ANNE FRANCIS, DANA ANDREWS & GEORGE MAHARIS 'THE SATAN BUG'

<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/AVvXsEiHZxwLmSUlwbSnQ5T_f8jTL0Q1avLUu1n5L8M97BuLyoCQQCuDLlhhIXMvJ30aLcUFf8VsqYRAamfWMnxrU0gL91arVqd_dU9w8_Asek5a0bFvOs-qJlJYl5RuFm45gFcYCiNDjXv_wlX3u_x-C947DWX98usxCjXxJ0Yc49YORVgNYmjTLyo1lafvMBSV/s1866/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZxwLmSUlwbSnQ5T_f8jTL0Q1avLUu1n5L8M97BuLyoCQQCuDLlhhIXMvJ30aLcUFf8VsqYRAamfWMnxrU0gL91arVqd_dU9w8_Asek5a0bFvOs-qJlJYl5RuFm45gFcYCiNDjXv_wlX3u_x-C947DWX98usxCjXxJ0Yc49YORVgNYmjTLyo1lafvMBSV/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Maharis and Anne Francis in THE SATAN BUG Year: 1965 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>On the television series ROUTE 66, Martin Milner played a preppy college graduate traveling America with no-nonsense, ultra-intense Hell's Kitchen-born/street-wise George Maharis... and while both are good guys, Maharis is a comparable antagonist by his edgy attitude, and that persona eventually made a far better TV-episodic villain than the few attempts as a big screen leading man...<br><br>The first being a lethargic neo-noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/06/citizen-sleep.html">SYLVIA</a>, contrasting from his famous ROUTE character that practically burst through the small screen... and THE SATAN BUG, originally offered to Charlton Heston, whose overboard style might have worked more effectively against what's director John Sturges's slow-moving/slowburn thriller with even higher technical stakes than the then-popular world-dominating James Bond franchise... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

anne francis, dana andrews, ed asner, espionage, frank sutton, george maharis, heist, john sturges, lee remick, richard basehart, richard bull, sixties, thriller, virus

ANNE FRANCIS, DANA ANDREWS & GEORGE MAHARIS 'THE SATAN BUG'

George Maharis and Anne Francis in THE SATAN BUG Year: 1965 Rating: **1/2 On the television series ROUTE 66, Martin Milner played a preppy c...

ANNE FRANCIS AND ANNE JACKSON BREAKOUT IN 'SO YOUNG, SO BAD'

<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/AVvXsEjL0_bq7yAzh9XW39mI3TT3RwQXAHNjPHRsiD8VDIENfVCM0Ju3XwmESY4IV5sJnl8tEXCoIKYOu5G4R66AYxC1ArJvjQFdqXR-XtM0djdAC_bDIGG-08_XUXo8Iv12zBVnWkBbtQICSyV5lbxS_Rf6915pt5tw6DBt2XOs88jWWOj1ZXZKSbKTJMeITRi3/s2086/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-27%20at%2010.27.38%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2086" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL0_bq7yAzh9XW39mI3TT3RwQXAHNjPHRsiD8VDIENfVCM0Ju3XwmESY4IV5sJnl8tEXCoIKYOu5G4R66AYxC1ArJvjQFdqXR-XtM0djdAC_bDIGG-08_XUXo8Iv12zBVnWkBbtQICSyV5lbxS_Rf6915pt5tw6DBt2XOs88jWWOj1ZXZKSbKTJMeITRi3/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-27%20at%2010.27.38%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD Year: 1950 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A decade after CASABLANCA, nice guy Paul Henreid was still somewhat of a box office draw, or at least a recognizable name... and he took a risk to work for a low-budget production company that, yet another decade past, made the British teenage-girl-reform-school vehicle <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/10/evilyoung.html">SO EVIL, SO YOUNG</a>, basically a remake of the American SO YOUNG, SO BAD that's far superior, particularly since Henreid's psychologist character is pushed up front...</p><p><br>In most teen-prison programmers, the friendly shrink contrasting to the abusive warden/guards is peripheral: as most of the action takes place with the girls and their captors... which still happens here, but since the motivating plight's in check with Henreid (alongside pretty/uptight social-worker Catherine McLeod), there are less soapy elements and more character-driven suspense relying on how to stop the in-house tyranny... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

anne francis, anne jackson, catherine mcleod, enid rudd, exploitation, fifties, lesbian, melodrama, mike kellin, paul henreid, rita moreno, women in prison

