SHARY MARSHALL IN STEVE COCHRAN'S 'TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT'

<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/-GJq-Lly9y3k/YQHzuBnfyJI/AAAAAAABkSo/hNVH_cxS_uY-TPQHKq2595rAQnCUQNfXACLcBGAsYHQ/s915/zz%2B2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="915" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GJq-Lly9y3k/YQHzuBnfyJI/AAAAAAABkSo/hNVH_cxS_uY-TPQHKq2595rAQnCUQNfXACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/zz%2B2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SUNLIGHT was Filmed: 1962 Released: 1965 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>First time director Steve Cochran directs himself against his usual villainous type in TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT as a laidback sailor on the coast of Nassau, Bahamas, wandering the nighttime town on what feels a never-ending leave from the parked ship, picking-up on a young Mexican girl more than half his age and getting nowhere till the next night when, after a shave & haircut by another toned-down usual-villain Jay Robinson, he meets a stripper named Julie played by drop-dead-gorgeous Shary Marshall... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>And after crowded smoky shots in a noisy bamboo-filled strip joint, most of the picture has the new couple hanging around town at night, providing TELL ME the kind of indie project that'd seem commonplace a decade later but in the early 1960's, when it was actually made then released upon Cochran's death, it's a poor man's b-movie romance both steamy and sexy yet without any sex... So Marshall's heart-of-gold stripper is a different kind of girl-next-door while Cochran, usually a slap away from getting what he wants from a dame, is even more subdued, patient, and cautious... like his film, the only he'd direct as, on the same  yacht he'd be found dead on, he was scouting the next tropics-set locale. Making the plot-less yet thoughtful SUNLIGHT shine brighter knowing it's not just the last, but the only. </p><span></span>

indie, jay robinson, jazz score, neo noir, romance, shary marshall, sixties, steve cochran, stripper

SHARY MARSHALL IN STEVE COCHRAN'S 'TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT'

SUNLIGHT was Filmed: 1962 Released: 1965 Rating: **** First time director Steve Cochran directs himself against his usual villainous type in...

VAL KILMER & LUCY GUTTERIDGE SEND UP SPIES IN 'TOP SECRET!'

<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/-UePMxvAOVL0/YQGHmY3YLyI/AAAAAAABkOo/aK0PG4QFAAApfbuD7kwnZmoP30hrPyDOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2014/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.36.55%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="2014" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UePMxvAOVL0/YQGHmY3YLyI/AAAAAAABkOo/aK0PG4QFAAApfbuD7kwnZmoP30hrPyDOwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.36.55%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers in TOP SECRET! Directors: Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Nonstop humor with a real plot is called funny... without a plot, silly... and the creators of the extremely funny AIRPLANE! deliberately set out to make a fast-paced, extremely silly satire covering a bagful of genres...</p><p></p><p>Particularly WW2 spy thrillers with Elvis Musicals thrown in... in the form of Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers, a somehow contemporary Rock N' Roller booked to play a Nazi German concert that sort of comes and goes... </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/-HqL-sKKRleA/YQFmhGm71KI/AAAAAAABkMY/pQ180DJZUgQ1lYEFmn41Br9m85YBxq3RACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.38.45%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HqL-sKKRleA/YQFmhGm71KI/AAAAAAABkMY/pQ180DJZUgQ1lYEFmn41Br9m85YBxq3RACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.38.45%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lucy Gutteridge as Hillary Flammond in TOP SECRET!</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Meanwhile the actual attempt at a primary plot involves ingenue Lucy Gutteridge's scientist father needing rescue by the help of a goofy band of French Resistance fighters, only around to finish off a busy, somewhat exhausting story that the jokes leading up served an almost constant bulwark for... </p><p></p><p>They're mostly action-based visual gags since this <i>is</i> an action/adventure, albeit more like Mel Brooks (parodying movie-making itself) than Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker's previous (POLICE SQUAD) and future work (the NAKED GUN franchise, in which Omar Sharif foreshadows OJ Simpson's accident-prone Wile E. Coyote type)...</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/-UIq024pJZuQ/YQFmmLfbPyI/AAAAAAABkMc/jhF6I7Bo2RU2jk7Hm8a8icfmE7uYcpvAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.50.28%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UIq024pJZuQ/YQFmmLfbPyI/AAAAAAABkMc/jhF6I7Bo2RU2jk7Hm8a8icfmE7uYcpvAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-28%2Bat%2B6.50.28%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cows through binoculars from TOP SECRET!</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Perhaps the writing/directing trio worked too hard to accomplish a multi-satire that's gained a pretty decent cult following despite (and because of) the disappointing opening-weekend... Or those who tire of the AIRPLANE! accolades while pushing the dark-horse notion that this one's a lot better, funnier... </p><p></p><p>Overall TOP SECRET! is yet another "underrated failure because it wasn't treated fairly" that <i>does</i> deserve more recognition... including Val Kilmer's naturally appealing comic timing sustained in REAL GENIUS... but perhaps more for the entertainingly energetic ambition than end result. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, amar sharif, eighties, escape, ian mcneice, lucy gutteridge, musical, peter cushing, satire, spy, val kilmer, warren clarke, world war II

VAL KILMER & LUCY GUTTERIDGE SEND UP SPIES IN 'TOP SECRET!'

Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers in TOP SECRET! Directors: Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 Nonstop humor with a re...

JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT FIGHTS BACK IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'DEFIANCE'

<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/-t-0T4PJdvho/YRe2Ssa3_vI/AAAAAAABlGU/mf4ApAmSZsEf-rzk0Y0uEA5nLUHC7cfagCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/DZfm6oUW0AMmHt3.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="347" data-original-width="400" height="348" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t-0T4PJdvho/YRe2Ssa3_vI/AAAAAAABlGU/mf4ApAmSZsEf-rzk0Y0uEA5nLUHC7cfagCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h348/DZfm6oUW0AMmHt3.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Foreign DEFIANCE Poster 1980 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Both lead actors from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BW2-MECH.html">THE MECHANIC</a> would get the vigilante bug, especially Charles Bronson, two years later beginning what would become the DEATH WISH franchise; and right before the second of five features, Jan-Michael Vincent waged DEFIANCE directed by the always capable John Flynn, who does his best work with low budget b-flicks with big budget intensity... wherein Vincent plays a merchant seaman on leave and doesn't want to be... stuck in New York where the usual bullying gang rears from the woodwork, led by Rudy Ramos, looking a kind of stylish Zoot Suit throwback... </p><p>Soon enough this villain's hateful eyes lock on Vincent, about to enter his shabby apartment in a shabbier building that includes the token young mentored boy and gorgeous ingenue, here played with Spanish zest by zesty Italian beauty Theresa Saldana, throwing herself at Vincent's tough silent type. And he just as quickly befriends local allies led by big/strong and jovial Danny Aiello with equally-rough sidekicks Don Blakely and Frank Pesce, providing Vincent a kind of street-savvy Greek-chorus along with Art Carney as a helpful liquor store owner and Lenny Montana, bigger than Aiello and... with this muscular group why did Vincent have to defend the neighborhood in the first place? Well the BIG WEDNESDAY star <i>was</i> mentally and physically built for this kind of hard-edge action role, no matter how easy victory seems despite Ramos's deadly-effective turn and, overall, DEFIANCE provides AIR WOLF legend Vincent his last decent theatrical role before TV (and years of demons) took him down the long last decline.   </p><p><span></span></p>

action, church ortiz, danny aiello, don blakely, eighties, frank pesce, jan-michael vincent, john flynn, lenny montana, theresa saldano, vigilante

JAN-MICHAEL VINCENT FIGHTS BACK IN JOHN FLYNN'S 'DEFIANCE'

Foreign DEFIANCE Poster 1980 Rating: ***1/2 Both lead actors from THE MECHANIC would get the vigilante bug, especially Charles Bronson, two...

JOHN LANDIS WRITES/DIRECTS 'AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON'

<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/--oW9wRiuGqA/YQAiiaoUtZI/AAAAAAABkLU/OiyzAP7Fd4MC8F8mPFGSfEHoLxwqj6zIACLcBGAsYHQ/s942/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-24%2Bat%2B4.29.25%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="736" data-original-width="942" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--oW9wRiuGqA/YQAiiaoUtZI/AAAAAAABkLU/OiyzAP7Fd4MC8F8mPFGSfEHoLxwqj6zIACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-24%2Bat%2B4.29.25%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Year: 1981</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Shame there were such bland DVD covers after years that finally made AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON a cult phenomenon: Like the howling wolf with Big Ben pasted cheaply behind; <i>still</i> the best image is the original... </p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DhipVXFJiI/YPryhOX9ROI/AAAAAAABkBg/alirEaSjH2IEchznt2IV8xBjByidIzaOQCLcBGAsYHQ/s444/512VM8DRN1L._SY445_.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="444" data-original-width="305" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--DhipVXFJiI/YPryhOX9ROI/AAAAAAABkBg/alirEaSjH2IEchznt2IV8xBjByidIzaOQCLcBGAsYHQ/w138-h200/512VM8DRN1L._SY445_.jpeg" width="138"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1981 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Two hikers beneath a full <i>blue moon</i>, spooked by what's unseen... </p><p>Enter the perfectly suited David Naughton as David Kessler, whose idea it was to hike the English Moors in-step with reluctant scene-stealer Griffin Dunne as Jack Goodman, making WEREWOLF a sublime buddy flick... despite the latter being torn to shreds during act one, mostly taking place in a rural village's pub (The Slaughtered Lamb) replete with great British character-actors like Brian Glover as the barroom's boisterous yet superstitious lead keeping an eye on timid David Schofield while Lila Kaye pours the ale...</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/-anFoEUnXHa8/YPqJ_mgytSI/AAAAAAABj-c/0JFbbp124kU_q0BdUauHZirRnklWA1tlQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1566/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-23%2Bat%2B12.58.16%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1149" data-original-width="1566" height="294" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-anFoEUnXHa8/YPqJ_mgytSI/AAAAAAABj-c/0JFbbp124kU_q0BdUauHZirRnklWA1tlQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h294/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-23%2Bat%2B12.58.16%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Landis sustains See You Next Wednesday IN LONDON</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Then the hospital where David recovers (and Jack is dead), perfectly dotted with eerie, surreal nightmares leading to Jack himself returning in grotesque yet affably charming corpse form... </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/-v8y445CZbcQ/YPsGXsN_r-I/AAAAAAABkCY/gbopDAmGBQk4ecVzd6oEGaAxNXGEVjxEACLcBGAsYHQ/s745/218198370_1283853108710529_2841510828798217356_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="612" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v8y445CZbcQ/YPsGXsN_r-I/AAAAAAABkCY/gbopDAmGBQk4ecVzd6oEGaAxNXGEVjxEACLcBGAsYHQ/w164-h200/218198370_1283853108710529_2841510828798217356_n.jpeg" width="164"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Original Artwork Returns</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of several unique quirks comedy director John Landis was unfairly critiqued, years before humor and horror were inseparable... <br></p><p>Meanwhile nurse Alex ala Jenny Agutter provides not only the gorgeous ingenue-girlfriend but is as strong-willed as vulnerable; and the wise doctor, played by slowburn exposition-spouting John Woodvine, brings an intelligent <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/hammer%20films">Hammer Films</a> style investigatory aspect — a sophisticated ringer of sorts. But it's makeup shaman Rick Baker who steals the show: His Oscar-winning man-to-wolf transformation has never been equaled since, leading to the inevitable body count massacres (like Michael Carter stalked in an ominous tube station) as each sequence feels like its very own ghostly, gothic, offbeat campfire tale.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, brian glover, cult, david naughton, david schofield, eighties, england, griffin dunne, horror, jenny agutter, john landis, john woodvine, lila kaye, michael carter, monster, thriller, werewolf

