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 ...

BRUCE LEE, NORA MIAO & CHUCK NORRIS 'RETURN OF THE DRAGON'

<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/AVvXsEiWHwJ3tCY4MjWXng9MXlgkz5h-TOEKRLVi3v79xcfa6qCEYaByPZCC-aZtHLFQfKJrmXfnMsCnV1GMV0JrYtpXjHBYV9s-v9pj4lZgA5cK-dFu3RkXHSdvg3hKguk-4zf-JGieO2szc_TkS08MxsqvW4f_ymDDrfB5LDJKZq9YnJBexeuDH1tBlrArW0Pj/s2102/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1174" data-original-width="2102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHwJ3tCY4MjWXng9MXlgkz5h-TOEKRLVi3v79xcfa6qCEYaByPZCC-aZtHLFQfKJrmXfnMsCnV1GMV0JrYtpXjHBYV9s-v9pj4lZgA5cK-dFu3RkXHSdvg3hKguk-4zf-JGieO2szc_TkS08MxsqvW4f_ymDDrfB5LDJKZq9YnJBexeuDH1tBlrArW0Pj/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Way of the Dragon/Return of the Dragon Year: 1972/1974 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a Spaghetti Western opening score and cool Asian animation of a Chinese boat moving swiftly through water, the actual translation to Bruce Lee's THE WAY OF THE DRAGON has to do with a dragon going overseas... but is mostly remembered as the re-titled RETURN OF THE DRAGON, released in America after ENTER THE DRAGON, in which Lee died at the tail-end of production... <br><br>So it's intentionally misleading for an audience that was rabid for more Bruce Lee, as if the "Dragon" were returning when in fact, his Tang Lung had never been to Rome, where this... the third of Bruce's three Hong Kong action-crime flicks... takes place...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bob wall, bruce lee, chuck norris, comedy, crime, gangster, karate, malisa longo, nora miao, seventies

BRUCE LEE, NORA MIAO & CHUCK NORRIS 'RETURN OF THE DRAGON'

The Way of the Dragon/Return of the Dragon Year: 1972/1974 Rating: ***1/2 With a Spaghetti Western opening score and cool Asian animation of...

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

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

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

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

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

VICTOR MCLAGLEN WITH ANTHONY CARUSO IN 'CITY OF SHADOWS'

<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/AVvXsEiV_fZ_22vpUExLHRbjs0AW8aSXkn_mIWOvl-S_asPrPTca9YEdtrPt7e8fbRDbbS2gCqXrObDTqrDuCyHlubtZ6rtzw1tmZbOLF1iqwp7XS96ZJ9xQzVPglq7VLNkZbvA2UDz0ALTZmJNbFKcSGCaXSq0ov-RHdg8AfSe1j-Q2s8UmwkVhTcQom1aIiYv4/s1872/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-03%20at%209.41.04%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1004" data-original-width="1872" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV_fZ_22vpUExLHRbjs0AW8aSXkn_mIWOvl-S_asPrPTca9YEdtrPt7e8fbRDbbS2gCqXrObDTqrDuCyHlubtZ6rtzw1tmZbOLF1iqwp7XS96ZJ9xQzVPglq7VLNkZbvA2UDz0ALTZmJNbFKcSGCaXSq0ov-RHdg8AfSe1j-Q2s8UmwkVhTcQom1aIiYv4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-03%20at%209.41.04%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CITY OF SHADOWS Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Basically a reworking of the James Cagney early-1930's action/crime G-MEN in which he's funded by a mentoring, father-like, business-minded gangster to become a lawyer in the big guy's pocket... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In the Cagney flick, he chooses to work for the FBI instead... and here youngster-turned-twenty-something Jack Baer gets in a relationship with full-lipped b-movie beauty Kathleen Crowley, both seeing the shady errors in endearing mobster Victor McLaglen's ways, far too soon...</p><p><span></span></p>

anthony caruso, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gangster, jack baer, june vincent, kathleen crowley, kay e. kuter, nicolas coster, richard reeves, richard travis, victor mclaglen

VICTOR MCLAGLEN WITH ANTHONY CARUSO IN 'CITY OF SHADOWS'

Title: CITY OF SHADOWS Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2 Basically a reworking of the James Cagney early-1930's action/crime G-MEN in which he...

