MALCOLM MCDOWELL IN 'THE PASSAGE' STARRING ANTHONY QUINN

<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/-ZMDVIfO9DHg/YNzqZ5TTq_I/AAAAAAABiwk/VtUYIwmEwUIGLMqpmkCb2J-uT2t6MT2XgCLcBGAsYHQ/s789/123.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="711" data-original-width="789" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZMDVIfO9DHg/YNzqZ5TTq_I/AAAAAAABiwk/VtUYIwmEwUIGLMqpmkCb2J-uT2t6MT2XgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h360/123.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster art for THE PASSAGE Year: 1979 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's already been written and spoken about that the infamous World War II flick THE PASSAGE is two movies in one; and in the critic's collective opinion, neither are very good: The first being the usual traipsing behind enemy lines action/adventure: In this case the snowy mountainous region of Pyrénées France that headliner Anthony Quinn... </p><p>Returned with GUNS OF NAVARONE director J. Lee Thompson, this particular tough character's paid to move a family... led by patriarchal scientist James Mason (with the brains to do a lot of damage if he winds up in Germany's hands)... into neighboring Spain, and the trek's a much anticipated, possibly lethal chore, predicted by Quinn's gruff Basque Shepard that Mason's crippled wife (Patricia Neal) doesn't have a prayer..</p><p></p><p>And there are two kids, supposedly teenagers.. The first is the youngest in ultimately intrepid but initially reluctant, mistrusting and whiny son Paul Clemens (sounding as if dubbed at times); and then this film's exploitation-starlet Kay Lenz, who seems cast just to be nakedly manhandled and (possibly) raped by <i>villain's villain/one man Nazi show</i> Malcolm McDowell, channeling his bratty and demented A CLOCKWORK ORANGE character so heavily he could call the French Resistance member Michael Lonsdale his "Droogie" which, in the Stanley Kubrick classic (from the Anthony Burgess novel), means friend, compatriot...<br></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hgnmgc32AZ8/YNyngbZR3CI/AAAAAAABivs/DbP5fAXhK_MJU0r4oGvw1_339gDuNIt3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s933/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-30%2Bat%2B5.00.16%2BAM%2B4.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="658" data-original-width="933" height="283" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Hgnmgc32AZ8/YNyngbZR3CI/AAAAAAABivs/DbP5fAXhK_MJU0r4oGvw1_339gDuNIt3wCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h283/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-30%2Bat%2B5.00.16%2BAM%2B4.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Art for THE PASSAGE</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Which is how McDowell's quirky psychopath Capt. Von Berkow enters into the interrogation... a charming/appreciative <i>Columbo</i> tactic making the captured character AND audience think everything may possibly turn out fine... </p><p></p><p>For which auteur and actor work nicely together and, like Quentin Tarantino's obviously-inspired INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS Nazi-villain Hans Landa's Oscar-winning prelude-monologue, the suspense leading up to each interrogated victim's fate is what really matters... </p><p></p><p>But it's not only McDowell providing the ultra-violence as some of the deadliest moments are given to tough/experienced old Quinn... leading the family from shadow-filled alleyways to a Hitchockesque train-ride to the titular mountain journey... he kills any questioning German, and is quite good here, not just going through the motions. Meanwhile, real life war hero Christopher Lee's given a quick yet important Gypsy King cameo along with FRENCH CONNECTION assassin Marcel Bozzuffi, playing nice this time... Then again, compared to crazy Malcolm, they're all pretty affable. But at the same time both sides mean business. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, anthony quinn, christopher lee, exploitation, j. lee thompson, james mason, kay lenz, malcolm mcdowell, michael lonsdale, patricia neal, paul clemens, seventies, war

MALCOLM MCDOWELL IN 'THE PASSAGE' STARRING ANTHONY QUINN

Poster art for THE PASSAGE Year: 1979 Rates: **** It's already been written and spoken about that the infamous World War II flick THE PA...

JACQUES TOURNEUR DIRECTS TOM NEAL IN 'THEY ALL COME OUT'

<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/-Oh-UpnF7sKI/YNy7fXZZRSI/AAAAAAABiwE/q5nQNHjy2uQG5l_2tcOuhGsByCTvRMaVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-06-28%25252Bat%25252B11.23.26%25252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="400" height="353" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Oh-UpnF7sKI/YNy7fXZZRSI/AAAAAAABiwE/q5nQNHjy2uQG5l_2tcOuhGsByCTvRMaVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h353/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-06-28%25252Bat%25252B11.23.26%25252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster art for They All Come Out Year: 1939 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/jacques%20tourneur">Jacques Tourneur's</a> first feature is the polar opposite of edgy Prison Noirs since THEY ALL COME OUT is unapologetic propaganda of the U.S. Correctional System, even more than FBI-backed vehicles like THE STREET WITH NO NAME or G-MEN wherein hard-boiled crime fare plays out from beginning to end following a sparse introduction while this is half-and-half... starting with the usual Depression-era <i>gangsters robbing banks</i> where Rita Johnson's Kitty makes a terrific femme fatale... but with a soft side... working for no-nonsense gang boss Bernard Nedell, who leads muggy thugs and a young handsome driver that the dame actually discovered: Enter future DETOUR actor Tom Neal displaying genuine toughness... yet there's some good in <i>him</i> too... </p><p>And just as the rudimentary rugged crime flick picks up steam, turning into a violent highway trek with cars crashing and guns blasting, the girl and men are suddenly captured and thrown into various prisons. But Tourneur keeps the stories interesting, even when the propaganda kicks into high gear, and, as supportive, open-minded officials decide upon what's <i>best</i> for their inmates sans cliché sadistic wardens, bullying guards and shiv-shoving inmates, THEY ALL COME OUT maintains a pulpy page-turning cadence, keeping the viewer intrigued about how things'll turn out despite being fairly obvious. </p><p><span></span></p>

film noir or melodrama, gangster, jacques tourneur, prison, rita johnson, thirties, tom neal

JACQUES TOURNEUR DIRECTS TOM NEAL IN 'THEY ALL COME OUT'

Poster art for They All Come Out Year: 1939 Rates: ***1/2 Director Jacques Tourneur's first feature is the polar opposite of edgy Priso...