JOHN LANDIS WRITES/DIRECTS 'AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON'

AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON Year: 1981 Shame there were such bland DVD covers after years that finally made AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDO...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'LOVE AND BULLETS' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

<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/-rvfiLp2t6sg/YO2J8HTUUzI/AAAAAAABjdU/KuskzliagRs2QDg9FlO8XkanlFyOzlAWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s782/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-13%2Bat%2B5.16.59%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="529" data-original-width="782" height="270" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rvfiLp2t6sg/YO2J8HTUUzI/AAAAAAABjdU/KuskzliagRs2QDg9FlO8XkanlFyOzlAWQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h270/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-13%2Bat%2B5.16.59%2BAM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson Love & Bullets Year: 1979 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For some, during Charles Bronson's Cannon era, sadly gone felt the MGM days. But it was Lew Grade's ITC that bridged the action star in-between, and LOVE AND BULLETS... once again casting Bronson alongside wife Jill Ireland, keeping her protected from killers... makes the similar, decade-later action/adventure ASSASSINATION seem like THE MECHANIC by comparison... </p><p></p><p>Only instead of the Secret Service protecting the President's wife it's an Arizona cop protecting a gangster's moll from being killed by a hit man hired by said gangster. Providing Henry Silva another coldblooded turn, partnered with Bronson-flick regular Paul Koslo, both working for (or rather getting paid by) a stuttering mobster overacted by Rod Steiger, whose performance still fares better than Ireland's incessant dumb blonde (in a dumb blonde wig). Not only does she drag Bronson down as the two traipse throughout snowy Switzerland, from trains to boats to tunnels backed by a nice Lalo Schifrin score that deserved a better platform, her southern accent and overall presence is an annoying bulwark in a feature that <i>does</i> include some terrific moments of Bronson style violence, like lethal axe-throwing, creating a makeshift blow-dart, and being one step ahead of the killers that often seem as bored as their prey... The latter without any real LOVE and hardly dodging any BULLETS either. And being more a slowburn adventure than sporadic action, it is, particularly after midnight, not an altogether terrible way to kill time. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, bradford dillman, charles bronson, europe, jill ireland, mafia, paul koslo, rod steiger, seventies

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'LOVE AND BULLETS' FEATURING PAUL KOSLO

Charles Bronson Love & Bullets Year: 1979 Rating: **1/2 For some, during Charles Bronson's Cannon era, sadly gone felt the MGM days....

CHARLES BRONSON & JASON ROBARDS REUNITE IN 'CABOBLANCO'

<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/-5Q96CQhLqI4/YPVIJUPasTI/AAAAAAABj6U/iLH-S_Co_hsqGUiANb9rMVYqsMFbkzxWACLcBGAsYHQ/s921/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-18%2Bat%2B11.43.11%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="921" height="304" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Q96CQhLqI4/YPVIJUPasTI/AAAAAAABj6U/iLH-S_Co_hsqGUiANb9rMVYqsMFbkzxWACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h304/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-18%2Bat%2B11.43.11%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Cabo Blanco Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This spiritual remake of CASABANCA about an American who runs a Peruvian hotel/nightclub harboring a French woman who knows about a local sunken ship's treasure is also similar to future blockbuster TITANIC; and for some reason the cache-seeking ship's captain, played by youthful surrogate hero <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/10/jaws-3-sucks-greatly.html">Simon MacCorkindale</a> sending a mini-sub to investigate, also narrates, eventually injured since this <i>is</i> a <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson</a> vehicle: But unlike the Bogart classic, Dominique Sanda and Bronson's Giff Hoyt didn't have a previous affair... </p><p>And yet she <i>did</i> have a former French lover (his friend) who provided details about that treasure which... sadly, since <i>fortune hunting neo noirs</i> are usually pretty good... is quickly <i>buried</i> in a limited plot concerning pressure from the second/third of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, Jason Robards as the Nazi main villain (hooked with blonde moll <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/07/downhill-racer.html">Carmilla Sparv</a> who should have replaced the wooden Sanda).... even less threatening than his native law-leg Fernando Rey or Aryan assassin <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/theparty.html">Denny Miller</a>. Meanwhile the biggest shame is that CABO has fantastically manned camera-direction by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/ClockworkPassage.html">J. Lee Thompson</a>, seeming more in-tune with a modern (1980) thriller that the wardrobe and certain technological aspects also resemble. And while primed to beat a lot of people up, Bronson's hardly in any <i>real</i> danger throughout — so why even bother?<br><span></span></p>

camilla sparv, charles bronson, denny miller, dominique sanda, eighties, fernando rey, j. lee thompson, jason robards, mystery, nazi, neo noir, simon maccorkindale, thriller, time period, treasure