PETER SELLERS & NANETTE NEWMAN 'THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjUeZIDM9ecJKL7ww68nLu6lTaudFSFa5hxfj0em6sO07x8S1iju-6zAFvjlD054NqK6h-5mUWFKLpOTWpdPwJrUWkKBzYcBDL5aK9_bPNbACQ-cON0IsVkCobmfFG-szhyINcis_t-8X9oyy_dDs11CZ6wU-1qO-oY8SN2KHNuyNwzFwEfZqFGr_96WmGX/s1574/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-26%20at%2012.10.23%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="734" data-original-width="1574" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUeZIDM9ecJKL7ww68nLu6lTaudFSFa5hxfj0em6sO07x8S1iju-6zAFvjlD054NqK6h-5mUWFKLpOTWpdPwJrUWkKBzYcBDL5aK9_bPNbACQ-cON0IsVkCobmfFG-szhyINcis_t-8X9oyy_dDs11CZ6wU-1qO-oY8SN2KHNuyNwzFwEfZqFGr_96WmGX/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-26%20at%2012.10.23%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Sellers and Nanette Newman THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW Year: 1963 Rating: Grade: C—</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A familiar plot a year after <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/06/OGPP.html">THE PINK PANTHER</a> when Peter Sellers' character is cheated-on by his wife (Nanette Newman), working with someone he wants to bust... in this case the head of an Australian criminal ring that is stealing from Sellers' criminal ring led by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/06/panther2.html">SHOT IN THE DARK</a> sidekick Graham Stark...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><br>For all the running around, THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW sporadically feels like a comedy but really plays out like one, seeming more of a lightweight take on the 1930's Gangster genre, that always includes a meeting of rival gangs banded together for more city-controlling power... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, gangster, graham stark, lionel jeffries, nanette newman, peter sellers, sixties, vanda godsell

PETER SELLERS & NANETTE NEWMAN 'THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW'

Peter Sellers and Nanette Newman THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW Year: 1963 Rating: Grade: C— A familiar plot a year after  THE PINK PANTHER when ...

HARVEY KEITEL ON THE POST-HEIST 'THE FBI: DEADLY AMBITION'

<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/AVvXsEjhZrRAx5RWHrMZdiGP3Lptr3IP9tXOgLZKrZHu0-zBgCoQQTbBxl2Lhj6Irckl7sq-H2VtvsiKbouimo6sAspGRI7hi19SRhCboDV5x3-ooPqDJ6GkwzeDP-ZFfDDw-hX023e39TIORk8V_CGxGlOjWercwoqoYAshmLrbiU7AjsUJSwyByUFmw0yyEZ9O/s1908/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-05%20at%2011.51.13%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1126" data-original-width="1908" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZrRAx5RWHrMZdiGP3Lptr3IP9tXOgLZKrZHu0-zBgCoQQTbBxl2Lhj6Irckl7sq-H2VtvsiKbouimo6sAspGRI7hi19SRhCboDV5x3-ooPqDJ6GkwzeDP-ZFfDDw-hX023e39TIORk8V_CGxGlOjWercwoqoYAshmLrbiU7AjsUJSwyByUFmw0yyEZ9O/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-05%20at%2011.51.13%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harvey Keitel on THE FBI: Deadly Ambition Year: 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The very end quote of the final season FBI episode DEADLY AMBITION sums up what the viewer had already noticed, underlining the over-the-top proto-noir performance of Harvey Keitel, fresh from a MEAN STREETS breakthrough that was more critically acclaimed than mainstream enough to go beyond several television crime shows, including the pilot episode of KOJAK, where he plays a similar climbing crook, only leading a bank heist...<br><br>Here it's much more fun and involving as Keitel, after pulling off a rural armored car robbery and forcing lowly but lovely cook Claudia Jennings to be his sexy moll, climbs through the ranks of the bigwigs who hired him, including BULLITT co-star Don Gordon, leading to Robert Hooks as, strangely enough, a black mob boss who prefers golfing to chewing out Italian underlings...</p><p><span></span></p>

claudia jennings, don gordon, efrem zimbalist jr., gangster, gerald mcraney, harvey keitel, james b.sikking, post-heist, robert hooks, seventies, tv series, vincent beck

HARVEY KEITEL ON THE POST-HEIST 'THE FBI: DEADLY AMBITION'

Harvey Keitel on THE FBI: Deadly Ambition Year: 1974 Rating: **** The very end quote of the final season FBI episode DEADLY AMBITION sums up...

