VAL KILMER PLAYS JIM MORRISON IN OLIVER STONE'S 'THE DOORS'

<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/AVvXsEijvKDjLXfUM9_9fsqGIt1sqYcpXW8OKOrxdHLeYA1fejE17S8rln5T0zQBpVbVr9Cmyl3dBNrN1AaYcjNlp64Y-mkpLMHYHfq-ZkF2SH7S5K3F7uEFqeuAd27mlFbFzFqBmrfrni0wLz3fK4ok-jlyNA-D2hnR0t4FiRgJ_U0pVH8tkGtONT11DAcduGun/s1386/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-06%20at%2010.19.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijvKDjLXfUM9_9fsqGIt1sqYcpXW8OKOrxdHLeYA1fejE17S8rln5T0zQBpVbVr9Cmyl3dBNrN1AaYcjNlp64Y-mkpLMHYHfq-ZkF2SH7S5K3F7uEFqeuAd27mlFbFzFqBmrfrni0wLz3fK4ok-jlyNA-D2hnR0t4FiRgJ_U0pVH8tkGtONT11DAcduGun/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-06%20at%2010.19.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>CineGraphx image of Val Kilmer in Oliver Stone's THE DOORS Year: 1991 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At one point in Oliver Stone's THE DOORS, Jim Morrison is told by one of several female admirers that he's better than the band itself, and that everyone only cares about him... that HE ALONE is The Doors... which is basically how Stone's movie winds up, far too quickly shifting away from an involving biopic about how four guys met in Venice, California and started a band, wrote great songs and played (from nightclubs to auditoriums) before screaming audiences...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So the first act harbors the best scenes, with Kilmer's brooding Morrison meeting founding member keyboardist Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzerek, a kind of uptight Felix to Jim's grungy Oscar... as Stone's PLATOON tough-guy Kevin Dillon plays drummer John Densmore as the band's Doubting Thomas, while Jim's real life favorite Robby Krieger's portrayed by Frank Whaley like he's never taken a single drug in his life...</p><p><span></span></p>

biopic, counter-culture, crispin glover, frank whaley, kathleen quinlan, kevin dillon, kyle maclachlan, meg ryan, michael madsen, music, nineties, oliver stone, olivia barash, sam whipple, val kilmer

VAL KILMER PLAYS JIM MORRISON IN OLIVER STONE'S 'THE DOORS'

CineGraphx image of Val Kilmer in Oliver Stone's THE DOORS Year: 1991 Rating: *** At one point in Oliver Stone's THE DOORS, Jim Morr...

MENAHEM GOLAN'S 'LEPKE' WITH TONY CURTIS & ANJANETTE COMER

<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/AVvXsEhVtna58Hp7gESf_DRS_EdXMrcUSluOhL0sL3PRoUx7Rs_nQWMt814v4d-CX090FvrGGC5TXFonV6BYd9o3OBjh_wLLnfDz0cWQuR5ZZWUIlvn9iatqamUegcs_yjCnaKzni-dwEbYZki0GcnD7IxFYNG-tp7rRVCPGV6chbTIWyAjfZawanMSbks_xjqch/s1388/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-14%20at%202.23.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtna58Hp7gESf_DRS_EdXMrcUSluOhL0sL3PRoUx7Rs_nQWMt814v4d-CX090FvrGGC5TXFonV6BYd9o3OBjh_wLLnfDz0cWQuR5ZZWUIlvn9iatqamUegcs_yjCnaKzni-dwEbYZki0GcnD7IxFYNG-tp7rRVCPGV6chbTIWyAjfZawanMSbks_xjqch/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-14%20at%202.23.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: LEPKE Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A cross between yet another 1970's THE GODFATHER clone and a drive-in exploitation with sex and violence, future Cannon Films co-owner Menahem Golan directs Tony Curtis as LEPKE... beginning with a younger version with an intense Barry Miller in turn-of-the-century America, committing a crime and about to be locked up... a shame since more time should have been spent on those youthful years...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead, right when the titular Jewish mobster gets out, he's already a 50-something miscast Tony Curtis, who at one point talks Milton Berle into marrying docile daughter Anjanette Comer... and about thirty-minutes later, when the detectives start knocking, she's supposed to have realized her mistake at marrying a lethal crime boss...</p><p><span></span></p>

anjanette comer, barry miller, biopic, cannon, gianni russo, michael callan, milton berle, mobster, seventies, simmy bow, tony curtis, vic tayback, warner archives

MENAHEM GOLAN'S 'LEPKE' WITH TONY CURTIS & ANJANETTE COMER

Title: LEPKE Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2 A cross between yet another 1970's THE GODFATHER clone and a drive-in exploitation with sex and vi...