CHARLES BRONSON & JASON ROBARDS REUNITE IN 'CABOBLANCO'

Title: Cabo Blanco Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2 This spiritual remake of CASABANCA about an American who runs a Peruvian hotel/nightclub harbori...

CHARLES BRONSON TRAINING ELVIS PRESLEY IN 'KID GALAHAD'

<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/-3DvYthplEZY/YPE5Uc6gFyI/AAAAAAABjg4/hK1N0TowtVodW9Bjr48CX3RNqdc1bYIvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1608/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-15%2Bat%2B10.15.40%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1045" data-original-width="1608" height="260" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3DvYthplEZY/YPE5Uc6gFyI/AAAAAAABjg4/hK1N0TowtVodW9Bjr48CX3RNqdc1bYIvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h260/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-15%2Bat%2B10.15.40%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson & Elvis Presley Year: 1961 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If there's one Elvis Presley vehicle where the songs would be best left out altogether it's KID GALAHAD since his performance, as sparing partner turned titular phenom <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/boxing">boxer</a>, is fantastic, especially surrounded by Gig Young as a rural boxing-camp owner/mob-bullied manager and trainer <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson</a>: it's better than just a mainstream remake or another commercial attempt to manufacture hit Elvis tunes...</p><p>One he croons about how lovely moonlight walks are in the daylight, and our token ingenue in Gig's younger sister Joan Blackman is outshined by Lola Albright as his put-upon girlfriend with an actual character-arc, desperately wanting her man to take their relationship seriously (if mentioned at all) while Blackman and Elvis gel too quickly to matter. But in the male ego department it's said Bronson avoided Elvis on-set despite their on-screen chemistry; not only is The King's acting surprisingly natural here but the usually iron-clad Bronson plays gentle and vulnerable, eventually maimed by mobster <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/richard%20devon">Richard Devon</a> between capably shot bouts by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/phil%20karlson">Phil Karlson</a> despite Elvis having requested CASABLANCA director Michael Curtiz: So for Bronson and Presley this was <i>not</i> the start of a beautiful friendship, which is sad since they fit so nicely together. </p><p><span></span></p>

boxing, charles bronson, elvis presley, gig young, joan blackman, lola albright, melodrama, michael dante, music, phil karlson, richard devon, sixties

CHARLES BRONSON TRAINING ELVIS PRESLEY IN 'KID GALAHAD'

Charles Bronson & Elvis Presley Year: 1961 Rates: ***1/2 If there's one Elvis Presley vehicle where the songs would be best left out...

WALTER MATTHAU STEPS UP FOR DON SIEGEL'S 'CHARLEY VARRICK'

<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/-zHohb0WR5Uk/YPOvZSW0iRI/AAAAAAABjsQ/8AsKmtRJCI4gFtcGWJUByzwbzdbDtijvQCLcBGAsYHQ/s412/3727912-2491004.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="375" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zHohb0WR5Uk/YPOvZSW0iRI/AAAAAAABjsQ/8AsKmtRJCI4gFtcGWJUByzwbzdbDtijvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w364-h400/3727912-2491004.jpeg" width="364"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Charley Varrick Year: 1973 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ironically the opening credits stating A <i>SIEGEL FILM</i> appears beneath a full moon in an otherwise bright-lit/daytime Neo Noir, referring to director Don Siegel, best known for DIRTY HARRY and before that a string of actual Noirs followed by action flicks and a classic sci-fi... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet CHARLEY VARRICK is his best work, and a chance for Walter Matthau to stretch beyond comedy while keeping his usual glib persona, mixed with a calloused experience needed as a bi-plane stunt flyer turned crop duster turned one-time bank robber with tightly-wound partner Andy Robinson and getaway driving wife <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/jacqueline-scott-planet-of-apes.html">Jacqueline Scott</a>, whose minimal screen-time provides a genuinely violent half to this middle-age Bonnie & Clyde... soon narrowed into just Matthau and young brash Vietnam vet Robinson, winding up with mob cash... So crooked banker John Vernon hires deadly tracker-assassin Joe Don Banker... </p><p>The contrasting villains each going from place to place in the rural west to find and KILL CHARLEY VARRICK (the British title), who's also hopping around, keeping one step ahead in a cat-and-mouse thriller also starring Woodrow Parfrey as the spooked blagged-bank manager; William Schallert the vengeful local sheriff; old man Tom Tully connecting Varrick with sexy passport forging Sheree North; John Vernon's classy moll Felicia Farr; and hooker Christina Hart annoying Joe Don Baker's Molly, put up in a cat house... and other than his palpably nightmarish/unstoppable human ox it's Andy Robinson that shines without overacting like his DIRTY HARRY Scorpio, keeping the title character <i>and</i> audience on edge... Fully rapt in this smart and intriguing, cold-blooded page-turner of an underrated gem that obviously inspired Quentin Tarantino's greatest film, the equally underappreciated cerebral caper JACKIE BROWN. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

andy robinson, crime, cult, don siegel, felicia farr, heist, jacqueline scott, joe don baker, john vernon, seventies, sheree north, thriller, tom tully, walter matthau

WALTER MATTHAU STEPS UP FOR DON SIEGEL'S 'CHARLEY VARRICK'

Title: Charley Varrick Year: 1973 Rates: ****1/2 Ironically the opening credits stating A SIEGEL FILM appears beneath a full moon in an oth...

