STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEghxGyL_qTjM-8d_5aMywQjLn3Dh1ApO2Q8-nTHhh9QreSTutyjiqrNarx9pyajj__DoTNp_iMPZtGu-LHxOXfujBfJ_Uup72-LdTCUBUdrNfDa37OD97lAmQdgPB8kP0xZEfO-3j_-sriU3lkin0_u_pcJVLckgvp_PeJA4fs6ufiKaf2n88DhRNACAK54/s1189/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-02%20at%204.13.12%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="1189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghxGyL_qTjM-8d_5aMywQjLn3Dh1ApO2Q8-nTHhh9QreSTutyjiqrNarx9pyajj__DoTNp_iMPZtGu-LHxOXfujBfJ_Uup72-LdTCUBUdrNfDa37OD97lAmQdgPB8kP0xZEfO-3j_-sriU3lkin0_u_pcJVLckgvp_PeJA4fs6ufiKaf2n88DhRNACAK54/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-02%20at%204.13.12%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE GETAWAY Year: 1972 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies caged hopelessness of prison life better than most <i>entire</i>ly-<i>set-in</i>-<i>prison</i> prison flicks... plus it's the only sequence centered solely on Steve McQueen as career criminal Doc McCoy sans the uninspired acting of ingenue/partner Ali MacGraw...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>During a pivotal meeting — tempted by Texas millionaire Ben Johnson after having sex to get Doc paroled and then tortured with envy — she has a vacant expression as opposed to McQueen's sharpened countenance... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, al bright, al lettieri, ali macgraw, ben johnson, bo hopkins, crime, exploitation, heist, modern western, road movie, sally struthers, sam peckinpah, steve mcqueen

STEVE MCQUEEN LITERALLY STEALS SAM PECKINPAH'S 'THE GETAWAY'

Title: THE GETAWAY Year: 1972 Rating: **** The machine-pounding prologue/montage of Sam Peckinpah's THE GETAWAY embodies caged hopelessn...

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjqGcowbgZy8_l1GFYTSWL4ZdjJz6ZieNOvvxYkA4dAEPcRDJukjslHkvqW8Nm4xUtljM-Da1jwEwFD1ZOxmCjs0rN1BFJ8ewgaGY0bo0_2-wfdmX66DWqp96oqRIG7tolnRHh9WUJANcZk8kzgzn3DvTwYLMnXa7X0hruRvLHkQGG6w24BDzbwVQwmFdG_/s1512/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%202.37.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGcowbgZy8_l1GFYTSWL4ZdjJz6ZieNOvvxYkA4dAEPcRDJukjslHkvqW8Nm4xUtljM-Da1jwEwFD1ZOxmCjs0rN1BFJ8ewgaGY0bo0_2-wfdmX66DWqp96oqRIG7tolnRHh9WUJANcZk8kzgzn3DvTwYLMnXa7X0hruRvLHkQGG6w24BDzbwVQwmFdG_/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%202.37.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve McQueen in BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for the media since director Peter Yates's prior chase in his British heist thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> was so admired by Steve McQueen, Yates got <i>this</i> gig... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 like there is far more than just action throughout the strategically tempered neo noir cadence of ROBBERY, Yates's cop/crime classic BULLITT is also more about words than wheels...</p><span></span>

action, classic, cop, crime, cult, don gordon, felice orlandi, jacqueline bisset, jazz-score, pat renella, peter yates, robert vaughn, simon oakland, sixties, steve mcqueen, thriller

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

Steve McQueen in BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ***** The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for t...

JAMES CAGNEY WITH RICHARD CONTE IN '13 RUE MADELEINE'

<p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiVEYsTrKrmKX9MBVmSXZh9RDIFEV0FItSDBJI4UnyOGL81VtuHkwhL8bKd7sMfeX2TyM9BxNAsAqUXMM0XaFUoyUmT1ya14HG8lT5tpUtm5s-gSsrXbLx3FV0x83e0Nbx2WPwOGuiNGVE4iyfU2JLHRlZmsjm5-Aa-OCer7zM_NWKhNjOq8asW974qZ7QJ/s1852/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-21%20at%203.42.06%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1176" data-original-width="1852" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVEYsTrKrmKX9MBVmSXZh9RDIFEV0FItSDBJI4UnyOGL81VtuHkwhL8bKd7sMfeX2TyM9BxNAsAqUXMM0XaFUoyUmT1ya14HG8lT5tpUtm5s-gSsrXbLx3FV0x83e0Nbx2WPwOGuiNGVE4iyfU2JLHRlZmsjm5-Aa-OCer7zM_NWKhNjOq8asW974qZ7QJ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-21%20at%203.42.06%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: 13 RUE MADELEINE Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the 1940's, James Cagney went to war... well, not literally... but at forty-years old and already an iconic movie star, once WW2 began, he put away his wise-guy garb and did only patriotic features...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is unfortunate, as the soldiers overseas would probably rather cheer Cagney on in another ROARING TWENTIES-style vehicle to get their minds off reality... But maybe these features were for American audiences to see what sacrifices were going on overseas... </p><span></span>

espionage, forties, frank latimore, henry hathaway, james cagney, karl malden, richard conte, sam jaffe, spy, thriller, world war II

JAMES CAGNEY WITH RICHARD CONTE IN '13 RUE MADELEINE'

Title: 13 RUE MADELEINE Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 In the 1940's, James Cagney went to war... well, not literally... but at forty-years o...

GARY LOCKWOOD PROTESTS 'R.P.M.' STARRING ANTHONY QUINN

<p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiUx2bAVJWw_Wg2HkGJl4KhDddzmXr061sVf-6TKg9CJAASgE4aUtXVfaPG2tSos2VoGYIWbGLIFU5kvRFTA81u4bBOijTaluZonxnF5fSW7FPUP3eKpbZVzbF8ZY5u-6sASSD8XluM2coTiWj5crpsV7c3PB9ZSYf7UnRsqAjgUBILN8ENvaMhz6hh_SxP/s1120/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-17%20at%203.24.22%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUx2bAVJWw_Wg2HkGJl4KhDddzmXr061sVf-6TKg9CJAASgE4aUtXVfaPG2tSos2VoGYIWbGLIFU5kvRFTA81u4bBOijTaluZonxnF5fSW7FPUP3eKpbZVzbF8ZY5u-6sASSD8XluM2coTiWj5crpsV7c3PB9ZSYf7UnRsqAjgUBILN8ENvaMhz6hh_SxP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-17%20at%203.24.22%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in R.P.M. Year: 1970 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A year after Gary Lockwood was slightly too old to play a hapless hippie about to go to Vietnam, cruising around L. A. with nothing to do but get stoned in MODEL SHOP, he played an even younger hippie and is<i> completely</i> miscast... especially since he's also balding... but this rebel at least has a cause...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Leader of a student group taking over a university's computer center, Lockwood (along with fellow thirty-something Paul Winfield) have demands for a liberal sociology professor they once really dug...</p><p><span></span></p>

ann-margret, anthony quinn, college, counter-culture, don keefer, donald moffat, gary lockwood, john mcliam, joseph bernard, paul winfield, ramon bieri, seventies, stanley kramer

GARY LOCKWOOD PROTESTS 'R.P.M.' STARRING ANTHONY QUINN

Gary Lockwood in R.P.M. Year: 1970 Rating: **1/2 A year after Gary Lockwood was slightly too old to play a hapless hippie about to go to Vie...

GLOSSING THROUGH STANLEY KUBRICK'S '2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiw72kkWRpCI2LOmwTfbfKbxwPfCGEXFzDLuao-Y-4WwMz3V2v8jrHyKlh2QPF7sovsL8fI8HbeVuB6-pSumuNJ8oNPmubmMSziY3KvRYPA0bqYx32PJu0qB53xHZ1jvOVQ0zK9E9dMlNICOchyphenhyphengDa7UCqpRYHekvzlEVTVP6kx2_QVzlwaG4oYxFYKav5H/s1710/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%2011.08.02%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1710" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw72kkWRpCI2LOmwTfbfKbxwPfCGEXFzDLuao-Y-4WwMz3V2v8jrHyKlh2QPF7sovsL8fI8HbeVuB6-pSumuNJ8oNPmubmMSziY3KvRYPA0bqYx32PJu0qB53xHZ1jvOVQ0zK9E9dMlNICOchyphenhyphengDa7UCqpRYHekvzlEVTVP6kx2_QVzlwaG4oYxFYKav5H/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%2011.08.02%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Year: 1968 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The greatest cinema epics (from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA before to GOODFELLAS after) have various sequences that feel like their own separate short films that ultimately connect as a whole...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 in that, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is a perfectly multi-tiered vehicle, showcasing both the advanced pioneering of space exploration through orbital technology with the formidable perils of its mere existence... </p><span></span>

gary lockwood, keir dullea, robert beatty, science-fiction, sean sullivan, sixties, stanley kubrick, william sylvester

GLOSSING THROUGH STANLEY KUBRICK'S '2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY'

Gary Lockwood in 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY Year: 1968 Rating: ***** The greatest cinema epics (from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA before to GOODFELLAS afte...

GARY LOCKWOOD IN ANTONIO ISASI'S 'THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS'

<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/AVvXsEgMGUuvMmmo1ie7uQFT30cOFvGniLvEVPf1TItia3MlYp8s6bTiLhY-PtKFM94LdUl1c2J319FVkyJaK4S9hrv9G9_qW4LF65VlbxNCoXrVag67Mzc0QtRIPOQE4NVkVmG198yAVMRIYuGGblZnceFCb7s-qVyTsYOAwJyqfP_kmKhGbAVHshObWBMF5-32/s1592/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGUuvMmmo1ie7uQFT30cOFvGniLvEVPf1TItia3MlYp8s6bTiLhY-PtKFM94LdUl1c2J319FVkyJaK4S9hrv9G9_qW4LF65VlbxNCoXrVag67Mzc0QtRIPOQE4NVkVmG198yAVMRIYuGGblZnceFCb7s-qVyTsYOAwJyqfP_kmKhGbAVHshObWBMF5-32/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS Year: 1968 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Spanish auteur Antonio Isasi was definitely a fan of gangster films since almost every single shot of his heist-caper THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS epitomizes the classic crime genre's style and structure, making this a combination of steely homage and groovy/fast-paced 1960's kitsch, jazzy soundtrack and all... <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>Starring American import Gary Lockwood the same year he'd soar through Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, the biggest flaw is the budget spent on two other name-actors, Lee J. Cobb as the targeted armored car company owner, and Jack Palance as an insurance investigator with eyes on both Cobb and Lockwood...</p><p><span></span></p>

armored car, caper, crime, elke sommer, exploitation, gary lockwood, heist, jack palance, jazz-score, jean servais, lee j. cobb, mobster, neo noir, spanish, warner archives

GARY LOCKWOOD IN ANTONIO ISASI'S 'THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS'

Gary Lockwood in THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS Year: 1968 Rating: ***1/2 Spanish auteur Antonio Isasi was definitely a fan of gangster films si...

GARY LOCKWOOD WITH JAMES STEWART & HENRY FONDA 'FIRECREEK'

<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/AVvXsEjvGRLaTzSaAO6chJDrI_T019EqDsJd7MrqQ7_45dkzjkgNgvDderu7KeqOZDXlX721of8kPfEDHqodFRdf4yMTGomogwOAjN0TpmUEDGknTPzxNdsjUTkbZuRZU1QSmNRAedu71rz7wkGXBVsSaXzgnb0bCLSYeCTs-0-qD9TR_DtYNt-qCapuuS05qLo4/s2080/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%202.30.32%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="2080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGRLaTzSaAO6chJDrI_T019EqDsJd7MrqQ7_45dkzjkgNgvDderu7KeqOZDXlX721of8kPfEDHqodFRdf4yMTGomogwOAjN0TpmUEDGknTPzxNdsjUTkbZuRZU1QSmNRAedu71rz7wkGXBVsSaXzgnb0bCLSYeCTs-0-qD9TR_DtYNt-qCapuuS05qLo4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%202.30.32%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in FIRECREEK Year: 1968 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With biker movies all the rampaging counter-culture rage, lower budgeted Westerns during the 1960's and 1970's became far more dark, violent, pulpy and contained, and yet, some still followed the old John Ford giant landscape aesthetic — in full background display for FIRECREEK where a gang of subtle yet vicious marauding riders ride into a small town that's literally a main street, and hardly even that...<br> <br> Where James Stewart plays a humble outskirts-farmer/passive substitute sheriff in this titular locale "taken over" in a passive-aggressive fashion, where much of the suspense relies more on implied threat than bloodshed... which <i>does</i> occur at the climax: a worthy wait after a few long scenes where the good guys ponder their lives in existential "is this all there is?" dialogue (one involving Dean Jagger describing the purgatory "town full of losers")...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

brooke bundy, gary lockwood, henry fonda, inger stevens, jack elam, jacqueline scott, james best, james stewart, louise latham, morgan woodward, robert porter, sixties, thriller, western

GARY LOCKWOOD WITH JAMES STEWART & HENRY FONDA 'FIRECREEK'

Gary Lockwood in FIRECREEK Year: 1968 Rating: **** With biker movies all the rampaging counter-culture rage, lower budgeted Westerns during...

GARY LOCKWOOD GUESTS 'HAWAII FIVE-O: SCHOOL FOR ASSASSINS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiWIIZ53Ek_F94EMtWDgouSnM_NRSV7GiIWK56bNYj-_DUamytQPbscOBTWiGX4ZtDy-UI36NNQPfdvw_miY2BOUdqYVP1qZqRZSkcPIUvpbhpmTtx-HKzAVdBQwdDER1mwUv4Y9Q20y_0GO5sCvsswEzG4m57EPzlZNOEpqt029b6_pzQ83VbhSNNyBABy/s2104/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-16%20at%207.08.12%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="2104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIIZ53Ek_F94EMtWDgouSnM_NRSV7GiIWK56bNYj-_DUamytQPbscOBTWiGX4ZtDy-UI36NNQPfdvw_miY2BOUdqYVP1qZqRZSkcPIUvpbhpmTtx-HKzAVdBQwdDER1mwUv4Y9Q20y_0GO5sCvsswEzG4m57EPzlZNOEpqt029b6_pzQ83VbhSNNyBABy/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-16%20at%207.08.12%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in Hawaii Five-0: School for Assassins Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After playing second-fiddle in Stanley Kubrick's highly-successful (and forever legendary) 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, Gary Lockwood never had much of a followup career on the big screen... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He starred in three b-movies: the Spanish-import heist-noir THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS; the Frenchman-directed French New Wave via Los Angeles counter-culture indie MODEL SHOP; and the more mainstream counter-culture melodrama R. P. M. (REVOLUTIONS PER MINUTE)...</p><p><span></span></p>

cop, crime, eighties, gary lockwood, hawaii, jack lord, monte markham, pamela susan shoop, tv series, william smith

GARY LOCKWOOD GUESTS 'HAWAII FIVE-O: SCHOOL FOR ASSASSINS'

Gary Lockwood in Hawaii Five-0: School for Assassins Year: 1980 Rates: ***1/2 After playing second-fiddle in Stanley Kubrick's highly-su...