TIMOTHY HUTTON & SEAN PENN 'THE FALCON AND THE SHOWMAN'

<p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEi-AQBvAnYV-54Yh9OoDGIL7ybsv0hIuWp_M0wATdw2f4LK5M20b2KafvQs5ABrw1N75VifoPfLnVBplYxXN_2HgF6cHa7eDsNnGzIsmH6AgQeSSkCOQrBlp-nnk0c42MU2PSyeNMK2ny30K05QMTFaA5LwComPHBaPw8ch8X-ZAZPpv97DLbPoezhElG6L/s1310/1111.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="1310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AQBvAnYV-54Yh9OoDGIL7ybsv0hIuWp_M0wATdw2f4LK5M20b2KafvQs5ABrw1N75VifoPfLnVBplYxXN_2HgF6cHa7eDsNnGzIsmH6AgQeSSkCOQrBlp-nnk0c42MU2PSyeNMK2ny30K05QMTFaA5LwComPHBaPw8ch8X-ZAZPpv97DLbPoezhElG6L/s16000/1111.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn in THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, about two young California-born former-Alter-boy rich kids who wound up selling secret documents to the Russians, Timothy Hutton — who won an Oscar for ORDINARY PEOPLE — had the chance to play the role of a lifetime since Christopher Boyce, working within the CIA before his capture, had already broken out of jail and robbed 17 banks before the source biography/novel became a motion picture...</p><p></p><p></p><p></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 instead of playing Boyce as the sneakily charming sociopath he really was, director John Schlesinger reveals him as a starry-eyed pacifist while his TAPS co-star Sean Penn, as drug dealing partner Andrew Lee Daulton, not only does the real work but (practically alone) ignites the most suspenseful scenes...</p><span></span>

biopic, chris makepeace, dorian harewood, eighties, sean penn, thriller, timothy hutton

TIMOTHY HUTTON & SEAN PENN 'THE FALCON AND THE SHOWMAN'

Sean Penn in THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2 In THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, about two young California-born former-Alte...

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...

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s966/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="966" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and starring-role biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein, he's discussing a possible book written about all his accomplishments, from teaching children on television to his best remembered work, West Side Story...<br /><br />And yet we never got to witness any of it, instead  listening to he and classy wife Felicia Montealegre (a put-upon Carey Mulligan) within an intellectually-rambling romance from picnics to parties (in-between sporadic bisexual trysts) and not much else about the man that Cooper seems to have more fun portraying as a flamboyant and sophisticated, British-mannered, chain-smoking proto-beatnik than celebrating the legendary musical genius built right into the title... </p><p>And aesthetically Cooper's cinematic influences... from LENNY to RAGING BULL to CAPOTE... are on full avant-garde display but with nothing behind it, really, except mere window dressing... with tinted glass.</p>

2023, biopic, bradley cooper, carey mulligan, homosexual, music

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2 Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and s...

PAUL LE MAT DRIVES JONATHAN DEMME'S 'MELVIN AND HOWARD'

<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/AVvXsEjNzKOS1bZez1zDzDjeJH4ECCt9A7QN148l1rSOU0whkZKlGUONEDQyRy4E_I-HuvF1UczlhO6wk4ovwcwJD1MyFhuJYjfBd5_SYH8v4fdXB0cWz1KdF2tazK5sbs1M2HQnr0qh_lJNItWIj1M6IXJ-02YRz1JqGetACE7F6CX21LbsfK0fhJGzLQM0NC37/s1192/363351384_1775756192853549_8465661431329407813_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="611" data-original-width="1192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzKOS1bZez1zDzDjeJH4ECCt9A7QN148l1rSOU0whkZKlGUONEDQyRy4E_I-HuvF1UczlhO6wk4ovwcwJD1MyFhuJYjfBd5_SYH8v4fdXB0cWz1KdF2tazK5sbs1M2HQnr0qh_lJNItWIj1M6IXJ-02YRz1JqGetACE7F6CX21LbsfK0fhJGzLQM0NC37/s16000/363351384_1775756192853549_8465661431329407813_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Michal Hendrych's artwork for MELVIN AND HOWARD Year: 1980 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Quirky biopic based on the truth as told by a liar, in this case Melvin Dummar played by AMERICAN GRAFFITI hot-rod hotshot Paul Le Mat, again behind the wheel in the important first act consisting of twenty-minutes with Jason Robards portraying the Howard of MELVIN AND HOWARD — as in the infamously reclusive billionaire Hughes, who Dummar claimed left $150M in his will... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As the then low-budget director Jonathan Demme tells the dodgy tale as if it were entirely legitimate, after Hughes crashes a motorcycle and, partially injured with the ragged, zombie-pale hangdog  countenance, is picked up and taken by overnight driver Dummar to "his hotel" in Las Vegas — both eventually (and in Hughes' case reluctantly) sharing favorite songs as Robards makes terrific use of the short yet important screen-time... </p><p><span></span></p>

biopic, charles napier, comedy, dabney coleman, denise galik, drama, eighties, elizabeth cheshire, indie, jason robards, jonathan demme, mary steenburgen, michael j pollard, paul lemat

PAUL LE MAT DRIVES JONATHAN DEMME'S 'MELVIN AND HOWARD'

Michal Hendrych's artwork for MELVIN AND HOWARD Year: 1980 Rating: **** Quirky biopic based on the truth as told by a liar, in this case...