ROGER MOORE IN 'ESCAPE TO ATHENA' WITH TELLY SAVALAS

<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/-BUlyrjSQ1dw/YOwZ7kpgHyI/AAAAAAABjb4/oMGiE4rA82MDJvGf1m2YTe6vDoqLrWFmQCLcBGAsYHQ/s467/escape-to-athena-movie-poster-1979-1020551523.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="421" data-original-width="467" height="360" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BUlyrjSQ1dw/YOwZ7kpgHyI/AAAAAAABjb4/oMGiE4rA82MDJvGf1m2YTe6vDoqLrWFmQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h360/escape-to-athena-movie-poster-1979-1020551523.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Escape to Athena Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>About the only thing ESCAPE TO ATHENA is known for is how miscast the famously British James Bond actor Roger Moore is at playing a WWII Nazi... but Moore's actually a charming German major reluctantly running a Greek Island-set POW camp and can care less about Hitler... </p><p>In fact he's what true Nazi villain Anthony Valentine calls "an antique collector" so, as a German Archeologist flirting with sassy ingenue Stefanie Powers, Moore fits much better than scene-wrecker Elliott Gould, partnered with Powers as a captured USO team... and the goofy, flamboyant Gould seems lost in the wrong movie...</p><p>One that's tonally-challenged either way, showing a public execution one minute and silly pratfalls the next: Yet ESCAPE <i>is</i> beautifully directed by George P. Cosmatos, using creative camera shots to cover what feels like every inch of the sea-cliff Greek village of antique buildings and glorious ruins, where the other characters fare better like Sonny Bono as an endearing Italian chef, David Niven as an experienced old Brit and Richard Roundtree as a token black con man, eventually joining Greek cutthroat Telly Savalas and heart-of-gold-hooker Claudia Cardinale. So despite the maligned reputation, ATHENA has loads of neat action, explosions, gun fights, twists, turns, and only the overlong race-against-time climb to a treasure-laden mountain slows down this adventurous/ambitious Lew Grade produced b-picture... that ultimately tries too hard for epic mainstream status. A far better action than heist flick. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, claudia cardinale, comedy, elliott gould, ensemble, heist, prison, richard roundtree, roger moore, seventies, sonny bono, stefanie powers, telly savalas, william holden, world war II

ROGER MOORE IN 'ESCAPE TO ATHENA' WITH TELLY SAVALAS

Title: Escape to Athena Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2 About the only thing ESCAPE TO ATHENA is known for is how miscast the famously British Jame...

RIP WILLIAM SMITH 'ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN' CLINT EASTWOOD

<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/-_yYOVYnVduA/YOmVw4tg-nI/AAAAAAABjVg/MDxCqGsRl5wSdnJAdjUZ5feU0S95QSVBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1354/23.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1071" data-original-width="1354" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_yYOVYnVduA/YOmVw4tg-nI/AAAAAAABjVg/MDxCqGsRl5wSdnJAdjUZ5feU0S95QSVBgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h316/23.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>William Smith pointing the way Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The popular sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN surpasses BUT LOOSE by getting the bickering love story between Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke out of the way, and while Geoffrey Lewis as Clint's junkyard business partner deserved more scenes, William Smith adds genuine bad ass legitimacy and alone takes the place of the random HARD TIMES style money-brawls spread throughout the original, as it's all one big anticipated match here, a kind of QUIET MAN moveable bout filmed nicely by Clint's stuntman buddy Buddy Van Horn who, like Smith himself, also died recently, so let this be a quick memorial for both...</p><p></p><p>William Smith was one of the great heavies of cinema, and television, peaking a few years back as villain's villain Falconetti in both <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/falcon-eddie.html">RICH MAN, POOR MAN</a> series, and before that swung fists in a slew of biker, horror, blaxploitation and exploitation flicks. But what made the more mainstream ANY so great is he's a nice tough guy, who becomes friends with Clint's Philo Beddoe before the match... Philo whose beloved pet is that famous orangutan pet Clyde, doing the same "Right Hook" to knock down a biker gang, one of several repeats including Ruth Gordon doing her noisy old broad character: Thus ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN allows the viewer to hangout with these hangout-movie characters instead of going through the motions of getting to know them. So Beer's To You, William Smith... and Buddy Van Horn too. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, clint eastwood, comedy, eighties, geoffrey lewis, ruth gordon, sondra locke, william smith

RIP WILLIAM SMITH 'ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN' CLINT EASTWOOD

William Smith pointing the way Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 The popular sequel ANY WHICH WAY YOU CAN surpasses BUT LOOSE by getting the bickerin...