JOHN THAW AS JACK REGAN IN THE FIRST THEATRICAL 'SWEENEY!'

<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/AVvXsEg8EZpyM_VOkWBfqr7zVPI-aKFJ4KfbnUfOvvD1Fr19-30BBM1WOz5u9pRHBWFnHZtSXNy0mzC9FbF4scGiWdinHCxYvssfQrbQhCJufVKiRA970qW8jUUJGWhaorK-ZsCuOx2RlNpiDKbCXHelT_YyIka16dr87UoOYAGfO3h3SWsWegB6rQD5aZ3UIA/s400/MV5BNjI0YjcwMzEtMTY5NS00Yzg5LWFjNTgtYTM1M2RmNzBlZGJiL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NDc4OA%2540%2540._V1_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="400" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8EZpyM_VOkWBfqr7zVPI-aKFJ4KfbnUfOvvD1Fr19-30BBM1WOz5u9pRHBWFnHZtSXNy0mzC9FbF4scGiWdinHCxYvssfQrbQhCJufVKiRA970qW8jUUJGWhaorK-ZsCuOx2RlNpiDKbCXHelT_YyIka16dr87UoOYAGfO3h3SWsWegB6rQD5aZ3UIA/w400-h328/MV5BNjI0YjcwMzEtMTY5NS00Yzg5LWFjNTgtYTM1M2RmNzBlZGJiL2ltYWdlXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NDc4OA%2540%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster art for SWEENEY! Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/sweeney">THE SWEENE</a>Y television series spent equal time with John Thaw's Jack Regan and his younger partner Dennis Waterman as George Carter, they worked overtime turning the devil-faced Thaw into a womanizing sex symbol, hence this theatrical feature hybrid of NORTH BY NORTHWEST about Regan turned Wrong Man force-fed booze (to crash his car and lose his badge), and ALL THE KING'S MEN being that SWEENEY! is a paranoiac Political Thriller with a villain in politician's spokesman Barry Foster, taking out anyone in his path (including Woodward/Bernstein style Collin Weiland) by calling a thug service that seems phone-book ready,  far too easy despite the complicated plot involving... not water like another inspiration CHINATOWN... but oil... </p><p></p><p></p><p>And so, with Waterman benign, Thaw's involved in gun fights with tons of running, ducking and hiding. But it's this film's Eva Marie Saint in hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold Diane Keen, working for the villain before reluctantly then willingly not only aiding our runaway rogue, but falling madly and predictably in love: Which is normal since every woman in almost every episode of THE SWEENEY melts for the conventionally unattractive Thaw... but it's England where not only J.R.R. Tolkien writes fantasy. And while SWEENEY! is a violently fun, gritty rollercoaster ride... being based on a series about cop partners, two would have worked better than one: another reason to see SWEENEY 2 instead.    <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, barry foster, body count, collin weiland, cop, dennis waterman, diane keen, john thaw, political, seventies, sweeney, thriller, wrong man

JOHN THAW AS JACK REGAN IN THE FIRST THEATRICAL 'SWEENEY!'

Poster art for SWEENEY! Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 While THE SWEENE Y television series spent equal time with John Thaw's Jack Regan and ...

ONGOING CAPTURED SCREEN CAPTURES FROM 'THE SWEENEY'

<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/-xu41QksHqvU/YNcdPsNC5hI/AAAAAAABilI/fn2IDcx6gtYdJLeUrthKbe9TBvJQ6PNkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s889/206139589_1264696187292888_5722323619671666472_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="889" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xu41QksHqvU/YNcdPsNC5hI/AAAAAAABilI/fn2IDcx6gtYdJLeUrthKbe9TBvJQ6PNkwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/206139589_1264696187292888_5722323619671666472_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw and Straw Dogs actor T.P. McKenna in THE SWEENEY: NIGHT OUT</u></td></tr></tbody></table>THE SWEENEY is the greatest, grittiest British crime series of the 1970's, maybe ever, and here are continuously random images from the four season series including future star guests stars and some of the show's hottest birds. <br><span></span>

cop, crime, dennis waterman, john thaw, paul freeman, photobreak, seventies, sweeney

ONGOING CAPTURED SCREEN CAPTURES FROM 'THE SWEENEY'

John Thaw and Straw Dogs actor T.P. McKenna in THE SWEENEY: NIGHT OUT THE SWEENEY is the greatest, grittiest British crime series of the 197...