DIANA DORS IN 'YIELD TO THE NIGHT' WITH MICHAEL CRAIG

<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/AVvXsEgt6hYS4ZBA--eezjO5bkYMg6gFwrG3XkVjz9rzhhaKb9ihVED8DEu2vo4N172gzor9l8rER4it-yix5sGzseed4I4bHhvPtw1hzXeh_neoUB04rinD_SRTHmjif_YJnDHRye4MSJgQLkbqJrelSTIYi8QSmbhixqAPsZf8jBrEr4zsaK6TLUQv_2DD8Dmo/s1060/darker.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1060" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt6hYS4ZBA--eezjO5bkYMg6gFwrG3XkVjz9rzhhaKb9ihVED8DEu2vo4N172gzor9l8rER4it-yix5sGzseed4I4bHhvPtw1hzXeh_neoUB04rinD_SRTHmjif_YJnDHRye4MSJgQLkbqJrelSTIYi8QSmbhixqAPsZf8jBrEr4zsaK6TLUQv_2DD8Dmo/s16000/darker.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Diana Dors in YIELD TO THE NIGHT Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The true life capital punishment expose YIELD TO THE NIGHT had its name changed to BLONDE SINNER, with poster images focusing on a gun-wielding, femme-fatale type in the full-lipped Marilyn Monroe of England, Diana Dors, smitten by her seemingly bad boy boyfriend in lounge piano player Michael Craig...</p><p></p><p></p><p>But this 1950's J. Lee Thompson vehicle is more melodrama than any kind of thriller, mostly taken place inside a death row cell where Dors, as condemned Mary Hilton, strikes up a dialog-filled friendship with lady guard Yvonne Mitchell...</p><p><span></span></p>

biopic, british, british film noir, crime, diana dors, fifties, j. lee thompson, liam redmond, michael craig, michael ripper, prison

DIANA DORS IN 'YIELD TO THE NIGHT' WITH MICHAEL CRAIG

Diana Dors in YIELD TO THE NIGHT Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2 The true life capital punishment expose YIELD TO THE NIGHT had its name changed to...

DANA ANDREWS AND GENE TIERNEY DEFECT IN 'THE IRON CURTAIN'

<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/AVvXsEjNwjuzN9LFGZnmJc9JFmzn2zN5YpVwyiK7kD02cc5fat09xOHGHdPzy3L1A4driJF2-U-YhDGh-u9ZNaoyRgVp7eNA4sS28Ikxz055wdaub4QzmuKI2XZKgOXZRTrYAgwRl4gMNMGzyyLB_5SY2A7Jf6YvQ2d2sOFUKl3hLq-WtdHHbWaxmS22mtT_-vhZ/s1538/Screen%20Shot%202025-10-18%20at%202.56.45%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1538" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNwjuzN9LFGZnmJc9JFmzn2zN5YpVwyiK7kD02cc5fat09xOHGHdPzy3L1A4driJF2-U-YhDGh-u9ZNaoyRgVp7eNA4sS28Ikxz055wdaub4QzmuKI2XZKgOXZRTrYAgwRl4gMNMGzyyLB_5SY2A7Jf6YvQ2d2sOFUKl3hLq-WtdHHbWaxmS22mtT_-vhZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-10-18%20at%202.56.45%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in THE IRON CURTAIN Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between the famous Otto Preminger Film Noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/Loir.html">LAURA</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/WTSends.html">WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS</a> and almost a decade past TOBACCO ROAD is the sublime pair-up of Dana Andrews and Gene Tierney under the direction of William A. Wellman in a Cold War Thriller at the rudimentary stages of that very thing... </p><p></p><p>Taking place during and right after The Second World War, and was released only three years after the war ended, based on the "true story of Soviet cypher-clerk Igor Gouzenko, posted to the Soviet Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, 1943... to reveal the extent of Soviet espionage activities directed against Canada," where Dana Andrews takes a reverse risk since nothing's worse than an American actor badly attempting a foreign accent, especially one as thick as Russian...  </p><p><span></span></p>

berry kroeger, biopic, cold war, dana andrews, espionage, film noir or melodrama, gene tierney, june havoc, peter whitney, thriller, war

DANA ANDREWS AND GENE TIERNEY DEFECT IN 'THE IRON CURTAIN'

Dana Andrews in THE IRON CURTAIN Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 Between the famous Otto Preminger Film Noir LAURA and WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS  ...

STEVE MCQUEEN & DUSTIN HOFFMAN IN THE ORIGINAL 'PAPILLON'

<p> <span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: small;"></span></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/AVvXsEgTMMO_OXdMDPrjjKc4qNLr-2ZZvQ_5h3-jqkI9dg9L1Gf1BqWBayoR9vy1DsDr5MAvVSssAbH2lWjRIlksAl5SX_UW-cxmciy6wAsZmJciXF1OUPqExax_LjPwkXuzsWAErBkU_va898GFTk6nSwiaGNC-56AbHHGiGwqvc3Ynbsys2qx3_RPrJ7xGdw/s1129/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-25%20at%2012.09.54%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTMMO_OXdMDPrjjKc4qNLr-2ZZvQ_5h3-jqkI9dg9L1Gf1BqWBayoR9vy1DsDr5MAvVSssAbH2lWjRIlksAl5SX_UW-cxmciy6wAsZmJciXF1OUPqExax_LjPwkXuzsWAErBkU_va898GFTk6nSwiaGNC-56AbHHGiGwqvc3Ynbsys2qx3_RPrJ7xGdw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-25%20at%2012.09.54%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: PAPILLON Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><span style="font-size: small;">Director Francis J. Schaffner and scriptwriter Dalton Trumbo convert </span><span style="font-size: small;">Henri Charrière's riveting biographical novel to the big screen, providing Steve McQueen with a more fleshed-out role than usual and rebooting Dustin Hoffman's minor character in the book to main sidekick on screen...</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Both have a realistic aura, surviving hell as they work a swampy chain-gang and eventually plan their escape, and each scene is like a movie in itself, beginning with a slave ship to the initial prison (initially along with a grownup but still young Bill Mumy and McQueen's BULLITT and TOWERING INFERNO partner Don Gordon)...</p><span></span>

adventure, bill mumy, biopic, don gordon, drama, dustin hoffman, francis j. schaffner, henri charrière, john quade, prison, seventies, steve mcqueen, woodrow palfrey

STEVE MCQUEEN & DUSTIN HOFFMAN IN THE ORIGINAL 'PAPILLON'

Title: PAPILLON Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Director Francis J. Schaffner and scriptwriter Dalton Trumbo convert Henri Charrière's riveti...