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'MAN WITH A CAMERA' WITH ANNE NEYLAND

<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/-GxfmDW9jvQw/YOko9Z7OEuI/AAAAAAABjOI/Y56CaTyGpQYxkK32agw5vA_PnJgjnFQwwCLcBGAsYHQ/s914/13.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="914" height="306" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GxfmDW9jvQw/YOko9Z7OEuI/AAAAAAABjOI/Y56CaTyGpQYxkK32agw5vA_PnJgjnFQwwCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h306/13.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson & Anne Neyland Year: 1959 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Few know that Charles Bronson had his very own television series, and it was a pretty good one in the days when some of those Fifties' B&W crime shows don't stand up very well: But MAN WITH A CAMERA takes a unique view in that Bronson's Mike Kovac is a professional photographer, not a cop or a private investigator, so his input is that of a specialist, and for camera buffs there are a lot of great old equipment and techniques... </p><p>But for Noir-leaning fans there's tons of action, great actors and a lot of gorgeous dames, some good girls others femme fatale types; the latter in the second/last season THE POSITIVE NEGATIVE is Susan Cummings who, like Bronson himself, would wind up on a science-fiction series called THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and while Bronson played a post-nuclear Adam (and Eve), Cummings found out/and famously shouted that TO SERVE MAN was a cookbook! But the good gal here is the primary reason for this post and these pictures, and the Film Noir HIDDEN FEAR starlet Anne Neyland is one of the most beautiful actresses, and didn't do a lot and should have, here playing a nightclub photographer that haphazardly snaps a picture of a married mobster and his moll/lover (Cummings), and her friend Mike has to clean up the mess, getting kidnapped and dodging bullets in the process, making this one of the best episodes. </p><p><span></span></p>

anne neyland, charles bronson, crime, fifties, film noir or melodrama, susan cummings, suspense, TV

CHARLES BRONSON IN 'MAN WITH A CAMERA' WITH ANNE NEYLAND

Charles Bronson & Anne Neyland Year: 1959 Rates: **** Few know that Charles Bronson had his very own television series, and it was a pre...

ANNE NEYLAND & CARL ALFALFA SWITZER IN 'MOTORCYCLE GANG'

<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/-oaMBwDwByQA/YOlo_5PGo9I/AAAAAAABjSI/SeYmOXEEtHUkznxqQ-8qvmdS1ob0QP7EACLcBGAsYHQ/s1536/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-09%2Bat%2B11.49.14%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1255" data-original-width="1536" height="326" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oaMBwDwByQA/YOlo_5PGo9I/AAAAAAABjSI/SeYmOXEEtHUkznxqQ-8qvmdS1ob0QP7EACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h326/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-09%2Bat%2B11.49.14%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Anne Neyland in Motorcycle Gang Year: 1957 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Camp is the one description given to American International's MOTORCYCLE GANG, obviously influenced by THE WILD ONE with Marlon Brando, and both use equally embarrassing rear-projection road shots... Meanwhile, that ONE is considered a classic while GANG wallows in obscurity... <br></p><p>But it <i>does</i> have some nifty b-roll of real bikes cruising the boulevard and ultimately a rural race track... for a dangerous finale between two male rivals with one girl in-between...<br></p><p></p><p>That being new-dame-in-town Anne Neyland in a standout performance since in other roles, like the Andre de Toth Film Noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/09/fidden-ear.html">HIDDEN FEAR</a>, she basically stands around looking gorgeous... </p><p>Here she's also intense, defensive, edgy, and can't seem to choose between local good guy Randy, part of a community-run biker group, or returning bad boy Nick, who'd lead the MOTORCYCLE GANG when it really was one... before he landed in jail for something Randy caused... and even complains  during overlong party sequences that distract from a more edgy programmer this could've been. But the real standout is a grown-up Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer as the token joker/comic relief, and, from the legendary OUR GANG to this obscure MOTORCYCLE GANG, he wasn't a bad adult actor at that. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, anne neyland, biker, carl alfalfa switzer, exploitation, fifties, jean moorhead, john ashley, raymond hatton, sport, steven terrell

ANNE NEYLAND & CARL ALFALFA SWITZER IN 'MOTORCYCLE GANG'

Anne Neyland in Motorcycle Gang Year: 1957 Rating: *** Camp is the one description given to American International's MOTORCYCLE GANG, ob...

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

<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/-em1kKjztRFk/YOVp9685EXI/AAAAAAABjG0/UgquX6JT2BgAoZtpnvxxpZ2sWqzLmh98QCLcBGAsYHQ/s848/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-06%2Bat%2B7.21.50%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="848" height="390" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-em1kKjztRFk/YOVp9685EXI/AAAAAAABjG0/UgquX6JT2BgAoZtpnvxxpZ2sWqzLmh98QCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h390/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-06%2Bat%2B7.21.50%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frenchy Arthouse cover fitting the year 1971 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mirroring Alfred Hitchcock has a perfectly cast Anthony Perkins as a neurosurgeon taking an amnesiac patient to his plush home in order to (supposedly) help the nameless stranger, played by an only slightly miscast Charles Bronson, pacing taut and timid like a caged beast during his pre-fame <i>European Phase</i>... </p><p>But this is really Perkins' ride, providing another hiding-a-dark-secret creepy guy role...<br></p><p></p><p>And from the mellow cadence, what could have been cat-and-mouse is more like mouse-and-mouse, or mouse and toothless cat, even during Bronson's sporadic tantrums in a noirish plot involving Jill Ireland as the doc's cheating wife (employing a cute Agathe Natanson as their maid, who'd have fit the ingenue role better)... <br></p><p>It's no irony that both Bronson and Perkins are ultimately best remembered playing killers the audience sympathizes with, maybe even roots for, and director Nicolas Gessner uses effective zooms and strategic camera angles/setups to the advantage of this "chessboard mystery" (involving one set) where both antagonist and protagonist seem equally sinister and vulnerable. And despite SOMEONE BEHIND THE WINDOW wielding an art-house short film plot-line stretched to 90-minutes, it doesn't drag either way. </p><p><span></span></p>

agathe natanson, anthony perkins, charles bronson, french, jill ireland, mystery, nicolas gessner, seventies, thriller

