GENE HACKMAN COMMANDS TED KOTCHEFF'S 'UNCOMMON VALOR'

<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_iuyoT90Q0AFhlHAsFRV03yfRoakpJGgXee9oH3nt53BXcMAtNYYIuRlLR38ZH5JcwBj6BiwRadR17Ag-1hiV8_QYupzbggupDPF5FE7gvB15iQdFgELNbGBU_S394ljp6Pvcpzfp_oUJPLdzTPXLfQ9nfkm9i4l78mjyhARKOPH1ktZKilNXfyd2kJpd/s2046/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-17%20at%206.07.38%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="2046" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_iuyoT90Q0AFhlHAsFRV03yfRoakpJGgXee9oH3nt53BXcMAtNYYIuRlLR38ZH5JcwBj6BiwRadR17Ag-1hiV8_QYupzbggupDPF5FE7gvB15iQdFgELNbGBU_S394ljp6Pvcpzfp_oUJPLdzTPXLfQ9nfkm9i4l78mjyhARKOPH1ktZKilNXfyd2kJpd/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-04-17%20at%206.07.38%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Randall Tex Cobb & Kelly Junkerman in UNCOMMON VALOR Year: 1983 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Recently, three important people connected to 1983's UNCOMMON VALOR have died: the most significant being the legendary Gene Hackman, who stars as Colonel Jason Rhodes, gathering a group of Vietnam veterans who served with his captured son — training them to bring his boy back home a decade later... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Then there's director Ted Kotcheff, who had already tackled a similar subject in FIRST BLOOD (also featuring a kind of lonesome French horn soundtrack albeit by different composers); and actor Wings Hauser, who hasn't a part here, and isn't credited as writer, but his original screenplay (formerly titled <i>Youth in Asia</i>) became what's now a somewhat forgotten, equally cult-and-mainstream post-war action/thriller... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, constance forslund, eighties, fred ward, gene hackman, harold sylvester, patrick swayze, reb brown, robert stack, ted kotcheff, tim thomerson, vietnam, war, wings hauser

GENE HACKMAN COMMANDS TED KOTCHEFF'S 'UNCOMMON VALOR'

Randall Tex Cobb & Kelly Junkerman in UNCOMMON VALOR Year: 1983 Rating: **** Recently, three important people connected to 1983's UN...

GENE HACKMAN IN FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'THE CONVERSATION'

<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/AVvXsEh6iVlS7sQbigBayBqiGYRnVaDU7BnfUzK9B4mqcoMmXdBTIXIQ4h9hgvK1MM1AH5Hn8zeBdxxVJi0MDnn4zA3o3riJLJPZDu52EwppJkJbcOSSEIzlqa6d0hkJyweg63C8ObVY7F3b6v-tKnUz5CNfKuzUsvKNVrDXTOBs_vecSNcvoZe7kqD64M5Z74To/s1496/0-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="784" data-original-width="1496" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6iVlS7sQbigBayBqiGYRnVaDU7BnfUzK9B4mqcoMmXdBTIXIQ4h9hgvK1MM1AH5Hn8zeBdxxVJi0MDnn4zA3o3riJLJPZDu52EwppJkJbcOSSEIzlqa6d0hkJyweg63C8ObVY7F3b6v-tKnUz5CNfKuzUsvKNVrDXTOBs_vecSNcvoZe7kqD64M5Z74To/s16000/0-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Gene Hackman's <span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation">surveillance expert Harry Caul attends a convention of lesser experts who consider him an icon, we've already learned about how surreptitious his methods are: turning this comparably fast-moving second-act of Francis Ford Coppola's otherwise slow-burn THE CONVERSATION into more of a climatic peak than what eventually becomes a paranoid Hitchcockian thriller involving the murder of the powerful man who had initially hired him...</span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation">In one of Gene Hackman's greatest performances mainly for what he holds back, having already proven what he can explosively unleash in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/03/hackmanconnection.html">THE FRENCH CONNECTION</a> while THE GODFATHER auteur Coppola provides the same kind of subtlety: intentionally hiding more than revealing... <br></span></p><p><span class="sc-42125d72-1 igbBrx" data-testid="plot-l" role="presentation"><span></span></span></p>

allen garfield, cindy williams, francis ford coppola, frederic forrest, gene hackman, harrison ford, john cazale, mark wheeler, michael higgins, neo noir, ramon bieri, robert duvall, seventies, thriller

GENE HACKMAN IN FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA'S 'THE CONVERSATION'

Gene Hackman in THE CONVERSATION Year: 1974 Rating: ****1/2 By the time Gene Hackman's surveillance expert Harry Caul attends a conventi...