ROBERT BLAKE LEADS 'THE PURPLE GANG' WITH JOSEPH TURKEL

<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/AVvXsEhQPqYA8XvGQuzIHBsyG8nfjL-0hyDneGrwhSYe1V0fxOViFXA6a66PNBChATmU9AHGqPgMtov9a0S1IwQDkCOiIVm4UW1YHDRqWLShMN0iKC8CmhbxeLu0_YyC3paDuGF3LvzYNw0FKRklvaQzWIbY0vjJEIrFAlbLkIk9kVek0pCBeyX_ko4khAa8QA/s1598/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-10%20at%203.56.30%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1598" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQPqYA8XvGQuzIHBsyG8nfjL-0hyDneGrwhSYe1V0fxOViFXA6a66PNBChATmU9AHGqPgMtov9a0S1IwQDkCOiIVm4UW1YHDRqWLShMN0iKC8CmhbxeLu0_YyC3paDuGF3LvzYNw0FKRklvaQzWIbY0vjJEIrFAlbLkIk9kVek0pCBeyX_ko4khAa8QA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-03-10%20at%203.56.30%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Blake in THE PURPLE GANG Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>“The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang,” sang Elvis Presley from his JAILHOUSE ROCK… And while roaring loose on the outside, THE PURPLE GANG keep a steady rhythm and wily pace, yet are ultimately a mere cog in a “law propaganda” wheel as an ultra serious cop, in this case Barry Sullivan’s Police Lt. William P. Harley, lets us know, right off the bat, just how bad these bad guys are and that crime doesn’t pay, and there aren’t any benefits, either.<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div><p> </p><p>Despite the restrictions from the late-50’s channeling 30’s gangster flicks, more than that present time’s more ambiguous Film Noirs, Robert Blake as William Joseph “Honeyboy” Willard packs a genuine machine gun wallop... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, barry sullivan, biopic, gangster, joe turkel, marc cavell, neo noir, robert blake, sixties, warner archives

ROBERT BLAKE LEADS 'THE PURPLE GANG' WITH JOSEPH TURKEL

Robert Blake in THE PURPLE GANG Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2 “The whole rhythm section was the Purple Gang,” sang Elvis Presley from his JAILH...

ROBERT BLAKE & SCOTT WILSON BREAKTHROUGH 'IN COLD BLOOD'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjSkZWYOuVMgVfu7D-CYzlXLUfdOjffQkvII_XPwEphtYHXdvk7IYZZzocFfSPOSOcV7eGW8Z2enyWzvUpGt9n27B7qOwFJ9K_a_iMhqyyeECHT60fYCyPiIrPr4bZVPV_Hs3kkSLTyA_rMbBrHaSUXomwpdSvOMu9PmBXRk-GCBzGcJkiWyerz0KO43OLK/s1652/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-18%20at%2010.35.47%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="746" data-original-width="1652" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkZWYOuVMgVfu7D-CYzlXLUfdOjffQkvII_XPwEphtYHXdvk7IYZZzocFfSPOSOcV7eGW8Z2enyWzvUpGt9n27B7qOwFJ9K_a_iMhqyyeECHT60fYCyPiIrPr4bZVPV_Hs3kkSLTyA_rMbBrHaSUXomwpdSvOMu9PmBXRk-GCBzGcJkiWyerz0KO43OLK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-18%20at%2010.35.47%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: IN COLD BLOOD Director: Richard Brooks Year: 1967 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Made in the late-1960's leading to the early-1970's American Renaissance, Richard Brooks's theatrical adaptation of Truman Capote's non-fiction bestseller IN COLD BLOOD, taking place in the late 1950's, is a sublime combination of the then-budding style of modern-method/character-driven performances and the more polished and studied throwback to Hollywood's Golden Age (including hard-boiled documentary-style narration)...<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>And as real-life killers Perry Smith and Dick Hickcok, Robert Blake and Scott Wilson hand-off individual importance: Wilson during the first half as a cocky conman instigating the heist of a supposed Kansas farmer's lucrative safe, and, following their Nevada capture, the previously brooding, strong-silent Blake drives the story home, right down to the inevitable hangman's noose...</p><span></span>

biopic, brenda currin, charles mcgraw, crime, gerald s. o'loughlin, james flavin, jazz-score, jeff corey, john forsythe, john mcliam, paul stewart, richard brooks, robert blake, scott wilson, sixties, will geer

ROBERT BLAKE & SCOTT WILSON BREAKTHROUGH 'IN COLD BLOOD'

Title: IN COLD BLOOD Director: Richard Brooks Year: 1967 Rating: ***** Made in the late-1960's leading to the early-1970's American ...