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

Frenchy Arthouse cover fitting the year 1971 Rating: **** French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mi...

CHARLES BRONSON SERVES VINCENT PRICE IN 'HOUSE OF WAX'

<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/-scU8-3I9K5A/YOQUK4sKFvI/AAAAAAABjCc/OWeXgRILsjEK8Lo8lW3uJhfdwMBZpUigQCLcBGAsYHQ/s823/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-05%2Bat%2B7.42.09%2BPM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="823" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-scU8-3I9K5A/YOQUK4sKFvI/AAAAAAABjCc/OWeXgRILsjEK8Lo8lW3uJhfdwMBZpUigQCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h355/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-05%2Bat%2B7.42.09%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bronson carries HOUSE OF WAX Year: 1953 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The best part of HOUSE OF WAX is the drawn-out prologue setting up how Vincent Price adores his dramatically historical wax creations ranging from Joan of Arc to John Wilkes Booth to his prize, Marie Antoinette... </p><p>As he goes on and on about each piece and how much time and dedication was put in, the fire set by his greedy antagonist partner is not only heartbreaking but feels like the end of a brilliantly beautiful short film in itself: Which doesn't mean the rest of director André De Toth's visually stunning 3D classic completely falls short... </p><p>Although Price's transformation from a sophisticated artist into a crippled mask-wearing madman is a bit clumsy, and somewhat confusing, jammed with uninteresting would-be male heroes yet is eventually reignited by de Toth's previous year's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/7777/03/CrimeWave.html">CRIME WAVE</a> ingenue Phyllis Kirk, missing her missing roommate Carolyn Jones... who ends up in wax and <i>she could</i> be next. But the most intense character is played by Charles Bronson in his character-actor days, also from CRIME WAVE, here as a borderline psychotic mute servant Igor, and not surprising, given his now legendary prowess — with Price on the sidelines he alone takes the action mantle; a genre that WAX molds into after the colorfully Gothic-horror catapult. But hey, it's 3D... where movement is a must. </p><p><span></span></p>

3D, andre de toth, body count, carolyn jones, charles bronson, cult, exploitation, fifties, horror, phyllis kirk, vincent price

CHARLES BRONSON SERVES VINCENT PRICE IN 'HOUSE OF WAX'

Bronson carries HOUSE OF WAX Year: 1953 Rates: ***1/2 The best part of HOUSE OF WAX is the drawn-out prologue setting up how Vincent Price a...

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BANDED APART IN 'BREAKOUT'

<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/-0WhR3UYzcXA/YOPqveQI9VI/AAAAAAABjAA/E09qgCaT-L0refvPhUpLGyYh6d83ciU8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s716/4b981aa4-bd9a-4076-a1d8-d1ec8d4b5167_1.a0f1daf583fd45463629eb56a1747fee.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="716" data-original-width="605" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0WhR3UYzcXA/YOPqveQI9VI/AAAAAAABjAA/E09qgCaT-L0refvPhUpLGyYh6d83ciU8ACLcBGAsYHQ/w338-h400/4b981aa4-bd9a-4076-a1d8-d1ec8d4b5167_1.a0f1daf583fd45463629eb56a1747fee.jpeg" width="338"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you could call it BRING ME THE HEAD OF ROBERT DUVALL, and the Bloody Sam similarities include echoed gunshots under the hot Mexico sun; a white shirt soaked with gory, bright red blood; a body falling to the ground in slow motion as the opening credits appear across  paused-images; and Jerry Goldsmith's score beginning soft/subtle with skeletal vibes leading into a Spanish groove... </p><p></p><p>And even beyond all that, BREAKOUT is a modern Spaghetti Western (released the same year as Gries/Bronson's real Western BREAKHEART PASS) wherein action hero Charles Bronson is similar to his colorful MR. MAJESTYK character but even more playfully cocky and wisecracking... </p><p>A small-plane pilot who doesn't just narrow his eyes to get what he's after — more of a human being than a big screen steel-jawed demigod, giving this otherwise sparse and gritty, rural crime-based melodrama more than a dash of genuine personality throughout. Although the flip-side can be tough and downright frustrating, that is, having one of the all-time great actors, Robert Duvall, incapable of doing anything except suffer inside a Mexican prison cell, only to fail at several escape attempts, getting buried alive and beaten/bullied by guards: Yet the glass is half full with the adventurous Bronson in the air while the grounded Duvall waits/hopes on the ground; the latter whose wife, played by Jill Ireland, is stuck in-between these polar opposites: One's a rich man (grandson of business tycoon John Huston) facing a thirty-year sentence, and the other a working class pilot living from paycheck to paycheck — finally happening upon this proverbial goldmine. </p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, escape, jill ireland, john huston, prison, randy quaid, robert duvall, seventies, tom gries

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BANDED APART IN 'BREAKOUT'

Title: BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: *** The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you could call it BRIN...

