter becomes a scene-stealing psychopathic, woman-beating lunatic... are the most intriguing... </p><p>Which then drags into a tremendous lull after Plummer's tricked into prison, replaced by a glamorous woman (younger and prettier than bank employee/ingenue Susannah York), seducing Gould, who'd become a kind of instant celebrity from the live news footage, and that's one of the biggest problems...</p><p>As this Hitchcockian thriller's dashing Cary Grant, he's not leading mannish enough for these dames to be so crazy about (then again, blonde bombshell Gail Dahms-Bonine quickly marries John Candy). However, Gould does convey his glib <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/11/elliott-gould-sterling-hayden-in-long.html">LONG GOODBYE</a> persona during the more fun, resilient parts, but overall it's Plummer's ride, or could've been had Curtis Hanson's script wielded more urgency into the initial hole Gould dug himself into, and that he gets out of too easy, blunting the psychotic threat that needed to be more looming and formidable for him, <i>and</i> the audience.     </p><p><span></span></p>

canadian, céline lomez, christopher plummer, elliott gould, heist, john candy, seventies, susannah york, thriller

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER & ELLIOTT GOULD IN 'THE SILENT PARTNER'

Christopher Plummer in The Silent Partner Year: 1978 An almost perfect vehicle for the recently-departed legendary actor Christopher Plummer...

STEVEN RITCH MAKES A MELANCHOLY CREATURE IN 'THE WEREWOLF'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wnvihzu6_eI/YBrkHIGH4yI/AAAAAAABces/LRJTNnXTssEDKPyHoouMjzHsoxlLTqoUgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/0.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1575" data-original-width="2048" height="308" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Wnvihzu6_eI/YBrkHIGH4yI/AAAAAAABces/LRJTNnXTssEDKPyHoouMjzHsoxlLTqoUgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h308/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster for THE WEREWOLF Year: 1956 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Lon Chaney Jr. was the most famous movie werewolf, David Naughton the best, and Steven Ritch makes the most sympathetic... as a stranger who stumbles into a mountainous town (actually filmed in Big Bear) and can't remember his name, or his problem, that quickly kicks into gear while he's mugged, turning into THE WEREWOLF and eventually hunted by gentle giant sheriff Don Megowan (with deputy Harry Lauter) who's hen-pecked by fiance Joyce Holden and her pacifist doctor uncle to take him alive...<br></p><p></p><p>But the villains want only death, and are two mad scientists that add "Sci-Fi" to the "Horror" who injected Ritch's Duncan Marsh with a serum as protection for nuclear fallout, or something... <br></p><p>Until then, poor Mr. Marsh has to run amok through the freezing wilderness, without shoes. And yet his lycanthrope status is sporadic, providing a desperate, vulnerable performance for the mostly unknown Steven Ritch, who, with dark heavy brows and a rugged, swarthy exterior, always looks wolfish. So whether he transforms into what now seems dated but looks freakier and scarier than the classic Universal WOLF MAN (using the same dissolve-effect), Ritch is <i>always</i> in character... and it's <i>his </i>character that the picture is not only named after but he's both the antagonist (extremely fierce and energetic when changed) and protagonist alike.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, fifties, harry lauter, horror, joyce holden, rural, science-fiction, steven ritch

STEVEN RITCH MAKES A MELANCHOLY CREATURE IN 'THE WEREWOLF'

Poster for THE WEREWOLF Year: 1956 Rating: **** Lon Chaney Jr. was the most famous movie werewolf, David Naughton the best, and Steven Ritch...

RITA HAYWORTH IS 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON' W/ CHARLES BRONSON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i6sXnKh0eyc/YBiKR9zCXyI/AAAAAAABcWk/SVul1jwKWrYFzLZ1RGvJuoyA6beODcHFQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1831/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="1831" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i6sXnKh0eyc/YBiKR9zCXyI/AAAAAAABcWk/SVul1jwKWrYFzLZ1RGvJuoyA6beODcHFQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h286/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson and Henry Slate Year: 1953 Rates: ***</u>1/2</td></tr></tbody></table><p>This adaptation of Somerset Maugham's sordid tale about an alluring woman who gets progressively judged and berated and then lusted upon by a Christian missionary is less about moral hypocrisy and more about Evolution since, from the moment Rita Hayworth lands on a Samoan island full of Marines, the biggest and toughest jarhead in Aldo Ray has her number, and won't let go... None of his underlings, not even a more muscular Charles Bronson, harmonica-playing Henry Slate or goofball Rudy Bond has a chance... and most of MISS SADIE THOMPSON seems like PR for the noticeably-aged Rita Hayworth to still be a relevant sex symbol... for young male audiences...<br></p><p></p><p>And she <i>does </i>look pretty great despite overacting the 'good time girl' routine, singing her lines while speaking her songs. But that older, experienced countenance neatly blends into a free-spirited yet enigmatic character that bible-belting Jose Ferrer realizes <i>could have</i> been a prostitute, forcing our marooned goddess in bright red (symbolically contrasting with the grainy-dull browns and greens for what was originally 3D) into a sudden guilty change of conscience. And this 11th hour melancholy-Hayworth, although turning in a far more subtle, natural performance, is but a means to an extremely rushed ending: Instead of building a hate/trust/lust relationship between leads Hayworth and Ferrer, the latter gradually frowns then sermonizes and then explodes, leading back to that rushed romance with Ray, an infatuation as equally empty and hollow — but on HER terms. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