ROBERT MITCHUM IN 'THE WRATH OF GOD' WITH KEN HUTCHISON

<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/-JPOJx-fc8Ac/YMtWxG6pG0I/AAAAAAABiVE/JdeTvnDqZCgxGYW7mbpOA_W3r2k0lz6NgCLcBGAsYHQ/s923/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-17%2Bat%2B6.22.27%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="923" height="310" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JPOJx-fc8Ac/YMtWxG6pG0I/AAAAAAABiVE/JdeTvnDqZCgxGYW7mbpOA_W3r2k0lz6NgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h310/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-17%2Bat%2B6.22.27%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Wrath of God Year: 1972 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/11/SWEENEY2.html">Ken Hutchison</a>, from intimidating Dustin Hoffman in STRAW DOGS to beating up GANDHI, played mostly villains except THE WRATH OF GOD opposite Robert Mitchum; the latter a foul-mouthed <i>priest </i>to Hutchison's feisty/fun Irish rogue, all taking place in Central America. And the best scenes have the trio, including likable con man Victor Buono, pursued by antique cop cars, involved in various shoot-outs and almost getting executed, right down to the black eye-mask... Then given a mission to kill dictator Frank Langella, a role he underplays... </p><p>Split by Catholic mom Rita Hayworth and a personal hatred of religion, especially priest Mitchum, he's not evil enough for our heroes to spend so much time preparing a revolution by training ill-prepared townspeople for battle. So what works AND fails are the sub-genres ranging from Spaghetti Western Revenge; Classic Gangster involving Mitchum, a Tommy-gun and an attempt to smuggle prohibited booze; and a barrage of Sam Peckinpah style slow-motion firing squad deaths in the opening credits. And since a world-weary Mitchum and rambunctious Hutchison (the latter romancing gorgeous mute local Paula Pritchett) are always game to either fight or run away, it's a shame things got so serious halfway through.  </p><p><span></span></p>

frank langella, ken hutchison, mexico, modern western, rita hayworth, robert mitchum, seventies, spaghetti western, victor buono

ROBERT MITCHUM IN 'THE WRATH OF GOD' WITH KEN HUTCHISON

Title: The Wrath of God Year: 1972 Rating: *** British actor Ken Hutchison , from intimidating Dustin Hoffman in STRAW DOGS to beating up GA...

BRITISH FILM NOIR 'SPIN A DARK WEB' ORIGINALLY 'SOHO INCIDENT'

<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/-buAmEWZvnb0/YMtRBYXGBvI/AAAAAAABiU0/Sp9x0hT6SvkFNVqXFp0Yh1plFiM9OdEMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s399/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-14%252Bat%252B7.16.46%252BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="356" data-original-width="399" height="358" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-buAmEWZvnb0/YMtRBYXGBvI/AAAAAAABiU0/Sp9x0hT6SvkFNVqXFp0Yh1plFiM9OdEMQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h358/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-14%252Bat%252B7.16.46%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SPIN A DARK WEB Year: 1956 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A sort of British version of 711 OCEAN DRIVE has a young naïve tech expert hired to wire up a horse race betting scheme so the villains can get the inside tip straight from the bookie's mouth... </p><p>Yet it begins like a boxing noir since the lanky and passive Canadian import Lee Patterson is a wannabe prizefighter set with a girl-next-door girlfriend, daughter of a trainer and his fighter son... the latter killed by a no-good hood played by Bernard Fox before his signature mustache made him an endearing magical character-actor... <br></p><p></p><p>His gruff character here breaking SPIN A DARK WEB into two parts: one has our hero sent by plan-plotting criminals Martin Benson and Robert Alden to pay or catch or maybe even kill hideaway Fox while working out the aforementioned con... </p><p>And there needed more of the first as the sting/con gets too complicated while the best scenes, in and out of actual Soho London streets/locales, clash with phony-looking rear-projection driving... thankfully there's<i> less</i> of the latter. And like all Noirs it's a sexy (American) femme fatale who makes our blank-slate boy turn savage-sappy while he neglects the (British) good girl who knew him first... but she isn't very interesting... and token wildcard Faith Domergue doesn't have enough time to SPIN that DARK titular WEB with all those literal wires getting crossed and uncrossed, again and again.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

bernard fox, boxing, british film noir, con, fifties, heist, martin benson, robert arden, thriller

BRITISH FILM NOIR 'SPIN A DARK WEB' ORIGINALLY 'SOHO INCIDENT'

Title: SPIN A DARK WEB Year: 1956 Rating: *** A sort of British version of 711 OCEAN DRIVE has a young naïve tech expert hired to wire up a ...

PETER STRAUSS VS WILLIAM SMITH 'RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II'