CHARLES BRONSON WITH ALAIN DELON IN 'FAREWELL, FRIEND'

<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/-JkFnliASYnc/YOfYg-UWh-I/AAAAAAABjLE/Q8l0IhMnktsBMxQkEwfQNxBS7lcnrCIwACLcBGAsYHQ/s794/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-08%2Bat%2B9.34.57%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="794" height="349" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JkFnliASYnc/YOfYg-UWh-I/AAAAAAABjLE/Q8l0IhMnktsBMxQkEwfQNxBS7lcnrCIwACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h349/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-08%2Bat%2B9.34.57%2BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>FAREWELL, FRIEND Year: 1968 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The title FAREWELL, FRIEND makes no sense yet are actual words spoken by one of two anti-buddy buddies who'd spent years in the Foreign Legion without knowing each other, but they get off the same boat with a load of expository dialogue that you best keep a scorecard to follow the shoddy pulp-inspired plot as, basically and ultimately, this odd couple... one a French medic, the other a crooked American... attempt to crack a big safe in a large, well-armed, multi-guarded building... And why the title's nonsensical is that Bronson's pimp character says things for no apparent reason, especially "Yeah!" whenever something happens that makes him feel like saying... "Yeah!" </p><p></p><p>But Alain Delon is the tough silent type, and this film's obvious lead, actually having hand-picked Bronson from admiring his zesty performance as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/early-chuck.html">MACHINE GUN KELLY</a> eight-years earlier... What's ironic is Delon keeps Bronson from reaching equally ferocious heights by either a punch in the nose or a macho wrestling match, especially in a painfully overlong sequence where, during that epic second-act heist, both get locked inside a strongroom, close to death, followed by Bronson being beaten/interrogated and Delon beating-up the film's nice girl Brigitte Fossey while having initially fallen sap to sneaky double-crossing femme fatalle Olga Georges-Picot... Perhaps if FAREWELL, FRIEND was a dark comedy, and didn't take itself so seriously, it'd have a more even-keeled groove... And get this... Bronson <i>wouldn't </i>be the straight man!</p><span></span>

alain delon, brigitte fossey, buddy, charles bronson, crime, exploitation, french, heist, mob, olga georges-picot, seventies

CHARLES BRONSON WITH ALAIN DELON IN 'FAREWELL, FRIEND'

FAREWELL, FRIEND Year: 1968 Rating: *** The title FAREWELL, FRIEND makes no sense yet are actual words spoken by one of two anti-buddy buddi...

LEE MAJORS & CHRIS MAKEPEACE TAKING ON 'THE LAST CHASE'

<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/-ONfuu9ih4yQ/YOpoDQ6hO2I/AAAAAAABjVw/xYx37NpIVsYT1RXKIde1L_0LiQMlcJfUACLcBGAsYHQ/s969/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-10%2Bat%2B8.25.48%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="969" data-original-width="831" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ONfuu9ih4yQ/YOpoDQ6hO2I/AAAAAAABjVw/xYx37NpIVsYT1RXKIde1L_0LiQMlcJfUACLcBGAsYHQ/w343-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-07-10%2Bat%2B8.25.48%2BPM.jpeg" width="343"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Last Chase Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Well here’s a movie description you won't see today: "In the near future, evil fascists have forced everyone to recycle and drive electric cars...” Made during the tail end of the oil crisis in the early eighties, this low budget science-fiction wears its agenda on the main character’s sleeve...</p><p></p><p>Lee Majors is an ex race car driver who, living in a world where disease (with people wearing masks and take vaccines, sound familiar?) has taken many of the inhabits, and it's all been blamed on oil and automobiles... so he makes a statement by (after decades of being paid to warn students about automobiles) driving a 917-10 Porsche race-car past the outskirts of town, and he’s not alone: MY BODYGUARD actor Chris Makepeace, as the only student not “brainwashed” by the rascally environmentalists, joins Lee while Burgess Meredith, a seventy-year-old Vietnam Veteran (about the age they are now), is sent in a jet fighter to dispose of our revving heroes.<br> </p><p></p><p>There’s not much of what the title promises, just the Porsche cruising idyll through mountain roads and at one point taking a break at a rural location for Majors to have a quick fling. All the while Meredith keeps on their tail, but even he’s kept in check by the main villain, watching on a big screen from a domed building, ready to wield a mountaintop laser-beam if the old veteran, who has a heart of gold, fails his mission... Here’s when, during THE LAST ten minutes, not only the most suspenseful moments occur, but there’s an actual CHASE! Overall a pretty bad sci-fi flick if you want non-stop action and/or if you prefer a movie to live up to its title, but there are moments of pleasantly cheesy, time-filling fun. And the final line, muttered by the dictator, sums everything up: “This could set us back to the 1980s.” Which at this point in the game isn't so bad at all!<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, burges meredith, chris makespeace, cult, exploitation, lee majors, road movie, science-fiction

LEE MAJORS & CHRIS MAKEPEACE TAKING ON 'THE LAST CHASE'

Title: The Last Chase Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2 Well here’s a movie description you won't see today: "In the near future, evil fas...