aldo ray, charles bronson, drama, fifties, jose ferrer, melodrama, military, religion, rita hayworth, romance, rudy bond

RITA HAYWORTH IS 'MISS SADIE THOMPSON' W/ CHARLES BRONSON

Charles Bronson and Henry Slate Year: 1953 Rates: *** 1/2 This adaptation of Somerset Maugham's sordid tale about an alluring woman who ...

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S FILM NOIR PROGRAMMER 'SUDDEN DANGER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gn9IJKAvFuU/YBhD8S1fwMI/AAAAAAABcVk/_kKSBSggLD47sBaanxmSjLbAg0yPxMjbgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/z%252B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Gn9IJKAvFuU/YBhD8S1fwMI/AAAAAAABcVk/_kKSBSggLD47sBaanxmSjLbAg0yPxMjbgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/z%252B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Sudden Danger Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>All of Film Noir turned Neo Noir director Hubert Cornfield's thrillers start out with an illegal act followed by the characters dealing with the consequences... </p><p>And this, being his first picture, marks the biggest difference in that it's a partial mystery...</p><p>Especially since you <i>just know</i> the blind guy who can't afford a cure (Tom Drake)... until his mother's apparent suicide provides him the exact amount for a top surgeon... isn't what the token badgering cop (Bill Elliott) thinks he is: guilty of murder...</p><p></p><p>Let's forget the men: the best character is also the prettiest, and there are two contrasting dames including the outright bombshell Helene Stanton, oblivious moll of a sneaky rich guy... </p><p>But it's Beverly Garland as the blind man's faithful girl-next-door girlfriend who steals the show, particularly in scenes where the cop, trying to wear her down while learning she's not as weak as she seems, gets worn out in the process, thus making SUDDEN DANGER stand above the typical poverty row programmer that, like our blind Wrong Man, deserves another <i>look</i>. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvM8jaInBs0/YBaNnLnsRRI/AAAAAAABcSo/pNMTFXmKeSg2lamPRkKxBf8gwuPH2fQWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1944/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-31%2Bat%2B2.59.01%2BAM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1264" data-original-width="1944" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FvM8jaInBs0/YBaNnLnsRRI/AAAAAAABcSo/pNMTFXmKeSg2lamPRkKxBf8gwuPH2fQWwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-31%2Bat%2B2.59.01%2BAM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bill Elliott and Tom Drake in SUDDEN DANGER</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span></span></p>

beverly garland, bill elliott, cop, fifties, film noir or melodrama, helene stanton, hubert cornfield, mystery, thriller, tom drake, wrong man

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S FILM NOIR PROGRAMMER 'SUDDEN DANGER'

Title: Sudden Danger Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2 All of Film Noir turned Neo Noir director Hubert Cornfield's thrillers start out with an ...

