VIRGINIA FIELD BARRING MARSHALL THOMPSON IN 'DIAL 1119'

<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/AVvXsEj7m5zQb7_jCKGFjQrL0VuwkgWdpZg9FPQ8NyVG2eYbNDeovTN2Y5MtERIfvgThnARMjadUvKYkFYamw2asBSMZpDqgRxoE3xu1LvfJtE9zrjXYdZPyBX1mIcpZvWV6g6Cvt3orBKMQZSctHsJ5Vy53iSt6Jtu-FzOCP37z8SqwOmrL8LbGIJJdZLwA1WJ_/s2110/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-29%20at%2012.02.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1342" data-original-width="2110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7m5zQb7_jCKGFjQrL0VuwkgWdpZg9FPQ8NyVG2eYbNDeovTN2Y5MtERIfvgThnARMjadUvKYkFYamw2asBSMZpDqgRxoE3xu1LvfJtE9zrjXYdZPyBX1mIcpZvWV6g6Cvt3orBKMQZSctHsJ5Vy53iSt6Jtu-FzOCP37z8SqwOmrL8LbGIJJdZLwA1WJ_/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-29%20at%2012.02.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marshall Thompson and Virginia Field in DIAL 1119 Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A kind of expository TIME OF YOUR LIFE barroom-of-eclectic-characters stage play combined with any hostage thriller, DIAL 1119 stars Marshall Thompson as a troubled young man who you can't insult or compliment without possibly getting shot and killed...<br><br>The tavern-dwellers include world-weary workaday bartender William Conrad; a stressed young married man waiting for a telephone call from his birthing wife; a cranky newspaperman; floozy Virginia Field, having perfectly aged from her 1930's heyday into an older yet still alluring hustler; and a creepy older businessman calling twenty-something beauty Andrea King his niece while trying to seduce her...</p><p><span></span></p>

andrea king, fifties, film noir or melodrama, hostage, marshall thompson, sam levene, thriller, virginia field, william conrad

VIRGINIA FIELD BARRING MARSHALL THOMPSON IN 'DIAL 1119'

Marshall Thompson and Virginia Field in DIAL 1119 Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2 A kind of expository TIME OF YOUR LIFE barroom-of-eclectic-chara...

AUDREY TOTTER, RICHARD BASEHART & CYD CHARISSE IN 'TENSION'

<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/AVvXsEgLx2WjshVV94IxKn-JNceGoHr43zVWAjpoN3opKSPCFsjIwdMjGpXhpd11cP_AtdpfNTiAyFQm5MT0xvSxDfUyv1mIf1YwUN0qGqQJgijhSysddtTl4ovyrYbODWTnjaSYow1l6qllj6pl6BxeE6bnS-fFTevXmhmaw7qhvuDJIlYwXuU4YrqLpxDrIAAb/s2104/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1194" data-original-width="2104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLx2WjshVV94IxKn-JNceGoHr43zVWAjpoN3opKSPCFsjIwdMjGpXhpd11cP_AtdpfNTiAyFQm5MT0xvSxDfUyv1mIf1YwUN0qGqQJgijhSysddtTl4ovyrYbODWTnjaSYow1l6qllj6pl6BxeE6bnS-fFTevXmhmaw7qhvuDJIlYwXuU4YrqLpxDrIAAb/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Audrey Totter in TENSION Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From low-budget film noir to big-budget spectaculars, in Golden Age Hollywood there are rarely not-perfect-looking actresses, like in the case of secondary/good girl Cyd Charisse, countering scene-stealing cheating fatale Audrey Totter in the murder mystery thriller TENSION, centering on the mousiest of mousy drug store clerks who Totter replaces with alpha-male Lloyd Gough...<br><br>It's impossible to believe that Richard Basehart would remain in the kind of vengefully lustful state of murdering his wife when, only hours after Totter splits, Charisse... looking like a brunette supermodel straight from a fashion magazine... appears instantly smitten outside a new bachelor pad: where he'd assumed a fake identity to surreptitiously off both his wife and her lover...<span></span></p>

audrey totter, barry sullivan, cyd charisse, fifties, film noir or melodrama, lloyd gough, richard basehart, william conrad, wrong man

AUDREY TOTTER, RICHARD BASEHART & CYD CHARISSE IN 'TENSION'

Audrey Totter in TENSION Year: 1949 Rating: ***1/2 From low-budget film noir to big-budget spectaculars, in Golden Age Hollywood there are r...