GENE HACKMAN WITH ROY SCHEIDER IN 'THE FRENCH CONNECTION'

<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/AVvXsEiKMb7AxHMg6bciaQsv7VhcKHCZSGVY0vxgip4ot8YOtcsvXptxL4WOvt0nuKwWqjgoSokHRbiE4LLoLMO4o4yhzchUOkeoaf0GRq65ckobuXlsVSV2PiXUi8RjvzBVczAyQiIcVs01NR-K2aTJSXItR9C8knL1s9Sgly1_oK2DYWVfxBbD1bpdcf8SgFBK/s1624/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.23.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="952" data-original-width="1624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKMb7AxHMg6bciaQsv7VhcKHCZSGVY0vxgip4ot8YOtcsvXptxL4WOvt0nuKwWqjgoSokHRbiE4LLoLMO4o4yhzchUOkeoaf0GRq65ckobuXlsVSV2PiXUi8RjvzBVczAyQiIcVs01NR-K2aTJSXItR9C8knL1s9Sgly1_oK2DYWVfxBbD1bpdcf8SgFBK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.23.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE FRENCH CONNECTION Shown: Gene Hackman, Marcel Bozzuffi Year: 1971 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After becoming a legendary yet sometimes difficult actor, Gene Hackman would put vulnerable young directors through the ringer, ranging from two of his best known films, HOSSIERS and THE ROYAL TENNENBAUMS... and years earlier, the Oscar-winning blockbuster that turned him from a recurring co-star into a bonafide movie star, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, was not much different...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Except that William Friedkin didn't bend to Hackman's initial reluctance to fully<i> </i>embrace the sordid, uncompromising nature of New York City cop Popeye Doyle within the pallid purgatory aesthetic... ironically encroached by classy and sophisticated French drug-smuggler Fernando Rey aka "Frog One" (with deadly henchman Marcel Bozzuffi)... </p><span></span>

alan weeks, arlene farber, bill hickman, cop, drugs, eddie egan, exploitation, fernado rey, frédéric de pasquale, gene hackman, patrick mcdermott, roy scheider, william friedkin

GENE HACKMAN WITH ROY SCHEIDER IN 'THE FRENCH CONNECTION'

Title: THE FRENCH CONNECTION Shown: Gene Hackman, Marcel Bozzuffi Year: 1971 Rating: ****1/2 After becoming a legendary yet sometimes diffic...

GENE HACKMAN RETURNING FOR 'THE FRENCH CONNECTON II'

<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/AVvXsEiTw8c1vhHV36_v2zP7lbef6uscchCk6jZIAxEcbRdBby_jf-Ra-0HJHJexFtqemS41eH_MCIiIN5TEXzCauVuGCQzJnzEUjTwtTSBzl5HxVIsL87x-q40IfFw238q_qaLDmkgBJzdrcCW_JtCnj_9IJJToi0021p_vVm7sFZW42hbFUjBfjFneE8c4LU2F/s1312/1-1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="774" data-original-width="1312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTw8c1vhHV36_v2zP7lbef6uscchCk6jZIAxEcbRdBby_jf-Ra-0HJHJexFtqemS41eH_MCIiIN5TEXzCauVuGCQzJnzEUjTwtTSBzl5HxVIsL87x-q40IfFw238q_qaLDmkgBJzdrcCW_JtCnj_9IJJToi0021p_vVm7sFZW42hbFUjBfjFneE8c4LU2F/s16000/1-1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION II Year: 1975 Rating: ***</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a kind of guilty pleasure watching a thinned-down Gene Hackman as New York's favorite tough cop Popeye Doyle being force-fed heroin in a Euro-slum, and then kicking it cold turkey whilst squirming, vomiting, and eventually screaming about Mickey Mantle... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>We begin in France and this time remain there. Unlike his New York stomping grounds, Doyle can't get a decent whiskey buzz, this time gets beat up by a black guy, finds it impossible interrogating perps, and is without partner/anchor Roy Scheider, who, that same year, was busy hunting a Great White Shark for Steven Speilberg...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bernard fresson, cop, drugs, ed lauter, exploitation, fernando rey, gene hackman, john frankenheimer, sequel, seventies

GENE HACKMAN RETURNING FOR 'THE FRENCH CONNECTON II'

Gene Hackman in THE FRENCH CONNECTION II Year: 1975 Rating: *** There's a kind of guilty pleasure watching a thinned-down Gene Hackman ...