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S TRUCKER HEIST FILM NOIR 'PLUNDER ROAD'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3zD_xxiPrs/YBjAobiMbcI/AAAAAAABcao/dt45blWcOfMPFb5WwuYOrRVcguQ4_k1KgCLcBGAsYHQ/s572/MV5BMGRlMzljOWYtOWRkOC00NWY5LWExYWMtNjBiZmY5ZmY0OWVjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%2540._V1_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="572" height="305" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3zD_xxiPrs/YBjAobiMbcI/AAAAAAABcao/dt45blWcOfMPFb5WwuYOrRVcguQ4_k1KgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h305/MV5BMGRlMzljOWYtOWRkOC00NWY5LWExYWMtNjBiZmY5ZmY0OWVjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUxODE0MDY%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PLUNDER ROAD Year: 1957 Rating: ****<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like ODD MAN OUT, director Hubert Cornfield's PLUNDER ROAD is really a <i>post-heist </i>thriller as the opening heist is a nifty ten minute train-in-the-rain robbery with three trucks and five men...</p><p>And along the way — while nitro balances inside one vehicle — each character has their own foreboding self-narration ("If we hit a bump, we're all angels!"): Yet things really kick into gear once the men have that "900 mile" slog for the border... <br></p><p>Including Gene Raymond paired with the least famous but most memorable and effective character, an edgy ex race-car driver played by Steven Ritch (also the writer), whose sullen <i>I could have been a contender</i> style monologue not only sets his own stage but orchestrates their particular ride's cadence, full of jittery nerves, like anything can happen, most likely bad, contrasting with Raymond's cool lead: And truck number two holds the token Noir born-losers in Wayne Morris as a soft-spoken yet ultimately lethal Hollywood stuntman, and a daydreaming "here's what I'll do with my share" Elisha Cook Jr. (while the last ride's gum-chewing Stafford Repp is so optimistic and likeable he's just bound to die first)...</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4YVUISBvZY/YBU5c-zeEGI/AAAAAAABcP4/XP9ys_OI5hgSpat4ZSc9Hsf2qiXvis4GgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2031/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-01-30%252Bat%252B2.12.14%252BAM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="2031" height="234" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Z4YVUISBvZY/YBU5c-zeEGI/AAAAAAABcP4/XP9ys_OI5hgSpat4ZSc9Hsf2qiXvis4GgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h234/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-01-30%252Bat%252B2.12.14%252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nora Hayden serving Steven Ritch and Gene Raymond</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Leaving the one major miscast in Raymond's girl, waiting in Los Angeles for the slow-burn third-act escape attempt: a lethargic and rather plain-looking Jeanne Cooper...</p><p>Who'd have been better played by a mid-point truck stop waitress: And Nora Hayden has all the femme fatale ingredients yet is wasted serving coffee, and, following a "born criminal" instinct, she even desires to join the truckers... </p><p>Ironically, last but not least, director Hubert Cornfield would end his Hollywood career in a similarly themed <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/thetameone.html">THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY</a> where another group of eclectic and mismatched, similarly flawed thieves — trapped and claustrophobic within a contained setting — put their mission in jeopardy by their own personal flaws. The difference is <i>these settings</i> are mobile, and the director succeeds in keeping trapped isolation literally moving. A great tagline would be: It's Purgatory on Wheels! <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, elisha cook jr., fifties, film noir or melodrama, gene raymond, heist, hubert cornfield, jeanne cooper, nora hayden, road movie, steven ritch, thriller, wayne morris

HUBERT CORNFIELD'S TRUCKER HEIST FILM NOIR 'PLUNDER ROAD'

Title: PLUNDER ROAD Year: 1957 Rating: **** Like ODD MAN OUT, director Hubert Cornfield's PLUNDER ROAD is really a post-heist thriller a...

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS EDMOND O'BRIEN IN 'THE 3RD VOICE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2TQU6QGs3aI/YBTIwnNgEWI/AAAAAAABcNY/Rj4EaCUa6WwIEF9HmPV0g010TCldc-JXgCLcBGAsYHQ/s517/3RDVOICE1SHHRws.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="515" data-original-width="517" height="399" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2TQU6QGs3aI/YBTIwnNgEWI/AAAAAAABcNY/Rj4EaCUa6WwIEF9HmPV0g010TCldc-JXgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h399/3RDVOICE1SHHRws.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The 3rd Voice Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/thetameone.html">THE NIGHT AND THE FOLLOWING DAY</a>, the infamous Neo Noir with a troubled production and problems with star Marlon Brando that ended the Hollywood career of director Hubert Cornfield, it's important to go back and see how Cornfield made his few genuine film noir vehicles, or in this case, post noir, the period before anyone knew exactly what noir was to realize it had ended...<br></p><p></p><p>Enter THE 3RD VOICE, a B&W thriller (produced by Maury Dexter) that plays out like one right up to the casting of Edmond O'Brien as a hired con artist who works very hard to impersonate the voice of a blowhard rich man, hired by his disgruntled secretary, another veteran in an effectively sassy, snarky Lorraine Day, and the set-up about O'Brien learning the man's voice and dealings is covered with more expository polish than the rest of an intriguing yet sporadically unfocused thriller... </p><p>Taking place in Mexico, where O'Brien, now solo, maintains the impersonation, mostly during a string of nervous phone calls (that include Noirish self-narration), and where the typical human "close call" occurs, almost meeting one of the real man's old friends. And it's all suspenseful enough. But how exactly he's decided to get all the money (as the actual con plays out) is confusing... Yet everything becomes more clear when the big twist is revealed, and it's a pretty damn good one. But besides sexy ingenue Julie London and the well-shot wheeling & dealing, this is Edmond O'Brien's energetic one-man-show, playing the hell out of two people at once! <br></p><p><span></span></p>

con man, edmond o'brien, hubert cornfield, julie london, laraine day, maury dexter, mexico, neo noir, sixties, thriller

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS EDMOND O'BRIEN IN 'THE 3RD VOICE'

Title: The 3rd Voice Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2 Before THE NIGHT AND THE FOLLOWING DAY , the infamous Neo Noir with a troubled production and...