MARGUERITE CHURCHILL & ROBERT STERLING IN 'BUNCO SQUAD'

<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/AVvXsEhatUY2fMxDFxXdjdBTWfLmuVQWAJJoD-ZVTgAphVnU4pRDGaX7G9MfCkyyVRKiU-gUiXCJO13qkpV90oh0kt3La99yuwo-dcnNNG0JwIgDqgdPqXrwxbvSWkDhrPXZ_JO0zw9fAHuahQ5EG5f3V3kJnf5cE4XqSgBBpbZ8LYv1DAI3-d5Uw6zNfr8yalCp/s2106/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-27%20at%206.25.42%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1422" data-original-width="2106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatUY2fMxDFxXdjdBTWfLmuVQWAJJoD-ZVTgAphVnU4pRDGaX7G9MfCkyyVRKiU-gUiXCJO13qkpV90oh0kt3La99yuwo-dcnNNG0JwIgDqgdPqXrwxbvSWkDhrPXZ_JO0zw9fAHuahQ5EG5f3V3kJnf5cE4XqSgBBpbZ8LYv1DAI3-d5Uw6zNfr8yalCp/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-27%20at%206.25.42%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marguerite Churchill and Robert Sterling in BUNCO SQUAD Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sophisticated beauty Marguerite Churchill was an ingenue in the 1930's, classing up horror movies DRACULA'S DAUGHTER and THE WALKING DEAD... the latter featuring suave-villain actor Ricardo Cortez, who, in BUNCO SQUAD, cons the older yet still quite lovely Marguerite to get to her heiress boss: the primary long con despite SQUAD starting out with one of those documentary style narrations... <br><br>Starring handsome Robert Sterling partnered with square-jawed Douglas Fowley and in love with lovely actress Joan Dixon, a Gene Tierney lookalike that winds up undercover to bust what's an intriguing, uncomplicated seance scam that includes backstabbing deaths centered around new age spiritualism, before it was the media's personally-protected religion. </p><span></span>

crime, fifties, film noir or melodrama, joan dixon, marguerite churchill, ricardo cortez, robert sterling, undercover

MARGUERITE CHURCHILL & ROBERT STERLING IN 'BUNCO SQUAD'

Marguerite Churchill and Robert Sterling in BUNCO SQUAD Year: 1950 Rating: ***1/2 Sophisticated beauty Marguerite Churchill was an ingenue i...

MARGUERITE CHURCHILL & NAN GREY VAMPS 'DRACULA'S DAUGHTER'

<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/AVvXsEgrLnrK8VKr5L1REji9CBBJu652_B-M6P_9ZfC1VgVcuVAr4NTcqA51ePQ0Cq0QFlEOpkWeDVtehAavPYoO_O7cQalG6U5NqR_hi9mIME4SbjmhcXpAJ3IAUY0Y7racmR1JfspRXyxlxd7kbS0ejU6XcJzCt-JCC-sfcqloiD88LrhORbYdZs_aLY377PtV/s1986/3333.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="1986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrLnrK8VKr5L1REji9CBBJu652_B-M6P_9ZfC1VgVcuVAr4NTcqA51ePQ0Cq0QFlEOpkWeDVtehAavPYoO_O7cQalG6U5NqR_hi9mIME4SbjmhcXpAJ3IAUY0Y7racmR1JfspRXyxlxd7kbS0ejU6XcJzCt-JCC-sfcqloiD88LrhORbYdZs_aLY377PtV/s16000/3333.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marguerite Churchill in DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Year: 1936 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While far from a great Universal DRACULA sequel, his DAUGHTER, played by classic square-jawed beauty Gloria Holden, has terrific chemistry... but not with the man she wishes to spend eternity with...<br><br>In that, Otto Kruger is entirely miscast as a droll psychologist who helps Holden's enigmatic Countess Marya Zaleska become... well... the twist is, she's only pretending to need his help... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

dracula, edward van sloan, gloria holden, hedda hopper, horror, irving pichel, marguerite churchill, nan grey, otto kruger, sequel, universal monster

MARGUERITE CHURCHILL & NAN GREY VAMPS 'DRACULA'S DAUGHTER'

Marguerite Churchill in DRACULA'S DAUGHTER Year: 1936 Rating: *** While far from a great Universal DRACULA sequel, his DAUGHTER, played ...