GENE HACKMAN MINING THROUGH NICOLAS ROAG'S 'EUREKA'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiCRfM7Ghj5zLUvUYIqIUKoAsAs8vExn4gmt3QfjjJP-LLP-5l9fhSRfcHcHWLIVxtHTIwSMDD2M-W0ogvEwCWZ_uBMs_J2jfGiY1nqxDHLFdeii6cASgCnaDb4mfJEhbzY53CW3JzUfqVrl99cmeulEvNCo98mHJW5pgGE096wd7ZNfqmt0JT6YBfu_E1e/s1036/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-01%20at%2010.15.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="1036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRfM7Ghj5zLUvUYIqIUKoAsAs8vExn4gmt3QfjjJP-LLP-5l9fhSRfcHcHWLIVxtHTIwSMDD2M-W0ogvEwCWZ_uBMs_J2jfGiY1nqxDHLFdeii6cASgCnaDb4mfJEhbzY53CW3JzUfqVrl99cmeulEvNCo98mHJW5pgGE096wd7ZNfqmt0JT6YBfu_E1e/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-01%20at%2010.15.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in EUREKA Year: 1983 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following the game-changing THE FRENCH CONNECTION turning 2nd-lead and/or villain-role character-actor Gene Hackman into a leading man/movie star, he did two independent art-films, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/02/scarecrow.html">Jerry Schatzberg's SCARECROW</a> and Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION that, because of their underpar box office (albeit both being critically praised), he swore to only mainstream movies thereafter...<br><br>But after THE FRENCH CONNECTION sequel, a few action thrillers and two SUPERMAN blockbusters, he went back to low-budget basics with the most offbeat auteur of them all, Nicolas Roeg, for a deliberately dismal melodrama EUREKA where the best scenes exist in the relatively short-lived first act: when Gene Hackman as solitary yet formidable minor Jack McCann (when not frequenting a brothel with FIVE EASY PIECES rambling-actress Helena Kallianiotes) has put everything into one lucrative gold strike...</p><p><span></span></p>

ed lauter, eighties, gene hackman, helena kallianiotes, indie, joe pesci, mickey rourke, nicolas roeg, rutger hauer, theresa russell

GENE HACKMAN MINING THROUGH NICOLAS ROAG'S 'EUREKA'

Gene Hackman in EUREKA Year: 1983 Rating: **1/2 Following the game-changing THE FRENCH CONNECTION turning 2nd-lead and/or villain-role chara...

GENE HACKMAN MAKING AND BREAKING 'THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS'

<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/AVvXsEgVF1SaAknZPbsMooda_vzqbkObuK6hhAWqKl2gHeG8WaSKRUyAaUFLKO9_t_7xW1xnHTJBLCTZslGNhlRHFPNGBbjvrGemgGfBkdxHE2tBwqONeU08AzuyfrNLW_b81uoPw_iYctS2TA8qrtu7d4MCkj-oxKIsf2ii44mxQZiQERXeDmCEpj0Q7FH5sopA/s1918/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.57.31%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1918" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVF1SaAknZPbsMooda_vzqbkObuK6hhAWqKl2gHeG8WaSKRUyAaUFLKO9_t_7xW1xnHTJBLCTZslGNhlRHFPNGBbjvrGemgGfBkdxHE2tBwqONeU08AzuyfrNLW_b81uoPw_iYctS2TA8qrtu7d4MCkj-oxKIsf2ii44mxQZiQERXeDmCEpj0Q7FH5sopA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%203.57.31%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS Year: 2001 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not so ironic that Gene Hackman was extremely (infamously) difficult to director Wes Anderson working on THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS because his character, the tremendously flawed patriarch of an eccentric New York City family, is the one person who brings the deliberately offbeat movie down to a relatably grounded level... <br><br>In Anderson's breakout indie RUSHMORE, Bill Murray did the same thing, sort of... but not so most of the characters couldn't stand him, and spend almost the entire story battling his vices that, in Hackman's case as Royal Tenenbaum, led to the family breaking up early on... opening with child prodigy's setting the stage, creatively coddled by newly single mother Angelica Huston as Etheline...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

angelica huston, article, bill murray, danny glover, dark comedy, gene hackman, gwyneth paltrow, luke wilson, memorial, owen wilson, wes anderson, zeroes

GENE HACKMAN MAKING AND BREAKING 'THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS'

Gene Hackman in THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS Year: 2001 Rating: ****1/2 It's not so ironic that Gene Hackman was extremely (infamously) difficul...