ANNE FRANCIS AND ANNE JACKSON BREAKOUT IN 'SO YOUNG, SO BAD'

Anne Francis in SO YOUNG, SO BAD Year: 1950 Rating: **** A decade after CASABLANCA, nice guy Paul Henreid was still somewhat of a box office...

HELENA CARTER HEADLINES THE ORIGINAL 'INVADERS FROM MARS'

<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/AVvXsEikqGdU9nwlb7CN906x_x4XIijftbjcB0U28ZBJRJxknHxRS0Daalpyv2vCiMLkIyBxX-SlDBhp03OIGDYdUmVyJHFQDWEISsU-nYT1gfgU0FvzPR4FIRNEcUkR0NVeBbFMi18d01oKMwRZQLe7uEtWua5dfHkxv64S_4oEBzPKj-BninZawPCSwFTaZINH/s2088/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-27%20at%208.02.14%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1344" data-original-width="2088" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikqGdU9nwlb7CN906x_x4XIijftbjcB0U28ZBJRJxknHxRS0Daalpyv2vCiMLkIyBxX-SlDBhp03OIGDYdUmVyJHFQDWEISsU-nYT1gfgU0FvzPR4FIRNEcUkR0NVeBbFMi18d01oKMwRZQLe7uEtWua5dfHkxv64S_4oEBzPKj-BninZawPCSwFTaZINH/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-27%20at%208.02.14%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Helena Carter and Jimmy Hunt in INVADERS FROM MARS Year: 1953 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With sparsely minimalist yet highly stylized interiors ranging from a police station to an astronomical observatory along with deliberately over-scored, melodramatic human closeups, the most complicated set from INVADERS FROM MARS is the most familiar in the 1950's: a Norman Rockwell-style suburban-rural home where the leading character, a pulp-reading young boy... only child to affable dream parents... witnesses a spaceship landing outside his window... <br><br>An iconic view duplicated for the 1980's remake: a rocky-stairwell/hill leading to a sudden crest, where the boy witnesses his father throwing a General over: becoming one of many locals sucked into the same sand-hole the initial spaceship vanished into, and that initially only the kid... played by wide-eyed boy-next-door Jimmy Hunt... had seen...</p><p><span></span></p>

arthur franz, bert freed, fifties, helena carter, hillary brooke, janine perreau, leif erickson, milburn stone, morris ankrum, science-fiction, thriller

HELENA CARTER HEADLINES THE ORIGINAL 'INVADERS FROM MARS'

Helena Carter and Jimmy Hunt in INVADERS FROM MARS Year: 1953 Rating: *** With sparsely minimalist yet highly stylized interiors ranging fro...