BORIS KARLOFF & MARGUERITE CHURCHILL IN 'THE WALKING DEAD'

<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/AVvXsEhiqIZDNsBF_0iGXOSVlx8Tr7LrPpmjmFTDiDJjKd_ci6yNGlJFwmyFDm8E-Fs2kmc_cabAqd-r9mc1bCBXMCa1Avg9wXU9KfuCmfdzhmMxznRH7WNI_cqE79s_IPsqb4koO6PnSCJAUGDQ5njfbNE8VtX-HgaEk9Z3P1r-adkfjgM6J8NBsb0qtXVC9c1g/s2106/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-26%20at%2010.08.42%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="2106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqIZDNsBF_0iGXOSVlx8Tr7LrPpmjmFTDiDJjKd_ci6yNGlJFwmyFDm8E-Fs2kmc_cabAqd-r9mc1bCBXMCa1Avg9wXU9KfuCmfdzhmMxznRH7WNI_cqE79s_IPsqb4koO6PnSCJAUGDQ5njfbNE8VtX-HgaEk9Z3P1r-adkfjgM6J8NBsb0qtXVC9c1g/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-26%20at%2010.08.42%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Boris Karloff and Marguerite Churchill in THE WALKING DEAD </u><u>Year: 1936 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With all the ingredients of a 1930's Warner Brothers Gangster Flick including villain-actors Barton MacClane and Ricardo Cortez, here working in backrooms to set up murders and double-crosses to keep their crime syndicate from further courtroom bulwarks, the casting of Boris Karloff not only adds an element Universal Monster from his then-recent FRANKENSTEIN legacy, but after he's brought back to life from being falsely imprisoned and executed, scientist Edmund Gwenn actually utters the line, "He's Alive!" <br><br>This while surrounded by two somewhat innocuous but perfect-looking lab assistants: insanely gorgeous ingenue Marguerite Churchill and handsome boyfriend Warren Hull, both backing Karloff's John Elman, originally a meek and not very crime-savvy musician that the mobsters set-up/wrongfully accused of killing their own targeted judge... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

barton maclane, boris karloff, edmund gwenn, gangster, henry hull, horror, joe sawyer, marguerite churchill, michael curtiz, ricardo cortez, science-fiction, thirties

BORIS KARLOFF & MARGUERITE CHURCHILL IN 'THE WALKING DEAD'

Boris Karloff and Marguerite Churchill in THE WALKING DEAD Year: 1936 Rating: **** With all the ingredients of a 1930's Warner Brothers ...

INNER SANCTUM WITH LON CHANEY JR IN 'CALLING DR. DEATH'

<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/AVvXsEiCzeMaQmaZWiWUUxLfaAq7jvj-5pldaw1K6QBlAyJDQA0N76M-3VbgAxfl87l61YYinLGEexWQi-rsgK5AtwN-25WuoFpvNjYKfyFfBZx0cbSVAjoxONO1jzlp6ttL7QE1ACWtVfnmwgb5d6h91cchae_VM7AdaanFFPaP5WQ1dYdKzaEgeao5xsyn-XVk/s1916/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-21%20at%201.48.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1916" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzeMaQmaZWiWUUxLfaAq7jvj-5pldaw1K6QBlAyJDQA0N76M-3VbgAxfl87l61YYinLGEexWQi-rsgK5AtwN-25WuoFpvNjYKfyFfBZx0cbSVAjoxONO1jzlp6ttL7QE1ACWtVfnmwgb5d6h91cchae_VM7AdaanFFPaP5WQ1dYdKzaEgeao5xsyn-XVk/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-21%20at%201.48.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CALLING DR. DEATH Year: 1943 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Judging by the name alone, Universal's INNER SANCTUM movies seems perfect for a kind of horror/thriller that's not much different than their tightly-wound, atmospheric monster movies... <br><br>Including THE WOLF MAN starring Lon Chaney Jr himself, a clunky big lug of an actor who's horribly miscast here as a high-class shrink whose cheating wife (with a BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN hairstyle) gets mysteriously murdered... <br></p><p><span class="duration-200" lang="en-US"><span><span></span></span></span></p>

film noir or melodrama, inner sanctum, j. carrol naish, lon chaney jr., patricia morrison, ramsay ames, thriller, wrong man

INNER SANCTUM WITH LON CHANEY JR IN 'CALLING DR. DEATH'

Title: CALLING DR. DEATH Year: 1943 Rating: **1/2 Judging by the name alone, Universal's INNER SANCTUM movies seems perfect for a kind o...