GARY LOCKWOOD DRIVES THROUGH JACQUES DEMY'S 'MODEL SHOP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjsal-p0S9uH6173hVC8hqwkGUt0uNrBsXucXQaG1G4E2ybJ0MbeNHfT8F4RsUDzvriodpal1Q4BtfbVPO6ekIzWObFo2mM57d-Mhxo1lg41L2L2yXgTve7yK-6fuEiisZA12hO9BeuDzpnf7wbcMAy4aOD9d8EmJIzuPT_UGGcol1ln1JbbHiFjUcgcIsy/s1540/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-13%20at%205.08.20%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsal-p0S9uH6173hVC8hqwkGUt0uNrBsXucXQaG1G4E2ybJ0MbeNHfT8F4RsUDzvriodpal1Q4BtfbVPO6ekIzWObFo2mM57d-Mhxo1lg41L2L2yXgTve7yK-6fuEiisZA12hO9BeuDzpnf7wbcMAy4aOD9d8EmJIzuPT_UGGcol1ln1JbbHiFjUcgcIsy/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-13%20at%205.08.20%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in MODEL SHOP Year: 1969 Rating: **1/2 Grade: C+</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Leading up to French New Wave director Jacques Demy's car-cruising hangout ode to 1969 Los Angeles, actor Gary Lockwood had a decade of interesting characters, like an idealistic young lieutenant on Gene Roddenberry's THE LIEUTENANT; Captain Kirk's lethal foil on an episode of Roddenberry's STAR TREK; a crude gunslinger in the Western FIRECREEK; and most famously an astronaut in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 here he's dropped any pretense of his usual intensity in MODEL SHOP where he drives a classic jalopy around town, smitten with French starlet Anouk Aimée, who's only first-billed since she'd worked with the director previously... when she was younger, much prettier... and it's not like she's unattractive...</p><p><span></span></p>

alexandra hay, anne randall, anouk aimée, counter-culture, drama, fred willard, gary lockwood, hangout, jacques demy, sixties

GARY LOCKWOOD DRIVES THROUGH JACQUES DEMY'S 'MODEL SHOP'

Gary Lockwood in MODEL SHOP Year: 1969 Rating: **1/2 Grade: C+ Leading up to French New Wave director Jacques Demy's car-cruising hangou...

CLASSIC HORROR VIBES REVIVING 'THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES'

<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/AVvXsEiObePtAJXoDJjFC2YKppkkqyxv26BMVieghj0LQm3SNIhilAESFzrnZUZ9rT79iWA7wR_lxS-EWDmvE9kR1K14bCK0N_bbnn3V75vg9PUTNQGnCdgdB6sk7_WBTKarYG6gm6rUq0-jiViTTsIO6hrVmi9vPwcpMEUHpWJrvYDPiTmWHJqt4b_1YiymLsf9/s1930/1%202%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1930" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObePtAJXoDJjFC2YKppkkqyxv26BMVieghj0LQm3SNIhilAESFzrnZUZ9rT79iWA7wR_lxS-EWDmvE9kR1K14bCK0N_bbnn3V75vg9PUTNQGnCdgdB6sk7_WBTKarYG6gm6rUq0-jiViTTsIO6hrVmi9vPwcpMEUHpWJrvYDPiTmWHJqt4b_1YiymLsf9/s16000/1%202%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Virginia North in THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES Year: 1971 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For American International Pictures, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES was a hit, and for star Vincent Price, a comeback... despite the fact he never followed it up with anything quite as good and, for a comparably modern body count horror still holding onto the antique Victorian style within then present-day England, the titular Phibes gets severe revenge by killing off an assortment of who we later learn are fellow doctors that had...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Well that's something that shouldn't be spoiled despite every summary doing so, particularly since the movie deliberately plays out with that very twist concealed... while each and every Biblical Plague death carried-out, from a man in a suffocating frog mask to killer bats to bloodletting and being frozen alive in an automobile, is unique and spellbinding... and a lot of bloody fun with the kind of class that Price, only able to speak through a contraption that makes the audience basically adhere to an expository narration, pulls off with ease...</p><p><span></span></p>

american international, body count, caroline munro, dark comedy, exploitation, horror, peter jeffrey, seventies, terry-thomas, vincent price, virginia north

CLASSIC HORROR VIBES REVIVING 'THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES'

Virginia North in THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES Year: 1971 Rating: ****1/2 For American International Pictures, THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES was a ...

ROBERT MORSE, ROD STEIGER & ANJANETTE COMER 'THE LOVED ONE'

<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/AVvXsEicnigBVbzATSPW-tZ87cuH4mDX5ADwO8x6X35vdblt5zC1JQPTQd_p5bwrxmT3AKVj5ZXTthR1cwAVaGAKZLcydZNmUl4eY7i64Uo3oDX23rgtlOmWHXweKcPa711JtWsMozMjlq-cJktkKGvK1nbJaTLwgRR1Ne3aDNZonffjYX_JB1TIc2qx6rhzuwrK/s1462/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-09%20at%206.09.46%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1462" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnigBVbzATSPW-tZ87cuH4mDX5ADwO8x6X35vdblt5zC1JQPTQd_p5bwrxmT3AKVj5ZXTthR1cwAVaGAKZLcydZNmUl4eY7i64Uo3oDX23rgtlOmWHXweKcPa711JtWsMozMjlq-cJktkKGvK1nbJaTLwgRR1Ne3aDNZonffjYX_JB1TIc2qx6rhzuwrK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-09%20at%206.09.46%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Pamela Curran and Robert Morse in Tony Richardson's THE LOVED ONE Year: 1965 Rating: **1/2 Grade: C+</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After American director Stanley Kubrick made DR. STRANGELOVE in England, British director Tony Richardson attempted his own offbeat dark comedy in Los Angeles... with Jonathan Winters replacing the Peter Sellers multi-role device as the owner of a plush cemetery catered to the rich, and a dodgy pet cemetery for just about anyone... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where offbeat Robert Morse ends up working after his Hollywood producer uncle (John Geilgud) hangs himself, bringing the audience into Whispering Glades Funeral Parlor that (with Haskell Wexler cinematography) grounds the most intriguing and creatively shot B&W sequences...  </p><p><span></span></p>

anjanette comer, asa maynor, dana andrews, dark comedy, ensemble, john geilgud, jonathan winters, milton berle, paul williams, robert morse, roddy mcdowall, roxanne arlen, sixties, tony richardson

ROBERT MORSE, ROD STEIGER & ANJANETTE COMER 'THE LOVED ONE'

Pamela Curran and Robert Morse in Tony Richardson's THE LOVED ONE Year: 1965 Rating: **1/2 Grade: C+ After American director Stanley Kub...

MARIANNA HILL WITH JOY BANG & ANITRA FORD 'MESSIAH OF EVIL'

<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/AVvXsEg0N3IiLJmZGGbc6zFGFOwwUOXuKJPLul7TRX6bMz98Soetuxh-Jg3b3ISm_QOjBmHWa3nAGMMfH1x5Ehq3KrqW1-WJhnogoxT7oK70s8QRlBIaI4poi0rsxXUVCENBdm-GTv_yrDWG_X6UT5YHXDljH6y_OBMgG5wXdAc7WkTjUNO35O7e1tKX1eo6PiBO/s1150/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-10%20at%206.58.15%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="1150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0N3IiLJmZGGbc6zFGFOwwUOXuKJPLul7TRX6bMz98Soetuxh-Jg3b3ISm_QOjBmHWa3nAGMMfH1x5Ehq3KrqW1-WJhnogoxT7oK70s8QRlBIaI4poi0rsxXUVCENBdm-GTv_yrDWG_X6UT5YHXDljH6y_OBMgG5wXdAc7WkTjUNO35O7e1tKX1eo6PiBO/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-10%20at%206.58.15%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MESSIAH OF EVIL Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Directing married couple (and future George Lucas collaborators) Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz's arthouse horror MESSIAH OF EVIL has hauntingly gorgeous scream-queen Marianna Hill's narrated story-line about the search for her artist father at a beach community, pieced together in long sequences of gothic dialogue and neatly combined with three of the most eerily suspenseful moments of low-budget exploitation cinema... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Wherein monotone Michael Greer seems to be the title character, a stranger holed-up at her daddy's pad with two lovely girls, Anitra Ford and Joy Bang, each making their own separate horror-trope mistake of leaving an otherwise safe location to venture out alone... in this case into the small beach town, inland from a wave-lapping, moon-lit beach...</p><p><span></span></p>

anitra ford, body count, charles dierkop, cult, gloria katz, horror, joy bang, marianna hill, michael greer, seventies, walter hill, williard huyck, zombie

MARIANNA HILL WITH JOY BANG & ANITRA FORD 'MESSIAH OF EVIL'

Title: MESSIAH OF EVIL Year: 1974 Rating: ***1/2 Directing married couple (and future George Lucas collaborators) Willard Huyck and Gloria K...

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

<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/AVvXsEgiVTTHag1ShCE3rC3u7lS9Tw3ZkNH-r_rEp3BiXA2l0dJsJeFtN-PuKHyHgNC51TT1ch_M88khfBw2ch_A1RpICYqa22p7jeUbUw3KtNphyphenhyphenpeyBTG1q_BGynzjgJz_4Lyy8Jh4nRr5B1fJCPSr62TEphTLCh1-8AX2IAVcBJkbsL7sK1y8c64IWV9BdTQQ/s1652/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%202.05.04%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1652" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVTTHag1ShCE3rC3u7lS9Tw3ZkNH-r_rEp3BiXA2l0dJsJeFtN-PuKHyHgNC51TT1ch_M88khfBw2ch_A1RpICYqa22p7jeUbUw3KtNphyphenhyphenpeyBTG1q_BGynzjgJz_4Lyy8Jh4nRr5B1fJCPSr62TEphTLCh1-8AX2IAVcBJkbsL7sK1y8c64IWV9BdTQQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%202.05.04%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act where scientists William Sylvester and Robert Beatty are figuring out an enigmatic presence on the moon, the pair was grounded as polar opposite siblings in the mystery/thriller POSTMARK FOR DANGER...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which was originally titled PORTRAIT OF ALISON, a reworking of the classic film noir LAURA in which a cop falls for a dead woman from a painting who, it turns out, is very alive...</p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, fifties, geoffrey keen, mystery, robert beatty, terry moore, william sylvester

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: ** Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act wher...

BRUCE DERN SURVIVING DOUGLAS TRUMBULL'S 'SILENT RUNNING'

<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/AVvXsEgbxcReodThzhLfUzQddPIHehV8WY4MZzzy_FMyGSWhX8x5SkBwchJiyL_UvfnaYrXZCe2YPWfZ9ovqI85JauuRbb6seXVmKKqO7INW8WnxcTPARlrra7NyPKka7G3hb-qdXejS6Da6hI-l0tOS4gQvv3oJ-CW31K2otT-EPiAnyx4cv53QPuwVgIm8osbu/s1508/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="818" data-original-width="1508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbxcReodThzhLfUzQddPIHehV8WY4MZzzy_FMyGSWhX8x5SkBwchJiyL_UvfnaYrXZCe2YPWfZ9ovqI85JauuRbb6seXVmKKqO7INW8WnxcTPARlrra7NyPKka7G3hb-qdXejS6Da6hI-l0tOS4gQvv3oJ-CW31K2otT-EPiAnyx4cv53QPuwVgIm8osbu/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern in SILENT RUNNING Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Science-Fiction Special Effects wizard Douglas Trumbull went from making Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY look both futuristic and prehistoric while his own directorial SILENT RUNNING starts at the same planet the first winds up, Jupiter... while back on Earth, it's learned that life sustains not only without forests, but doesn't seem to need any...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which goes against Bruce Dern's sole mission, despite literally sharing space with three other astronauts... who eventually get orders to send vessel-carrying forest domes into nuclear annihilation so they can finally return home: until Dern's Freeman Lowell decides to kill off his human cohorts to save one last portion of tangible nature... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, bruce dern, cliff potts, douglas trumbull, jesse vint, ron rifkin, science-fiction, seventies, thriller

BRUCE DERN SURVIVING DOUGLAS TRUMBULL'S 'SILENT RUNNING'

Bruce Dern in SILENT RUNNING Year: 1972 Rating: ****1/2 Science-Fiction Special Effects wizard Douglas Trumbull went from making Stanley Kub...