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s1649/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1649" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ibw5oyh-S2opm0mmEpHMFt4doSBbZ-2E-TRMgBWajmMV2K47FII6PejcdU8VyGk00bJ6FV0bw_4kpgOD_2YyyJa0malVhvSgN-LqbJ6v1Q_YvjV2jd0cZFn8AM4f2DLgCaSI8BkOptpxHIy1QyF7grJijNpmBK-NJq5J0WjdB1HOoIxn9nim9l6dhQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-07%20at%203.15.38%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he headlined SERPICO, where, like Michael Corleone, he starts out youthfully idealistic and winds up...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 in this case he goes from idealism to becoming purposefully annoying... refusing any shortcut that cops can acquire in New York City, starting with the kind of sandwich he gets for free...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, al pacino, biopic, cop, cornelia sharpe, judd hirsch, mary-louise weller, nathan george, seventies, sidney lumet, thriller, tony roberts

SIDNEY LUMET DIRECTS AL PACINO IN THE TRUE CRIME 'SERPICO'

Al Pacino in SERPICO Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Between the two GODFATHER films that made Al Pacino not only a star but a living legend. he h...

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjuNhi-hHviAzAGOyowmfxxPf0MDJN0wjymOPm69REll-yYLMW3anmVEQo87gHf6q2Kq9VSiqNhexavHAOycVL8_P2x2WHnydOoeFL_WEcJS-w0Jp0HGS_H9PHT9ITDo-JDhyphenhyphenlX8wJFzjblLMJSrF1bR0hZqF6UCsPR8LA-mC5Gq49QffuyABHtFClYErpW/s1432/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-03%20at%203.37.25%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="804" data-original-width="1432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuNhi-hHviAzAGOyowmfxxPf0MDJN0wjymOPm69REll-yYLMW3anmVEQo87gHf6q2Kq9VSiqNhexavHAOycVL8_P2x2WHnydOoeFL_WEcJS-w0Jp0HGS_H9PHT9ITDo-JDhyphenhyphenlX8wJFzjblLMJSrF1bR0hZqF6UCsPR8LA-mC5Gq49QffuyABHtFClYErpW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-03%20at%203.37.25%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HUNTER Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on TV's WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and ended as one on the big screen, twice: TOM HORN was also a <i>rebounder</i> tale, and actually resembled a theatrical motion picture while THE HUNTER looks and plays-out like a made-for-television movie... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 a pretty good one as McQueen's real life Ralph 'Papa' Thorson seeks various bond-skippers, each more difficult than the next: In one case the violent powerhouse nephew of McQueen's GETAWAY foe Ben Johnson; and later a literally explosive tractor vs Trans Am cornfield chase... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, ben johnson, biopic, bounty hunter, cop, crime, eighties, eli wallach, kathryn harrold, lavar burton, steve mcqueen, tracey walter, tribute

STEVE MCQUEEN'S FINAL LIFETIME BOUNTY FOR 'THE HUNTER'

Title: THE HUNTER Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2 Steve McQueen began his career as a bounty hunter on TV's WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE and ended as...

