CHARLES BRONSON FIGHTS THROUGH WALTER HILL'S 'HARD TIMES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/-EtUtakadoYg/YUgc8JAHokI/AAAAAAABms8/plb6RUkLvcE7n1s4cYUXEzb1HbsdO63bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1329/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-09-19%252Bat%252B9.47.21%252BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="603" data-original-width="1329" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EtUtakadoYg/YUgc8JAHokI/AAAAAAABms8/plb6RUkLvcE7n1s4cYUXEzb1HbsdO63bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-09-19%252Bat%252B9.47.21%252BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson fights Bob Tessier in Walter Hill's HARD TIMES Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a director whose style would be eternally linked to the Action genre, Walter Hill's first feature HARD TIMES relies more on location, dialog, ambiance, and even the title leans on the REASON for sporadic cash-handed street fights than the inner-ingredients OF them...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet there are some terrific bare-knuckled boxing with a tremendously built Bronson looking thirty-five at the age of fifty-two, one year after hitting A-list big with DEATH WISH and if, say, a Michael Winner or J. Lee Thompson had directed, the brawls might've flowed looser alongside the character motivations to mean more than peripheral glimpses into why our central hero really doesn't say very much...</p><p><span></span></p>

bob tessier, boxing, charles bronson, depression-era, drama, james coburn, jill ireland, margaret blye, mc gainey, michael mcguire, seventies, strother martin, walter hill

CHARLES BRONSON FIGHTS THROUGH WALTER HILL'S 'HARD TIMES'

Charles Bronson fights Bob Tessier in Walter Hill's HARD TIMES Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 For a director whose style would be eternally l...

SEAN CONNERY & YVONNE ROMAIN IN 'THE FRIGHTENED CITY'

<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/-vJ_b94NLDus/YTyoJl_FpuI/AAAAAAABmXc/g9D7av9OEyk1Kdg190N1ZhN59k0szT_qACLcBGAsYHQ/s1786/z0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="882" data-original-width="1786" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vJ_b94NLDus/YTyoJl_FpuI/AAAAAAABmXc/g9D7av9OEyk1Kdg190N1ZhN59k0szT_qACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/z0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster image of Yvonne Romain for THE FRIGHTENED CITY Year: 1961 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a terrific title like THE FRIGHTENED CITY, a British Neo Noir that actually goes the 1930's-style Classic Gangstr route, you'd think characters would be more... well... frightened... but random bursts of mobsters messing up nightclubs that don't pay for extortion happens so fast there's nothing to really fear but broken glass....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The plot is simple and straight from the Al Capone playbook of a CITY being divided by gangsters/businessman; that's the idea given by first-billed Herbert Lom as a shady accountant, usually a side-role in these kind of action/dramas, but he was more famous than fellow HELL DRIVERS veteran Sean Connery in the muscular role... </p><p><span></span></p>

alfred marks, british neo noir, crime, gangster, herbert lom, julie shearing, melodrama, sixties

SEAN CONNERY & YVONNE ROMAIN IN 'THE FRIGHTENED CITY'

Poster image of Yvonne Romain for THE FRIGHTENED CITY Year: 1961 Rating: ** With a terrific title like THE FRIGHTENED CITY, a British Neo No...

IAN HENDRY & JUNE RITCHIE FLING THROUGH 'THIS IS MY STREET'

<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/-RWkX47I6MEM/YTuS2UdGUnI/AAAAAAABmTY/KpO2wiX9hAU3C2atTphp-eCeOr9hiIH4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2018/0.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2018" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RWkX47I6MEM/YTuS2UdGUnI/AAAAAAABmTY/KpO2wiX9hAU3C2atTphp-eCeOr9hiIH4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/0.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>June Ritchie and Ian Hendry in THIS IS MY STREET Year: 1961 Rating: ***<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ian Hendry in a role that would have better fit a more downright handsome Laurence Harvey, but he's got the right amount of scoundrel charm that's initially fully-loaded towards pretty married June Ritchie, who <i>definitely</i> has a daughter... In fact she and her mom's loose lodger Hendry consummate after both take bonding time to find the kid...<br></p><p>But while there are a fair number of scenes with June's bored, jobless husband (Mike Pratt), they really don't seem all that married... and either way there's zero chemistry between the actors...<br></p><span></span>

annette andre, british new wave, ian hendry, john hurt, june ritchie, melodrama, philippa gail, romance, sixties