BRUCE DERN WITH MARTHE KELLER & ROBERT SHAW 'BLACK SUNDAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEj-mSSFPpkSzNP5KYwFDm7JXAMiXGKxIGfv6du4RqqOAAa_Y6luRkRCTKpwE7xz9yzoX-K6YUYnsiyO_vHrjt7FX341IXJuyRCkC4e_1vH7b2b7TEKOotlwdwfjP0zp5GJqFORZAkhPrHFUBezJkABE4LGKJ6oLTyjlz4SpwgivIz2CL1kSP3qdSJhm5h-Y/s2296/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-08%20at%205.52.06%20PM%202-1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="2296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-mSSFPpkSzNP5KYwFDm7JXAMiXGKxIGfv6du4RqqOAAa_Y6luRkRCTKpwE7xz9yzoX-K6YUYnsiyO_vHrjt7FX341IXJuyRCkC4e_1vH7b2b7TEKOotlwdwfjP0zp5GJqFORZAkhPrHFUBezJkABE4LGKJ6oLTyjlz4SpwgivIz2CL1kSP3qdSJhm5h-Y/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-08%20at%205.52.06%20PM%202-1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Bruce Dern in BLACK SUNDAY Year: 1977 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the peak of Bruce Dern's 1970's career playing insane, frantic characters, Palestinian terrorist Marthe Keller cautiously asks if he has the deadly contraption... that shoots tiny shards upon explosion... ready as Dern quickly answers, finishing what he thinks she was really getting to, "Do I feel CRAZY today?" </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>She's the perfectly patient black widow moll to Dern's off-kilter Vietnam vet, who flies the Goodyear blimp over football games and will soon work the targeted super bowl... while on the heroic side is another contrary team-up in Robert Shaw's brooding yet effectively lethal Israeli commando with edgy, bickering sidekick Steven Keats...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bruce dern, fritz weaver, john frankenheimer, marthe keller, michael v. gazzo, robert shaw, seventies, steven keats, walter gotell

BRUCE DERN WITH MARTHE KELLER & ROBERT SHAW 'BLACK SUNDAY'

Bruce Dern in BLACK SUNDAY Year: 1977 Rating: **** At the peak of Bruce Dern's 1970's career playing insane, frantic characters, Pal...

RORY CALHOUN WITH MARY COSTA & COREY ALLEN 'THE BIG CAPER'

<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/AVvXsEi7-vA19lI3l-iuBTltkn4iyORsryuEVYzoZpcMa3cKpPaF5xJzSgTnX2xKrHEHa6ebBg6EbQVSMyI-gJufORs3s7JfkH1ZFhsr68Hk-76VTj4t-QZgijZPCi5yz7qdyF3fXVVrJd_2y13-2-3_HZxIPesiXFTbsSWobHbYVvBAPYog8W1QEDxYtiqwbS5r/s1832/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-24%20at%203.03.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="1832" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7-vA19lI3l-iuBTltkn4iyORsryuEVYzoZpcMa3cKpPaF5xJzSgTnX2xKrHEHa6ebBg6EbQVSMyI-gJufORs3s7JfkH1ZFhsr68Hk-76VTj4t-QZgijZPCi5yz7qdyF3fXVVrJd_2y13-2-3_HZxIPesiXFTbsSWobHbYVvBAPYog8W1QEDxYtiqwbS5r/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-24%20at%203.03.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE BIG CAPER Year: 1957 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By late 1950's Film Noir, the kind of beatnik jazz listened to by the criminals also provides the soundtrack, whether it's source music (played deliberately from a radio within the movie) or part of the overall score...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And the crooks are a lot stranger and eccentric, especially in THE BIG CAPER where Rory Calhoun works for James Gregory, whose boss-moll Mary Costa's planted with Calhoun to pose as a bland married couple in the suburbs... waiting to pounce on a bank job that's particularly lucrative for carrying money to deliver to the marine's Camp Pendleton in Southern California... but without the beachy establishing exterior since most of CAPER takes place indoors...</p><p><span></span></p>

film noir or melodrama, heist, james gregory, jazz-score, mary costa, paul picerni, rory calhoun, roxanne arlen

RORY CALHOUN WITH MARY COSTA & COREY ALLEN 'THE BIG CAPER'

Title: THE BIG CAPER Year: 1957 Rating: *** By late 1950's Film Noir, the kind of beatnik jazz listened to by the criminals also provide...

VAL GUEST DIRECTS 'CONTEST GIRL' JANETTE SCOTT & IAN HENDRY

<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/AVvXsEi9_uKPaf7x_C55KlkgpEswDAgkOyriycI0HTtMdKz8fU9LfgFRDqIhewPCKJrG22AZhbUDCnjv_uCXKcGYHj8ziI-Jic-__wWmU5NtSIwFiopm8OoXJr-K6536ZXQlFROp6DE6PRZiTNLnCM5B_W9-YeNVd96b37HC_1ZIxzPdw4B9J6Rg0fGNKxUK6wTI/s1612/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-22%20at%2010.33.56%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9_uKPaf7x_C55KlkgpEswDAgkOyriycI0HTtMdKz8fU9LfgFRDqIhewPCKJrG22AZhbUDCnjv_uCXKcGYHj8ziI-Jic-__wWmU5NtSIwFiopm8OoXJr-K6536ZXQlFROp6DE6PRZiTNLnCM5B_W9-YeNVd96b37HC_1ZIxzPdw4B9J6Rg0fGNKxUK6wTI/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-22%20at%2010.33.56%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE BEAUTY JUNGLE aka CONTEST GIRL Year: 1964 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After nearly a decade of Hammer science-fiction, war and film noir... from QUATERMASS to HELL IS A CITY... director Val Guest returns to his comedy roots for THE BEAUTY JUNGLE aka CONTEST GIRL... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But that's only the breezy first-act when handsome journalist Ian Hendry meets the girl of his dreams in London typist Janette Scott, initially building her up as an underdog against experienced (and jaded) pros... </p><p><span></span></p>

drama, ian hendry, jacqueline jones, janette scott, janina faye, kay walsh, norman bird, ronald fraser, sidney james, sixties, val guest

VAL GUEST DIRECTS 'CONTEST GIRL' JANETTE SCOTT & IAN HENDRY

Title: THE BEAUTY JUNGLE aka CONTEST GIRL Year: 1964 Rating: **** After nearly a decade of Hammer science-fiction, war and film noir... from...

PAUL MASSIE STARS IN HAMMER'S 'THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjfrVM3zCL0yz3147XJ2Tba39xLldCZqngkahVA9wKJ4TWEE3TZNXsxV6Oj_u4Li7ffOGH07ZhvMvDqRvuAl3COHngINEFXS3EhxJbOsGmTmxpAv5pYWqIFt1DjYqlX5sA9bRsQD7Y-r6myXL_-Io4nY2c5Vzg6T87yea5v2Oll2ucC0bP1KNNOByfmGJIs/s1448/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%208.11.09%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfrVM3zCL0yz3147XJ2Tba39xLldCZqngkahVA9wKJ4TWEE3TZNXsxV6Oj_u4Li7ffOGH07ZhvMvDqRvuAl3COHngINEFXS3EhxJbOsGmTmxpAv5pYWqIFt1DjYqlX5sA9bRsQD7Y-r6myXL_-Io4nY2c5Vzg6T87yea5v2Oll2ucC0bP1KNNOByfmGJIs/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%208.11.09%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Paul Massie in THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The titular scientist in Hammer's usual Victorian era fits the 1800's in his stuffy demeanor until turning into a bohemian wild man frequenting swinging nightclubs and nightlife, providing future real life party animal Oliver Reed a bit part opposite <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/jungle.html">Joy Webster</a>... <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></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And in the legendary double lead is Paul Massie, not a bad actor but is hardly interesting enough to carry an entire picture like, say, Peter Cushing or, in this particular case, Christopher Lee as a leech rather than neck-sucker... His gambling scoundrel character Paul Allen takes advantage of old friend Jekyll by spending his money and romancing his wife... </p><p><span></span></p>

christopher lee, dawn addams, exploitation, hammer films, janina faye, joy webster, oliver reed, paul massie, pauline shepherd, sixties, thriller

PAUL MASSIE STARS IN HAMMER'S 'THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL'

Paul Massie in THE TWO FACES OF DR. JEKYLL Year: 1960 Rating: ***1/2 The titular scientist in Hammer's usual Victorian era fits the 1800...

PAUL MASSIE STARS IN 'ORDERS TO KILL' FEARTURING EDDIE ALBERT

<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/AVvXsEjGhtsJfXg7oc9uwVABiHbHmGvvWXwURFjk2n2Nc7zqZZ0bNLiMEjuS8uPEfIB-dQgRYiN1pMojBFa7iNlPmhuYp7urJi4NXBnNbDucV3FGWXF_q0GsnU8dJRzPiFiN7XALEUw809_GEBxAS0vZBuSyiR4I3y8BIWp_Fpm-yg2LO0z1cn1thc1_UV6cti2Q/s1850/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%202.40.16%20PM-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1850" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGhtsJfXg7oc9uwVABiHbHmGvvWXwURFjk2n2Nc7zqZZ0bNLiMEjuS8uPEfIB-dQgRYiN1pMojBFa7iNlPmhuYp7urJi4NXBnNbDucV3FGWXF_q0GsnU8dJRzPiFiN7XALEUw809_GEBxAS0vZBuSyiR4I3y8BIWp_Fpm-yg2LO0z1cn1thc1_UV6cti2Q/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-20%20at%202.40.16%20PM-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ORDERS TO KILL Year: 1958 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's after forty-five minutes when first-billed American actor Eddie Albert sees second-billed Canadian actor <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/07/2F.html">Paul Massie</a> off to France in this British anti-war film that really begins with Massie's Gene Summers on a central mission to kill a French Resistance double-crosser, who had sold out the last five spies to the Germans...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So after the initial training sessions where a somewhat robotic Massie (originally ordered by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/03/HellisACity.html">John Crawford</a> with a cameo by Lilian Gish as his mother), trained by Albert to be as cold-blooded as possible (without being too glib about it), ORDERS TO KILL becomes a kind of Hitchcock style suspense flick with mousy Leslie French as the target, so downright friendly and affably neurotic, the inevitable moral dilemma finally kicks into gear...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, edward albert, espionage, fifties, irene worth, john crawford, leslie french, lilian gish, paul massie, world war II

PAUL MASSIE STARS IN 'ORDERS TO KILL' FEARTURING EDDIE ALBERT

Title: ORDERS TO KILL Year: 1958 Rating: **** It's after forty-five minutes when first-billed American actor Eddie Albert sees second-bi...

ROBERT WAGNER IN THE OBSCURE GOLF PRO CURIO 'BANNING'

<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/AVvXsEjGsc3kGjht-ZfR4wyk38rW7OJoP2NcCLWB7u8TCdXoQNDs1j-xdu4Bvp88_YvEv4ITO9BjWXvQDfk_QPZcEzYiSVc6hw9OIraFMHmqPVmgwZtockqtp-AetjRRFGRWqQq2Tk6jCfk3MeTGZ4PO2IWVRxmJM4wG3PeMRI2MCuPa8whCQ_ZebJwylyy-WskC/s950/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-18%20at%2012.24.39%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="950" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGsc3kGjht-ZfR4wyk38rW7OJoP2NcCLWB7u8TCdXoQNDs1j-xdu4Bvp88_YvEv4ITO9BjWXvQDfk_QPZcEzYiSVc6hw9OIraFMHmqPVmgwZtockqtp-AetjRRFGRWqQq2Tk6jCfk3MeTGZ4PO2IWVRxmJM4wG3PeMRI2MCuPa8whCQ_ZebJwylyy-WskC/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-18%20at%2012.24.39%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Wagner in BANNING Year: 1967 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The extremely elusive and rare BANNING is a 1967 film about former golf pro Robert Wagner as the title character... coolly rolling into an exclusive Arizona golf course like an enigmatic rider from a spaghetti western... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Full of secrets and suave blackmailing that it takes half the movie to figure out, mostly through exposition from characters ranging from Guy Stockwell as the crooked son-in-law (married to Susan Clark) of super-rich Howard St. John, who practically owns the joint while Jill St. John is a rich fatale type with her hooks in Banning... but his own vulnerable heart's aimed at the golf course's seemingly chaste working-girl Anjanette Comer...</p><p><span></span></p>

anjanette comer, drama, golf, guy stockwell, howard st. john, james farentino, jill st. john, mike kellin, robert wagner, sport

ROBERT WAGNER IN THE OBSCURE GOLF PRO CURIO 'BANNING'

Robert Wagner in BANNING Year: 1967 Rating: **** The extremely elusive and rare BANNING is a 1967 film about former golf pro Robert Wagner a...

JAMES CAGNEY CAGED UP IN 'WHITE HEAT' WITH VIRGINA MAYO

<p></p><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/AVvXsEiRzRQGDtQlMALrRwxNuTR1CoinsFd_y0-dLNL1va7_ExcQ_Y4U9CwPvJrOokxRmnQcNQ6d38WgrxRdqJ3MnjT0AcXWuF-K8adXuiBrqqhEns21rnazb5NsO0aAXJrkKrM0zZZwLJqRidwlVP9VDcIrSu31HGGw_IJQkg-tKcMJBM0zHy_Fw_xXrhQPd8-0/s2552/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-09%20at%203.47.52%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1376" data-original-width="2552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRzRQGDtQlMALrRwxNuTR1CoinsFd_y0-dLNL1va7_ExcQ_Y4U9CwPvJrOokxRmnQcNQ6d38WgrxRdqJ3MnjT0AcXWuF-K8adXuiBrqqhEns21rnazb5NsO0aAXJrkKrM0zZZwLJqRidwlVP9VDcIrSu31HGGw_IJQkg-tKcMJBM0zHy_Fw_xXrhQPd8-0/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-09%20at%203.47.52%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Japanese poster for WHITE HEAT Year of imprisonment and release: 1949 Sentence: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At the peak of the 1940's, no one but James Cagney could play the toughest guy in crime who remains the world's toughest criminal even after suffering random massive headaches where he's basically screaming and crying for his mommy, either in front of his own gang or an entire prison population...<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>Simply because no one dare call him on it, making WHITE HEAT not only Cagney's greatest Classic Gangster flick but an otherwise bonafide Monster Movie within the Action-Crime arena (in one spooky sequence of lurking, vengeful menace in a rural country house, Cagney's Cody Jarrett is a "not human" Horror genre killer)...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, classic gangster, crime, edmond o'brien, forties, heist, james cagney, john archer, prison, robert osterloh, steve cochran, virginia mayo

JAMES CAGNEY CAGED UP IN 'WHITE HEAT' WITH VIRGINA MAYO

Japanese poster for WHITE HEAT Year of imprisonment and release: 1949 Sentence: ****1/2 At the peak of the 1940's, no one but James Cagn...