SEAN CONNERY & YVONNE ROMAIN IN 'THE FRIGHTENED CITY'

<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/AVvXsEg4aWom-r5xT4qj3Fi1oOPi_l6oeXRoXeHBtge8kcEF2xZDzRZrv046rAV1X8k8RTJrN_FvWXZ6uQ8Ix2c4CihsfJKVkIPT6BzUFvZRnD_zbsKWuXK2iZPH0s0glkBJXZVYft4_ph9n7syALlY4qB4piayrOphj3oJIkYoTIcp74k4eX7LwB16n6Dugj8E7/s2644/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%201.50.31%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1370" data-original-width="2644" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aWom-r5xT4qj3Fi1oOPi_l6oeXRoXeHBtge8kcEF2xZDzRZrv046rAV1X8k8RTJrN_FvWXZ6uQ8Ix2c4CihsfJKVkIPT6BzUFvZRnD_zbsKWuXK2iZPH0s0glkBJXZVYft4_ph9n7syALlY4qB4piayrOphj3oJIkYoTIcp74k4eX7LwB16n6Dugj8E7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%201.50.31%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster image of Yvonne Romain for THE FRIGHTENED CITY Year: 1961 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a terrific title like THE FRIGHTENED CITY, a British Neo Noir that actually goes the 1930's-style Classic Gangster route, you'd think characters would be more... well... frightened... but random bursts of mobsters messing up nightclubs that don't pay for extortion happens so fast there's nothing to really fear but broken glass....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The plot is simple and straight from the Al Capone playbook of a CITY being divided by gangsters/businessman; that's the idea given by first-billed Herbert Lom as a shady accountant, usually a side-role in these kind of action/dramas, but he was more famous than fellow HELL DRIVERS veteran Sean Connery in the muscular role... </p><p><span></span></p>

alfred marks, british neo noir, crime, gangster, herbert lom, julie shearing, melodrama, sixties

SEAN CONNERY & YVONNE ROMAIN IN 'THE FRIGHTENED CITY'

Poster image of Yvonne Romain for THE FRIGHTENED CITY Year: 1961 Rating: ** With a terrific title like THE FRIGHTENED CITY, a British Neo No...

JAMES CAGNEY & HUMPHREY BOGART IN 'THE ROARING TWENTIES'

<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/AVvXsEiOyjrkzJL2si35iliFwjXaNgHLwtmynviuiHLIn2w51QKC42TQ4BbN7IKt-7ul_7SLhnwofpqUDcm5f8jnWVFqtjGsrS9_7DoR9jeL_PlaDbQAez4ZrT4kVmGGL0l2DQCiw-Wlxr9qLWBaBnIMz0X1gHhjjowQkHtlVUIjZfDZHxjZgAvKv3F-vsD-t9V3/s2166/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-09%20at%201.40.45%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1326" data-original-width="2166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyjrkzJL2si35iliFwjXaNgHLwtmynviuiHLIn2w51QKC42TQ4BbN7IKt-7ul_7SLhnwofpqUDcm5f8jnWVFqtjGsrS9_7DoR9jeL_PlaDbQAez4ZrT4kVmGGL0l2DQCiw-Wlxr9qLWBaBnIMz0X1gHhjjowQkHtlVUIjZfDZHxjZgAvKv3F-vsD-t9V3/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-09%20at%201.40.45%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE ROARING TWENTIES Year: 1939 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At one point, only fifteen-minutes in, when James Cagney shuffles across the cheap apartment room rented with buddy Frank McHugh, saying how he's tired of being pushed around, there's been at least two short films that already played out: beginning with a war story involving Cagney alongside a shifty yet dependable Humphrey Bogart and affable Jeffrey Lynn, leaping into exploding foxholes when not picking-off nameless Germans...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's hardly better back home, where there are no jobs, leading to the inevitable but far from rushed progression into the life of bootlegging liquor during the infamous anti-liquor law Prohibition, that the film itself... written/produced by Mark Hellinger with Raoul Walsh directing... is even more against than the law-breaking, often murderous shortcuts to make a lot of money by getting around it...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, depression-era, frank mchugh, gangster, gladys george, humphrey bogart, james cagney, jeffrey lynn, joe sawyer, priscilla lane, raoul walsh, robert armstrong, thirties, world war I