ROD STEIGER STARRING AS 'AL CAPONE' FEATURING FAY SPAIN

<table align="center" 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/AVvXsEiSUHQ-ROHfRSEMHYItdbj0IegmSYi-0HXz4JeTkUH_RhXgQsTdwsy4By_CNReGATLzrJ5hrCLmldIgs7wEk6k7WUZMkrfyLHOUyk0pSHX-HiffInZPzKsEWB2zS3D-wpmpNxfr97UpzK3xaVJqZepHgK_BcLawLmCtv5XY1BC1Aw1714ebJNING_PYfA/s399/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-24%20at%208.21.40%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="261" data-original-width="399" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSUHQ-ROHfRSEMHYItdbj0IegmSYi-0HXz4JeTkUH_RhXgQsTdwsy4By_CNReGATLzrJ5hrCLmldIgs7wEk6k7WUZMkrfyLHOUyk0pSHX-HiffInZPzKsEWB2zS3D-wpmpNxfr97UpzK3xaVJqZepHgK_BcLawLmCtv5XY1BC1Aw1714ebJNING_PYfA/w400-h261/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-24%20at%208.21.40%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>AL CAPONE Year of Release: 1959</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Like Jack Nicholson (intentionally or otherwise) displayed a little of pal <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/11/the-shining.html">Bruce Dern in THE SHINING</a>, perhaps Marlon Brando was influenced by his ON THE WATERFRONT brother in THE GODFATHER since Rod Steiger had played AL CAPONE with facial contortions that seem so natural that, if done by a lesser talent, would look contrived and pretentiously overboard...<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfuL1aSiO_Lks15ZNCdXaPtnWM3Hxssi0o0y_fyh-t0ShqhF-4_05wRfmy9hNfzO_KWKAq5uOuBMztI4sTFtoDF33MIxCwbO-pL8sdcJ9A7sctyY-0H5qy5FdVjgB2iq2EEoiukG93Ykq/s1600/77.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="551" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhfuL1aSiO_Lks15ZNCdXaPtnWM3Hxssi0o0y_fyh-t0ShqhF-4_05wRfmy9hNfzO_KWKAq5uOuBMztI4sTFtoDF33MIxCwbO-pL8sdcJ9A7sctyY-0H5qy5FdVjgB2iq2EEoiukG93Ykq/s320/77.jpg" width="182"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Capone Scores **** Bulletholes</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In fact, this biopic is so subtle he seems more a blue collar ruffian than outright gangster: A sort of throwback to the olden days of Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson, Steiger's performance brings the mafia henchman turned head honcho through sparse narration by James Gregory as a trailing cop...<br> <br> <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/AVvXsEhb7acn5aWhszJx1JZyxdcrpM-PgS4DCdN42NtfearJ1p9A0esb2ht4u9iAiy0TweHSeT6L2FS4TKvWJiOQbqlgOac0Qkm0pmka_MCkz4iMnMUNXJwLiTuYPokx9r-pkSiFSv4XaYAq8iOU/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-11-21+at+4.54.34+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="586" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb7acn5aWhszJx1JZyxdcrpM-PgS4DCdN42NtfearJ1p9A0esb2ht4u9iAiy0TweHSeT6L2FS4TKvWJiOQbqlgOac0Qkm0pmka_MCkz4iMnMUNXJwLiTuYPokx9r-pkSiFSv4XaYAq8iOU/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-11-21+at+4.54.34+AM.jpeg" width="273"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warner Archive Blue Cover</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Although there's no suspense that he might be kept from doing what he does best: killing to climb the ladder with a string of creative <i>whacks</i>, and yet the most improbable con is landing the wife of one of his otherwise incidental hits: And in that, Fay Spain, who'd be Hyman Roth's walk-on yet memorable wife in THE GODFATHER 2, is beyond a common love interest since it <i>is extremely</i> interesting how he seduces this beautiful mother and widow with the same determination that he takes on surrounding, paranoid and lethal enemies during the superior first half while the second deals mainly with his waning popularity leading to a rushed exile in Miami...<br> <br> But no matter where and how the film rides out, and along with crooked reporter Martin Balsam who verbally toys with Capone as if he were the moll instead of Fay, it's Steiger's his job alone to make an otherwise pretty-good feature pretty damn fantastic to watch, and keep rewatching again and again. You'll always see something different in his reactions to the spontaneously violent actions: He steals both the movie <i>and the story </i>that it's all loosely based upon. Forget the overrated Robert DeNiro UNTOUCHABLES Capone. It's Steiger's that can't be touched. <br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42djV8O1R2DnnO0QVje370RFfb6MQ_o5z31Dz_dNDDtiFknzOoayrVMI87yXueSvasiBbu7iW8qj0Vkrx1uwwg554wdH_SeZEteUVqSDaJGMrs8oTkx3Q6jItu0-gu2HrSuGkmkbPPGcU/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj42djV8O1R2DnnO0QVje370RFfb6MQ_o5z31Dz_dNDDtiFknzOoayrVMI87yXueSvasiBbu7iW8qj0Vkrx1uwwg554wdH_SeZEteUVqSDaJGMrs8oTkx3Q6jItu0-gu2HrSuGkmkbPPGcU/s1600/1.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Photos Screen Captures of the Warner Bros Neo Classic Gangster Rod Steiger starring AL CAPONE</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWxx0QGaUmLpZcZu6ym5JOOCjVJyAv9q366_SftIUn1mmXnTYvN-JGJVs3A4fNSwtuASCT-yaMtBiMERK0GOpyD1o4tQ3e3SzxdKXhVhmosLKtJLr5CVVW5-uv9Nv9Url3NuaR1XS6s72/s1600/39799746_557813174647863_3919669737960767488_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="933" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbWxx0QGaUmLpZcZu6ym5JOOCjVJyAv9q366_SftIUn1mmXnTYvN-JGJVs3A4fNSwtuASCT-yaMtBiMERK0GOpyD1o4tQ3e3SzxdKXhVhmosLKtJLr5CVVW5-uv9Nv9Url3NuaR1XS6s72/s1600/39799746_557813174647863_3919669737960767488_n.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Murvyn Vye as Bugs Moran and company give quite a blasting to Al Capone</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

al ruscio, biopic, fifties, gangster, james gregory, jazz score, martin balsam, mobster, nehemiah persoff, neo noir, rod steiger, sally todd, warner archives

ROD STEIGER STARRING AS 'AL CAPONE' FEATURING FAY SPAIN

AL CAPONE Year of Release: 1959 Like Jack Nicholson (intentionally or otherwise) displayed a little of pal Bruce Dern in THE SHINING , perh...

JAMES STEWART WITH JEAN HAGEN IN 'CARBINE WILLIAMS'

<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/a/AVvXsEhdbXLuA5iZFJzv9yeOf3dVj0zjRIzqtx0QDjitIsdJqZztiNENQkK_DQt6JEOu_BcmKn-jEIfkrrp3yNC21-zJbputXU88O19wuqiSf1dbSSmmpgZZ8Hh4S59ZWNYQN3-VQMyFFzVYCNhrqKxm0uP7V_9V9T5xmd9apchfCeYaSUF8YA47UkCei05epQ=s966" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="625" data-original-width="966" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdbXLuA5iZFJzv9yeOf3dVj0zjRIzqtx0QDjitIsdJqZztiNENQkK_DQt6JEOu_BcmKn-jEIfkrrp3yNC21-zJbputXU88O19wuqiSf1dbSSmmpgZZ8Hh4S59ZWNYQN3-VQMyFFzVYCNhrqKxm0uP7V_9V9T5xmd9apchfCeYaSUF8YA47UkCei05epQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CARBINE WILLIAMS Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Famously likeable James Stewart did his share of dramatic roles, although most were of simple, everyday fellas, so in CARBINE WILLIAMS he plays a determined, insanely stubborn white trash loser...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Although he starts out nice enough in a frame story about the titular gun-maker whose backstory begins with a perfect marriage contrasting a secret, very illegal and dangerous moonshine gig... </p><p><span></span></p>

biopic, fifties, james arness, james stewart, jean hagen, melodrama, paul stewart, prison, warner archives, wendell corey

JAMES STEWART WITH JEAN HAGEN IN 'CARBINE WILLIAMS'

Title: CARBINE WILLIAMS Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 Famously likeable James Stewart did his share of dramatic roles, although most were of sim...