DIRECTOR ANTHONY MANN'S CONTERFEIT MONEY FILM NOIR 'T-MEN'

<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/AVvXsEjt_xY34hyphenhyphenIdOoon4xdhzVW_aPEeJ_eBscitMyg4do1TylxP9I9J2N45aURHPj0u1ETwHxqAQNniZmtgU7Rvq-fTFqXw69NdLnnyQSlwDWFQSmWsotS4gN7avcLnfnq5PnNyCdBI7ApgfG0sjthv6LC0Jihfa9BvAY7j54dmMTvmWIpNXQRUIWb4EeAJV2W/s1788/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="1788" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_xY34hyphenhyphenIdOoon4xdhzVW_aPEeJ_eBscitMyg4do1TylxP9I9J2N45aURHPj0u1ETwHxqAQNniZmtgU7Rvq-fTFqXw69NdLnnyQSlwDWFQSmWsotS4gN7avcLnfnq5PnNyCdBI7ApgfG0sjthv6LC0Jihfa9BvAY7j54dmMTvmWIpNXQRUIWb4EeAJV2W/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: T-MEN Director: Anthony Mann Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Backed by offbeat, surreal music from a dream sequence... only here used for otherwise normal dialogue in a film noir governmental expose that begins as a documentary before escalating into the story of undercover agents Dennis O'Keefe and Alfred Ryder, thrust into a formidably dark underworld of pitiful motel rooms, seedy steam-baths and smoky taverns where a criminal gang deal in counterfeit money...<br></p><p>And they're so paranoid about the duo <i>possibly</i> being T-MEN, the agents are put through the ringer that includes getting beaten up within tense-filled moments where — on the edge of almost being revealed (especially by muggy hit-men Charles McGraw and Jack Overman) — the suspense level reaches a cascade of revolving peaks... </p><span></span>

alfred ryder, anthony mann, art smith, charles mcgraw, dennis o'keefe, docudrama, forties, jack overman, jane randolph, june lockhart, wallace ford

DIRECTOR ANTHONY MANN'S CONTERFEIT MONEY FILM NOIR 'T-MEN'

Title: T-MEN Director: Anthony Mann Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2 Backed by offbeat, surreal music from a dream sequence... only here used for ...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S T-MEN HEIST FILM NOIR OF 'TRAPPED'

<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/AVvXsEjxCUStevh1W1gt55njlib2n66MQrsISLXKHCGk9v6e-h2vuqck8xbNDuclbv2Ob4k9wpZc2amwmrXPip-gkezWMvFIUgW-lizueH24mOwX6qY7kPDyK3tBPB-yGhYYQRrdWGKeME0YF4Tyn9cGYzS4_B_0xhG8YP3XbCtnI108KBBeGX_2QizFpbrxAxDR/s2138/ORIG%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="2138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCUStevh1W1gt55njlib2n66MQrsISLXKHCGk9v6e-h2vuqck8xbNDuclbv2Ob4k9wpZc2amwmrXPip-gkezWMvFIUgW-lizueH24mOwX6qY7kPDyK3tBPB-yGhYYQRrdWGKeME0YF4Tyn9cGYzS4_B_0xhG8YP3XbCtnI108KBBeGX_2QizFpbrxAxDR/s16000/ORIG%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TRAPPED Year: 1949 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's a shame that director Richard Fleischer didn't realize how good the usual good guy Lloyd Bridges was at playing bad... in this case a counterfeiter in prison, given a deal to get out but only if he rats on past associates for the cops...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>After which the best moments occur, leading to the first 30-minutes of the T-MEN style noir of TRAPPED in which several twists occur that makes Bridges a free man, quickly holed-up with former girlfriend Barbara Payton, a dive bar waitress with the potential of a femme fatale but playing a rather pathetic lovelorn starlet... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, barbara payton, escape, film noir or melodrama, heist, john hoyt, lloyd bridges, richard fleischer

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S T-MEN HEIST FILM NOIR OF 'TRAPPED'

Title: TRAPPED Year: 1949 Rating: ** It's a shame that director Richard Fleischer didn't realize how good the usual good guy Lloyd B...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S WRONG MAN ACTION NOIR 'THE CLAY PIGEON'

<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/AVvXsEiu_8eJNpnWEZ91cvat3HWOkeQV9TcyhGxsOJ4DzwGXVWqs92xA2EW-ryia5gUiMlqEsWuqpNkZx9_LVSlOe0ZEntZ2EJiAlgR9ycZXgY5ujj26K1RJPFVuYiX5W7N9lK-3u6_-u1xAggYgGGdZi2HA3k3ilEiqSGvkFoE_BSNzXSGCGOIQqMSKXG8rso5q/s1452/CLAYP.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_8eJNpnWEZ91cvat3HWOkeQV9TcyhGxsOJ4DzwGXVWqs92xA2EW-ryia5gUiMlqEsWuqpNkZx9_LVSlOe0ZEntZ2EJiAlgR9ycZXgY5ujj26K1RJPFVuYiX5W7N9lK-3u6_-u1xAggYgGGdZi2HA3k3ilEiqSGvkFoE_BSNzXSGCGOIQqMSKXG8rso5q/s16000/CLAYP.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE CLAY PIGEON Stars: Bill Williams, Barbara Hale Year: 1949 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Richard Fleischer's Wrong Man Film Noir has a patriotic World War II twist when Bill Williams wakes up, knocked out in the hospital, with amnesia not about who he is, but what he's done to get there: all while overhearing a doctor and nurse about how he's a ratting traitor who caused the death of a fellow soldier and friend...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He quickly escapes to that friend's widow, played by Bill's real life wife and future PERRY MASON actress Barbara Hale, who spends enough realistic time fighting to escape from the desperate soldier... who<i> </i>has to prove his innocence <i>to everyone </i>before being captured and tried...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, barbara hale, bill williams, film noir or melodrama, mayra marco, richard fleischer, richard loo, richard quine, robert bray

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S WRONG MAN ACTION NOIR 'THE CLAY PIGEON'

Title: THE CLAY PIGEON Stars: Bill Williams, Barbara Hale Year: 1949 Rating: **** Richard Fleischer's Wrong Man Film Noir has a patrioti...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S SERIAL KILLER NOIR 'FOLLOW ME QUIETLY'

<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/AVvXsEiYtcrl_A4j8CFVcleurK3K3dTEINK-23rHcD1XPrvC-fLNykTaEMcn1dOmduD9MK8M_mCTZGVxzWpHP4sufFcC7w1BRG4WqTDyWfV3NkhxyGoMtOGcX0JU6uL8fLU-9TUa1GPNQplKTcCm_5FuaSWLW23tf60QiIruN9cFegHCHI0pIWvK_YW8_yyGj2Bi/s2174/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-04%20at%204.51.10%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1244" data-original-width="2174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtcrl_A4j8CFVcleurK3K3dTEINK-23rHcD1XPrvC-fLNykTaEMcn1dOmduD9MK8M_mCTZGVxzWpHP4sufFcC7w1BRG4WqTDyWfV3NkhxyGoMtOGcX0JU6uL8fLU-9TUa1GPNQplKTcCm_5FuaSWLW23tf60QiIruN9cFegHCHI0pIWvK_YW8_yyGj2Bi/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-04%20at%204.51.10%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FOLLOW ME QUIETLY Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If you can handle dialogue like, after a statement about a serial killer killing only during a thunderstorm: "Maybe he likes rain... must be a fish" between detective partners William Lundigan and Jeff Corey, you'll handle director Richard Fleischer's entire b-noir, FOLLOW ME QUIETLY, which is half police procedural on the investigation into and then eventual catching of an allusive serial killer, and a romantic comedy between intense, Hollywood-handsome Lundigan with cute snoopy tabloid journalist Dorothy Patrick...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter's too peppy for the dark, semi-violent mainline... although we never completely witness the strangler actually strangling save through a rather rushed flashback from a dying man... but their interplay mostly works since she's a likable actress (yet much better suited as the logical secondary dame in 711 OCEAN DRIVE)... and he's so professionally cold, she's got to really work for her story...</p><p><span></span></p>

cop, dorothy patrick, douglas spencer, film noir or melodrama, forties, jeff corey, marlo dwyer, richard fleischer, serial killer, william lundigan

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S SERIAL KILLER NOIR 'FOLLOW ME QUIETLY'

Title: FOLLOW ME QUIETLY Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2 If you can handle dialogue like, after a statement about a serial killer killing only dur...

MORGAN CONWAY, ANNE JEFFREYS & MIKE MAZURSKI 'DICK TRACY'

<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/AVvXsEjEnFEiS9dXrI0buOcY9CNNGEkaFbq0PveO6HdBfIJdBS7h7FQC_BUb9Rfns5lCvdxRDnZx0OzcDPgv3LFxvqirM-5hQ8pTziqy44-9we37vsJ4bhM37EM_zHtrOKcxLHGQnWGjapm9rILmlmnySUujBxxFIHoxY4gbRywWOQb1V_jSjaEWK1Br0yrnsvSB/s2194/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1216" data-original-width="2194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEnFEiS9dXrI0buOcY9CNNGEkaFbq0PveO6HdBfIJdBS7h7FQC_BUb9Rfns5lCvdxRDnZx0OzcDPgv3LFxvqirM-5hQ8pTziqy44-9we37vsJ4bhM37EM_zHtrOKcxLHGQnWGjapm9rILmlmnySUujBxxFIHoxY4gbRywWOQb1V_jSjaEWK1Br0yrnsvSB/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DICK TRACY Year: 1945 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The towering, muscular, intimidating and always formidable noir-villain Mike Mazurki, who would soon steal MURDER MY SWEET from Dick Powell, is the perfect choice for the DICK TRACY villain Splitface... more like Scarface since that's all that makes the titular split and, either way, he still looks pretty spooky...<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>Yet he mostly lurks in the noirish shadows, remaining a mystery to the characters but not the audience, who sees him prowling before each murder: so this picture's whodunnit aspect is as ultimately wasted as Muzurki himself...</p><p><span></span></p>

anne jeffreys, dick tracy, film noir or melodrama, forties, franchise, horror, jane greer, mike mazurski, milton parsons, morgan conway

MORGAN CONWAY, ANNE JEFFREYS & MIKE MAZURSKI 'DICK TRACY'

Title: DICK TRACY Year: 1945 Rating: *** The towering, muscular, intimidating and always formidable noir-villain Mike Mazurki, who would soo...

MORGAN CONWAY AND DICK WESSEL IN 'DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL'

<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/AVvXsEjjmgguoOwe57VXunkljYmrRcGDCBOcGBNgNkz2-p3iR6Dl4WbpHKzi60xWBQ8XHi3tjl7rOn_-wmlHbBpl55GMO8dUCdkBNRRMLgR_xFR0GKkumfAzDaJASTonvG4MCfZSWFMLGdb431uzLdoUgUDDS4xJJzaz9n2QClk6V-oVxyrnHKDRl8775lbl8H-v/s2168/prog.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="2168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjmgguoOwe57VXunkljYmrRcGDCBOcGBNgNkz2-p3iR6Dl4WbpHKzi60xWBQ8XHi3tjl7rOn_-wmlHbBpl55GMO8dUCdkBNRRMLgR_xFR0GKkumfAzDaJASTonvG4MCfZSWFMLGdb431uzLdoUgUDDS4xJJzaz9n2QClk6V-oVxyrnHKDRl8775lbl8H-v/s16000/prog.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The maligned DICK TRACY replacement-actor from the first two RKO pictures was Morgan Conway, who got a bad rap since he didn't have the square-jaw look of Ralph Byrd... to perfectly fit the comic book crime-fighter brought to serialized life in the 1930's, and then finished the final two of four 1940's pictures that Conway supposedly failed at...<br><br>But he actually has a bit more energy and emotion than Byrd... yet altogether seems more like a friendly and affable, trustworthy cop friend that would give Dick Tracy sporadic advice...</p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, anne jeffreys, comic book, dick tracy, dick wessel, film noir or melodrama, forties, franchise, morgan conway, skelton knaggs

MORGAN CONWAY AND DICK WESSEL IN 'DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL'

Title: DICK TRACY VS. CUEBALL Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2 The maligned DICK TRACY replacement-actor from the first two RKO pictures was Morgan...

RALPH BYRD AND BORIS KARLOFF IN 'DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME'

<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/AVvXsEibwbdb3rEe_86-sn3Gk7DAfzl8gukP9o4zx3OFxzfO0QRogq_VV0HxQ1CoUtbuUN7IfSIRKCfPWy-n4TR1wRVBK0dV_lJSTlXfBbLna0NQoVwUx5GC7HBojTYaZr0L9T_l6LnwR7LUtddsqeDg3NTGkENXeWuUBaPOuBIeR2EROL0exikPtS_hAbc2U11T/s2184/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-02%20at%204.12.45%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1318" data-original-width="2184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibwbdb3rEe_86-sn3Gk7DAfzl8gukP9o4zx3OFxzfO0QRogq_VV0HxQ1CoUtbuUN7IfSIRKCfPWy-n4TR1wRVBK0dV_lJSTlXfBbLna0NQoVwUx5GC7HBojTYaZr0L9T_l6LnwR7LUtddsqeDg3NTGkENXeWuUBaPOuBIeR2EROL0exikPtS_hAbc2U11T/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-02%20at%204.12.45%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME Year: 1947 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Despite the legendary Boris Karloff playing Gruesome, this is the last and weakest of the RKO four-picture series... mainly because it goes for physical comedy over dark noir-like aesthetic and frightful violence: the story taking place mostly in the daylight without the same amount of eerie shadow-play of its predecessors...<br><br>The silliness mainly derives from the weapon that Gruesome and his haphazard two-man posse (compared to effectively creepy inventor Skelton Knaggs)  use: gas pellets that freeze bank customers as the gang moves in...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, anne gwynne, boris karloff, crime, dick tracy, forties, franchise, horror satire, ralph byrd, skelton knaggs

RALPH BYRD AND BORIS KARLOFF IN 'DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME'

Title: DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME Year: 1947 Rating: **1/2 Despite the legendary Boris Karloff playing Gruesome, this is the last and weakest...