JAMES CAGNEY & HUMPHREY BOGART IN 'THE ROARING TWENTIES'

Title: THE ROARING TWENTIES Year: 1939 Rating: ***** At one point, only fifteen-minutes in, when James Cagney shuffles across the cheap apar...

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

<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/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s1972/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1972" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tall young instigator and his much shorter sidekick breaking laws — then to grow up a tall and lanky follower of the pint-size firebrand in charge... and that's because once James Cagney was recast to lead Edward Woods, the backstory intro wasn't changed...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which hardly really matters... once Cagney appears on screen he's as mesmerizing to the audience as he was to director William A. Wellman, who saw him in another movie's walk-on, and was convinced the days of secondary-lead... like SINNER'S HOLIDAY and BACK DOOR TO HEAVEN... were long gone...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, gangster, james cagney, jean harlow, joan blondell, mae clarke, melodrama, thirties

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: **** It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tal...

MARK STEVENS & RICHARD WIDMARK 'THE STREET WITH NO NAME'

<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/AVvXsEjXWGzxm087JR3xJaWyaXMzvTRS6OINpETTA2sd1EYmtu-jODWMc5anmjF4idmY_P4nT4M8Z6sVNTozeSQ7IxPkcmhFMbkSbwZ-rG5bSsYiOf0QTlMUqsY8hxzTWzX10AMVzaHEnh0Bd2REAMrDc7PDmHWFJsg9kkrU_qYPTQkfxn-BjuFj6CgP1_ACx-lm/s1264/lighterRED.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="1264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXWGzxm087JR3xJaWyaXMzvTRS6OINpETTA2sd1EYmtu-jODWMc5anmjF4idmY_P4nT4M8Z6sVNTozeSQ7IxPkcmhFMbkSbwZ-rG5bSsYiOf0QTlMUqsY8hxzTWzX10AMVzaHEnh0Bd2REAMrDc7PDmHWFJsg9kkrU_qYPTQkfxn-BjuFj6CgP1_ACx-lm/s16000/lighterRED.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE STREET WITH NO NAME Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Like James Cagney's more popular G-MEN, this dusty gem begins as sort of an FBI propaganda film, showing the inner workings of the department with a monotone "facts only" narration, yet soon enough it settles darkly into a mean, lean mobster flick as we follow agent Mark Stevens undercover along the titular urban street...<br> <br> Stevens as Gene Cordell, going by the bogus name of George Manly, then coasts into a boxing syndicate led by the dependably-vile Noir favorite Richard Widmark as Alec Stiles, who has solo time on screen, becoming an equal match of mobster verses undercover agent...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

action, crime, donald buka, FBI, film noir or melodrama, gangster, joseph pevney, mark stevens, richard widmark, suspense

MARK STEVENS & RICHARD WIDMARK 'THE STREET WITH NO NAME'

Title: THE STREET WITH NO NAME Year: 1947 Rating: ****1/2 Like James Cagney's more popular G-MEN, this dusty gem begins as sort of an ...

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...

WARREN DOUGLAS IN THE GANGSTER NOIR 'BELOW THE DEADLINE'