WILLIAM CAMPBELL & KATHRYN GRANT IN 'CELL 2455, DEATH ROW'

<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/AVvXsEj7ffx7OVNISV01JeS5zlwfdjb2ykbfJP6YyBjmYzzIiI4DTBiVlQopQkdphHwYnyinulzUX14GC6leF1kFBjAH0Je7gnwcpVffAl3IvOFK4axux-dkMer6w7c2NbHSBqug8gSgfrng_U7d/s974/111.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="974" height="351" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7ffx7OVNISV01JeS5zlwfdjb2ykbfJP6YyBjmYzzIiI4DTBiVlQopQkdphHwYnyinulzUX14GC6leF1kFBjAH0Je7gnwcpVffAl3IvOFK4axux-dkMer6w7c2NbHSBqug8gSgfrng_U7d/w400-h351/111.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kathryn Grant with Robert Campbell in 1955 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>William Campbell plays it snarky, sneaky, cocky and blocky enough to be a young James Cagney in a homage of those 1930's gangster flicks... </p><p>And Campbell, as real life death row inmate Caryl Chessman changed to Whit Whittier, has little brother Robert playing his younger self, stealing hot rods for thrill moll Kathryn Grant; eventually switching dame-gears to a faithful Marian Carr, waiting for her grown-up prison-hopping  career criminal boyfriend to come home. <br></p><p>The action-packed bravado flows nicely from one set of scores to the next, and eventually includes future star Vince Edwards as one of many partners-in-crime (also including Joe Turkel)... </p><p>Sometimes b-movie director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/fred%20f.%20sears">Fred F. Sears</a> rushes through what should be more fleshed-out, like a stint at Folsom using stock footage, but the death row inmate's eclectic (narrated) crimes on the outside is what matters. Too bad the 11th hour mysteriously-shot scenes of a Lover's Lane Killer, who may or may not be our likeable yet cursed, no-good loser, only adds to the now too-obvious agenda to get the real guy (who'd die five years later in 1960) from the gas chamber. Basically, CELL 2455, DEATH ROW is a better action-packed Film Noir than biopic melodrama. </p><span></span>

biopic, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fred f. sears, joe turkel, jonathan haze, kathryn grant, marian carr, michael granger, paul dubov, vince edwards, william campbell

WILLIAM CAMPBELL & KATHRYN GRANT IN 'CELL 2455, DEATH ROW'

Kathryn Grant with Robert Campbell in 1955 Rates: **** William Campbell plays it snarky, sneaky, cocky and blocky enough to be a young James...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S NEO NOIR BIOPIC 'THE BOSTON STRANGER'

<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/AVvXsEhRfeIX8mqsgqoWOwnM5LIKisgUJHc4ctfA-XVEU4IPvMaT-tJe1UhdVPnXTsW1KOdiMvB1EU7pqNUL8xj4dee8rDJw77PlAXwzhKBxS4DfUgUOYJwFIYNHdBTJdHBJS-PULd5IVojZEbgL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-08+at+10.17.21+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1038" data-original-width="846" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRfeIX8mqsgqoWOwnM5LIKisgUJHc4ctfA-XVEU4IPvMaT-tJe1UhdVPnXTsW1KOdiMvB1EU7pqNUL8xj4dee8rDJw77PlAXwzhKBxS4DfUgUOYJwFIYNHdBTJdHBJS-PULd5IVojZEbgL/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-04-08+at+10.17.21+PM.jpeg" width="325"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1968 Rating: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Richard Fleischer's Police Procedural biopic, using the multi-screen effect, only works until Tony Curtis is revealed as the real life killer, Albert DeSalvo, who, at the time this movie was made, was thought of as having multiple personalities...<br> <br> When filming started DeSalvo had slyly escaped from the mental institution where he was to spend, most likely, the rest of his life; and what's truly insane is the authorities thought a husband with two children and a full-time job would kill eleven women without knowing exactly what he was doing, and how or why he was doing it...<br> <br> The most effective scenes occur within each crime, sans the culprit, adding a mysterious element. Meanwhile, Henry Fonda makes a literally weak/passive lead protagonist, replacing comparably effective and edgy detective George Kennedy, who started out on the killers' trail: one that eventually hits a prolonged dead end, and, progressive in the worst ways, THE BOSTON STRANGLER makes a psychic seem logical, a psychologist completely infallible, and this particular madman a victim. And a terribly uninteresting one at that.<br> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKFZFnBRdaX5Y7QnotmKjIXAmwlwHwoakY_tzT4yp8JZ98TXHoXVlQIbXOQNpMZyGjLOTFcHglQKQJlbliDMgSS54KJevdDrTrx9BMcKqgpGSjMotflx5kldA_kQEZ5ltR2N2K0soITWx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-08+at+10.43.24+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1049" data-original-width="1549" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKFZFnBRdaX5Y7QnotmKjIXAmwlwHwoakY_tzT4yp8JZ98TXHoXVlQIbXOQNpMZyGjLOTFcHglQKQJlbliDMgSS54KJevdDrTrx9BMcKqgpGSjMotflx5kldA_kQEZ5ltR2N2K0soITWx/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-04-08+at+10.43.24+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Female Victims Movie Poster for Richard Fleischer's THE BOSTON STRANGLER</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

biopic, body count, cop, crime, henry fonda, neo noir, richard fleischer, sixties, thriller, tony curtis

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S NEO NOIR BIOPIC 'THE BOSTON STRANGER'

Year: 1968 Rating: ** Richard Fleischer's Police Procedural biopic, using the multi-screen effect, only works until Tony Curtis is r...