IAN HENDRY & JUNE RITCHIE FLING THROUGH 'THIS IS MY STREET'

June Ritchie and Ian Hendry in THIS IS MY STREET Year: 1961 Rating: *** Ian Hendry in a role that would have better fit a more downright han...

WARREN OATES WAITING OUT LEE VAN CLEEF FOR 'BARQUERO'

<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/-agswBk8Zm9s/YUhF3qs57PI/AAAAAAABmtE/Cxgvxv9gPvE7Kpuzn6BrYU_kiO-1yH8TQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2377/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-09-19%252Bat%252B11.52.55%252BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2377" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-agswBk8Zm9s/YUhF3qs57PI/AAAAAAABmtE/Cxgvxv9gPvE7Kpuzn6BrYU_kiO-1yH8TQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%252BShot%252B2021-09-19%252Bat%252B11.52.55%252BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Beatty plays bad to the bone for BARQUERO Year: 1970 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Of course you've heard of a Mexican Standoff, but BARQURO takes that concept of two sides waiting in deadly/suspenseful anticipation of who'll strike next to the next level, owning more than half of what begins an ultra-violent town-takeover-Western the likes of Sam Peckinpah's famous open from THE WILD BUNCH, and one of that bunch is down-and-dirty villain Warren Oates as Remy... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Like many American-made Westerns from the 1970's... albeit this one heavily borrowing music, main star and style from the Italian Spaghetti format... the bad guys are more like gritty, disgusting, marauding bikers from the previous decade's exploitation drive-in flicks... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, exploitation, forrest tucker, gordon douglas, john davis chandler, kerwin matthews, lee van cleef, warren oates, western

WARREN OATES WAITING OUT LEE VAN CLEEF FOR 'BARQUERO'

Warren Beatty plays bad to the bone for BARQUERO Year: 1970 Rating: **1/2 Of course you've heard of a Mexican Standoff, but BARQURO take...

PETER SELLERS GETS COMPLETELY VICIOUS FOR 'NEVER LET GO'

<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/AVvXsEistWQ55s0lyyLQBxsU9ZYJtAM8pniIAMjF_mcsdWufZN2k2ceHXd3PJFfgAGOKOKlyf2ykdez6_YVEHWSd9k2s3PUGUVE6e0NFLhn4y_ql2y0TP_VsyMAU-dh2Kbw9vjJfDGo4atHzWrMTGED9Lo5h-yGpdsw7OqHFi5leCAiKggqOE4AAKhsvATNqZg/s937/Screen%20Shot%202021-12-03%20at%204.43.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="506" data-original-width="937" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEistWQ55s0lyyLQBxsU9ZYJtAM8pniIAMjF_mcsdWufZN2k2ceHXd3PJFfgAGOKOKlyf2ykdez6_YVEHWSd9k2s3PUGUVE6e0NFLhn4y_ql2y0TP_VsyMAU-dh2Kbw9vjJfDGo4atHzWrMTGED9Lo5h-yGpdsw7OqHFi5leCAiKggqOE4AAKhsvATNqZg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-12-03%20at%204.43.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Todd with Peter Sellers & Carol White in NEVER LET GO Year: 1960 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A British Neo Noir cross between DEATH OF A SALESMAN before and DEATH WISH after, John Guillerman made NEVER LET GO the same year as THE DAY THEY ROBBED THE BANK OF ENGLAND, only a car's worth much less than an entire country's bullion vault... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But don't tell that to desperate cosmetics salesman Richard Todd, whose old fashioned, pseudo-charming client-pressuring style goes against the company's new-fangled <i>scientific methods</i>... </p><p><span></span></p>

adam faith, british neo noir, british new wave, carol white, crime, cult, david gregory, david lodge, elizabeth sellars, john guillermin, peter sellers, revenge, richard todd, teddy boys, thriller

PETER SELLERS GETS COMPLETELY VICIOUS FOR 'NEVER LET GO'

Richard Todd with Peter Sellers & Carol White in NEVER LET GO Year: 1960 Rating: **** A British Neo Noir cross between DEATH OF A SALESM...