PETER LORRE FINISHING WITH 'MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION'

<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/AVvXsEisWaJuaRrVDLVege1ncT83zISCan2zRrJy-oj5ro95O4BN9ZheQrgEMEXEoMlTn2a1z33ZDlfzxrPcqNTeyqwdAOzE3_uYq0QVPZ4pb9jlHQomuRID7SZbc64sqdc5rT663SjmXKyzqASkj8mcRDpWNpeHRjP6oGq40kiD9USsnBk-329goTYTvXdiQbfm/s1682/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%204.02.21%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1046" data-original-width="1682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisWaJuaRrVDLVege1ncT83zISCan2zRrJy-oj5ro95O4BN9ZheQrgEMEXEoMlTn2a1z33ZDlfzxrPcqNTeyqwdAOzE3_uYq0QVPZ4pb9jlHQomuRID7SZbc64sqdc5rT663SjmXKyzqASkj8mcRDpWNpeHRjP6oGq40kiD9USsnBk-329goTYTvXdiQbfm/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%204.02.21%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1938 Director: Norman Foster Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Norman Foster returned to direct the last of eight MR. MOTO movies starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese agent, who usually pretends to be a humble kind of cliche Asian servant type... <br><br>That's until showing his true colors as a resilient fighting machine.... initially a human target from various assassins after finding a prized treasure that he brings back to a San Fransisco museum...</p>

franchise, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, treasure, virginia field

PETER LORRE FINISHING WITH 'MR. MOTO TAKES A VACATION'

Year: 1938 Director: Norman Foster Rating: *** Director Norman Foster returned to direct the last of eight MR. MOTO movies starring Peter Lo...

PETER LORRE & AMANDA DUFF IN 'MR. MOTO IN DANGER ISLAND'

<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/AVvXsEjVAbVxFdHzd-HzBXtfZqzZFavnNnXPfMwq27LfnxRBiRRwlXVOPpVkDo1258Ka6fwepIuw8nYrLUVQUJ_e1KyjpgMDJPCPDvysEKXRSwNVswttX0shP5igewzTDD50T0d9_2mDmh4xsQCh0s_1cLqnHdz8bJWALcHbEgr_LkqaehQEHtx30rXvBmB9cukL/s2104/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%202.14.19%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1354" data-original-width="2104" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAbVxFdHzd-HzBXtfZqzZFavnNnXPfMwq27LfnxRBiRRwlXVOPpVkDo1258Ka6fwepIuw8nYrLUVQUJ_e1KyjpgMDJPCPDvysEKXRSwNVswttX0shP5igewzTDD50T0d9_2mDmh4xsQCh0s_1cLqnHdz8bJWALcHbEgr_LkqaehQEHtx30rXvBmB9cukL/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-19%20at%202.14.19%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1939 Rating: *1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The only two MR. MOTO programmers not directed by Norman Foster were meant to be part of the similar CHARLIE CHAN franchise: but DANGER ISLAND isn't as good as the MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE (where Ward Bond plays a defeated boxer while here he's a defeated wrestler), and there's no real decent use of the titular location, which is neither dangerous or interesting... <br><br>Seeming like what they are, studio backlots, and with Peter Lorre's Chinese Agent paired with a punchy fighter, there's none of the usual espionage or suspense, and all the remaining side-characters... including cute ingenue Amanda Duff who's father's a wrongfully accused military officer... seem part of different vehicles, not of them going anywhere, slowly. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

amanda duff, franchise, peter lorre, thirties, ward bond, warren hymer

PETER LORRE & AMANDA DUFF IN 'MR. MOTO IN DANGER ISLAND'

Year: 1939 Rating: *1/2 The only two MR. MOTO programmers not directed by Norman Foster were meant to be part of the similar CHARLIE CHAN fr...