RALPH BYRD WITH JACK LAMBERT IN 'DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA'

<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/AVvXsEh-4RwEz5qOu9hjGZwUIHrfNTH5Ac-Krfd_4imbfvt8lZ7t8yD1H1qQmZJab-y0f5hFV2mb2rfmvppHkl51TKppribD4MjPVlhSZBB3O6jpY2HcTAhIZCDmRVeW0IjC7th6kaukRf9jyVrzJ4z53gVhkPOBO04qmKm-pRxzzNTvsT5Cfe3Ht6MKvTQObKwn/s2074/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-01%20at%205.10.55%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1312" data-original-width="2074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-4RwEz5qOu9hjGZwUIHrfNTH5Ac-Krfd_4imbfvt8lZ7t8yD1H1qQmZJab-y0f5hFV2mb2rfmvppHkl51TKppribD4MjPVlhSZBB3O6jpY2HcTAhIZCDmRVeW0IjC7th6kaukRf9jyVrzJ4z53gVhkPOBO04qmKm-pRxzzNTvsT5Cfe3Ht6MKvTQObKwn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-01%20at%205.10.55%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA Year: 1947 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's true that comic book heroes are only as good as the villains, even way back in the 1940's with the Dick Tracy films, where this the third and penultimate by RKO, and the second with returning star Ralph Byrd... and is where Jack Lambert's Claw not only steals the picture, but is pretty much everything...<br><br>The longest, most suspenseful scene... combining dark film-noir aesthetic and impending horror-genre doom... takes up almost half the picture as Lambert's eerie, limping heavy... with a hunched gait and hiding his clawed-hand in a seedy jacket until revealing it before he kills... hunts down a mousy, fake-blind beggar named Sightless...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, comic book, crime, dick tracy, film noir or melodrama, forties, franchise, jack lambert, thriller

RALPH BYRD WITH JACK LAMBERT IN 'DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA'

Title: DICK TRACY'S DILEMMA Year: 1947 Rating: **** It's true that comic book heroes are only as good as the villains, even way back...

ROBERT QUARRY SINKS HIS TEEH INTO 'COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE'

<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/AVvXsEiOuKRTyfUWhsE8AoYvkFGM67fvdW10fVSiytFOQE0Tjzha0OiH06R6McVdqn84jzXmEQaEbzaPMYKHzvRe0QJDjXx1RF_Cqp5IqNUysk7lxgarHvN-1Ww2mUhKN5hbb6Ewlen-nbLNezQ8FSUoPENSJERv9a0xZf75RPRItsZ-5A1eSJQg26I8LFGwK5a7/s1970/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOuKRTyfUWhsE8AoYvkFGM67fvdW10fVSiytFOQE0Tjzha0OiH06R6McVdqn84jzXmEQaEbzaPMYKHzvRe0QJDjXx1RF_Cqp5IqNUysk7lxgarHvN-1Ww2mUhKN5hbb6Ewlen-nbLNezQ8FSUoPENSJERv9a0xZf75RPRItsZ-5A1eSJQg26I8LFGwK5a7/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE Year: 1970 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A hybrid of late-1960's leading to early-1970's low-budget exploitation horror and the classic horror genre, COUNT YORGA VAMPIRE balances rough, grainy exterior with an American actor seeming extremely British... so formidably sophisticated yet wonderfully underplayed, he was supposed to replace an aging Vincent Prince for American International Pictures... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Consisting of sparse-setup interiors, gothic mansion exteriors and stolen shots of various characters having looped-in conversations throughout daylight Los Angeles, YORGA not only made money but was critically praised... mainly because of Robert Quarry's titular role, more befitting a higher-budgeted, Victorian-era Hammer production... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

body count, cult, donna anderson, edward walsh, horror, judy lang, michael murphy, robert quarry, seventies, vampire

ROBERT QUARRY SINKS HIS TEEH INTO 'COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE'

Title: COUNT YORGA, VAMPIRE Year: 1970 Rating: **** A hybrid of late-1960's leading to early-1970's low-budget exploitation horror a...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & ANNE JEFFREYS RETURN FOR 'STEP BY STEP'

<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/AVvXsEhZD_bUZjUuD2SlQNPoky1T_bGXQkbgZ5mzjZ022JxnZAF1e8Cn1cbgGSaExmEy5cWmlxb83ZqHSQdshQ_xIZOfOSdBqNEs0DURmKbg72649XjZLBnlCFTiZjbljqVfeukpik0WQForOyomAheW6bebESxD-IOoNZvlT_caJ8ZKmvW1u8cdJz90ZwSiX2bj/s1433/0%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1433" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZD_bUZjUuD2SlQNPoky1T_bGXQkbgZ5mzjZ022JxnZAF1e8Cn1cbgGSaExmEy5cWmlxb83ZqHSQdshQ_xIZOfOSdBqNEs0DURmKbg72649XjZLBnlCFTiZjbljqVfeukpik0WQForOyomAheW6bebESxD-IOoNZvlT_caJ8ZKmvW1u8cdJz90ZwSiX2bj/s16000/0%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys in STEP BY STEP Year: 1946 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Lawrence Tierney with Anne Jeffreys, the gangster and moll from DILLINGER, return for STEP BY STEP, a programmer that involves crime yet is only partially film noir and, with an endearing mascot dog liken to (but a different breed than) THE THIN MAN franchise, it's a breezy ride...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Jeffreys is the newly-hired secretary for a politician working from a beachfront mansion and, in-between top-secret office work, she meets a shirtless Tierney on the beach... after his dog breaks the ice (why most men own them)... and from that point, Tierney has her number...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, anne jeffreys, chase, cold war, film noir or melodrama, forties, james flavin, jason robarts sr., lawrence tierney, myrna dell, mystery, romance, wrong man

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & ANNE JEFFREYS RETURN FOR 'STEP BY STEP'

Lawrence Tierney and Anne Jeffreys in STEP BY STEP Year: 1946 Rating: **** Lawrence Tierney with Anne Jeffreys, the gangster and moll from D...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY DEAD AS 'DILLINGER' WITH ANNE JEFFREYS

<p> </p><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/AVvXsEgLoh_hflrUIs4QUgwtgC2PlLHWzUYTEtUVpPUW_JrsbW4JyqOmbNkAdyEwRyUqjUs4hQGXsXRg9U8EyXRrxHpO_tpqXNoenBBcfkjeP5G3hT_9wr5X-4e4bC7LyAZE7rQhmf24eDqqN8Hdb8CpOQQRrUv8ZsHLsdCXgkG2TIMu8XPdUVZQE3pPEr8F349h/s2076/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-29%20at%206.41.48%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1202" data-original-width="2076" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLoh_hflrUIs4QUgwtgC2PlLHWzUYTEtUVpPUW_JrsbW4JyqOmbNkAdyEwRyUqjUs4hQGXsXRg9U8EyXRrxHpO_tpqXNoenBBcfkjeP5G3hT_9wr5X-4e4bC7LyAZE7rQhmf24eDqqN8Hdb8CpOQQRrUv8ZsHLsdCXgkG2TIMu8XPdUVZQE3pPEr8F349h/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-29%20at%206.41.48%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Anne Jeffreys and Lawrence Tierney in DILLINGER Year: 1945 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the 1930's through to the 1960's and 1970's, before and after the Hayes Code, movie gangsters and especially bank robbers were usually adventurous anti-heroes, and in-between, the common crooks and petty thieves were desperate and woefully sympathetic, always in dire need of money to feed themselves or their family instead of just robbing for kicks... In other words, the bad guys were good guys forced to do bad things for... understandable reason...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So in what's known as The Lawrence Tierney DILLINGER (compared to the historically accurate Warren Oates DILLINGER) there's a touch of Noir since our man starts out a naive dolt: thrown in prison for attempting to knock-off a corner store to buy his shallow date a few more drinks at a fancy restaurant. Then, behind bars, what he learns — especially from Edmund Lowe as a bank robbing mentor named Specs — turns the real life criminal/folk hero into what The Tierney DILLINGER is: a downright formidable monster in his very own proverbial Monster Movie...</p><span></span>

anne jeffreys, biopic, constance worth, dewey robinson, eduardo ciannelli, elisha cook jr., film noir or melodrama, forties, heist, lawrence tierney, lou lubin, marc lawrence, max nosseck

LAWRENCE TIERNEY DEAD AS 'DILLINGER' WITH ANNE JEFFREYS

Anne Jeffreys and Lawrence Tierney in DILLINGER Year: 1945 Rating: ****1/2 In the 1930's through to the 1960's and 1970's, befo...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY PLAYS THE WRONG MAN IN 'KILL OR BE KILLED'

<div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgWJAjSveZ2niVEmpIVqT6BoIRgPdEc5wJEpp6ysTU-_2KQ-IGB9mXuOZbUUozE9PmjqARohYSO3TVCOOoHc2rtQWRiL4yhEgjFZBgaAzq2tsYx1aSB3URXDHJlu5o-XMB37eKw7Aq77BM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-06-19+at+4.54.31+AM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWJAjSveZ2niVEmpIVqT6BoIRgPdEc5wJEpp6ysTU-_2KQ-IGB9mXuOZbUUozE9PmjqARohYSO3TVCOOoHc2rtQWRiL4yhEgjFZBgaAzq2tsYx1aSB3URXDHJlu5o-XMB37eKw7Aq77BM/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-06-19+at+4.54.31+AM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: KILL OR BE KILLED Year: 1950 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><p>The epitome of a crime programmer with a beginning, middle and end, and plenty in-between which includes deadly piranha, mistreated jungle labor, the beautiful yet put-upon wife of an eccentric German land developer and one of the few things befitting the Noir template...</p><p>Though this is more an action-packed adventure where our hero, Lawrence Tierney, is not his usual DILLINGER vicious (also directed by Max Nosseck), BORN TO KILL sneaky, DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE sociopathic or THE HOODLUM dangerously lethal villain... but in this particular case, as the epitome of a Wrong Man, he's not only wronged but not as angry or cunning as usual: Even after returning to an Opening Soon Nightclub after installing a complicated air conditioning system throughout the two-story joint: which was a bragged-about three month task. He even gets to sing and dance with gorgeous Spanish blonde Leonor Maia, until he learns he ain't getting paid. Of course a loud argument arises – and soon enough the boss is killed by a wraithlike stranger who makes out the window in seconds flat, and it sure seems like  Tierney's Robert Warren is the killer...</p><span></span>

action, adventure, film noir or melodrama, forties, george coulouris, lawrence tierney, max nosseck, piranha, romance, rudolph anders, wrong man

LAWRENCE TIERNEY PLAYS THE WRONG MAN IN 'KILL OR BE KILLED'

Title: KILL OR BE KILLED Year: 1950 Rates: ***1/2 The epitome of a crime programmer with a beginning, middle and end, and plenty in-bet...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY VILLAINIZES 'NAKED CITY: ONE TO GET LOST'

<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/AVvXsEjChIATj1cBKqk0FKdmJBg1XyqhC03M-mEhmUEeGOufq-bc_IxYD9X7qEyeU_jVQD5wgjBFBFXx_1DNmnbudliKXmC2QXNMurmMSODoRYSTFlGe9wj2Xa2DSrPh2L6t7Foq5UCj1T9V9XDn0HRKi_5VGuX8XRg3FIh9kMtqDG0_owNu-go3NU1OdO1BRMVy/s2058/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-29%20at%205.05.08%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1184" data-original-width="2058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChIATj1cBKqk0FKdmJBg1XyqhC03M-mEhmUEeGOufq-bc_IxYD9X7qEyeU_jVQD5wgjBFBFXx_1DNmnbudliKXmC2QXNMurmMSODoRYSTFlGe9wj2Xa2DSrPh2L6t7Foq5UCj1T9V9XDn0HRKi_5VGuX8XRg3FIh9kMtqDG0_owNu-go3NU1OdO1BRMVy/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-29%20at%205.05.08%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney in Naked City: One To Get Lost Year: 1959 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the late 1950's, Lawrence Tierney, who was an RKO leading man ten years earlier, turned up mostly on television... and it was in-between his infamous drunken brawls that had ruined his career and, ironically, made those villainous small-screen guest spots a reality...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But he's always good, like this episode of NAKED CITY titled ONE TO GET LOST in which mild-mannered businessman (and another former RKO contract actor) Kent Smith has cheated on his wife with a loose lover who turns up dead and, hours before, said admitted to be dating an elevator operator...</p><p><span></span></p>

fifties, film noir or melodrama, harry bellaver, james francsiscus, jeanette nolan, john mcintire, kent smith, lawrence tierney, TV

LAWRENCE TIERNEY VILLAINIZES 'NAKED CITY: ONE TO GET LOST'

Lawrence Tierney in Naked City: One To Get Lost Year: 1959 Rating: ***1/2 By the late 1950's, Lawrence Tierney, who was an RKO leading m...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & BETTY LAWFORD IN 'THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE'

<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/AVvXsEhiUb-hHCwW1l7_8YYgwQkftxWEuAeLcSzh52PoanFyT52NN06qvxaCpKUm4DIcK2bdx2EJTRNsvxVya2DuGmC8nIStBS6VoDDxfz93IQCQ13y7Nh43h2x3xYci0rwtlRnH7x6rVam560R23-vvbIreUVbk8ZfWpGm8MVJhZMuSLFFsCJA5ZQHJd0TEVzCH/s2076/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="2076" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUb-hHCwW1l7_8YYgwQkftxWEuAeLcSzh52PoanFyT52NN06qvxaCpKUm4DIcK2bdx2EJTRNsvxVya2DuGmC8nIStBS6VoDDxfz93IQCQ13y7Nh43h2x3xYci0rwtlRnH7x6rVam560R23-vvbIreUVbk8ZfWpGm8MVJhZMuSLFFsCJA5ZQHJd0TEVzCH/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney & Betty Lawford in The Devil Thumbs a Ride Year: 1947 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One year after Lawrence Tierney played an affable character with a cute pet dog in STEP BY STEP, he was back to being bad, in this case downright formidable, preferring friendly driver Ted North <i>run over </i>a dog than almost crash with four people on board, including two dames with nowhere to go until meeting Tierney's secretly-on-the-lam criminal Steve Morgan and North as a mundane traveling salesman heading back home to his typical wife...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet most of THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE pans out like an early version of DESPERATE HOURS, off road after a motorcycle-cop-chase and in a (Hollywood-shot) Oceanside to Laguna Beach beach-house where North's friend left a key while Tierney takes his time, keeping his ace card pocketed from the conveniently useful man and dames...</p><p><span></span></p>

betty lawford, crime, film noir or melodrama, forties, harry shannon, lawrence tierney, nan leslie, road movie, ted north, thriller

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & BETTY LAWFORD IN 'THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE'