ROGER MOORE IN THE SPACE-CRAZE ERA BOND 'MOONRAKER'

<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/-lsbf5FaNGYE/YTmpTvvDy3I/AAAAAAABmL0/iCX9hj95lIkZQEbgAVxlFB-yU3e67rHEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2321/25.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="975" data-original-width="2321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lsbf5FaNGYE/YTmpTvvDy3I/AAAAAAABmL0/iCX9hj95lIkZQEbgAVxlFB-yU3e67rHEQCLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/25.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roger Moore in MOONRAKER with Lois Chiles Year 1979 Rating ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What's more ironic than the science-fiction James Bond MOONRAKER spending 90-minutes, the length of an average motion picture, on land... from England to California to Italy to Rio... before living up to its galactic promise, is that Lois Chiles' progressive ingenue demands respect for being a doctor... and her name is <i>Goodhead</i>, working for one of the more <i>non-charming from the get-go</i> heavies, Hugo Drax, played by French stage actor Michael Lonsdale... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 when we're eventually thrust into space, the movie hits a bland, awkward wall... Not that the build-up lacks inside lunar gags: the audio code to enter a laboratory is from CLOSE ENCOUNTERS and the 2001 theme also turns up...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

anne lonnberg, béatrice libert, bernard lee, corinne cléry, franchise, irka bochenko, james bond, lewis gilbert, lois chiles, michael lonsdale, richard kiel, roger moore, seventies, spy

ROGER MOORE IN THE SPACE-CRAZE ERA BOND 'MOONRAKER'

Roger Moore in MOONRAKER with Lois Chiles Year 1979 Rating **** What's more ironic than the science-fiction James Bond MOONRAKER spendi...

CANNON BLASTS LUCINDA DICKEY IN 'NINJA III: THE DOMINATION'

<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/-eSHBIjTeGFE/YTVfuHIoapI/AAAAAAABl9Y/okH-oA0sy0warpN1rcdSwKuGSLpzln1WACLcBGAsYHQ/s1245/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-05%2Bat%2B3.51.14%2BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1245" data-original-width="1124" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eSHBIjTeGFE/YTVfuHIoapI/AAAAAAABl9Y/okH-oA0sy0warpN1rcdSwKuGSLpzln1WACLcBGAsYHQ/w361-h400/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-05%2Bat%2B3.51.14%2BPM.jpeg" width="361"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Blu Ray of Ninja III Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>NINJA III: THE DOMINATION, despite being number three after The Cannon Group's previous NINJA flicks — that needn't watching to jump on board here — stands, flips, jumps, tumbles and kicks on its very own merit... </p><p>With buried lead and legit karate expert Shô Kosugi, whose eye-patched Yomada eventually travels to America to avenge the past (unseen) death of his father by the notorious Black Ninja who, after killing a golf-course playing scientist, his wife, several bodyguards and more cops than RAMBO in a bombastic/awesome land fight turned car chase introduction, telephone pole-climbing government worker Lucinda Dickey as Christie, an aerobics instructor on the side who listens to gloriously dated synth music ala Linda Hamilton in TERMINATOR, gets taken-over or <i>dominated</i> but particularly <i>possessed</i> given one scene that rips off THE EXORCIST full throttle... </p><p>Having taken the bullet-splattered dead Ninja's soul, receiving his powerful sword along with vengeful memories, Lucinda's Christie is surprisingly subdued during blackouts as she becomes a sneaky Ninja assassin targeting obnoxious cops while having an affair with a friendly helpful one: Leading to something sinister and mysterious combining the horror genre with karate with the help of Yomada, always there on the sidelines during fight scenes involving Dickey's masked Ninja: like all the complicated numbers in Cannon's BREAKIN' the same year wherein SHE ALSO headlined despite not being a titular professional, she's also noticeably stunt-doubled and yet, even despite a sporadically robotic delivery, her 1980's dream girl hotness a and physical prowess helps carry this truly entertaining, action-packed wallop that deserves more genuine cult over maligned camp status.</p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, cannon, cult, david chung, eighties, horror, karate, lucinda dickey, shô kosugi