ERNEST SCHOEDSACK SHRINKS 'DR. CYCLOPS' WITH ALBERT DEKKER

<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/AVvXsEg1Jo9lUq-xqocSa4_gyLhj5RPRiTiD5bVNBOEFn2O6iOVGysUoRH7xtJxckpE5ldxmCQ8I-zF7ej78KVAIcH45CTNz0UAZdnewbk-qHfkPPoh1Kls-EI5CBh4CLMeeL2vBAjpPHLBBTsF32Ll2AWxVolW6ffCjMAHXeNVhsWCRyuRx3FA365Jvk_lU4PmC/s1646/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-25%20at%201.20.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1112" data-original-width="1646" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Jo9lUq-xqocSa4_gyLhj5RPRiTiD5bVNBOEFn2O6iOVGysUoRH7xtJxckpE5ldxmCQ8I-zF7ej78KVAIcH45CTNz0UAZdnewbk-qHfkPPoh1Kls-EI5CBh4CLMeeL2vBAjpPHLBBTsF32Ll2AWxVolW6ffCjMAHXeNVhsWCRyuRx3FA365Jvk_lU4PmC/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-25%20at%201.20.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DR. CYCLOPS Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Merian C. Cooper, the executive producer and co-director of KING KONG, considered Ernest B. Schoedsack his "cameraman" when he was really not only co-director, but, while Cooper oversaw the special effects, much of the human element from performances to overall character-movement is all his own... </p><p></p><p>Deliberately slowing things down for the first science-fiction/horror in color, DR. CYCLOPS, that also begins a jungle-traipsing, matte-painted adventure including a gorgeous woman, her handsome boyfriend, a comic relief, a curious doctor, and an eccentric old-timer, all winding up in the compound of Albert Dekker's titular mad scientist...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, charles halton, cult, ernest schoedsack, forties, horror, janice logan, science-fiction, thomas coley

ERNEST SCHOEDSACK SHRINKS 'DR. CYCLOPS' WITH ALBERT DEKKER

Title: DR. CYCLOPS Director: Ernest B. Schoedsack Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2 Merian C. Cooper, the executive producer and co-director of KING...

BRIAN GLOVER DOGS ALFRED MARKS IN 'THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE'

<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/AVvXsEiPpEiW8xYmJaUeqpKEIaJKiwkvaY5uxOZx1BGPOtJPv8sfKQm8T3q21eEj_RuXhpCspCLZucx3VemPRyYgVhtByQRvio2woHwqpeabHkhDBzpl0ejUY68Cv9GTxVhVy1i-fknPNICAPLjsAYu67sMHtBTTSy7aHqV22uEK7JPlC5G2rubS9EDV6EiOFy00/s2084/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-24%20at%208.43.36%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="2084" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpEiW8xYmJaUeqpKEIaJKiwkvaY5uxOZx1BGPOtJPv8sfKQm8T3q21eEj_RuXhpCspCLZucx3VemPRyYgVhtByQRvio2woHwqpeabHkhDBzpl0ejUY68Cv9GTxVhVy1i-fknPNICAPLjsAYu67sMHtBTTSy7aHqV22uEK7JPlC5G2rubS9EDV6EiOFy00/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-24%20at%208.43.36%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Thaw and John Flanagan in The Sweeney: Thin Ice Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The third episode of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/sweeney">THE SWEENEY</a> is the first to inject total offbeat dark comedy, where a British master-criminal sits poolside in France, having taken a ship from England to thwart The Flying Squad, and is awaiting his prized dog Archimedes to join him, being even more important than bikini-clad blonde floozy/moll Margaret Nolan (while he's advised by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/12/DemonCurse.html">CURSE OF THE DEMON</a> possessed Brian Wilde)...</p><p></p><p>Another episode featuring bickering young cop John Flanagan as DS Matt Matthews, and with John Thaw's Regan flirting with gorgeous secretary Bridget Brice when not butting-heads with meticulous police chief Peter Jeffries (while awaiting Dennis Waterman's Carter to reign in his co-agents), the scene-stealer is A<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/07/walking-meatloaf.html">MERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON</a> barfly Brian Glover, bonding with the wrong dog to the chagrin of dog-loving mobster Alfred Marks, who'd have made a terrific recurring villain who, like the entire underrated episode, perfectly combines quirky and formidable.</p><span></span>

alfred marks, brian glover, brian wilde, british tv, cop, dennis waterman, garfield morgan, john flanagan, john thaw, margaret nolan, peter jeffrey, sweeney

BRIAN GLOVER DOGS ALFRED MARKS IN 'THE SWEENEY: THIN ICE'

John Thaw and John Flanagan in The Sweeney: Thin Ice Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 The third episode of THE SWEENEY is the first to inject tota...