Lawrence Tierney & Betty Lawford in The Devil Thumbs a Ride Year: 1947 Rates: ***1/2 One year after Lawrence Tierney played an affable c...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY IN 'FEMALE JUNGLE' WITH JAYNE MANSFIELD

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEgE3hpnx43lxeOZwrpG9s_y0Oh4A2-YqrYDuLctawWk1SjSw6NJL2CUNAcuYIbCkS14zKgO8QWcKvMOiJQIUCNCfqpi99h4zFlmZ9bJSKPNctcTcD9xdZ1bGcy_tqcdQrA1wSqqE23Ykl8vicuaYldUhwlGhbR5XTkciuS5D1tPwji3Uf7oN5a03RjUct2q/s2605/MV5BZmUyYWIxNGYtM2Q5NS00NDQ0LWI3ODAtYmFmYTU5YTljOTE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODcwODg0OQ@@._V1_.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="2605" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE3hpnx43lxeOZwrpG9s_y0Oh4A2-YqrYDuLctawWk1SjSw6NJL2CUNAcuYIbCkS14zKgO8QWcKvMOiJQIUCNCfqpi99h4zFlmZ9bJSKPNctcTcD9xdZ1bGcy_tqcdQrA1wSqqE23Ykl8vicuaYldUhwlGhbR5XTkciuS5D1tPwji3Uf7oN5a03RjUct2q/s16000/MV5BZmUyYWIxNGYtM2Q5NS00NDQ0LWI3ODAtYmFmYTU5YTljOTE1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyODcwODg0OQ@@._V1_.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FEMALE JUNGLE Year: 1955 Jayne Mansfield, Lawrence Tierney Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Iconic tough guy Lawrence Tierney, ten years after his hey-day and with only a handful of roles rolling into the mid-1950's, plays a cop who gets drunk in a bar one night, and escorts a lovely lady to her cab...<br> <br> She's killed and now Tierney's Detective Jack Stevens wanders the night retracing his steps. Meanwhile we're introduced to more people from the bar including a lovely waitress played by Kathleen Crowley and her husband, unassuming Burt Kaiser (who also wrote, produced and is good actor for being completely unknown), a frustrated artist who draws caricature for very little pay...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, indie, jayne mansfield, john carradine, kathleen crowley, lawrence tierney, mystery, thriller

LAWRENCE TIERNEY IN 'FEMALE JUNGLE' WITH JAYNE MANSFIELD

Title: FEMALE JUNGLE Year: 1955 Jayne Mansfield, Lawrence Tierney Rates: ***1/2 Iconic tough guy Lawrence Tierney, ten years after his hey-...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY AND JOHN IRELAND IN 'THE BUSHWHACKERS'

<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/AVvXsEhlZsIREvMvscmo1gTHq2ugOKfc8xn1eiYaWD-H8UNcKQmIG8kJd76KUgrwJH5z8zZjHkJp5VRINdQVgU_BzLmgws8xuCbCSX-4LxgueiaaetJc6mflcRNN1-46jJfuYyrJ-sJYFiNR0Hjl5JhGH97IA3aWwvPFuO3vxN5lb3hyphenhyphenAkprJJa5sNDL7Z5Zxll-/s2074/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-28%20at%207.46.22%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1452" data-original-width="2074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZsIREvMvscmo1gTHq2ugOKfc8xn1eiYaWD-H8UNcKQmIG8kJd76KUgrwJH5z8zZjHkJp5VRINdQVgU_BzLmgws8xuCbCSX-4LxgueiaaetJc6mflcRNN1-46jJfuYyrJ-sJYFiNR0Hjl5JhGH97IA3aWwvPFuO3vxN5lb3hyphenhyphenAkprJJa5sNDL7Z5Zxll-/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-28%20at%207.46.22%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE BUSHWHACKERS Year: 1951 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Lawrence Tierney turned up in the b-western THE BUSHWHACKERS, his leading man status was practically finished.. but he's used importantly here, at least in the rudimentary stages: a hired thug actually appearing <i>before </i>crippled land baron Lon Chaney Jr and his lethal daughter who hired Tierney to kill random settlers... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Ironically, Chaney's correct about the squatters being more interested in big money than settling down... while Tierney continues bullying more underdogs, including passive leading man John Ireland, a Civil War veteran who, during a historic prelude, promised to never use a gun again...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, dorothy malone, fifties, john ireland, lawrence tierney, lon chaney jr., myrna dell, wayne morris, western

LAWRENCE TIERNEY AND JOHN IRELAND IN 'THE BUSHWHACKERS'

Title: THE BUSHWHACKERS Year: 1951 Rating: *** By the time Lawrence Tierney turned up in the b-western THE BUSHWHACKERS, his leading man sta...

SCOTT BRADY & JEFF COREY PRISON ESCAPE NOIR 'CANON CITY'

<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/AVvXsEijSPFZq860vvHLfTN8OIZjy9oPr0o8XNSG6ripi_6A5-VQ6h7wb1tDGYVTmDQi3Jbe4O00zfjgEVccxM_MMZYQqOtL8SMB5qE9_r6K4ritZ38ug_wPqfwWBLemsnCexnQ6EId9ZL0p4x_lJ-h1qndC1jQ-Mb8Lq4l6RlHmWH2eo7y9lkdb1P0Fe5DYxcDP/s1804/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%206.40.12%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1804" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSPFZq860vvHLfTN8OIZjy9oPr0o8XNSG6ripi_6A5-VQ6h7wb1tDGYVTmDQi3Jbe4O00zfjgEVccxM_MMZYQqOtL8SMB5qE9_r6K4ritZ38ug_wPqfwWBLemsnCexnQ6EId9ZL0p4x_lJ-h1qndC1jQ-Mb8Lq4l6RlHmWH2eo7y9lkdb1P0Fe5DYxcDP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%206.40.12%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CANON CITY Year: 1948 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The semi-documentary/docudrama film noir device can be awkward, always beginning with real glimpses into actual people, including, in this case, the title prison CANON CITY warden Roy Best, along with several actual inmates, being asked questions off-camera by the deep voice of Reed Hadley... so when we reach the fictional story with tough guy actors wanting to break out of a prison they consider unlawful (and that looks pretty awful to the naked eye), it's confusing as to why they'd start off with such outright propaganda for such a crummy place...</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 Scott Brady's the link between good and evil, being the sole honest prisoner who wants nothing to do with the impending escape he's forced into, and, led by lockup-noir veteran Jeff Corey from BRUTE FORCE, the planning stages are the most intriguing, using creative shadows while the central prisoners are fleshed-out decently enough...</p><p><span></span></p>

docudrama, escape, film noir or melodrama, forties, prison, scott brady, whit bissell

SCOTT BRADY & JEFF COREY PRISON ESCAPE NOIR 'CANON CITY'

Title: CANON CITY Year: 1948 Rating: *** The semi-documentary/docudrama film noir device can be awkward, always beginning with real glimpses...

SCOTT BRADY WITH PEGGY DOW IN WILLIAM CASTLE'S 'UNDERTOW'

<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/AVvXsEiO2vg_I-dg20R4VDma_INFkcyIrN049tuDujpqsEKYUW3omsqqLt-7uEBrFq8oAj3HXtUbI17RcZSj1mCsY7T5KJe7blXVAjM_jtwhCXAcCDuW4ylLC67d6-DXL2VP0rhtg-QU-dE_YGw1wXrw-ubOeQGpWqFPbAIUOilmZIbh62gat7Y-T7dtz3o8C3JZ/s2196/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-19%20at%207.32.21%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="2196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO2vg_I-dg20R4VDma_INFkcyIrN049tuDujpqsEKYUW3omsqqLt-7uEBrFq8oAj3HXtUbI17RcZSj1mCsY7T5KJe7blXVAjM_jtwhCXAcCDuW4ylLC67d6-DXL2VP0rhtg-QU-dE_YGw1wXrw-ubOeQGpWqFPbAIUOilmZIbh62gat7Y-T7dtz3o8C3JZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-19%20at%207.32.21%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scott Brady and Peggy Dow in UNDERTOW Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Scott Brady, younger brother of tough guy legend Lawrence Tierney, is thrust into a wrong man noir before he even realizes where his feet are planted for director William Castle's UNDERTOW...<br><br>After talking about purchasing a rural lodge, he meets lovely good-girl Peggy Dow at a casino and then an airplane on the way to Chicago to peak up fiance Dorothy Hart: only the cops know he's an ex-con hated by a casino-owner named Big Jim... who we never actually meet and who he's eventually blamed for killing... as Scott  becomes desperate enough to break into lead cop Bruce Bennett's home, pull out a gun and beg for help...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, dorothy hart, film noir or melodrama, forties, john russell, peggy dow, scott brady, william castle, wrong man

SCOTT BRADY WITH PEGGY DOW IN WILLIAM CASTLE'S 'UNDERTOW'

Scott Brady and Peggy Dow in UNDERTOW Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2 Scott Brady, younger brother of tough guy legend Lawrence Tierney, is thrust...

DEAN JAGGER AND WILLIAM LUCAS IN HAMMER'S 'X THE UNKNOWN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiOFYr9YI4BhkslOH6CpAAH7SCLjfSmNcOmcuSvas8maCfYWtZZ8EoanyuJsjPcxLvYHxzN4MrfTMxrFTMwoZ3-stt2YGCuqJtfGs12D5S0xXye0EeMe9iI03fk6Au9UVabhC2m592yMgckIO740Mq5DJSTEhx-HOJAYWgq72kcjUSBAQCw5xR1gtaRpFwW/s2078/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2012.24.59%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="2078" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFYr9YI4BhkslOH6CpAAH7SCLjfSmNcOmcuSvas8maCfYWtZZ8EoanyuJsjPcxLvYHxzN4MrfTMxrFTMwoZ3-stt2YGCuqJtfGs12D5S0xXye0EeMe9iI03fk6Au9UVabhC2m592yMgckIO740Mq5DJSTEhx-HOJAYWgq72kcjUSBAQCw5xR1gtaRpFwW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2012.24.59%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>X THE UNKNOWN Year: 1957 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer's science-fiction/horror hybrid X THE UNKNOWN came out the same year as QUATERMASS 2, sequel to THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT where Brian Donlevy played the inevitable creature-seeking Dr. Quatermass in both...<br><br>And this production was supposed to be yet another of that franchise, which makes sense since Dean Jagger plays central investigative scientist Dr. Adam Royston with more genuinely cerebral concentration and would have made a far superior, more effective title character... but being a standalone makes X a solidly entertaining thriller about a mysterious atomic substance that first kills a soldier (Kenneth Cope) and then a child in a rural wide-open field... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

british, creature, dean jagger, fifties, hammer films, horror, kenneth cope, leo mckern, michael ripper, nuclear, science-fiction, william lucas

DEAN JAGGER AND WILLIAM LUCAS IN HAMMER'S 'X THE UNKNOWN'

X THE UNKNOWN Year: 1957 Rates: **** Hammer's science-fiction/horror hybrid X THE UNKNOWN came out the same year as QUATERMASS 2, sequel...

BARBARA PAYTON IN HAMMER'S 'THE FOUR SIDED 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><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/AVvXsEj-GIjwOyNWVbxwxV3p5N2-GpGAhb5rEy0C3wNJCp3bmfeapoC4HZhyphenhyphen2z9FQ7jR7Mlpwd9IAKKu2knh9RTGpsMhP8DZpbyQNOA4wQi9fb4qQO2UtXbTGETFo91ezQHbDlCvXjgSZYAEToxv62WLAt60YHOqRkd-OLLUzH1uqa2d-kLxEX6dg6AsO3cUMVGA/s2148/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%202.14.20%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1286" data-original-width="2148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-GIjwOyNWVbxwxV3p5N2-GpGAhb5rEy0C3wNJCp3bmfeapoC4HZhyphenhyphen2z9FQ7jR7Mlpwd9IAKKu2knh9RTGpsMhP8DZpbyQNOA4wQi9fb4qQO2UtXbTGETFo91ezQHbDlCvXjgSZYAEToxv62WLAt60YHOqRkd-OLLUzH1uqa2d-kLxEX6dg6AsO3cUMVGA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%202.14.20%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE (Spanish Translation: OF THE EVIL GENIUS) Year: 1953 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before Hammer's Golden Age of Victorian Horror, from DRACULA to FRANKENSTEIN, primary director Terence Fisher got prepared for the latter, involving an ultimately mad-scientist creating the duplicate of lead actress Barbara Payton within a familiar kind of dark laboratory, filled with sizzling electrical wires when the right buttons are pressed... <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>The catch is that Payton's Lena has been in love with central inventor Bill's best friend Robin since childhood, beginning with a prelude of that era where she literally chooses one over the other, and, cut to the present where both grown men are absent of their companion (momentarily back in America), they invent a machine also reminiscent of what would be in THE FLY, placing an object on one enclosure as its copy's created miraculously inside the other, initially tested with a pocket watch and signed check...</p><p><span></span></p>

barbara payton, british, fifties, hammer films, james hayter, john van eyssen, science-fiction, stephen murray, thriller

BARBARA PAYTON IN HAMMER'S 'THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE'

Title: THE FOUR SIDED TRIANGLE (Spanish Translation: OF THE EVIL GENIUS) Year: 1953 Rating: **** Before Hammer's Golden Age of Victorian...