<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/AVvXsEg2R24ces8ECVz7Ju6gUllJtXnKvSpk8T4zMsb30T2T85S4E0RZOr_ntQE5c17i-ELBIp51ABfgNYwrgH2v6604ROyUcsZ7OZZIUlYmbYUpq-nvFmb3Ln63dPRUmD7Sc_ljBCvZlCs0lZe24G543uUx_SKzJkbXmiDfCiCxgKvyS9Tvtj0XueGliWpq_w/s1606/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.34.03%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1606" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2R24ces8ECVz7Ju6gUllJtXnKvSpk8T4zMsb30T2T85S4E0RZOr_ntQE5c17i-ELBIp51ABfgNYwrgH2v6604ROyUcsZ7OZZIUlYmbYUpq-nvFmb3Ln63dPRUmD7Sc_ljBCvZlCs0lZe24G543uUx_SKzJkbXmiDfCiCxgKvyS9Tvtj0XueGliWpq_w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-27%20at%2012.34.03%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warren Douglas, </u><u>Ramsay Ames</u><u> & George Meeker in Below the Deadline Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Little known or discussed Gangster Film Noir where our main man "Jumpin' Joe" Hilton is just that... And in the role, Warren Douglas is perfect. He seems ready for anything and yet is cool as that proverbial cucumber... in an ice box: Just returned from World War II, having inherited his slain, more proper and distinguished (and pretentious) older brother's gambling outfit, he's got just about everything, literally...<br> <br> Including a beautiful young dame in Ramsay Ames's Lynn, going from a roulette wheel worker to the girl who chips at his icy heart... Which is what makes Joe a worthy Noir persona, initially moving forward like a shark: But as cold-blooded as he may be, his recent-past... which had lasted five grueling years... provides a light at the end of the tunnel...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

clancy cooper, film noir or melodrama, forties, gangster, george meeker, jan wiley, paul maxey, philip van zandt, ramsay ames, warner archives, warren douglas

WARREN DOUGLAS IN THE GANGSTER NOIR 'BELOW THE DEADLINE'

Warren Douglas, Ramsay Ames & George Meeker in Below the Deadline Year: 1946 Rating: ***1/2 Little known or discussed Gangster Film No...

BURT REYNOLDS AND CLINT EASTWOOD TEAM FOR 'CITY HEAT'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjdH0keeL8EP_DhcTnkaPU1AJnaGxXY3HonsP7aRL65NT2VTeVjw1VfIuLPRQU0591PogFDWguVtAj3XRB34B8PURJzeehgmT1d4syTDiXeSVI5RZsRdXnOoFCrBSblhyR0QZbMxEyIjiFMl-6X6P_zuLTZcfwt5OFNJRfxSh_LwdRn7K72yPS3Ik0LaQx3/s991/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-18%20at%207.30.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="563" data-original-width="991" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdH0keeL8EP_DhcTnkaPU1AJnaGxXY3HonsP7aRL65NT2VTeVjw1VfIuLPRQU0591PogFDWguVtAj3XRB34B8PURJzeehgmT1d4syTDiXeSVI5RZsRdXnOoFCrBSblhyR0QZbMxEyIjiFMl-6X6P_zuLTZcfwt5OFNJRfxSh_LwdRn7K72yPS3Ik0LaQx3/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-18%20at%207.30.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: City Heat Stars: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds Year: 1984 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Remembering the time, as a young action movie fan, when realizing CITY HEAT did <i>not</i> take place in an edgy modern setting — before the knowledge and love of Film Noir and/or Classic Gangster flicks — was a complete letdown...<br> <br> Years have opened the mind, and, while remaining an overall dud to what it could have been given the collaborative talents of Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds, CITY HEAT has gotten a little more entertaining... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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>

action, bruce m. fischer, buddy, burt reynolds, clint eastwood, cop, eighties, gangster, gumshoe, jane alexander, madeline kahn, neo noir, richard benjamin, richard roundtree, team-up

BURT REYNOLDS AND CLINT EASTWOOD TEAM FOR 'CITY HEAT'

Title: City Heat Stars: Clint Eastwood, Burt Reynolds Year: 1984 Rating: *** Remembering the time, as a young action movie fan, when realiz...