JOHN THAW VS TONY SELBY FROM 'THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN'

<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/AVvXsEhEW6DVh2G8jyauM0nabmjnx0b7S33MbdI7YKvfgHVc8-ZYAaL_4yFQQpFyBjbAHwSvrl-qTU4Na5YJBgTL6r52kVzEhoFOlWRC5YibJt9OP-lruDZAD02mQUkeOaMC0w6cm1b1iFyyHYEwiPgX-UstKLoP-opuBZRkLBCVC7EA1FUSxLuxIF5fuITn8j08/s938/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-21%20at%201.15.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEW6DVh2G8jyauM0nabmjnx0b7S33MbdI7YKvfgHVc8-ZYAaL_4yFQQpFyBjbAHwSvrl-qTU4Na5YJBgTL6r52kVzEhoFOlWRC5YibJt9OP-lruDZAD02mQUkeOaMC0w6cm1b1iFyyHYEwiPgX-UstKLoP-opuBZRkLBCVC7EA1FUSxLuxIF5fuITn8j08/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-21%20at%201.15.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From HIGH SIERRA before to CARLITO'S WAY after, the device of a famously-guilty convict freed on a technicality is nothing new... and the first half of QUEEN'S PAWN has the unapologetic gall of Tony Selby's Johnny Lyon getting Inspector Regan's goat... a whole mountain of them actually...  </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Surrounded by floozy moll Lynn Dearth, pseudo family man Tony Caunter and eventual weak link married couple Christopher Ellison and Judy Monahan, the episode has John Thaw's Regan and Dennis Waterman as Sgt. Carter putting heat on the Lyon's den of thieves; but the most intimidating is a different kind of crook...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, british, dennis waterman, gangster, john flanagan, john thaw, julian glover, lynn dearth, seventies, sweeney, tony selby

JOHN THAW VS TONY SELBY FROM 'THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN'

Title: THE SWEENEY: QUEEN'S PAWN Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 From HIGH SIERRA before to CARLITO'S WAY after, the device of a famously-...

JOHN THAW WITH JOHN FLANNAGAN IN 'THE SWEENEY: JACKPOT'

<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/AVvXsEhO4CWZpeQLqoR5fhYtQcw-ujBu1hdSCPqIEIV7KXZCvcaNgKk_eauSpVwIw-ss_hYLXJ7Xq-wza3Mk4o2qKGiXoHmMZYW1p-jCuTxyT7AGJy6AT5ZH6eGUafV3hXcTy3ShiTUZzhyZhc0TIopx3cmi9I0Hj9QHpJQXex02rsss-z2lhQ_qFUSmbZT8aL_G/s1784/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-19%20at%203.25.18%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1022" data-original-width="1784" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO4CWZpeQLqoR5fhYtQcw-ujBu1hdSCPqIEIV7KXZCvcaNgKk_eauSpVwIw-ss_hYLXJ7Xq-wza3Mk4o2qKGiXoHmMZYW1p-jCuTxyT7AGJy6AT5ZH6eGUafV3hXcTy3ShiTUZzhyZhc0TIopx3cmi9I0Hj9QHpJQXex02rsss-z2lhQ_qFUSmbZT8aL_G/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-19%20at%203.25.18%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SWEENEY: JACKPOT Year: 1975 Rates: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Second episode of the British crime series THE SWEENEY decompresses from the thrilling pilot <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/04/ian-hendry-jill-townsend-christen.html">RINGER</a> and is more talky and expository... that's after the bombastic opening where The Flying Squad trashes a street-speeding getaway in process, with money flying everywhere... the opening twist being that a load of cash is unaccounted for: making JACKPOT a kind of Wrong Man Neo Noir, twofold... </p><p></p><p>As John Thaw's tough Jack Regan and his younger partner Dennis Waterman as George Carter have to interrogate jailed crook Ed Devereaux on answers to where the money went... also featuring cranky young cop John Flanagan as Matt Matthews, almost dead-ringer to (while complimenting the perfect casting of) Waterman, appearing in a handful of episodes before finally turning up in the theatrical SWEENEY 2 by this episode's director, Tom Clegg.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, british tv, cop, dennis waterman, john flanagan, john thaw, neo noir, seventies, sweeney, tom clegg