PETER LORRE & VIRGINIA FIELD IN 'MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING'

<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/AVvXsEh7xpJw7-HNfqc_jpowHDjTTgHJ4tloyyPtdiRa0MofNeX2s50c3iqj8H3fVkSROC5SUAEcqWS9snlow3G8im3D_QI5JS7HjU8kG9OSRCe6L0sfrQDVzoUBHnXXYdHWSMR1HqQ8IY1P7mSo2YPpnR094_hIe6uGCW2nQZDkNeRZV8Ue0WPtDAG3tlmkq-M8/s1660/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-18%20at%2011.11.16%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="1660" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xpJw7-HNfqc_jpowHDjTTgHJ4tloyyPtdiRa0MofNeX2s50c3iqj8H3fVkSROC5SUAEcqWS9snlow3G8im3D_QI5JS7HjU8kG9OSRCe6L0sfrQDVzoUBHnXXYdHWSMR1HqQ8IY1P7mSo2YPpnR094_hIe6uGCW2nQZDkNeRZV8Ue0WPtDAG3tlmkq-M8/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-18%20at%2011.11.16%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Virginia Field in MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING Year: 1938 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The best MR. MOTO film because LAST WARNING has the most intriguing villains and the coolest, darkest, murkiest locations: as the original MALTESE FALCON actor Sam Spade actor Ricardo Cortez covers as a ventriloquist, doing his dummy routine in a crowded Egyptian theater that includes dogs jumping through hoops, and a juggling clown...<br><br>Who turns out to be Peter Lorre's titular character in one of several disguises (while doing the kind of deliberately cliche Chinese servant imitation to trick the haughty whites): once backstage, he quickly figures out the other antagonist agents, including future British legend George Sanders with a twisty little mustache, and the most effective semi-moll in any MOTO vehicle...</p><p><span></span></p>

espionage, franchise, george sanders, joan carroll, john carradine, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, ricardo cortez, robert coote, thirties, virginia field

PETER LORRE & VIRGINIA FIELD IN 'MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING'

Virginia Field in MR. MOTO'S LAST WARNING Year: 1938 Rating: **** The best MR. MOTO film because LAST WARNING has the most intriguing vi...

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

<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/AVvXsEgWvZ50Q2fDyPm59-bI7XiDZg5xH9013HWxrRA1DekWmABJ53U3DifkRBAX6HkNfE7tnbgvwjaCr1m2vt5ifhdK9OPuc6lAg5oH5BTLjTf7taaLbpp6NrG6vMS0hDFm690TQbqGZAcTqXsF1KeitpdjTj45H2hqMk7nM8HYBTPh_7ZgnoB2HIAMGaGr3j-6/s1698/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWvZ50Q2fDyPm59-bI7XiDZg5xH9013HWxrRA1DekWmABJ53U3DifkRBAX6HkNfE7tnbgvwjaCr1m2vt5ifhdK9OPuc6lAg5oH5BTLjTf7taaLbpp6NrG6vMS0hDFm690TQbqGZAcTqXsF1KeitpdjTj45H2hqMk7nM8HYBTPh_7ZgnoB2HIAMGaGr3j-6/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-14%20at%2011.56.53%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director springs forward with more action, right off the bat... as Moto and a French prisoner are escaping from Devil's Island...<br><br>Sadly, all this happens too fast, during and right after the opening credits... had MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO spent some time on the island before the escape, fleshing-out this fellow convict he'd later follow around to nab all his mobster cronies, it wouldn't feel like walking into a picture ten minutes late...</p><p><span></span></p>

england, espionage, franchise, harold huber, henry wilcoxon, leon ames, lotus long, mary maguire, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, thirties

PETER LORRE ESCAPES NORMAN FOSTER'S 'MYSTERIOUS MR. MOTO'

Title: MYSTERIOUS MR MOTO Year: 1938 Rating: *** After Norman Foster's lackluster Asian-set MR MOTO TAKES A CHANCE, the b-director sprin...