RUDIMENTARY RAMBLING FOR THE LEGENDARY 'RESERVOIR DOGS'

<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/AVvXsEhwtMDOWZ4_rJgbyZ3Bs0WU2GE8U-gIL3f7t-uvC3OOE-1Lao9P6xpIQuH_4kFldVNfO3AoBW5kzBdioexmeqFMj317CUr_PdyjLHrwvC5usf71g12b1jBZ7fz46LjgdzOqOBBEc6S_A84fln7CgxgZjvzP7MUrOlN_DrNAtBfUnlCKqMVotoaK6m5pFQ/s1155/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtMDOWZ4_rJgbyZ3Bs0WU2GE8U-gIL3f7t-uvC3OOE-1Lao9P6xpIQuH_4kFldVNfO3AoBW5kzBdioexmeqFMj317CUr_PdyjLHrwvC5usf71g12b1jBZ7fz46LjgdzOqOBBEc6S_A84fln7CgxgZjvzP7MUrOlN_DrNAtBfUnlCKqMVotoaK6m5pFQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney in RESERVOIR DOGS Year: 1991 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If, before 1991, someone mentioned that a movie involving a group of hardened thugs… including Noir legend/tough guy Lawrence Tierney, 1970's cinema legend who resembles an actual criminal Harvey Keitel, and real life ex-prisoner Eddie Bunker… would sit around in a diner discussing (or listening to others discuss) Madonna songs, no one would believe it.... <br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"> </div><p> But it took that kind of creative pop culture insanity to create one of the greatest modern crime flicks, written and directed by a former video store employee who’d soon become an international icon...</p><p><span></span></p>

chris penn, exploitation, gangster, harvey keitel, kirk baltz, michael madsen, nineties, post-heist, quentin tarantino, randy brooks, steve buscemi, tim roth

RUDIMENTARY RAMBLING FOR THE LEGENDARY 'RESERVOIR DOGS'

Lawrence Tierney in RESERVOIR DOGS Year: 1991 Rating: ***** If, before 1991, someone mentioned that a movie involving a group of hardened t...

RYAN O'NEAL WITH JACK WARDEN AND RICHARD KIEL IN 'SO FINE'

<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/AVvXsEjxvi3L9p5KzqhZWsFT2AimSDLKKTdbOGlQNVekIiLAMuoF_YACxByg7T9988nV6KyXKZ6t_BpzEAYXKgGeSYCP6pWsMU2CECVlc0iktYmNbY3wpIQiFa8CQMmo_mzedCibxZRGlb07Tik8lvQYm_Hykk4up44hKfFiOVk5RzvKiPg0gIxBugK1itTwV8um/s1485/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-14%20at%209.14.58%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="987" data-original-width="1485" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxvi3L9p5KzqhZWsFT2AimSDLKKTdbOGlQNVekIiLAMuoF_YACxByg7T9988nV6KyXKZ6t_BpzEAYXKgGeSYCP6pWsMU2CECVlc0iktYmNbY3wpIQiFa8CQMmo_mzedCibxZRGlb07Tik8lvQYm_Hykk4up44hKfFiOVk5RzvKiPg0gIxBugK1itTwV8um/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-14%20at%209.14.58%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SO FINE Year: 1981 Rating: ^^^</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There were comedies not that funny yet still provided a fair amount of entertainment. And in some cases, the actual plot took place halfway in and wound up not meaning a lot to the actual structure of the film, story, or characters...  <br> <br> One such vehicle is the semi-slapstick SO FINE by first time director and usual Hollywood writer Andrew Bergman, in which Ryan O'Neal plays a semi-stuffy college professor up for tenure...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, eighties, exploitation, fashion, gangster, jack warden, john stockwell, richard kiel, ryan o'neal, warner archives

RYAN O'NEAL WITH JACK WARDEN AND RICHARD KIEL IN 'SO FINE'

Title: SO FINE Year: 1981 Rating: ^^^ There were comedies not that funny yet still provided a fair amount of entertainment. And in some cas...

NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

<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/AVvXsEjVOnAob6L1tFMwryf-c3p6hudsdXuonBeTiSpFI0Y-7zskbv1urv4QLOdIUyvjVDZBrCDbNHVsaZUhrtMC22W3n4Y85hyQ01M-Ovj1m4F12rto9yRTSLXPrEPgnaiXq4UfUvqBJCycaSNztcdEej8qaNKcr_sxNp7X9BWz0hpDMGYs5PIeNbUkvxTrWQ/s1988/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="1988" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVOnAob6L1tFMwryf-c3p6hudsdXuonBeTiSpFI0Y-7zskbv1urv4QLOdIUyvjVDZBrCDbNHVsaZUhrtMC22W3n4Y85hyQ01M-Ovj1m4F12rto9yRTSLXPrEPgnaiXq4UfUvqBJCycaSNztcdEej8qaNKcr_sxNp7X9BWz0hpDMGYs5PIeNbUkvxTrWQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Billy Murray & John Thaw in The Sweeney: STOPPO DRIVER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Another action-packed opener that winds up in a den of thieves with loads of pulpy dialogue... and a titular STOPPO DRIVER in this first SWEENEY season, played by Billy Murray, drives like... as described by John Thaw's Inspector Regan... Evel Knievel in that rudimentary chase that winds up killing the crime family's own driver, and they want this whipper-snapper wheelman for their own, so far as kidnapping his just-married wife...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But story-wise the DRIVER winds up riding backseat to the likes of gambling-house moll Nicola Pagett, who, along with her crooked brothers and father (including a rowdy card playing Aubrey Morris), could have had a gritty gangster series of their own, which is what made THE SWEENEY often play out like a gritty criminal's anthology series with our mainstay SWEENEY partners Thaw with Dennis Waterman serving as their inevitable foil.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, aubrey morris, british, british neo noir, dennis waterman, gangster, getaway driver, john thaw, nicola pagett, seventies, sweeney

NICOLA PAGETT & BILLY MURRAY ON 'THE SWEEENEY: STOPPO DRIVER'

Billy Murray & John Thaw in The Sweeney: STOPPO DRIVER Year: 1975 Rating: ***1/2 Another action-packed opener that winds up in a den of ...

COLIN WELLAND & DENNIS WATERMAN MAKE 'THE SWEENEY: FACES'

<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/AVvXsEgzKtuwsiSngkA6RWgJR5qmgPSDsla4gRUzHRE0TaAnTNg-W5uJOT9X-0zAtRdQh_dkIpcM_YNU2rvdNS4aM-e5lskJp5IBq4rgz_2hARdRteJ-Q27TbxE4_Dv8NlvymAlbsAJaoZ4qhWCANXwtMa8N99mzW-m9LxLrD_JbNgzgbnEV3fLjhNlZPQkl5A/s1741/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1182" data-original-width="1741" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzKtuwsiSngkA6RWgJR5qmgPSDsla4gRUzHRE0TaAnTNg-W5uJOT9X-0zAtRdQh_dkIpcM_YNU2rvdNS4aM-e5lskJp5IBq4rgz_2hARdRteJ-Q27TbxE4_Dv8NlvymAlbsAJaoZ4qhWCANXwtMa8N99mzW-m9LxLrD_JbNgzgbnEV3fLjhNlZPQkl5A/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: Faces YEAR: 1975 Rating: ****<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Starting with a bombastic heist sweeping an entire London street, THE SWEENEY season two episode FACES is, like the pilot <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/04/ian-hendry-jill-townsend-christen.html">RINGER</a>, another centering on a grungy and eclectic lot of sordid thieves that only <i>seems</i> to have a leader...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Here it's British actor/screenwriter Colin Welland who, despite looking like a chunky chipmunk and having played a passive vicar in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/11/peckinpahdogs.html">STRAW DOGS</a>, turns in one of the most formidable and in that, suspenseful performances when he screams, "OKAY SWEENEY!" at the top of his lungs, carrying a knife from his house to the adjoined junkyard headquarters, and giving Dennis Waterman's Carter good reason to run, and climb, quickly...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

barry stanton, british, british neo noir, colin welland, dennis waterman, gangster, garfield morgan, heist, john cording, john thaw, keith buckley, nazi, seventies, sweeney

COLIN WELLAND & DENNIS WATERMAN MAKE 'THE SWEENEY: FACES'

Dennis Waterman in THE SWEENEY: Faces YEAR: 1975 Rating: **** Starting with a bombastic heist sweeping an entire London street, THE SWEENEY ...