ANN LYNN & JOHNNY BRIGGS IN BRITIAN'S 'THE WIND OF CHANGE'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-OMv14GBQ8/YDu6nJA0PvI/AAAAAAABdSo/N9cHusI9QtUwhQhaOFP2Hq_G0PM5Y13FwCLcBGAsYHQ/s350/WINDOFCHANGEHRws.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="350" height="388" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7-OMv14GBQ8/YDu6nJA0PvI/AAAAAAABdSo/N9cHusI9QtUwhQhaOFP2Hq_G0PM5Y13FwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h388/WINDOFCHANGEHRws.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Not that's not Donald Trump here YEAR of 1961 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Not only is this racially-charged/socially conscious film a prime example of "Kitchen Sink Dramas" from the early-to-mid 1960's England, but the rebellious main character literally washes blood off his hands in one... </p><p>From an attacked "Coloured  Boy" his sister Ann Lynn's dating in a stage-like story mostly taking place in a quaint family home, where passive patriarch Donald Pleasence spends more time with his pet rabbits than teenagers: Especially square-jawed, no-good son Johnny Briggs, who doesn't need nor care for the old man anyhow...</p><p></p><p>As a venom-spouting racist, the future CORONATION STREET soap actor is fitfully intense and edgy in the role...</p><p>When not at home he's hanging at the local soda shop where one buddy (David Hemmings) brings a guitar and another (musician Norman Gunn) plays and sings...</p><p>All to the chagrin of moody ingenue Angela Douglas while the suspense occurs back home, when — as the token pressing cop presses in — dad must choose whether to tell the truth or join frantic wife Hilda Fenemore's cover-up of her son's gang's attack/murder of the black youth... making THE WIND OF CHANGE, despite its bland, common title, far less <i>breezy</i> than the performances leading up to what really matters: And not without bizarre and ambiguous loose ends, like Lynn's "sensitive" perfect boyfriend being a cheater, and the idealistic dad's sole black rabbit with the name of... the N-word.</p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79D0ugZcHvw/YD0gDEY7goI/AAAAAAABdTA/rUBXjoWTIH0gsckW2itfuPzTL-16OIHSACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-01%2Bat%2B9.06.35%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1321" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-79D0ugZcHvw/YD0gDEY7goI/AAAAAAABdTA/rUBXjoWTIH0gsckW2itfuPzTL-16OIHSACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-03-01%2Bat%2B9.06.35%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Angela Douglas and Topsy Jane in The Winds of Change</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><span></span></p>

angela douglas, ann lynn, antonita dias, british new wave, david hemmings, donald pleasence, hilda fenemore, johnny briggs, sixties, topsy jane

ANN LYNN & JOHNNY BRIGGS IN BRITIAN'S 'THE WIND OF CHANGE'

Not that's not Donald Trump here YEAR of 1961 Rates: *** Not only is this racially-charged/socially conscious film a prime example of &q...

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayGw66BAceg/YBTHi8LSIRI/AAAAAAABcNE/6WK7BrcSUigglTiuVgjRhBOxHrOHbPFogCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-01-27%25252Bat%25252B4.54.19%25252BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ayGw66BAceg/YBTHi8LSIRI/AAAAAAABcNE/6WK7BrcSUigglTiuVgjRhBOxHrOHbPFogCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-01-27%25252Bat%25252B4.54.19%25252BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are two things that <i>must be </i>intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One is 40-something Marlon Brando was proving to <i>still </i>be fit and great looking (and he did); the other is this kidnap-thriller's not one bit thrilling, and director Hubert Cornfield deliberately made a character-driven film more about edgy criminals than the edgy situation they're involved in... </p><p></p><p>And kidnapped Pamela Franklin is hardly shown, especially once inside the main location, a French beach house where even a vacationing cop next door — flirting with Brando's junky girlfriend (and the passive leader's sister) Rita Moreno — doesn't  evoke suspense: Yet it all feels so contentedly and deliberately art-house and extremely dreamlike, leading to the infamous twist ending... </p><p>And if the kidnapped girl dreamt the entire thing.... and was perhaps recognized (the final shot) by chauffeur Brando... then she may have known him before: So this sheltered "rich little princess" had a secret crush on her worldly, rugged driver and fantasized about how he'd act as a criminal anti-hero, saving her from the creepy clutches of token wild card Richard Boone, who seems part of another story altogether: A gritty nightmare as opposed to this passive dream impersonating French New Wave during low tide, speckled with moody diatribes from the actors... And within what should be a more dangerous situation, perhaps the kidnapped girl was protected too well... But it's <i>her</i> movie, not ours (even the characters names, Chauffeur, Friendly, Leer, Blonde, are from her perspective), which may have been the director's intention all along.  <br></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al lettieri, hubert cornfield, kidnapping, marlon brando, neo noir, pamela franklin, richard boone, rita moreno, sixties, suspense, thriller