<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/-Ou7n_Q-5BeE/YMggK7E6elI/AAAAAAABiLc/9z2w77OPJxMsFzpumqbrjhRzlJh1yQH6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s901/66.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="901" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ou7n_Q-5BeE/YMggK7E6elI/AAAAAAABiLc/9z2w77OPJxMsFzpumqbrjhRzlJh1yQH6QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/66.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II Year: 1976-1977 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II is no <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/02/RMPM1.html">RICH MAN, POOR MAN</a> being impossible to replace Nick Nolte after he dies in the original's climax, it's a pretty great sequel, mostly thanks to William Smith as crazy villain Anthony Falconetti who, while shaping-up and tearing-down the last four episodes of the first venture, is now a continuously formidable presence, not only stealing scenes but destroying anyone and anything in his wake...</p><p></p><p>And this time the POOR MAN are young <i>men</i>... Since there's no luckless boxer/sailor Nolte to contrast returning star and now sole headliner Peter Strauss as ambitious, sometimes idealistic Senator/businessman Rudy Jordache, Nolte's beloved son, Wesley (Gregg Henry) and con artist Billy (James Carroll Jordan), neglected son of Bill Bixby and Susan Blakely (the latter killed off/written out early), both take the POOR spot in different ways... </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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cFaTjDahmM/YMaCuuf0DoI/AAAAAAABiGI/p0hmvuOy_8wWHkainP6hO6Xz9sfZNakjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1876/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-13%252Bat%252B12.39.01%252BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="1876" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2cFaTjDahmM/YMaCuuf0DoI/AAAAAAABiGI/p0hmvuOy_8wWHkainP6hO6Xz9sfZNakjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-06-13%252Bat%252B12.39.01%252BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Penny Peyser and Gregg Henry in RICH MAN POOR MAN BOOK II Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Wesley's broke despite being taken in by his RICH uncle while Billy fights to make it big in the music industry, so he's basically the young climber version of Peter Strauss while Wesley, blond and muscular like dad, takes Nolte's hapless workingman route, <i>almost</i> having an affair with tough, stubborn yet incredibly cute girl-next-door/union man's daughter Penny Peyser... until Billy gets in quicker and ignites an addictive whirlwind romance/love triangle...</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 there are so many characters to cover, including a resilient, quick-witted Susan Sullivan as Rudy's girlfriend lawyer (particularly during senate hearings straight from THE GODFATHER II including a crooked G. D. Spradlin and Peter Donat), whose daughter Kimberly Beck is a flirtatious teenager smitten with Wesley when, by the 11th hour,<i> all</i> the characters wind up in Sin City Vegas to square-off against the show's two polar opposite antagonists...</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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUtHH7d7gD4/YMdh42o7GzI/AAAAAAABiGo/sVxNdk3WOH4YDBx_B_wR66BWI-1LyQIIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s943/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="943" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zUtHH7d7gD4/YMdh42o7GzI/AAAAAAABiGo/sVxNdk3WOH4YDBx_B_wR66BWI-1LyQIIgCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Smith and Kimberly Beck in RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Besides Falconetti is a callous yet still somewhat charming/monopolizing billionaire Peter Haskell as Charles Estep, who Strauss's Rudy is after and whose wife, the beautiful Laraine Stephens, holds an anticipated/game-changing secret...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The most fun's had with Billy and his up-and-down dealings working at then co-owning a once-great record company (run by endearingly grouchy gambler Sorrell Booke); he basically sells his soul to protect a fickle and neurotic knockout version of Janis Joplin in Cassie Yates, taking the otherwise womanizer on a proverbial ride... <br></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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njVmUL89PkM/YMZUJKo9Y0I/AAAAAAABiE0/sEElaSGRdlkd-0_Hs3q_B21Ocrr4Wi99QCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/196143560_1256252508137256_8637572101747373707_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="667" data-original-width="960" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-njVmUL89PkM/YMZUJKo9Y0I/AAAAAAABiE0/sEElaSGRdlkd-0_Hs3q_B21Ocrr4Wi99QCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/196143560_1256252508137256_8637572101747373707_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Russell Johnson as a detective with Peter Strauss in RICH MAN POOR MAN BOOK II</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Meanwhile, William Smith's powerfully methodical method-acting is what really stands out, shaking the dust off particular moments where the original series' edgy (semi-historical) drama becomes kitschy melodrama... He's busy too, fending off Nolte's vengeful partner Herbert Jefferson Jr., and, also returning is Kay Lenz, Nolte's sexy little widow, this time a kooky laughing girl in a contrived/forced affair with Strauss...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And yet, despite the soap operatic tropes and romantic distractions, like any good televised serial, the characters and situations leave viewers salivating for the next episode... while Peter Strauss is even more intense and dogged, likable, sympathetic and hardcore in the leading role (providing more than a few fantastic monologue-lectures)... making both RICH MAN, POOR MAN shows a "binge-watch" experience far before there was such a thing. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

cassie yates, gregg henry, herbert jefferson jr., james carroll jordan, kimberly beck, laraine stephens, melodrama, miniseries, penny peyser, peter strauss, seventies, susan sullivan, TV, william smith

PETER STRAUSS VS WILLIAM SMITH 'RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II'

Title: RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II Year: 1976-1977 Rating: **** While RICH MAN, POOR MAN BOOK II is no RICH MAN, POOR MAN being impossible t...

JACQUES TOURNEUR DIRECTS DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FEARMAKERS'