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN'

<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/AVvXsEilrLSuVJ5oed-dg6ms4BeoymgjTLCMwBu6f-0IAiYXs2yO0WVD_YTlxMx1sqQtc_qo8yQihO9p-60TJL6sv4w0_-s9Jf0ZyxppPgr7a7HWSGHOM7m2OpcfgYpynMWYs2gc4lEdfSZKrcDYJWa8wuDdjQBQHoYee09fzUMDYTAl0xtioT-iRtfYSDPEMIVm/s1688/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-12%20at%203.29.34%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1688" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilrLSuVJ5oed-dg6ms4BeoymgjTLCMwBu6f-0IAiYXs2yO0WVD_YTlxMx1sqQtc_qo8yQihO9p-60TJL6sv4w0_-s9Jf0ZyxppPgr7a7HWSGHOM7m2OpcfgYpynMWYs2gc4lEdfSZKrcDYJWa8wuDdjQBQHoYee09fzUMDYTAl0xtioT-iRtfYSDPEMIVm/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-12%20at%203.29.34%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Lorre and Rochelle Hudson in ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The pulpy tagline to the 1940 thriller ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN is "Women shuddering at his cruel caress" despite the fact only one woman, the wife of evil slave-master Peter Lorre, is on the titular island: and within their balmy plantation villa interior, he hardly touches or even speaks to her at all...<br><br>As classic beauty Rochelle Hudson quickly and understandably falls for handsome, dark-haired buried-lead Robert Wilcox, whose initial wrong-man story-line fits more into a deliberately-complicated film-noir beyond what's often mistaken as a horror flick (the plot heavily infused into Lawrence Tierney's jungle-traipsing <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/KOBK.html">KILL OR BE KILLED</a>)... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

forties, george e. stone, kenneth macdonald, peter lorre, prison, robert wilcox, rochelle hudson, thriller

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN'

Peter Lorre and Rochelle Hudson in ISLAND OF DOOMED MEN Year: 1940 Rating: ***1/2 The pulpy tagline to the 1940 thriller ISLAND OF DOOMED ME...

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

<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/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s1794/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSAyMa2vs8sKypIuoVkYoV3XkkSHhliSZ5srj_0BMPWXR_9o-cLfZnJOFD6VrQbBDz-RGErB9zvduClIEdW-Ak2jbp0AtjBtoxjjPn1kh_0UW2PzCu_Y5v72ZAq3yqr9op_VWUFO22JvMdFA-u1GXtsg-XYsa5JPd4fzVEIvezITOGWHRtFUCSPyKheoGz/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/11/isledoomed.html">Rochelle Hudson</a>, who crash-lands her cross-country plane into the jungle location near Siam, is the best thing going in the fourth overall MR. MOTO film, TAKES A CHANCE, which is the third directed by Norman Foster...<br><br>Back in an enigmatic locale after MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE takes on American boxing, Peter Lorre's titular character returns to disguise (as an ancient monk), secretly helping two token white guys... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, franchise, jungle, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, rochelle hudson, thirties

PETER LORRE & ROCHELLE HUDSON IN 'MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE'

Rochelle Hudson in MR. MOTO TAKES A CHANCE Year: 1938 Rating: **1/2 A hybrid of Bette Davis and Fay Wray, gorgeous little b-starlet Rochelle...

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

<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/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s1630/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1630" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJDYdZpyFR5-bc-p9L913fxBpqoM93pSIlJai_-Gu3B2riLbgibEfL7cE6wGd11hG6fTKEgVy4yneCu0-1jbCAnhfi2Uz77HbmkMjI6eSY9qpDBXiNsR9kqIcQ9TAK6ArdAOUoeATKNPDleBCPXS8vmdAP03UNmkvLQ4mTNaRNezNEcpp-b-4pofJFd60W/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-10%20at%201.17.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>THINK FAST, MR. MOTO</u>: Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret agent who's both underrated and unappreciated... But he'll surprise you with a karate kick sending non-believers flying across the room.<br> <br> Here we begin with Moto in street peddler disguise, including a pointy beard and ragged clothing. He clumsily meanders into a store to sell a rug, and then a diamond, to an impatient proprietor who’s got a dead body semi-hidden in a wicker basket. This brings Moto on board a big ship where an important letter to a rich man’s son, Bob, has been stolen and replaced.<br> </p>

action, adventure, franchise, jayne regan, lotus long, mr moto, norman foster, peter lorre, sequel, sidney blackmer, spy, suspense, thirties, thriller, virginia field

PETER LORRE IN NORMAN FOSTER'S FIRST TWO 'MR. MOTO' FILMS

year: 1937 cast: Peter Lorre, Virginia Field, Thomas Beck rating: ***1/2 THINK FAST, MR. MOTO : Peter Lorre is Mr. Moto, a Japanese secret a...