CANNON BLASTS LUCINDA DICKEY IN 'NINJA III: THE DOMINATION'

Blu Ray of Ninja III Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 NINJA III: THE DOMINATION, despite being number three after The Cannon Group's previous N...

DARREN MCGAVIN COPS OUT 'THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN'

<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/-NNUBWNDk0_U/YTU3Ofla2uI/AAAAAAABl7Y/lMbY3qYEO08DIVls0yavTnaud41Vgq3kACLcBGAsYHQ/s1794/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-05%2Bat%2B2.00.37%2BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1794" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NNUBWNDk0_U/YTU3Ofla2uI/AAAAAAABl7Y/lMbY3qYEO08DIVls0yavTnaud41Vgq3kACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-05%2Bat%2B2.00.37%2BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Margaret Hayes & Darren McGavin THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN Year: 1958 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"Maybe he's queer for widows who run garages" says a drunk and jilted Margaret Hayes to square-jawed (surreptitious to her) villain Warren Stevens, and she's talking about an undercover cop she'd uncovered in married Darren McGavin, having feigned a bachelor salesman type and whose best scenes are what led to up the poor dame being so ticked-off...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And she has other problems, much deeper... Her husband, owing a bundle to bookies in which Stevens was the thuggiest, fatally crashed his truck, purposefully looking like a Double Indemnity accident and leaving her to "run" the garage near a tavern where she's a wishbone between both good and bad guy... albeit both are manipulating liars... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, booth colman, brian g. hutton, cop, darren mcgavin, film noir or melodrama, margaret hayes, peggy mccay, robert osterloh, warren stevens

DARREN MCGAVIN COPS OUT 'THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN'

Margaret Hayes & Darren McGavin THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN Year: 1958 Rates: ***1/2 "Maybe he's queer for widows who run garages...

ENGLISH STARLET JOY WEBSTER CHANNELS 'STORMY CROSSING'

<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/-9-LPR0ksyBU/YTN9VWGY2SI/AAAAAAABl2w/ovKw_vvugkkVy1pzp-AZhsLxVzc-7EwiACLcBGAsYHQ/s1339/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-04%2Bat%2B5.14.23%2BAM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="1339" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9-LPR0ksyBU/YTN9VWGY2SI/AAAAAAABl2w/ovKw_vvugkkVy1pzp-AZhsLxVzc-7EwiACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-09-04%2Bat%2B5.14.23%2BAM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joy Webster and John Ireland in BLACK TIDE/STORMY CROSSING 1958 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's been a joy discovering British starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/joy%20webster">Joy Webster</a> who, throughout the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/british%20new%20wave">British New Wave</a>, specialized in flirtatiously rejected skanks: twice in Hammer Films... <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/07/2F.html">THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL</a> as pimpish Oliver Reed's shunned nightclub girl while she's not even good enough for him in a <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/03/reedwolf.html">CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF</a> brothel. And in-between she's shunned in a strip joint by both Brian Weske and David McCallum in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">JUNGLE STREET</a>...</p><p></p><p></p><p>But before all that she was taken seriously, and admired... for a little while... as a fashion model turned amateur swimmer set to cross the English Channel with an American jock whose brother, played by American Import <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/03/only-the.html">John Ireland</a>... who sporadically stares onto the gorgeous Channel stock footage... has second thoughts about the entire idea...<br></p><span></span>

british film noir, fifties, john ireland, joy webster, leslie dwyer, maureen connell, perfect murder, sport, thriller

ENGLISH STARLET JOY WEBSTER CHANNELS 'STORMY CROSSING'

Joy Webster and John Ireland in BLACK TIDE/STORMY CROSSING 1958 Rates: *** It's been a joy discovering British starlet Joy Webster who,...