BARBARA SHELLEY & WILLIAM LUCAS IN 'THE SHADOW OF THE CAT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhH67vdUajYqACC_1dLGjAUL5vCkPnYoLncwomExQEAvdo2BatTOfB0Cxo8CiHJdXC8oYb1id2XVcoBsHAcpOXYZS-UPeIJn2hcu-EapQBePH1BmVx95x7YthAyNWBSpJ8fgq9WaW8IIJXSP9F2EZAwX89lvKe4cI7_ETwUAe6O6piGN4RWoOLYQXGJN7o/s2164/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-25%20at%2010.16.17%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1390" data-original-width="2164" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhH67vdUajYqACC_1dLGjAUL5vCkPnYoLncwomExQEAvdo2BatTOfB0Cxo8CiHJdXC8oYb1id2XVcoBsHAcpOXYZS-UPeIJn2hcu-EapQBePH1BmVx95x7YthAyNWBSpJ8fgq9WaW8IIJXSP9F2EZAwX89lvKe4cI7_ETwUAe6O6piGN4RWoOLYQXGJN7o/w400-h258/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-25%20at%2010.16.17%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SHADOW OF THE CAT Year: 1961 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer Films pitted vulnerable humans against a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, a mad scientist's monster... yet one of the most formidable is a house cat... who had witnessed the murder of its wealthy caretaker living in a giant mansion, and enough money to be richly inherited... a setting usually befitting theatrical mysteries, only we see the particular killers: also witnessed by the feline, making THE SHADOW OF THE CAT a revenge-driven horror/thriller...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And no one... not even the glib and sneaky, twice-removed William Lucas setting various traps... can stop this furry devil, which already caused elderly patriarch André Morell to practically die of a heart attack... yet the titular tabby's just as passively protects the only kindhearted relative in Hammer stock ingenue Barbara Shelley, usually a scream queen only here everyone else is screaming... while the otherwise standard direction and horror cliches (like perfectly-timed lighting and wide-lens perspectives) provides SHADOW a relatively weak bite... compared to if the titular CAT witnessed these horrible people killing <i>each other</i> off instead: after all, <i>they're</i> the true villains, so their inevitable deaths hardly matter anyway.    <br></p><p><span></span></p>

barbara shelley, body count, exploitation, hammer films, horror, thriller, vanda godsell, william lucas

BARBARA SHELLEY & WILLIAM LUCAS IN 'THE SHADOW OF THE CAT'

Title: THE SHADOW OF THE CAT Year: 1961 Rating: ** Hammer Films pitted vulnerable humans against a vampire, a werewolf, a mummy, a mad scien...

MICHAEL MADSEN AND SCOTT HAMM DUENAS IN 'FINAL WAGER'

<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/AVvXsEigdkzOqtMKw5hMN5keaNjS7UFMcosEetHRO8MVq6DaCsxMb7GD7dsbA5nBiJMTeO1XtlqLQr-dVMYVilgdDUpIBkXCpz6_93wTyfjK339p2r2KZEy9Z2bZ4ZcBkb60yl93TFfxOeMI67YTuCoAoIXOqSAHfun_mbXEx_Q0nBNemTop1kmLZZhrv1tlNbt7/s1606/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-10%20at%2011.14.23%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigdkzOqtMKw5hMN5keaNjS7UFMcosEetHRO8MVq6DaCsxMb7GD7dsbA5nBiJMTeO1XtlqLQr-dVMYVilgdDUpIBkXCpz6_93wTyfjK339p2r2KZEy9Z2bZ4ZcBkb60yl93TFfxOeMI67YTuCoAoIXOqSAHfun_mbXEx_Q0nBNemTop1kmLZZhrv1tlNbt7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-10%20at%2011.14.23%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michael Madsen in FINAL WAGER Year: 2024</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Michael Madsen's famous tough guy voice has become even harsher with age, providing an underline crime flick edge to FINAL WAGER, an otherwise tavern-set romantic-comedy with a TWILIGHT ZONE-style twist of an unlucky gambler who realizes he cannot lose a bet on Christmas: so it's also an upbeat Holiday flick... but without getting lost in sentimentalism despite a financial assistance subplot driving our resilient, likeable lead...<br></p><p></p><p>Instead, it's his fiance, played by down-to-earth, light-up-a-room beauty Fernanda Romero... owner of the central bar... who keeps the low-budget yet impressively slick and professional-looking indie not only intriguing, but surprisingly unpredictable despite the firmly established fact this lucky-streak-gambler will <i>always</i> win — because he can possibly lose his girl, and from beginning, middle and end, their relationship is what FINAL WAGER truly relies on. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

2024, christmas, comedy, fernanda romano, gambling, michael madsen, new, romantic comedy, scott hamm duenas

MICHAEL MADSEN AND SCOTT HAMM DUENAS IN 'FINAL WAGER'

Michael Madsen in FINAL WAGER Year: 2024 Michael Madsen's famous tough guy voice has become even harsher with age, providing an underlin...

RICHARD BASEHART AND MARILYN MAXWELL IN 'OUTSIDE THE WALL'

<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/AVvXsEjhV1yrEpLI63xTY3jFC6qzgrgW7o-2n3Z2MSruGzeq-7UgQaaPZhLFKaMFL27ynGYNDuFy9OqZJVG3VEwgdO63NzKL6yZqjY7tk5Rl1TQ3tKn0i0wblL_GdGQaxS7thFCKIkqIbqm0p2Dt62-MRs6qyMOaPFvtRedl-9OOixnYalRMwPfbj4gWcrxnohOA/s2074/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%204.03.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="2074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhV1yrEpLI63xTY3jFC6qzgrgW7o-2n3Z2MSruGzeq-7UgQaaPZhLFKaMFL27ynGYNDuFy9OqZJVG3VEwgdO63NzKL6yZqjY7tk5Rl1TQ3tKn0i0wblL_GdGQaxS7thFCKIkqIbqm0p2Dt62-MRs6qyMOaPFvtRedl-9OOixnYalRMwPfbj4gWcrxnohOA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%204.03.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: OUTSIDE THE WALL Year: 1950 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Crane Wilber's OUTSIDE THE WALL is three movies in one, and the first two are the best: starting with Richard Basehart as Larry Nelson, who had been locked-up in prison from age 15 to 30 for having punched a guard, causeding him to fall to his death, told in expository as Basehart... with the right amount of prowess, naivety and vulnerability... is paroled OUTSIDE THE WALL, quickly learning about dangerous traffic and a crooked bar floozy... </p><p></p><p>And soon he's into the second picture, which has the most potential, featuring bad blonde Marilyn Maxwell as blunt, selfish, shrewd and downright crooked hospital nurse who Basehart's Larry winds up working alongside... although she looks a decade too old, her character has sharp fatale potential, curbed by good girl Dorothy Hart (who just played the crooked dame in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/02/undertow.html">UNDERTOW</a>)...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

dorothy hart, fifties, film noir or melodrama, harry morgan, heist, john hoyt, joseph pevney, marilyn maxwell, prison, richard basehart

RICHARD BASEHART AND MARILYN MAXWELL IN 'OUTSIDE THE WALL'

Title: OUTSIDE THE WALL Year: 1950 Rating: *** Crane Wilber's OUTSIDE THE WALL is three movies in one, and the first two are the best: s...