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

<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/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s1898/0%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="1898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjef5umb5u2DRFwFj2Tgcgz-jYvAhWo3XaZsIMrmKltwsIGMW17vq2fPhnA5cJeIaTiEhXbWkORiJ8Wo1YbytJrTeu5kKYSNGZHEGKA5aVl1ipzacFE7IYW2Oq5JsBzfTCvXbwGNSQFdKErTEr_hgaxnMNFTy9eHI6tL1yuNWxvfkO-xIg5Y0TlBXe0Ixgf/s16000/0%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn't directed by Norman Foster, and had a noirish potboiler plot that was supposed to be inserted into a Charlie Chan picture, involving the always crooked and mysterious boxing syndicate...<br><br>Motto sporadically investigates a heavyweight contender's enigmatic death while teaching a class on crime, the case involves various thuggy gangsters straight from the previous decade including Douglas Fowley and George S. Stone, MR. MOTO'S GAMBLE is one of the more conventional MOTO programmers: despite the titular character seeming more like a special guest star throughout.  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

classic gangster, crime, douglas fowley, franchise, george e. stone, jayne regan, lynn bari, mr moto, peter lorre, thirties, ward bond

PETER LORRE IN 'MR. MOTTO'S GAMBLE' WITH DOUGLAS FOWLEY

Year: 1938 Rating: ***1/2 The third MR. MOTO film, which was a franchise starring Peter Lorre as a Chinese secret agent/crime-fighter, wasn...

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN SURVIVE 'THE THIRD MAN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEh6oCNiwVUAf2-1HtIaI1ebf2ckaOjHaWyP8XeW26P9n2pfT7QMoO8QYxiHeyOXQSea2H4tEkRneaZPBEuFiAKKfWh53RkElWHKZNxxtNtDbtaxLP5OOMtGcWwhrbc00EQpKidd19NIXPHJmjg7or83upEnlgt6RzpdzualfWAPimaV5WSkrkX_ZrYdVaR1/s2094/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%201.57.39%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="2094" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6oCNiwVUAf2-1HtIaI1ebf2ckaOjHaWyP8XeW26P9n2pfT7QMoO8QYxiHeyOXQSea2H4tEkRneaZPBEuFiAKKfWh53RkElWHKZNxxtNtDbtaxLP5OOMtGcWwhrbc00EQpKidd19NIXPHJmjg7or83upEnlgt6RzpdzualfWAPimaV5WSkrkX_ZrYdVaR1/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%201.57.39%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jospeh Cotten and Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN Year: 1949 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not really that big a deal that Orson Welles turns up over fifty-minutes into THE THIRD MAN, being that audiences awaited KING KONG for about the same period of time...<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></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The term best describing Welles's Harry Lime is <i>anticipated antagonist,</i> and yet all his criminal activity is refuted by best friend Joseph Cotten as <i>cheap novelette</i> Western writer Holly Martins, and especially heartbroken stage-actress-girlfriend Alida Valli, who Cotten attempts subtly romancing... but can't compete with the ghost...</p><p><span></span></p>

alida valli, bernard lee, british film noir, carol reed, forties, joseph cotten, mystery, orson welles, thriller, trevor howard

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN SURVIVE 'THE THIRD MAN'

Jospeh Cotten and Orson Welles in THE THIRD MAN Year: 1949 Rating: ***** It's not really that big a deal that Orson Welles turns up over...

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN IN 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s1882/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year: 1943 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and very passive arms dealer... who ironically has never fired a gun... stuck on a cargo ship where there lurks a clandestine Nazi out to kill him...<br> <br> Joseph Cotten stars as the hunted pawn who, having left loyal wife Ruth Warrick ashore, is reluctantly sent aboard with dancer Dolores Del Rio and meets various passengers including a Turkish tobacco dealer, a slick gambler and a German businessman. It's not hard figuring out who the main heavy is, but it doesn't matter...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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>

agnes moorehead, classic, delores del rio, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, hit-man, joseph cotten, mystery, nazi, norman foster, orson welles, ruth warrick, suspense

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN IN 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year: 1943 Rating: **** An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and ver...