HUBERT CORNFIELD DIRECTS 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2 There are two things that must be intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One is 40...

MARLON BRANDO IN MICHAEL WINNER'S BIZARRE 'THE NIGHTCOMERS'

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O-DMcxMtf8U/YBLEaLyGgzI/AAAAAAABcEw/3urzjCoQ9k0PLAYZQ65C2Gauccof6Gs8gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1172/z.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1040" data-original-width="1172" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O-DMcxMtf8U/YBLEaLyGgzI/AAAAAAABcEw/3urzjCoQ9k0PLAYZQ65C2Gauccof6Gs8gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h355/z.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Nightcomers Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Marlon Brando's THE GODFATHER comeback was more of a legacy accreditation for an entire career, blending with the STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and ON THE WATERFRONT roles as if all the forgettable films in-between didn't exist; and here's another that perhaps he should have avoided... <br></p><p>Strangely enough, the title NIGHTCOMERS fits the adaptation of Henry James's enigmatic supernatural short story TURN OF THE SCREW ala 1961's THE INNOCENTS as two ghosts (our lovers here, when alive) come at night, appearing before the same children along with their caretaker: the latter arriving at the tail-end and, like ROGUE ONE years later, connects to the famous predecessor... but was the Henry James tale (or its adaptation) relevant enough for an entire prequel/backstory? </p><p></p><p>In the director's chair is the creatively offbeat Michael Winner, using his usual zoom lens and symbolic set-ups, who may have been influenced by former collaborator Oliver Reed's art-films directed by time-period sex-exploitation Ken Russell — possibly a better fit here since NIGHTCOMERS plays more comfortably with sadistic lust than the kind of psychedelic horror popular in the early seventies, heavy on off-putting violence and short on plot.. </p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JVXpNkg6hWA/YBMbO04hbLI/AAAAAAABcHk/sTdznYMmIhIe3aYrJipvUw0AxG-ruc-EACLcBGAsYHQ/s1982/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-28%2Bat%2B12.13.43%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1322" data-original-width="1982" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JVXpNkg6hWA/YBMbO04hbLI/AAAAAAABcHk/sTdznYMmIhIe3aYrJipvUw0AxG-ruc-EACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h266/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-01-28%2Bat%2B12.13.43%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Verna Harvey in Nightcomers RATING: **1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Which has Henry James's two spoiled, death-obsessed (and not very inspired) literary children residing in a rural gothic English manor of Bly...</p><p></p><p>Their parents are dead and an aloof uncle turns them over to Stephanie Beacham, a religious caretaker, deliberately contrasting to Brando's Quint as an Atheist groundskeeper... donning the same unkempt hair and Irish accent used in THE MISSOURI BREAKS, another film in which he seems part of a totally different picture...<br></p><p></p><p>And here his frolicking, childish behavior is both infectious to the adoring kids <i>and</i> the movie's cadence: But with more sympathy and perspective angled upon Beacham's naiveté, Brando's rebellious, sexually-charged, reckless behavior would have provided more shock value instead of seeming mundane and commonplace. Basically, watching THE NIGHTCOMERS is like electricity being electrocuted. The best thing is Jerry Fielding's brooding, haunting music, similar to his STRAW DOGS score. And yet, like the Brando thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/01/thetameone.html">NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY</a> — another maligned pre-GODFATHER outing — there's a comfortable surrealistic quality as if this particular NIGHT was intended for a very selective cult-movie audience all along. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

anna palk, christopher ellis, gothic, harry andrews, henry james, horror, marlon brando, michael winner, prequel, seventies, stephanie beacham, thriller, verna harvey

MARLON BRANDO IN MICHAEL WINNER'S BIZARRE 'THE NIGHTCOMERS'

The Nightcomers Year: 1971 Rating: **1/2 Marlon Brando's THE GODFATHER comeback was more of a legacy accreditation for an entire career,...