JOHN THAW WITH JOHN FLANNAGAN IN 'THE SWEENEY: JACKPOT'

Title: THE SWEENEY: JACKPOT Year: 1975 Rates: **1/2 Second episode of the British crime series THE SWEENEY decompresses from the thrilling p...

RICK MORANIS & DAVE THOMAS AS BOB & DOUG IN 'STRANGE BREW'

<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/AVvXsEgkXV5MzvKF0HgK1BowslDbpvqHVyXcEHD8NuHJUeKu7dBFOeSUYzS7Q5qp7UtNWlT8nqwV8Mxk-a59KqFhzAM3PQ5PqGVdZ6kEjbXG_ezLXE3JYaqPGIvTtenxx2TTSYF797-8yjMKL_O4OI-wTnTi271cO071zX9ZzS7NUHqxz1QJ_ZAkh597QYA4RkVl/s2090/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-15%20at%201.06.24%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="2090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXV5MzvKF0HgK1BowslDbpvqHVyXcEHD8NuHJUeKu7dBFOeSUYzS7Q5qp7UtNWlT8nqwV8Mxk-a59KqFhzAM3PQ5PqGVdZ6kEjbXG_ezLXE3JYaqPGIvTtenxx2TTSYF797-8yjMKL_O4OI-wTnTi271cO071zX9ZzS7NUHqxz1QJ_ZAkh597QYA4RkVl/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-15%20at%201.06.24%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: STRANGE BREW Year: 1983 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a moment in THE ADVENTURES OF BOB AND DOUG MCKENZIE: STRANGE BREW where supervillain Max von Sydow... attempting to take over a Canadian brewery where the titular siblings sought replacement beer.. wields a hand-written laser contraption that literally pokes fun at (by glibly complimenting) the movie's special effects...<br><br>Providing selected moments where the Rick Moranis/Dave Thomas theatrical adaptation of their SCTV skit (basically reworked by Mike Myers and Dana Carvey in SNL's WAYNE'S WORLD, both involving goofballs on Canadian public-access) is a deliberate genre-spoof in the vein of Mel Brooks or AIRPLANE... in this case the Roger Moore-era James Bond franchise...</p><p><span></span></p>

angus macInnes, comedy, dave thomas, eighties, lynne griffin, max von sydow, parody, paul dooley, rick moranis

RICK MORANIS & DAVE THOMAS AS BOB & DOUG IN 'STRANGE BREW'

Title: STRANGE BREW Year: 1983 Rating: ** There's a moment in THE ADVENTURES OF BOB AND DOUG MCKENZIE: STRANGE BREW where supervillain M...

DIRECTOR ROB REINER'S ROAD MOVIE COMEDY 'THE SURE THING'