<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/AVvXsEi48YgOPs26LaNzfjEQ5sFkb3QJqEFv2NwEmia8ZTfjiXT_gr7KGgZi8vJ8yGLpIrsbRpQp0FJ1lO8-4sSEZlteOuPYoVLxB3B0Q2xljfmEI5Wp3rjVqoZfOyzxSUK3Yvko00hRFm1B5m033a7Wo15gimRpn1IUZYMwp38bhmND5koBKJVatkFY3Voaxg=s400" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="400" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi48YgOPs26LaNzfjEQ5sFkb3QJqEFv2NwEmia8ZTfjiXT_gr7KGgZi8vJ8yGLpIrsbRpQp0FJ1lO8-4sSEZlteOuPYoVLxB3B0Q2xljfmEI5Wp3rjVqoZfOyzxSUK3Yvko00hRFm1B5m033a7Wo15gimRpn1IUZYMwp38bhmND5koBKJVatkFY3Voaxg=w400-h365" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Fearmakers Year: 1958 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE FEARMAKERS is <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>' peak as a dramatic lead, and, circa 1958, is one of the last genuine (albeit disputed) Film Noirs that's more of an early Cold War Political Thriller, directed by his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/CPassage.html">CANYON PASSAGE</a> and the previous years' <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/12/DemonCurse.html">CURSE OF THE DEMON </a>auteur Jacques Tourneur: a suspenseful programmer where the plot's spelled out quick, economically... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Having returned from being a tortured POW in Communist North Korea, and suffering sporadic fainting spells, Dana's Alan Eaton returns to Washington D.C. where his business partner has died, somewhat suspiciously, and their business is taken over by some "pretty big fish with a bad smell" according to his senator friend, so Dana has to investigate, completely from the inside...</p><p></p><p>Basically providing Tourneur a low-budget one-office setting, not counting a few restaurants and perhaps the best sequence inside a B&B owned by mouthy/muscular thug Kelly Thordsen<u> </u> with a sultry fatale-like wife Veda Ann Borg: And eventually everything falls into b movie place with young and naive, sympathetic love interest Marilee Earle, secretary of main boss Dick Foran... the latter who's both shady and sophisticated, the perfect rival to Dana's completely honest businessman, who had professionally and proficiently ran this same Statistic-Research firm that's since become a hot-bed for political corruption... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJU1a_T5NyIvkH8AP3os5cfbaiUTOnac8JfRYexlw3AMHOiCjSLzmjPYxQdPBtMgViRrAE_RBSBQbvLGhcvgB1SZF36y3BTt_z9u3ZyUqAA55RPH7MGlETouw8dbK4zQvNO88JKqdZ6mwxNMy2k01Ht8jo6Fg0HipYyxLRdtgUxJhZLSs9EFzRXkJnTg=s742" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="365" data-original-width="742" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJU1a_T5NyIvkH8AP3os5cfbaiUTOnac8JfRYexlw3AMHOiCjSLzmjPYxQdPBtMgViRrAE_RBSBQbvLGhcvgB1SZF36y3BTt_z9u3ZyUqAA55RPH7MGlETouw8dbK4zQvNO88JKqdZ6mwxNMy2k01Ht8jo6Fg0HipYyxLRdtgUxJhZLSs9EFzRXkJnTg=w400-h196" width="400"></a></div><p>Which isn't entirely clear as the underlying theme is non-political, equally catered to both patriots and those fearing Washington's backroom wheeling/dealing; teased just enough for the plot-line, all part of an efficient Late Noir where Andrews, after basically skating through (while literally drinking through) two Fritz Lang media-centered Noirs, might not look so great physically... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet Dana's 1950's tense yet understated presence ala LAURA and FALLEN ANGEL is back in gear, tight and calculating as ever, but the real surprise is musician icon Mel Torme as the most ambiguous, perhaps even the most ambitious character: A nerdy, awkward numbers-guy doing "drone" work for the villain, he's smitten with the secretary hence extremely jealous of our hero: caught perfectly in-between as a sublime scene-stealer. </p><span></span>

dana andrews, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jacques tourneur, kelly thordsen, marilee earle, mel torme, political, thriller, veda ann borg

JACQUES TOURNEUR DIRECTS DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FEARMAKERS'

Title: The Fearmakers Year: 1958 Rating: **** THE FEARMAKERS is Dana Andrews ' peak as a dramatic lead, and, circa 1958, is one of the l...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'SPY IN YOUR EYE' WITH GASTON MOSCHIN

<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/-pvwpBgBRzgw/YLxseAgjDXI/AAAAAAABhm4/E_ZakakOHRwUj7tOMCHD5EH9_s4HO0X8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1948/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-05%2Bat%2B11.13.56%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1410" data-original-width="1948" height="290" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pvwpBgBRzgw/YLxseAgjDXI/AAAAAAABhm4/E_ZakakOHRwUj7tOMCHD5EH9_s4HO0X8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h290/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-05%2Bat%2B11.13.56%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in Spy in your Eye Year: 1965 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of eight movies <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">DANA ANDREWS</a> appeared in from 1965, the unknown SPY IN YOUR EYE aka BANG YOU'RE DEAD has the lowest budget, seeming as if filmed on 16MM as Dana's an eye-patched operative provided a glass eye in its place and, unbeknownst to him there's a camera inside care-of villainous surgeon Gastone Moschin, who'd later become the most formidable, deserving-to-die baddie The Black Hand in THE GODFATHER 2...</p><p>But like most situations when big (or once big) veteran actors get star treatment, there's a young buried lead here in Brett Halsey, whose mission, including taking a train aided by an intrepid cohort with a hunchback that's actually a knife, is to... well... he travels around a lot and winds up in Arabic countries (supposedly) with intriguing blonde ingenue Pier Angeli, holding back a few mysteries and countered by a brunette femme fatale in Tania Béryl, whose actually more vulnerable than wicked since Gastone, her boss, is as bad as they get. Meanwhile, an expository Andrews merely bookends the adventure, leaving the action sequences... which actually flow pretty well... to Halsey in a curio too obscure for a cult following but that's, overall, surprisingly satisfying, fitting neatly into Dana's other 1965 low-budgets <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/citizen-cannon.html">BRAINSTORM</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/04/town-tamer.html">TOWN TAMER</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/dana-cracked.html">CRACK IN THE WORLD</a>. </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/-GJF4qtGvL5o/YLylN6Lf93I/AAAAAAABhn8/bpK9bbOxf9kLZcn9gt_XRU543_WB5yXTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2534/195253670_1746206438915826_1705395466814395833_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="2534" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJF4qtGvL5o/YLylN6Lf93I/AAAAAAABhn8/bpK9bbOxf9kLZcn9gt_XRU543_WB5yXTQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/195253670_1746206438915826_1705395466814395833_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in the movie trailer for SPY IN YOUR EYE</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, brett halsley, dana andrews, espionage, exploitation, gastone moschin, pier angeli, sixties, spy, tania béryl