MATT DILLON SHOOTS CRAP IN 'THE BIG TOWN' WITH DIANE LANE

<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/-7gO5XhxQogg/YUKd1iqgFoI/AAAAAAABmdM/YYn8G1Ek0wYv6Ie5vxlK-i7W3iUPZ7WgACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-09-15%25252Bat%25252B2.38.20%25252BPM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7gO5XhxQogg/YUKd1iqgFoI/AAAAAAABmdM/YYn8G1Ek0wYv6Ie5vxlK-i7W3iUPZ7WgACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/Screen%25252BShot%25252B2021-09-15%25252Bat%25252B2.38.20%25252BPM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Matt Dillon in THE BIG TOWN with Del Close and Don Park Year: 1987 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a deliberately sparse-pulpy title, THE BIG TOWN is set during the 1950's... 1957 to be exact... and Dillon really looks the part, a kind of throwback B&W-suited actor even in this neo noir's neon green and pink tinged color scheme, playing a young lucky dice player who miraculously hits the right numbers each and every time, giving the movie a sort of unintentional TWILIGHT ZONE science-fiction vibe, or something delving into fantasy... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And for a vehicle so otherwise grounded and somewhat cliche, predictable and even mainstream, that's alright since Matt's urgency (and the film's suspense) doesn't rely on winning but surviving the pool of gambling hoodlum sharks who, from Tommy Lee Jones as an underground backroom dealer to a mysterious backstory Tom Skerritt, are out to (or seem out to) stop the endless and bizarre winning streak...</p><span></span>

ben bolt, bruce dern, diane lane, drama, eighties, fifties-era, gambling, lee grant, matt dillon, neo noir, thriller, tommy lee jones

MATT DILLON SHOOTS CRAP IN 'THE BIG TOWN' WITH DIANE LANE

Matt Dillon in THE BIG TOWN with Del Close and Don Park Year: 1987 Rating: ***1/2 With a deliberately sparse-pulpy title, THE BIG TOWN is se...

JOHN DEREK PIMPING BRITISH FILM NOIR 'THE FLESH IS WEAK'

<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/-6sLrbVnpK3c/YTOKowOC1qI/AAAAAAABl5E/FI6vGh_oovgKHvfZ7rhPz9YUSfWW5ugPACLcBGAsYHQ/s1101/MV5BMjQ3MWQ2NWItYzI4ZS00OGU2LTk1NzctOWQxNjEyMGQ5Njc1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NDc4OA%25252540%25252540._V1_.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1101" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6sLrbVnpK3c/YTOKowOC1qI/AAAAAAABl5E/FI6vGh_oovgKHvfZ7rhPz9YUSfWW5ugPACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/MV5BMjQ3MWQ2NWItYzI4ZS00OGU2LTk1NzctOWQxNjEyMGQ5Njc1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTA2NDc4OA%25252540%25252540._V1_.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE FLESH IS WEAK Year: 1957 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before he became a horrible director with gorgeous blonde wives, John Derek made for a fairly passable actor, and it's unfortunate that this late British Noir didn't stick with the country of origin for a shadier lead since there were plenty of great performers who wouldn't seem like they're performing like Derek often does here...</p><p></p><p></p><p>And this American plays a part Italian hood named Tony Giani, taking a heartlessly professional interest in an extremely vulnerable and victimized Milly Vitale despite initially and misleadingly treating her like a prom date dream-girl... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, crime, exploitation, fifties, john derek, milly vitale, shirley ann field, vera day

JOHN DEREK PIMPING BRITISH FILM NOIR 'THE FLESH IS WEAK'

Title: THE FLESH IS WEAK Year: 1957 Rating: **1/2 Before he became a horrible director with gorgeous blonde wives, John Derek made for a fai...