<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/AVvXsEiExCxRD0qBQ2II1ORBgK2lF2-T1B_V-DYyexIntFzZ-6JntAr2XztzmgEYQeYTUs5pzy06F5Ul1bmWLlexFS5fDOL8wPmfiU4zMGUdQ7xcps0JaIHTYa-X5MgkbfHb2dJcht5B3zfqjInm0nQwvFFLzucpr2Bx994d4RMoartMyra2UavXAd1L60efudCs/s1016/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-15%20at%2012.13.55%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiExCxRD0qBQ2II1ORBgK2lF2-T1B_V-DYyexIntFzZ-6JntAr2XztzmgEYQeYTUs5pzy06F5Ul1bmWLlexFS5fDOL8wPmfiU4zMGUdQ7xcps0JaIHTYa-X5MgkbfHb2dJcht5B3zfqjInm0nQwvFFLzucpr2Bx994d4RMoartMyra2UavXAd1L60efudCs/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-15%20at%2012.13.55%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>John Cusack painted like Andrew McCarthy in THE SURE THING Year: 1985 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In director Rob Reiner's road movie THE SURE THING, his more mainstream-vehicle-followup to the groundbreaking <i>rockumentary</i> THIS IS SPINAL TAP, side-characters played by Tim Robbins, Anthony Edwards, Boyd Gains, and Lisa Jane Persky are so overly one-dimensional, the two leads, John Cusack and Daphne Zuniga, seem even more real... <br> <br> Polar opposites Cusack, as an endearing goof, and Zuniga, an uptight hidden beauty, journey cross country to Southern California... Cusack to meet a gorgeous blonde (the sure thing) and Zuniga to see her stuffy fiance... </p><p><span></span></p>

anthony edwards, daphne zuniga, eighties, john cusack, nicollette sheridan, road movie, rob reiner, sex comedy, tim robbins, viveca lindfors

DIRECTOR ROB REINER'S ROAD MOVIE COMEDY 'THE SURE THING'

John Cusack painted like Andrew McCarthy in THE SURE THING Year: 1985 Rating: ***1/2 In director Rob Reiner's road movie THE SURE THING,...

CHRISTOPHER LEE VS NIGEL GREEN IN 'THE FACE OF FU MANCHU'

<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/AVvXsEhM9tKnsvIlTu2T6B55VRCQbk4zNgyX5g7YdScNuXUhc7Qza63rk3w9MYIwBxQ6kkDWcIllEpJcgUisSTg-0HgCDOw0lQH5qbxpZrWshuDwYGpoY4CjSD6CjE6B6fGXV6dUG9flsxN_xwG0EHdEFlRsQDk2LriH3nChUsPq_9NeVIWB2OovSVyx4cz8JA-X/s828/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="474" data-original-width="828" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM9tKnsvIlTu2T6B55VRCQbk4zNgyX5g7YdScNuXUhc7Qza63rk3w9MYIwBxQ6kkDWcIllEpJcgUisSTg-0HgCDOw0lQH5qbxpZrWshuDwYGpoY4CjSD6CjE6B6fGXV6dUG9flsxN_xwG0EHdEFlRsQDk2LriH3nChUsPq_9NeVIWB2OovSVyx4cz8JA-X/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Christopher Lee and Deborah DeLacey in THE FACE OF FU MANCHU Year: 1965 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/08/beatG.html">BEAT GIRL</a>, Christopher Lee played a sleazy nightclub owner where his even more slimy manager berated girls into becoming strippers... and here the always-intense Nigel Green is in opposite camps of Lee's titular FACE OF FU MANCHU: the one and only time as Sax Rohmer's Scotland Yard Inspector Nayland Smith...<br><br>Later replaced by a more classy and dignified Douglas Wilmer, Green's the first and overall best lawman/adversary since he really seems to completely detest Asian mastermind/super-criminal Fu Manchu...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, christopher lee, don sharp, franchise, fu manchu, harry alan towers, howard marion-crawford, jim norton, karin dor, nigel green, sixties, spy, tsai chin, walter rilla

CHRISTOPHER LEE VS NIGEL GREEN IN 'THE FACE OF FU MANCHU'

Christopher Lee and Deborah DeLacey in THE FACE OF FU MANCHU Year: 1965 Rating: *** In BEAT GIRL , Christopher Lee played a sleazy nightclub...