DANA ANDREWS IN 'SPY IN YOUR EYE' WITH GASTON MOSCHIN

Dana Andrews in Spy in your Eye Year: 1965 Rates: *** Of eight movies DANA ANDREWS appeared in from 1965, the unknown SPY IN YOUR EYE aka B...

DANA ANDREWS IN FRITZ LANG'S 'BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT'

<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/AVvXsEhUO-ZhXQMpFoa0ZH_eg8UXlyanCjO7Q4qdSiWZ39u29UOeEYISsqM0I761Xr1ys8aXllZqje2N756nauJOkWkwUZ4tVf4I1hfA2ZJzA2QGz--WcGnIXkPGJ3U4Okv6jID5UnIGEEEAxSPsSGU4xqkAYwd65XQfJDEGT9QklRPDjSNILWv3mRJunWxXrg=s2048" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1426" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhUO-ZhXQMpFoa0ZH_eg8UXlyanCjO7Q4qdSiWZ39u29UOeEYISsqM0I761Xr1ys8aXllZqje2N756nauJOkWkwUZ4tVf4I1hfA2ZJzA2QGz--WcGnIXkPGJ3U4Okv6jID5UnIGEEEAxSPsSGU4xqkAYwd65XQfJDEGT9QklRPDjSNILWv3mRJunWxXrg=w279-h400" width="279"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1956 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>German director Frtiz Lang, whose early European classics influenced American Film Noir, made one of the greatest of that shadowy stylistic<i> genre</i>, THE BIG HEAT, after which his crime-thrillers lost steam, ending with his last U.S. venture, the anti-capital-punishment melodrama BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT starring his previous <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/09/citizen-kyne.html">WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS</a> leading man <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/dana%20andrews">Dana Andrews</a>... </p><p></p><p></p><p>Whose future reporter father-in-law concoct a plan to prove that that "reasonable doubt" constantly propelled by a pigheaded D.A. rival is not only <i>unreasonable</i>, but can also be a load of bunk... </p><p>By having Andrews frame himself for a stripper's murder, wherein the best scenes take place backstage in the seedy dive she'd worked, romancing her co-workers, street savvy blonde Barbara Nichols to the chagrin of jealous floozy friend Robin Raymond: The latter played the doomed carnival dunk-tank girl in THE SNIPER, which starred this film's jilted wing man for Dana's fiance Joan Fontaine... </p><p>But Arthur Franz's importance occurs later on... before a twist ending that, while loathed by many, actually takes the picture to a level above the too-obvious agenda, giving Dana's squeaky-clean idealist... whose usual minimalist style is a bit too minimal here... more edge than he has during the rushed murder trial... </p><p>Overall, the best scenes had already come and gone with those bickering strumpets, and too few scenes as Andrews and Blackmer contrive the perfect murder that supposedly never took place. So while intriguing enough to pass the time, BEYOND is beneath Fritz Lang's style; in fact, his visual presence seems somewhat absent here. If only those two scene-stealing burlesque girls had their own movie together. Particularly Barbara Nichols, who, the following year, would have a similar yet far juicier role in THE SWEET SMELL OF SUCCESS. <br></p><span></span>

arthur franz, barbara nichols, courtroom drama, dana andrews, death row, dorothy ford, edward binns, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fritz lang, joan fontaine, joyce taylor, robin raymond, sidney blackmer

DANA ANDREWS IN FRITZ LANG'S 'BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT'

Year: 1956 Rating: *** German director Frtiz Lang, whose early European classics influenced American Film Noir, made one of the greatest of ...

DANA ANDREWS AND BETTY HUTTON FLING IN 'SPRING REUNION'