SUSAN CABOT HAS STING IN ROGER CORMAN'S 'THE WASP WOMAN'

<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/-UJKV26u8Ons/YUOGC4TlYEI/AAAAAAABmiQ/vOym7C_58TQDfmL8TYGa4bsuFGh6AXqTACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/lf.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1230" data-original-width="2048" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UJKV26u8Ons/YUOGC4TlYEI/AAAAAAABmiQ/vOym7C_58TQDfmL8TYGa4bsuFGh6AXqTACLcBGAsYHQ/s16000/lf.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Misleading poster image for THE WASP WOMAN Year: 1959 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Michael Marks's beekeeper or actually wasp-keeper character Eric Winthrop has all the makings of a mad scientist, or perhaps a kind of "drone" seeking revenge against his bully bosses... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If it weren't for the utter impatience of Susan Cabot's title character, wanting so badly to be young for her youth cream cosmetics company to keep making sense like before... when she was a true beauty... Winthrop might just have been that kind of murdering antagonist the likes of Dick Miller in another above-average Roger Corman flick that he actually directed before eventually retiring into producer, which he was much better at...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

barboura morris, cult, fifties, horror, roger corman, susan cabot, suspense, thriller

SUSAN CABOT HAS STING IN ROGER CORMAN'S 'THE WASP WOMAN'

Misleading poster image for THE WASP WOMAN Year: 1959 Rating: ***1/2 Michael Marks's beekeeper or actually wasp-keeper character Eric Wi...

ROBERT RYAN 'CITY BENEATH THE SEA' WITH ANTHONY QUINN

<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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMTU9fHKtKI/YS2pUlC-oSI/AAAAAAABluw/UEHugI7ILCsdw-xWJAUuoA7Nt85ERaz9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="313" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMTU9fHKtKI/YS2pUlC-oSI/AAAAAAABluw/UEHugI7ILCsdw-xWJAUuoA7Nt85ERaz9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h313/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1953 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A letdown for those who love movies about treasure hunters. Unfortunately, the main character, played by a stiff Robert Ryan, is so uptight, not only does he NOT go along with more energetic and assertive partner Anthony Quinn, to find gold on a sunken ship in a literal CITY BENEATH THE SEA from a volcano explosion hundreds of years ago...<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/-MoQVnTWb1BQ/YSzGb9jZs-I/AAAAAAABlsQ/loSo7cMT3g0IjnYeNh2GkD8nYW0D1ZTVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1100/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-30%2Bat%2B4.47.33%2BAM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="490" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MoQVnTWb1BQ/YSzGb9jZs-I/AAAAAAABlsQ/loSo7cMT3g0IjnYeNh2GkD8nYW0D1ZTVwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2021-08-30%2Bat%2B4.47.33%2BAM.jpeg" width="143"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Suzan Ball</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But he moves in to snake the booty first, just to teach his partner a lesson: A lesson is also taught to the audience, who must weather this bland fine-feathered friend who's also an extremely weak central hero, keeping this movie from being edgy, or entertaining... And the two lovely ingenues are both gorgeous, and initially tough, independent and assertive, making their characters mean more than just looks and providing a built-in feeling of suspense within the anticipated romance...</p><p>One is the captain of a small boat (Mala Powers) and the other a calypso singer (Suzan Ball, Lucy O'Ball's cousin, who would of cancer die soon after)...</p><p>But without Ryan or Quinn having to do much at all, both ladies melt to their touch in such a pathetic way. The singer actually asks Quinn, "What are you thinking?" after they'd known each other ten minutes. Meanwhile, as a b-movie, the low budget is deliberate, and mostly works... including scenes of the boys trudging in heavy "Diver Dan" style underwater gear with matte painted backgrounds. The technicolor is great looking, and otherwise these are capable actors and actresses. But this oceanic thriller is devoid of thrills, and pretty much... sinks upon impact. </p><span></span>

action, adventure, anthony quinn, fifties, pulp, robert ryan, suzan ball, treasure

ROBERT RYAN 'CITY BENEATH THE SEA' WITH ANTHONY QUINN

Year: 1953 Rating: ** A letdown for those who love movies about treasure hunters. Unfortunately, the main character, played by a stiff Robe...