cult film freak: aline towne

Written by James M. Tate / 10/28/2024 / No comments / aline towne , con man , cop , fifties , film noir or melodrama , hillary brooke , jack kruschen , tom conway

TOM CONWAY TEAMS WITH HILLARY BROOKE IN 'CONFIDENCE GIRL'

<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/AVvXsEjzXvzVcWPrh5L-CVBpd9rNxItrFzCQcma6lmvBAX0D2e60_PI_UOnElceo_3Cyu9f9yHV2CSeikiEuH3UrPyECh_ShXG2J1qMZIjDyJ_kA3LHvq4QE5UqwY-fasAYzD14xJDkN8j3R3AdjMLcRjsNtRuY0BHPdbFKukPJkt59BD7IIvw_ePNkQ0QLVrut-/s1990/2%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1990" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXvzVcWPrh5L-CVBpd9rNxItrFzCQcma6lmvBAX0D2e60_PI_UOnElceo_3Cyu9f9yHV2CSeikiEuH3UrPyECh_ShXG2J1qMZIjDyJ_kA3LHvq4QE5UqwY-fasAYzD14xJDkN8j3R3AdjMLcRjsNtRuY0BHPdbFKukPJkt59BD7IIvw_ePNkQ0QLVrut-/s16000/2%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>You know if a movie about confidence men aka con men (or in this case an ironic twist-titled CONFIDENCE GIRL) is being narrated/opened by an actual government agent, it won't particularly support their crooked schemes that would happen (from THE STING to DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) decades later: when the cops are the heavies, the tricksters the anti-heroes and their victims rich dolts who should have never had so much money to begin with... But with the casting of the always smooth and dashing Tom Conway, leading to a nifty first-act twist... instead of being one of the crowded room of detectives after Hillary Brooke's titular CONFIDENCE GIRL he's actually her partner... the title CONFIDENCE COUPLE would have fit better...

aline towne, con man, cop, fifties, film noir or melodrama, hillary brooke, jack kruschen, tom conway

TOM CONWAY TEAMS WITH HILLARY BROOKE IN 'CONFIDENCE GIRL'

Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 You know if a movie about confidence men aka con men (or in this case an ironic twist-titled CONFIDENCE GIRL) is b...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/09/2024 / No comments / action , aline towne , classic gangster , crime , edmond o'brien , forties , heist , james cagney , john archer , post-heist , prison , robert osterloh , steve cochran , virginia mayo

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

<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/AVvXsEi4RAPZGyQokKL4V2ZmArdYOL8DXj4ELfZKI2OZxmp9Rzjj5jftlSKsRdcBtZfONhW_A1ADVDOtqf9n6qwmt0x0CETNDBah4Hc5ovcjqFdn4UO2T55jUfb-xysPjc4R4Y3l5gLsBH_bpCPNqmQy-ZVryojYsmnymIvnv2s42T6ypUwicpuzG2P6CjfK0nWf/s2114/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-15%20at%209.07.11%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="2114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4RAPZGyQokKL4V2ZmArdYOL8DXj4ELfZKI2OZxmp9Rzjj5jftlSKsRdcBtZfONhW_A1ADVDOtqf9n6qwmt0x0CETNDBah4Hc5ovcjqFdn4UO2T55jUfb-xysPjc4R4Y3l5gLsBH_bpCPNqmQy-ZVryojYsmnymIvnv2s42T6ypUwicpuzG2P6CjfK0nWf/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-02-15%20at%209.07.11%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: WHITE HEAT 1949 Prison Sentence: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>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... 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)...

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

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

Title: WHITE HEAT 1949 Prison Sentence: ****1/2 At the peak of the 1940's, no one but James Cagney could play the toughest guy in crime ...

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)ROBBERY 3)HELL IS A CITY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)HOT CARS 7)VIOLENT SATURDAY 8)THE BREAK 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)CALCULATED RISK 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)JUNGLE STREET 17)WHITE HEAT 18)FALLEN ANGEL 19)A PRIZE OF ARMS 20)THE BIG HEAT 21)SHARKS' TREASURE 22)THE MARKED ONES 23)THE DRIVER 24)THE SYSTEM 25)AIR PATROL 26)THE STONE KILLER 27)JOURNEY INTO FEAR 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE FAVORITE ACTORS 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)JACK NICHOLSON 6)CHARLES BRONSON 7)BURT REYNOLDS 8)WILLIAM LUCAS 9)TOM COURTENAY 10)GENE HACKMAN DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)VAL GUEST 4)STANLEY KUBRICK 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)ORSON WELLES 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)JOHN LANDIS 9)SAM PECKINPAH 10)MICHAEL WINNER