HELENA CARTER, YVONNE DE CARLO & DAN DURYEA IN 'RIVER LADY'

<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/AVvXsEiEoExOXLtTvQva-k3ovGIBhAT0uJXmot1UGtLANQv9veSuFOj9mi2giJcv4Y9ZT2O-IYzJsX1vXRJ23m-wmLNR1f5AOXDhGeO_EI5LvjQKLIJAW6eCiazQDQ8Amqo9OOucJRaY_omTttCvOpblsgynA-pUU3JZ5_jdrDnrQWHyXl0fOb900iQ3B-4CzetF/s1738/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEoExOXLtTvQva-k3ovGIBhAT0uJXmot1UGtLANQv9veSuFOj9mi2giJcv4Y9ZT2O-IYzJsX1vXRJ23m-wmLNR1f5AOXDhGeO_EI5LvjQKLIJAW6eCiazQDQ8Amqo9OOucJRaY_omTttCvOpblsgynA-pUU3JZ5_jdrDnrQWHyXl0fOb900iQ3B-4CzetF/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea in RIVER LADY 1948 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the James Cagney film noir KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, full-lipped, flirtatious beauty Helena Carter was who Cagney was interested in even though he had a woman at home... while the opposite occurs here as her rich girl character's smitten with (and is quickly married to) gentle giant workingman Rod Cameron, despite his attraction to first-billed beauty Yvonne De Carlo...<br><br>Who owns the titular RIVER LADY river boat, personally managed by her scoundrel gambler cohort Dan Duryea... after giving Rod Cameron full control of a fledgling lumber mill: the main story that should have been secondary given Duryea's usual penchant for villains, needing far more screen-time throughout an otherwise semi-effective Technicolor Western/Romance/Melodrama. <br></p>

dan duryea, dewey robinson, fifties, gambling, helena carter, jack lambert, john mcintire, lloyd gough, rod cameron, western, yvonne de carlo

HELENA CARTER, YVONNE DE CARLO & DAN DURYEA IN 'RIVER LADY'

Yvonne De Carlo and Dan Duryea in RIVER LADY 1948 Rating: ***1/2 In the James Cagney film noir KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE, full-lipped, flirtati...

CORNEL WILDE INVESTIGATING DON SIEGEL'S 'EDGE OF ETERNITY'

<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/AVvXsEjraQu5NSIGTO-wzK8EyZF6eOt68gLKCehXCTLbqnaZBMHb7Kwgk5UdGtawHWvBxRF7_PQDQFwkVy2CqixKfTSXuJTqtRX93vjT2wuOOZs7NxObMG4FiU7Gi3vMY9ezmuyTa9hVwFB-RBah07EEZ_MBMXyCRtuAxH0dTBqIDLod_nfvM0zH1BXfRkiiZzWM/s934/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2012.11.22%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="934" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjraQu5NSIGTO-wzK8EyZF6eOt68gLKCehXCTLbqnaZBMHb7Kwgk5UdGtawHWvBxRF7_PQDQFwkVy2CqixKfTSXuJTqtRX93vjT2wuOOZs7NxObMG4FiU7Gi3vMY9ezmuyTa9hVwFB-RBah07EEZ_MBMXyCRtuAxH0dTBqIDLod_nfvM0zH1BXfRkiiZzWM/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2012.11.22%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1959 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Don Siegel's EDGE OF ETERNITY is a Technicolor Neo Noir, a B-Movie Potboiler and a Novelty Film using actual footage of (and being based around) The Grand Canyon... where at the crest, a murder takes place before the body's mysteriously hung in a small rural connecting town's vacant office... where good deputy Cornel Wilde investigates what's also a partial Mystery/Whodunnit...<br><br>Although there aren't many juicy culprits to choose from, the most obvious being otherwise affable bartender Mickey Shaughnessy, who has played so many energetically cutthroat villains, he can't be what he seems (the same going for chain-smoking Canyon custodian Jack Elam)... <br><span></span></p>

action, alexander lockwood, cornel wilde, dabbs greer, don siegel, edgar buchanan, fifties, jack elam, jazz-score, mickey shaughnessy, neo noir, victoria shaw

CORNEL WILDE INVESTIGATING DON SIEGEL'S 'EDGE OF ETERNITY'

Year: 1959 Rating: *** Don Siegel's EDGE OF ETERNITY is a Technicolor Neo Noir, a B-Movie Potboiler and a Novelty Film using actual foot...