<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/-UN4r-cK9L80/YMEhGH8gLVI/AAAAAAABhyA/nBH7X-1UJfsj5HJZi_SQ9YU4ZQnjk3IqgCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%252540._V1_.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="400" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UN4r-cK9L80/YMEhGH8gLVI/AAAAAAABhyA/nBH7X-1UJfsj5HJZi_SQ9YU4ZQnjk3IqgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%252540._V1_.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews & Betty Hutton Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>By the middle of the 1950's, Dana Andrews had swung full circle, back to playing either the secondary handsome guy... who doesn't get the girl... or in the case of SPRING REUNION, the handsome guy whose part is secondary to the leading actress, and was basically cast because... well... he's handsome enough for her... <br></p><p>And the picture's biggest flaw is that the entire cast looks far too old to be celebrating their 15-year high school reunion, including flaky-cute Jean Hagan in a troubled marriage, almost hooking up with jovially oblivious has-been footballer (also in a troubled marriage) Gordon Jones....</p><p>But this REUNION belongs almost entirely to former musical darling Betty Hutton, suffering from too much contentment and way too much love from daddy (she still lives with her parents); and that actor, Robert F. Simon, doesn't think his little girl is good enough for anyone, including the successful Dana Andrews: A popular fella voted most likely to succeed, Dana's Fred Davis only partially lives up to the title since he walks away from any successful job he tires of... </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/-5skAuXcGkIQ/YLprcv71URI/AAAAAAABhgY/jgsm8tVzd8IBZjP1_WpaWj_KxX5msALWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1329/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%2540._V1_%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="1329" height="145" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5skAuXcGkIQ/YLprcv71URI/AAAAAAABhgY/jgsm8tVzd8IBZjP1_WpaWj_KxX5msALWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h145/MV5BZWM2NTQyYzUtMWIzYS00MDRjLWFmNDMtNTBjNDFjNzQ4MDdiXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjg2NjExMzY%2540._V1_%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>What is it so great about Foreign Posters anyway?</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So basically what's here is a kind of romantic programmer (ghost-produced by Dana's future IN HARM'S WAY co-star Kirk Douglas) that serves a bittersweet reminder of the post-war years when idle time seemed to stand still... </p><p>And while the scenes at the REUNION itself are corny and fun (featuring drunken chaperone Irene Ryan; snarky Ken Curtis; and deliberately untalented celebrity-impersonator Sara Berner), it's the moments between Andrews (despite being an impatient grouch whose striped shirt annoyingly morays) and Hutton that, in what pans out like its own cozy stage play... even at sea and under a romantic lighthouse beacon... is worth the reclining hour-long viewing. <br></p><span></span>

betty hutton, comedy, dana andrews, fifties, gordon jones, jean hagen, kirk douglas, melodrama, robert f. simon, romance

DANA ANDREWS AND BETTY HUTTON FLING IN 'SPRING REUNION'

Dana Andrews & Betty Hutton Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2 By the middle of the 1950's, Dana Andrews had swung full circle, back to playin...

BEFORE MAKING A BULLITT PETER YATES STAGED THIS '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><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/AVvXsEh7q59XGbQKvg-mKOueTU6BS097zllQEu2LKX2661dhSfu-nLO4a8DYmpWwBi_DzsGnpgtroG1V_FrbF5MTBgWuKyKgKlouJIbYNFJ8VHfTdwuK-M-2eKllXv_aV0DRS4-WNIXh6D8CElINXE0RNI47C9sch7doeg4F3Tqyu2AkR944D-fmy_bUTeTmSQ/s1786/AVvXsEhR9q8yEu_1zMUl8Fnn2niqrlHvhAl66wXxzOP4dfXYkNxXfA0mvWJuaNmAYLwy-F4aUh5hzQlizy073-SE4y3ivL7BsKXVRMleLhdrqrI8dqhuHEer3FfJa6Bc2QgXGdpFN1GcdiWOLTmALzcxlguYnTXeRSYYnGiJQi7HudlDZAEeLs_Ys-8vno1pUw=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="996" data-original-width="1786" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7q59XGbQKvg-mKOueTU6BS097zllQEu2LKX2661dhSfu-nLO4a8DYmpWwBi_DzsGnpgtroG1V_FrbF5MTBgWuKyKgKlouJIbYNFJ8VHfTdwuK-M-2eKllXv_aV0DRS4-WNIXh6D8CElINXE0RNI47C9sch7doeg4F3Tqyu2AkR944D-fmy_bUTeTmSQ/s16000/AVvXsEhR9q8yEu_1zMUl8Fnn2niqrlHvhAl66wXxzOP4dfXYkNxXfA0mvWJuaNmAYLwy-F4aUh5hzQlizy073-SE4y3ivL7BsKXVRMleLhdrqrI8dqhuHEer3FfJa6Bc2QgXGdpFN1GcdiWOLTmALzcxlguYnTXeRSYYnGiJQi7HudlDZAEeLs_Ys-8vno1pUw=s16000.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, an extremely 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>And it's not <i>just</i> this initial chase that Yates carried over to the McQueen classic, but also the meticulous and metronomic and strategic moments leading up...</p><p><span></span></p>

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

BEFORE MAKING A BULLITT PETER YATES STAGED THIS '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...

GASTON MOSCHIN IN 'CALIBER 9' ORIGINALLY 'MILANO CALIBRO 9'

<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/-MztZPExt8rM/YMAq_e4zrlI/AAAAAAABhss/fUA-WcEAeQYO35eU6cRhTq511mMqQqYVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1829/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-08%2Bat%2B5.06.19%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1287" data-original-width="1829" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MztZPExt8rM/YMAq_e4zrlI/AAAAAAABhss/fUA-WcEAeQYO35eU6cRhTq511mMqQqYVwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h281/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-08%2Bat%2B5.06.19%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Caliber 9 Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Gravelly-voiced, physically-imposing Italian actor Gastone Moschin made the greatest villain in THE GODFATHER franchise as Fanucci aka The Black Hand in Part II, a monopolizing bully that Robert DeNiro's young Vito Corleone had to kill, but, two years earlier, Gastone gets more bullied than perhaps anyone in crime cinema history... </p><p>Freed on parole and still blamed for stealing then hiding 300K meant for a powerful mob boss, he's followed and beaten by thugs of "L'Americano" Lionel Stander, whose chief gangster Rocco... played by a fat and feisty, thin-mustached Mario Adorf... is the deadliest and noisiest in an extremely deadly/noisy Italian crime flick by Fernando Di Leo, wielding creative camera angles within the deliberately complicated plot, taking an hour to reveal an important trick that Gastone's Ugo Piazza... more vulnerably-subdued than slowburn-cool... has up his sleeve. Meanwhile, the only safe harbor's in the arms and plush apartment of stripper Barbara Bouchet; but things aren't what they seem in this action-packed exploitation you can't keep your eyes off, and that your ears won't escape from as CALIBER 9, harboring a sonic Jethro-Tull-like guitar/flute score, is a complete assault of the senses. </p><p><span></span></p>

barbara bouchet, crime, exploitation, gastone moschin, italian, lionel stander, mario adorf, seventies