TOM CONWAY AS DUKE MARTIN BRITISH CRIME DOUBLE-FEATURE

<p><u></u></p><p><u></u></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/AVvXsEiyG8zcu2si6JFcRXJB-P-3r-OcXATPCmxaBuoWhnVHBjlRvQmPhNJPOMmL8R5p8W6INLJqgEE9I411U6phuSl2yZC6q9RT2s1buq8h10uh_lpvMNNMWVkmmFegY_SJGYWjiuF9R9mXL-gNcE1Z0xTMSaCYzm1FFo7x_xcuYJ-0w71XFjJ488jbNtiKW1Xz/s1425/b0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="1425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyG8zcu2si6JFcRXJB-P-3r-OcXATPCmxaBuoWhnVHBjlRvQmPhNJPOMmL8R5p8W6INLJqgEE9I411U6phuSl2yZC6q9RT2s1buq8h10uh_lpvMNNMWVkmmFegY_SJGYWjiuF9R9mXL-gNcE1Z0xTMSaCYzm1FFo7x_xcuYJ-0w71XFjJ488jbNtiKW1Xz/s16000/b0.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BREAKAWAY Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>BREAKAWAY</u>: Former FALCON Tom Conway in the second Tom 'Duke' Martin private eye flicks made in Britain during the film noir 1950's, with the right balance of gunplay, mystery and polite traipsing from various locations... from mansions to airports... gathering clues wherein sidekick Michael Balfour's overweight, ex-crook Barney is the better fighter during the rare times where that kind of thing happens... yet the villain and his henchman (including a young John Colicos) still mean business, having kidnapped beautiful Honor Blackman's beautiful sister, who might be carrying a scientist's secret that everyone's after... <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Nothing like the tough guy American Humphrey Bogart vehicles from the previous decade, BREAKAWAY is lightweight British yet still desperately urgent, keeping both the dignified snoop and audience on edge... despite knowing almost exactly who the villains are, and why.  <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzhcrWfNc8ltLzz_kXNQPfFgpRcohBYPkFR5oiYlfod1fZCoxGL4OExSq07VD2_CStVH7mokKoPuqn_A_W1ZAzJ4eHQGQJXrwVNMaAeIHGjZJh3WRn8fWYd9S0735rO9czNpzyeWtblYoJmmjG4RoinvSgfwufNW5KQDeyw8vg3FJ_BEAP-YkcmNnuHAA/s1630/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.47.49%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEzhcrWfNc8ltLzz_kXNQPfFgpRcohBYPkFR5oiYlfod1fZCoxGL4OExSq07VD2_CStVH7mokKoPuqn_A_W1ZAzJ4eHQGQJXrwVNMaAeIHGjZJh3WRn8fWYd9S0735rO9czNpzyeWtblYoJmmjG4RoinvSgfwufNW5KQDeyw8vg3FJ_BEAP-YkcmNnuHAA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.47.49%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Colicos in BREAKAWAY<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEhArNqL2tzjwAjULGNOqd7Pcu4hXWWwYZynROIhXXneOhrEWmHMKSVI2nrI8eJIOwjxRwVNpcHHAGoRJJNgIHA2KhMJaFbZbKwOkeq4IQmzaDE-NHiXcGkCB3xcTKvi1fKm-fx9fenrRt-Y_NjHXXUTA-BkdDfxu10ywQMLz6twyv5p7Nld6ViwHz6_NHrP/s1448/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.47.58%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArNqL2tzjwAjULGNOqd7Pcu4hXWWwYZynROIhXXneOhrEWmHMKSVI2nrI8eJIOwjxRwVNpcHHAGoRJJNgIHA2KhMJaFbZbKwOkeq4IQmzaDE-NHiXcGkCB3xcTKvi1fKm-fx9fenrRt-Y_NjHXXUTA-BkdDfxu10ywQMLz6twyv5p7Nld6ViwHz6_NHrP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.47.58%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway in BREAKAWAY<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEiPCvEtIx2KkZnkFiz2FIl8PRGEYQubG8PryqKx5SaqHA7i0os_Pj0qOJF1y-a_ow-pNdXQmpU9x4EPW8MBxt-y4bcBzBQwZ-m-4_TXJBSgedIiT2YTDkCupgJmZoTMT-9fA6Pjam_wbF7q4o2xap4_2Yr7aJ-5SfdxlIK_3GnLKmgkJYXsFSbRswHQOhQZ/s1468/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.09%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPCvEtIx2KkZnkFiz2FIl8PRGEYQubG8PryqKx5SaqHA7i0os_Pj0qOJF1y-a_ow-pNdXQmpU9x4EPW8MBxt-y4bcBzBQwZ-m-4_TXJBSgedIiT2YTDkCupgJmZoTMT-9fA6Pjam_wbF7q4o2xap4_2Yr7aJ-5SfdxlIK_3GnLKmgkJYXsFSbRswHQOhQZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.09%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Colicos in BREAKAWAY with Tom Conway and Larry Taylor<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEgRZ9j1EHHvgSNiVZKVTe4H7It7qkGUh613Y3NkjMQKQuXKFCIIc_Aftm0bHjpFTePDAiUwuKyws-69pvUjf36rVWMcs_B4_rGDWKckLPhvYrKSOZyUejIDgaurqT_VXGE1ccb2-FG17qq5U1wXn2_8nVdSV_vD06AuYZz9c9Juo8eMXlTMwR03WpNqa6AQ/s1420/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.16%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRZ9j1EHHvgSNiVZKVTe4H7It7qkGUh613Y3NkjMQKQuXKFCIIc_Aftm0bHjpFTePDAiUwuKyws-69pvUjf36rVWMcs_B4_rGDWKckLPhvYrKSOZyUejIDgaurqT_VXGE1ccb2-FG17qq5U1wXn2_8nVdSV_vD06AuYZz9c9Juo8eMXlTMwR03WpNqa6AQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.16%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway in BREAKAWAY with Honor Blackman<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEigqEOIQILCw8U0ifgUfkcipABS1YcMDkFMtj-FZ0aVUKeZFWKrOzCuEU3UgOwD4T9gxtElCI5eM9Kp0RA-8KOEcVN2GpbBqIJVPyMFM-ZLEnX2kXcAgUivV12jz5Otq5F9jkAxkUaZpVm_0BDvDPgJthaxwi1gRuBYYW28bsROQTtiJk-2ExHvkbeK1s4S/s1440/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="1440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigqEOIQILCw8U0ifgUfkcipABS1YcMDkFMtj-FZ0aVUKeZFWKrOzCuEU3UgOwD4T9gxtElCI5eM9Kp0RA-8KOEcVN2GpbBqIJVPyMFM-ZLEnX2kXcAgUivV12jz5Otq5F9jkAxkUaZpVm_0BDvDPgJthaxwi1gRuBYYW28bsROQTtiJk-2ExHvkbeK1s4S/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.29%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway in BREAKAWAY with Michael Balfour<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEjF1F7L6nnTQwwttFkGf9tXaxia_2Z6bRl6nuwIKK6XcWj9LNfjSFYNlC6rAN990VTMvUQziUPA7BcKw3FalI_Yaa1TpnQKl1ebukRPzp1LZL_hfDuodfO8XNj8sqLpkxqj6Xan9U21PCyt9KX2Vu9UW7Pi4IBPY9zK5aENKdWTjkKwn83GAMKV3m1lR4j-/s1460/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.57%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="984" data-original-width="1460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1F7L6nnTQwwttFkGf9tXaxia_2Z6bRl6nuwIKK6XcWj9LNfjSFYNlC6rAN990VTMvUQziUPA7BcKw3FalI_Yaa1TpnQKl1ebukRPzp1LZL_hfDuodfO8XNj8sqLpkxqj6Xan9U21PCyt9KX2Vu9UW7Pi4IBPY9zK5aENKdWTjkKwn83GAMKV3m1lR4j-/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.48.57%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Honor Blackman in BREAKAWAY with Michael Balfour</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEjSjfvHpuVDPqrEu__20cREwVyja1rAjRFo9i4XwxURv2nAX5zRErFxHBAjKU3tQGGYxyyVSJxXCoKphgAi-hF1ZW-couR13DIp7GSF3DajYXsLaVuuZ-5PeV_njf-aDDO5TVw6KE6_wmai-XO0t4RNUj6LFGIUy3L3jim1fzz8vK5iP5C9C5mBeYn4n-hS/s1450/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.08%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="914" data-original-width="1450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSjfvHpuVDPqrEu__20cREwVyja1rAjRFo9i4XwxURv2nAX5zRErFxHBAjKU3tQGGYxyyVSJxXCoKphgAi-hF1ZW-couR13DIp7GSF3DajYXsLaVuuZ-5PeV_njf-aDDO5TVw6KE6_wmai-XO0t4RNUj6LFGIUy3L3jim1fzz8vK5iP5C9C5mBeYn4n-hS/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.08%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Honor Blackman in BREAKAWAY with Tom Conway<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEjN2Z04Rw1L-0RqgxEv7H41pliiRMHqZE71-ydOTTSLzoCJPV02HDkEBbQl5DPTbAsqJsOvgSg_2ntfEt8KV7a4YlArmYZZcqa_dOaqIBqSEBbXLeNhndHPNpCV_pGowwUxyS_cWVOs9CerPatUo-0p5un5-33ulH1eZmEpnYbDk3Ji8mKphKOZ1L4cjQHs/s1430/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.15%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="968" data-original-width="1430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN2Z04Rw1L-0RqgxEv7H41pliiRMHqZE71-ydOTTSLzoCJPV02HDkEBbQl5DPTbAsqJsOvgSg_2ntfEt8KV7a4YlArmYZZcqa_dOaqIBqSEBbXLeNhndHPNpCV_pGowwUxyS_cWVOs9CerPatUo-0p5un5-33ulH1eZmEpnYbDk3Ji8mKphKOZ1L4cjQHs/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.15%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brian Worth and Paddy Webster in BREAKAWAY</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEgQTmdWX9bxbVLVIXt9yy4MJ65QYrhLdsfQHcl87W3kmgo1twKAbZvn8HSl5yOo_5AUTGZ1emUBf9fUSC39WNoIuSPcJ6umKf9ZNnIjHrOhNATYiFs0NJ-ioHOqLarVgahx4JLaFzQULgoseQd3_OZyz-_W8gNUD1oxr2KtEa3GrFO77RHJjsHF1oHDNjCy/s1434/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="922" data-original-width="1434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTmdWX9bxbVLVIXt9yy4MJ65QYrhLdsfQHcl87W3kmgo1twKAbZvn8HSl5yOo_5AUTGZ1emUBf9fUSC39WNoIuSPcJ6umKf9ZNnIjHrOhNATYiFs0NJ-ioHOqLarVgahx4JLaFzQULgoseQd3_OZyz-_W8gNUD1oxr2KtEa3GrFO77RHJjsHF1oHDNjCy/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.22%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>From BREAKAWAY</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEgQiu032fG7kh4TNphS8FM0UDgI-GVReWvFrnqjTVL2Y58sCm-_j9S4s0de9PB-AZpw09aCPvSw6w7v2rqqsctch0b2heEeEYcSbmzrRlGERhYA0SLr8NhcZDASCXbgzn4YjuDhIgmD_T0FEiELFRARrfoN9fxxRYClwVcEZBKJqyWZb2sTEvGSIrH1aYZD/s1446/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.29%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQiu032fG7kh4TNphS8FM0UDgI-GVReWvFrnqjTVL2Y58sCm-_j9S4s0de9PB-AZpw09aCPvSw6w7v2rqqsctch0b2heEeEYcSbmzrRlGERhYA0SLr8NhcZDASCXbgzn4YjuDhIgmD_T0FEiELFRARrfoN9fxxRYClwVcEZBKJqyWZb2sTEvGSIrH1aYZD/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.49.29%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>From BREAKAWAY</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><u></u></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p><u></u></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/AVvXsEg4D2Vu-3zxZEDhBEi3TmU5HtdXtMRd8W087FdrsYApLREyZ_l6CmXDZ-TX-NauvJ5QJ4cmcDQdNfeZFhv44bQ72E-0sqAo_66gZp9CN2YQOd3s4hWA1jFiPfiv4whf0q9MzDD6HRCf2P-HtI3XN3miIBH3MQbG2s8jTd0EDg0Z4sm3i3hyEh47zdGN0Ttl/s1898/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.51.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="602" data-original-width="1898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4D2Vu-3zxZEDhBEi3TmU5HtdXtMRd8W087FdrsYApLREyZ_l6CmXDZ-TX-NauvJ5QJ4cmcDQdNfeZFhv44bQ72E-0sqAo_66gZp9CN2YQOd3s4hWA1jFiPfiv4whf0q9MzDD6HRCf2P-HtI3XN3miIBH3MQbG2s8jTd0EDg0Z4sm3i3hyEh47zdGN0Ttl/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.51.54%20PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: BARBADOS QUEST aka Murder on Approval Year: 1955 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the sequel BREAKAWAY is more action-packed, going from a brutal kidnapping to Tom Conway's dapper gumshoe Tom 'Duke' Martin searching for various clues, BARBADOS QUEST is more like reading a book... or watching the reading of a book... with a passive plot about a phony high-priced stamp, called the Barbados Overprint, hence the main title that's also known by a more pulpy, mainstream-sounding MURDER ON APPROVAL... <br /><br />With violence more an afterthought as this original programmer smoothly sets up the characters, where Michael Balfour's comic-relief sidekick Barney is not<i> quite yet </i>a former criminal, but has stolen the fancy car he and his boss drive around in... while the ingenue is sultry, low-voiced Delphi Lawrence,  initially hands-on and helpful, like a partner, until an enigmatic fatale twist (where her persona's more fitting): plus a snooping Scotland Yard inspector while the bad guys are played by returning actors Brian Worth and another thug role for John Colicos... in what seems more like a TV-movie but a nice, tight and intriguing one: with BREAKAWAY its more roving big-screen-style followup.</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/AVvXsEjry7GehnEAo5vCWsNI5AmDapxo-sdelzTg4EwwlH1qw-kwdeF9q1Z51JVV1_A0u1-VqYumf7x9X7hr3eJgmSJ9yhe2IhOVCTyvxWZHovHnjSTw_zdD48SGQFx3te-6oDtCnEc0U14ly89HmNhSclsipCAMwOLb9F2qUD7G6dwbKwTNp4mnv_4NufYwMLWa/s2014/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.59.17%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1412" data-original-width="2014" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjry7GehnEAo5vCWsNI5AmDapxo-sdelzTg4EwwlH1qw-kwdeF9q1Z51JVV1_A0u1-VqYumf7x9X7hr3eJgmSJ9yhe2IhOVCTyvxWZHovHnjSTw_zdD48SGQFx3te-6oDtCnEc0U14ly89HmNhSclsipCAMwOLb9F2qUD7G6dwbKwTNp4mnv_4NufYwMLWa/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.59.17%20PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Delphi Lawrence in Barbados Quest</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEhEnx3RNKLdxgkoCwVTprVWEZnwdWu1Fovnx8M0EhBMhLwq3NipZYGEZjsSHEGABp4Wk_zEXnnl8TuCmAvlQ7LTTrDyGLHitB4c2M7XDnQjVhp2FX6EMiYyRo7E1m0tQliqk6DqyYiU25MBIH1-AlBSzgiDkPY3UFE5te9aLGGH5c2cVaEX2H91T5Jm2Kuz/s1458/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.02%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="1458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEnx3RNKLdxgkoCwVTprVWEZnwdWu1Fovnx8M0EhBMhLwq3NipZYGEZjsSHEGABp4Wk_zEXnnl8TuCmAvlQ7LTTrDyGLHitB4c2M7XDnQjVhp2FX6EMiYyRo7E1m0tQliqk6DqyYiU25MBIH1-AlBSzgiDkPY3UFE5te9aLGGH5c2cVaEX2H91T5Jm2Kuz/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.02%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway and Michael Balfour in Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEgL_WTLfQbvWyu5HOfLxXC1757udRBTqoftWa6zGUpEjlaqXMlDJaY7b8UfgBh1tbT6Xd_KA-a-BYOutaoh0iQKZId8hUQUi70JTOfeWWgoNb4oiyOXN2GqgVi-fJDMa0v_h5_YYc4K1Se3kzJCwOmYWY7qoirLMevZTAStXke8t7wulNR9dTnyquydQrOL/s1450/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.24%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="958" data-original-width="1450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL_WTLfQbvWyu5HOfLxXC1757udRBTqoftWa6zGUpEjlaqXMlDJaY7b8UfgBh1tbT6Xd_KA-a-BYOutaoh0iQKZId8hUQUi70JTOfeWWgoNb4oiyOXN2GqgVi-fJDMa0v_h5_YYc4K1Se3kzJCwOmYWY7qoirLMevZTAStXke8t7wulNR9dTnyquydQrOL/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.24%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway and Michael Balfour in Barbados Quest with Brian Worth & Delphi Lawrence<br /></u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEiBgTx-w47KccJGefMJog0YIC0J5PlktsFVUt1sTZgaPxlFc8C2oHvggTtLNGE7yLehdX0LZs3mGFO8IZT_ylxJ5HIo98eF5TfAkFzFdrYDfsQQiWMV4NgwJtjNRhYFuE_uC4rQlqCdE_G6YKxbpFBGVDOTLu83tS1xH2Zl27HI6CDHOOcLWcpHfV95r-m8/s1428/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.36%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBgTx-w47KccJGefMJog0YIC0J5PlktsFVUt1sTZgaPxlFc8C2oHvggTtLNGE7yLehdX0LZs3mGFO8IZT_ylxJ5HIo98eF5TfAkFzFdrYDfsQQiWMV4NgwJtjNRhYFuE_uC4rQlqCdE_G6YKxbpFBGVDOTLu83tS1xH2Zl27HI6CDHOOcLWcpHfV95r-m8/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.36%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway and Michael Balfour in Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEh5ON63krcNhQVB8k5XDkwxGl-6cvq9EjfUeiU7CNhHIcQzMOQTzLYCQdUy09W7IFSING3QciwtCMbsjC4mv0PjOzssw5MCLGRJusLWGMRdJeDbMByt0lxl7ScZr8uMedTBvY31_P3Oqv2mpxJ0go-T3AqSCb2SRBbY9RPDBgJpG21GDYeDHDfEjWwDTn4g/s1412/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.46%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5ON63krcNhQVB8k5XDkwxGl-6cvq9EjfUeiU7CNhHIcQzMOQTzLYCQdUy09W7IFSING3QciwtCMbsjC4mv0PjOzssw5MCLGRJusLWGMRdJeDbMByt0lxl7ScZr8uMedTBvY31_P3Oqv2mpxJ0go-T3AqSCb2SRBbY9RPDBgJpG21GDYeDHDfEjWwDTn4g/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.46%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway in Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEiWTAoEfH5MnrOBIh9EoHOceuWVuh8yUSTUSglQVK3u4a70-EUZ0waFM29sqEKeQp1YeIfGIMHTrm-_ZhuJnFM7BifYkIzvI71MQZHT6zipY90duwTSRBV21o1HynHt_jXPeQd23Jh_K30PsVmM2P5HG6HTIzP0WtlUnaI1I7F-vLzeFTa8qLnJ4nrhffYn/s1970/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.55.46%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1254" data-original-width="1970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTAoEfH5MnrOBIh9EoHOceuWVuh8yUSTUSglQVK3u4a70-EUZ0waFM29sqEKeQp1YeIfGIMHTrm-_ZhuJnFM7BifYkIzvI71MQZHT6zipY90duwTSRBV21o1HynHt_jXPeQd23Jh_K30PsVmM2P5HG6HTIzP0WtlUnaI1I7F-vLzeFTa8qLnJ4nrhffYn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.55.46%20PM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Conway and John Colicos in Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEg68MMplhyphenhyphenAlbLofTbF54Tbexuu3uUb7sWDSCQ0Joh2XQL6d6GxOMMykR2lmfQP99cZDYv3r3u-rQjWB8b5wivjEosHJHnvbUJEGXbtF98SlEcOxstSjfxyMFDugk8YNFBI_o2UxLVlXXz-ytbBOu1Ye48dk79pJLPB1nA3Mp0ydGMBU8uf3KtkzCeZAVqv/s1328/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.57.35%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="932" data-original-width="1328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg68MMplhyphenhyphenAlbLofTbF54Tbexuu3uUb7sWDSCQ0Joh2XQL6d6GxOMMykR2lmfQP99cZDYv3r3u-rQjWB8b5wivjEosHJHnvbUJEGXbtF98SlEcOxstSjfxyMFDugk8YNFBI_o2UxLVlXXz-ytbBOu1Ye48dk79pJLPB1nA3Mp0ydGMBU8uf3KtkzCeZAVqv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.57.35%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Colicos and Tom Conway in Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEiq56Q5aUX0jjv5diTSa3yo1vvZnzBMGBfVu5Kjf9u9m9tIVC8y_HFA2V1WTTQnfQfhfsJz3tsxpEUgqv1R4sxswAX3VHqJE7FejrABaEqw3Bh4bvjkRb8QRxS63lQVfuy2YwMIv6OojBaJ0gJMBpM8yKHNPcNzu1bM4JYL3d3iubEzYCyaXziDByQMsLjG/s1438/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.54%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1060" data-original-width="1438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq56Q5aUX0jjv5diTSa3yo1vvZnzBMGBfVu5Kjf9u9m9tIVC8y_HFA2V1WTTQnfQfhfsJz3tsxpEUgqv1R4sxswAX3VHqJE7FejrABaEqw3Bh4bvjkRb8QRxS63lQVfuy2YwMIv6OojBaJ0gJMBpM8yKHNPcNzu1bM4JYL3d3iubEzYCyaXziDByQMsLjG/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-27%20at%209.52.54%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>From Barbados Quest</u></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

british film noir, crime, delphi lawrence, gumshoe, honor blackman, john colicos, michael balflour, michael balfour, mystery, thriller, tom conway

TOM CONWAY AS DUKE MARTIN BRITISH CRIME DOUBLE-FEATURE

Title: BREAKAWAY Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2 BREAKAWAY : Former FALCON Tom Conway in the second Tom 'Duke' Martin private eye flicks m...