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

<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/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s1600/z.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s400/z.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would make something more liken to an addictive limited cable series than an epic about absolutely nothing. It is, however, about <i>someone</i>; and that's Jimmy Hoffa played by a CGI-youthful Al Pacino, who, with Robert De Niro as sidekick "house painter" i.e. assassin Frank Sheeran, are involved in endless dialogue leading absolutely nowhere...<br> <br> Unlike Scorsese's mob classic GOODFELLAS, ironically playing-out like binge crime serials do now — with something to anticipate around every suspenseful corner — there's nothing to look forward to here except more and more conversations with De Niro on cruise control and Pacino using a fake accent that's not only distracting, but completely unnecessary...<br>

2019, al pacino, biopic, drama, epic, joe pesci, martin scorsese, mob, robert deniro, thriller

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019 At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would...

SUE LYON RIDES W/ GEORGE HAMILTON PLAYING 'EVEL KNIEVEL'

<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/AVvXsEjsTYl9aszZ-gDXnwTQBcjrvuT5X-CfYxacD9rHo-5FHy5xS3A8t5AQtxmpxplncxNLY-udITyEQfTnb_GFZc0_Tgl53q2qVM2pYcXYec3RXHjXSNyVnRQ_wv8UV6n3oreLUxTQMId1R_WI/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="378" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTYl9aszZ-gDXnwTQBcjrvuT5X-CfYxacD9rHo-5FHy5xS3A8t5AQtxmpxplncxNLY-udITyEQfTnb_GFZc0_Tgl53q2qVM2pYcXYec3RXHjXSNyVnRQ_wv8UV6n3oreLUxTQMId1R_WI/s400/0.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sue Lyon sits by her man George Hamilton as Evel Knievel YEAR: 1970</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It's hard to believe that tan man George Hamilton playing Evel Knievel would turn out working pretty good, and, despite the sub-par quality releases — from an online stream where every frame looks like a last known photo, or a myriad of public domain discs in bargain bins — this simple and sparse biopic tells its story quite well, beginning with the titular motorcycle stunt king about to make the jump of his career...<br> <br> We see Knievel's life in several long flashbacks, creatively weaving (upon narration) from the central venue's groovy waiting room where Sue Lyon as wife Linda waits faithfully and patiently by his side, and somehow this makes their initial schoolgirl-meets-leather-jacket-hood courtship seem more important: even though we know she'll eventually melt to his coolness, they have warm and relaxing chemistry with each other <i>and</i> the audience. Neither try too hard to play their real life counterparts: not an easy task when the subjects are still alive, and relevant. <br>

action, biker, biopic, exploitation, george hamilton, marvin j. chomsky, ron masak, seventies, sport, sue lyon

SUE LYON RIDES W/ GEORGE HAMILTON PLAYING 'EVEL KNIEVEL'

Sue Lyon sits by her man George Hamilton as Evel Knievel YEAR: 1970 It's hard to believe that tan man George Hamilton playing Evel K...

NETFLIX 'CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE TED BUNDY TAPES'

<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/AVvXsEhArPwHwnvKC9X8zS0LFL489is8EuQzVhsWO4v4tahmQDyE6xK1UYeYMxQHO17kcOlaO0Km34i-XREA-FgJFJKeIqedjxuiIpf02HeGzD6tD8OqPSR8n057522W4iL58V-LqzKZqIkemyhr/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-15+at+3.14.20+AM+2.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1347" data-original-width="1264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArPwHwnvKC9X8zS0LFL489is8EuQzVhsWO4v4tahmQDyE6xK1UYeYMxQHO17kcOlaO0Km34i-XREA-FgJFJKeIqedjxuiIpf02HeGzD6tD8OqPSR8n057522W4iL58V-LqzKZqIkemyhr/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-10-15+at+3.14.20+AM+2.jpeg" width="375"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>This is the guy the media SO wants to be gorgeous! YEAR: 2019</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>"Ted was never as handsome, brilliant, or charismatic as crime folklore has deemed him." Ann Rule</i><br> <br> Dude with no lips, a unibrow, a scruffy pubic perm, a ski-slope nose and a misshapen head has been described as a handsome guy throughout the years. Maybe because he's better looking than most serial killers, or what people think they would/should look like, or those depicted in movies like, you know, Leatherface, Ted Levine, Joe Spinell... But Ted Bundy is no <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/12/bundy.html">Mark Harmon</a> or Zac Efron...<br> <br> This documentary, where the "in his own words" device is basically Ted denying he had anything to do with any of the murders... conducted five years before he'd strategically confess to possibly extend his death date... all while the interviewer tells us that Ted is lying to us, and him... Well let's just say it would have been a much more complete and relevant documentary had they added some of these latter, more honest recordings and yet, on the outside, Netlix's TED BUNDY TAPES is a pretty decent four-part timeline about the murders with the CONVERSATIONS added to grab the viewer, and ultimately mislead them...<br>

2019, biopic, documentary, exploitation, netflix, serial killer

NETFLIX 'CONVERSATIONS WITH A KILLER: THE TED BUNDY TAPES'

This is the guy the media SO wants to be gorgeous! YEAR: 2019 "Ted was never as handsome, brilliant, or charismatic as crime folklo...