IAN HENDRY AND JILL TOWNSEND CHRISTEN 'THE SWEENEY: RINGER'

<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/AVvXsEiL-1CZV1mGwCvhBoB5ry44hNrDIqAch88d4PQFa4WWusHoDRf-VMIenYEr6nWjrSrcJPu0UwQxQMBB1DN8VIlIouT0od_ImxIYkEykhZUXOFmHaWaxD3rRTuUfI27Y8fqPDvuSdp0nF299LhMzdTVCzIy3grOQP3k0p9mgb0NLfcGiIW1ekl0ZuBEcfFCW/s2528/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%203.05.09%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1526" data-original-width="2528" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL-1CZV1mGwCvhBoB5ry44hNrDIqAch88d4PQFa4WWusHoDRf-VMIenYEr6nWjrSrcJPu0UwQxQMBB1DN8VIlIouT0od_ImxIYkEykhZUXOFmHaWaxD3rRTuUfI27Y8fqPDvuSdp0nF299LhMzdTVCzIy3grOQP3k0p9mgb0NLfcGiIW1ekl0ZuBEcfFCW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-10-07%20at%203.05.09%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RINGER Season 1 Episode 1 Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The rudimentary episode of THE SWEENEY is one of the best, and like all great superheros are judged by their villains, this sordid lot of edgy crooks are straight out of GET CARTER: Literally in the case of Ian Hendry as Dave Brooker, who gets the first one-liner in the first cold open before the roaring theme song and title cards zoom into motion...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Leading to John Thaw's Regan bedded down with such a comfortably and contented girl-next-door in Jill Townsend, you'd never think he'd become a womanizer thereafter... he even borrows her car...</p><span></span>

alan lake, brian blessed, british, cop, crime, dennis waterman, gangster, heist, ian hendry, jill townsend, john thaw, neo noir, seventies, sweeney

IAN HENDRY AND JILL TOWNSEND CHRISTEN 'THE SWEENEY: RINGER'

Title: RINGER Season 1 Episode 1 Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2 The rudimentary episode of THE SWEENEY is one of the best, and like all great su...

SHERIDAN FITZGERALD STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: ONE OF YOUR OWN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVYfTi5OExIujRXwcUDDPx77GwAeMaLxHc9UzrCW-UVvKIX03N145hPERHltPO4RJpFrEacOhXNW-tZkCAeVsut-GVdUyDQUMMOgvvKyVqVxFSDA5KRGCHqX44P6DTJWq7HsKzuAitFQOI_quQLMhcZ_1ueEbDnJQTS2kS5JBQ7lnhQU43PIJJpJb8Q/s2032/1.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1382" data-original-width="2032" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIVYfTi5OExIujRXwcUDDPx77GwAeMaLxHc9UzrCW-UVvKIX03N145hPERHltPO4RJpFrEacOhXNW-tZkCAeVsut-GVdUyDQUMMOgvvKyVqVxFSDA5KRGCHqX44P6DTJWq7HsKzuAitFQOI_quQLMhcZ_1ueEbDnJQTS2kS5JBQ7lnhQU43PIJJpJb8Q/w400-h272/1.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sheridan Fitzgerald in One Of Your Own 1978 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE SWEENEY would sometimes go outside the crowded and bickering New Scotland Yard box as Regan played by John Thaw and Dennis Waterman's Carter would be sent undercover (which is actually unrealistic given how prominent they are to villains); and Season Four's ONE OF OUR OWN has Carter pulling an Edmond O'Brien from WHITE HEAT, impersonating a prisoner to befriend a newly-arrested career criminal in Michael Elphick's Jimmy Fleet... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>There's also a touch of KISS OF DEATH since Carter only spends one night in lockup, resulting mostly in a gangland barroom with dark surrounding alleyways, and, donning glasses and a new haircut, Waterman does all the work while womanizing Regan has all the fun; in particular with gorgeous bartender Sheridan Fitzgerald, originally paired with Carter and who, it turns out in a comedic twist, has the entire Sweeney on her cop-groupie hit list. But given the forty-five minute run-time she only conquers three cops while the gangster throwback story drags with too much dialogue, making the promiscuous peripheral shine more brightly than the gritty (but not gritty enough) mainline. </p><span></span>

action, british, british tv, cop, crime, dennis waterman, gangster, john thaw, michael elphick, neo noir, prison, seventies, sweeney

SHERIDAN FITZGERALD STEALS 'THE SWEENEY: ONE OF YOUR OWN'

Sheridan Fitzgerald in One Of Your Own 1978 Rates: ***1/2 THE SWEENEY would sometimes go outside the crowded and bickering New Scotland Yard...

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...