GASTON MOSCHIN IN 'CALIBER 9' ORIGINALLY 'MILANO CALIBRO 9'

Caliber 9 Year: 1972 Rating: **** Gravelly-voiced, physically-imposing Italian actor Gastone Moschin made the greatest villain in THE GODFAT...

ORSON WELLES AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON IN 'THE STRANGER'

<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/-03dmWPeZf6c/YLi3uD07SiI/AAAAAAABhQ4/gRhQBDemfhUKSyVRwb-YDI2IJ-IKIFXYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s491/71OgY1Ue4gL._AC_SY879_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="459" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-03dmWPeZf6c/YLi3uD07SiI/AAAAAAABhQ4/gRhQBDemfhUKSyVRwb-YDI2IJ-IKIFXYwCLcBGAsYHQ/w374-h400/71OgY1Ue4gL._AC_SY879_.jpeg" width="374"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spouting teacher about to marry the beautiful daughter of a renown judge in a small town epitomizing post-war, postcard America. And he's the perfect man: brilliant, handsome, and determined, with only one drawback — he's a former Nazi; on top of which, he still believes in "the cause" and that it could possibly sustain... <br></p><p></p><p>But he keeps this secret from everyone, especially Edward G. Robinson as a dogged, determined yet sophisticated FBI agent posing as an antique collector (which Robinson was in real life), who soon discovers the real identity but needs proof before moving in... <br></p><p>Before and after there's a fair share of unrealistic, melodramatic situations; and scenes bridging the second and third act tend to drag, especially Welles attempting to keep his poor, unstable wife by his ever-crumbling side... </p><p>But the detailed framing and exquisite camerawork, especially Welle's use of shadows and the climax involving a clock tower adorned with sword-wielding angel statures, makes this, if anything else, a visual masterpiece: and one of the few box-office successes in the maverick auteur's artistically brilliant but financially unsuccessful directorial career, and has a nifty side-cast including a young idealistic (brother of the bride) Richard Long; Welles's redeemed hence doomed Nazi sycophant Konstantin Shayne; a goofy albeit likable Billy House housing checkers with town gossip; and Joseph Cotten doppelganger Byron Keith as Welles's best man. </p><p><span></span></p>

billy house, byron keith, edward g. robinson, film noir or melodrama, forties, loretta young, nazi, orson welles, richard long, thriller

ORSON WELLES AND EDWARD G. ROBINSON IN 'THE STRANGER'

Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: **** Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spoutin...

ROD TAYLOR LITERALLY VS WILLIAM SMITH IN 'DARKER THAN AMBER'

<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/-PpGV67NHv8A/YMh2D6yV4sI/AAAAAAABiMM/GTtQrrVelEoGbdsnhrzmGrDwiCRuLzzNQCLcBGAsYHQ/s778/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-14%2Bat%2B10.53.03%2BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="718" data-original-width="778" height="369" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PpGV67NHv8A/YMh2D6yV4sI/AAAAAAABiMM/GTtQrrVelEoGbdsnhrzmGrDwiCRuLzzNQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h369/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-06-14%2Bat%2B10.53.03%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Book Cover Darker than Amber Year: 1970 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"And speaking of that... What about that?" is some of the clunky dialogue in Robert Clouse's cinematic venture for pulp author John D. McDonald's beach bum/salvage seller Travis McGee, here played by an aged-to-granite Rod Taylor, more befitting a suit during the cruise ship second half than bulky shirtless on his own boat... a balmy Florida Keys Neo Noir during an intriguing set-up when Taylor's McGee rescues a beautiful blonde dumped off a bridge with weighted ankles... </p><p></p><p>The kind of colorfully psychedelic counter-culture clashing an otherwise gray-toned detective-style thriller, and especially vivid is the young girl, all open-minded and groovy in Suzy Kendall, who, pretty enough to fall for quickly, there's not enough romantic chemistry to merit McGee such severe depression after her death...<br></p><p>Quickly followed by a contrived resurrection as Kendall plays a different girl, used to trick muscular bleach-blond psycho <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/falcon-eddie.html">William Smith</a>: And what DARKER THAN AMBER is known for is the climactic fight between Taylor and Smith that wound up real, captured by director Clouse that landed him Bruce Lee's ENTER THE DRAGON: Which also featured blonde bombshell Ahna Capri who, like Smith and beautiful black actress Janet MacLachlan as well as pinch thug Robert Phillips, isn't given enough screen time in a deliberate b-movie that's more a scattered collection of scenes. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

ahna capri, chris robinson, gumshoe, janet maclachlan, neo noir, robert clouse, robert phillips, rod taylor, seventies, suzy kendall, william smith

ROD TAYLOR LITERALLY VS WILLIAM SMITH IN 'DARKER THAN AMBER'

Book Cover Darker than Amber Year: 1970 Rates: *** "And speaking of that... What about that?" is some of the clunky dialogue in Ro...