VINCE EDWARDS WITH JUDY GEESON & DIANA DORS IN 'HAMMERHEAD'

<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/AVvXsEiuytAqQXeWwxyhYDNS9vu6FDbA1C69hKCVyg6hwn5IfHYQvQi9qYhGPyvLh_zm2zMX7UKBLVWc3ddTSF1tVfCZztDNmZKMmcngsMuzVl4hmgNghybdeLVFo4JqhfhDfXAhRYLp5pm-KMDOvHJ82z6A2MLcPlGAL18E7F7tyo111uU38iAXZqeKqWFhGxQl/s2090/DD.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="2090" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuytAqQXeWwxyhYDNS9vu6FDbA1C69hKCVyg6hwn5IfHYQvQi9qYhGPyvLh_zm2zMX7UKBLVWc3ddTSF1tVfCZztDNmZKMmcngsMuzVl4hmgNghybdeLVFo4JqhfhDfXAhRYLp5pm-KMDOvHJ82z6A2MLcPlGAL18E7F7tyo111uU38iAXZqeKqWFhGxQl/s16000/DD.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vince Edwards and Judy Geeson in HAMMERHEAD Year: 1968 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Irwin Allen's production HAMMERHEAD is yet another James Bond clone, released at the peak of the jazz-driven, horn-blasting, colorfully-vibrant, boisterously-flamboyant, dancing-girl Swinging-60's...<br><br>Where a swarthy sex symbol from the previous decade lethargically jaunts from a British nightclub to a plush yacht to canvas-decorated castle interiors to a street party in Lisbon, Portugal... <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/AVvXsEhdlZ2V9h0arvCOeZcwlHkIY21BZLpZtiED2UUm8Qx2RxQmyS9lGmDt1g4gZejgD2cyIG9UdvkaH7a1rh5Pr6-CsXecflgnaF_qUfzhhKRN_BFTF2dVbQ0bp8NIf5AdsI3BmftdPEEQuMFqf9yF5rzZeYUkWwrIZKgwIN8XJc6QBn-6f2p37QiEqwZmf1bj/s2092/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-01%20at%2011.52.46%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="2092" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdlZ2V9h0arvCOeZcwlHkIY21BZLpZtiED2UUm8Qx2RxQmyS9lGmDt1g4gZejgD2cyIG9UdvkaH7a1rh5Pr6-CsXecflgnaF_qUfzhhKRN_BFTF2dVbQ0bp8NIf5AdsI3BmftdPEEQuMFqf9yF5rzZeYUkWwrIZKgwIN8XJc6QBn-6f2p37QiEqwZmf1bj/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-01%20at%2011.52.46%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>From Irwin Allen's HAMMERHEAD</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the only intriguing aspect that keeps American Vince Edwards' undercover agent Charles Hood interested is British blonde beauty Judy Geeson, who flirtatiously frolics around (competing with lanky Dorothy Adams and voluptuous Diana Dors) as he investigates the titular HAMMERHEAD... <br><br>Who, played by character-actor Peter Vaughan (guarded by future Darth Vader David Prowse), is an art-collecting billionaire with the usual cliche agenda on controlling the world — but it's never quite clear exactly how, or why.  </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, beverly adams, david prowse, diana dors, irwin allen, jazz-score, judy geeson, kenneth cope, patrick cargill, peter vaughan, sixties, spy, vince edwards

VINCE EDWARDS WITH JUDY GEESON & DIANA DORS IN 'HAMMERHEAD'

Vince Edwards and Judy Geeson in HAMMERHEAD Year: 1968 Rating: **1/2 Irwin Allen's production HAMMERHEAD is yet another James Bond clone...