GENE HACKMAN SHOTGUNS 'GET SHORTY' STARRING JOHN TRAVOLTA

<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/AVvXsEgyLjkIlQfn9Ga06Tms2N6YJSTfa3qTdqlMJrJ8s3eg6zP9CzvrgIOXxqg7Wblm9CbCxQXTQbJFEcFekY79Z948VUIXpFz7jz-CAM3FHNSUeozu6Wlb25S7gkXqPmOgnY-4NmFQYGCOLSsZJJrIayHKTvaigcAqqAP4uPofZObj7T5fPjA19DPGLc4xhviZ/s1612/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-12%20at%201.32.33%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="806" data-original-width="1612" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLjkIlQfn9Ga06Tms2N6YJSTfa3qTdqlMJrJ8s3eg6zP9CzvrgIOXxqg7Wblm9CbCxQXTQbJFEcFekY79Z948VUIXpFz7jz-CAM3FHNSUeozu6Wlb25S7gkXqPmOgnY-4NmFQYGCOLSsZJJrIayHKTvaigcAqqAP4uPofZObj7T5fPjA19DPGLc4xhviZ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-12%20at%201.32.33%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman co-starring in GET SHORTY Year: 1995 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the late Gene Hackman's least Gene Hackman-style roles is Barry Sonnenfeld's hip/slick adaption of novelist Elmore Leonard's Hollywood satire GET SHORTY, where, on the other hand, John Travolta's central <span data-huuid="18436563072568921884"><span>shylark</span></span> Chili Palmer <i>is</i> very much in Travolta's wheelhouse... since he'd just played another likeable yet dangerous wiseguy in Quentin Tarantino's PULP FICTION...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet his character here's far more smooth, confident and upfront, using his own resilient quick wits (and sometimes fists) instead of a gun, or armed partner... although this particular lone wolf's surrounded by many characters straight from Leonard's usual arsenal of fast-talkers, including Hackman's passive-aggressive b-movie-directing boob Harry Zimm, who gets beaten to a <i>pulp</i> by the film's first of two sharply-dressed antagonists... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, danny devito, delroy lindo, dennis farina, elmore leonard, gene hackman, james gandolfini, john travolta, jon gries, martin ferrero, neo noir, nineties, rene russo

GENE HACKMAN SHOTGUNS 'GET SHORTY' STARRING JOHN TRAVOLTA

Gene Hackman co-starring in GET SHORTY Year: 1995 Rating: ****1/2 One of the late Gene Hackman's least Gene Hackman-style roles is Barry...

GENE HACKMAN AND AL PACINO TRAPISE THROUGH 'SCARECROW'

<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/AVvXsEii6aqKbSJ0PSdqdt4arXSjssUv6e3x8IOZaRx-kG1GhS4zF-mwGnbEhujs_F-WFYATJDdLvyeSQOLU11NpkmoehAu8lhI_5Z7RawoK6LMh3wN6jcuHUdfGK5KtGAJIztjxBKLxu791ulPMylEjMLp5rzSj6_EG1o_T0kYwP-EBvp5-4cBXx_EQPDu38AmT/s1976/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-27%20at%202.19.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1232" data-original-width="1976" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii6aqKbSJ0PSdqdt4arXSjssUv6e3x8IOZaRx-kG1GhS4zF-mwGnbEhujs_F-WFYATJDdLvyeSQOLU11NpkmoehAu8lhI_5Z7RawoK6LMh3wN6jcuHUdfGK5KtGAJIztjxBKLxu791ulPMylEjMLp5rzSj6_EG1o_T0kYwP-EBvp5-4cBXx_EQPDu38AmT/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-27%20at%202.19.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SCARECROW Stars: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In a roundabout way, independent director Jerry Schatzberg made Al Pacino a star by providing him a zesty role in the low-budget street-addict-drama THE PANIC IN NEEDLE PARK that inspired Francis Ford Coppola to cast him as Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER... while Gene Hackman had already won an Oscar for THE FRENCH CONNECTION, leading to their combined 1973 offbeat road movie SCARECROW...<br><br>Where Hackman and Pacino seem like if Jack Kerouac had written MIDNIGHT COWBOY as the duo are already ON THE ROAD as polar-opposite tall-and-short vagabonds venturing across rural America (from traipsing feet to freight trains) where, serving as the only actual plot-line, Hackman's Max wants to open a gas station while Pacino's Lion has a child somewhere that he yearns to connect with, or something...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

al pacino, ann wedgeworth, dorothy tristan, eileen brennan, gene hackman, indie, jerry schatzberg, richard lynch, road movie, rutanya alda, seventies

GENE HACKMAN AND AL PACINO TRAPISE THROUGH 'SCARECROW'

Title: SCARECROW Stars: Gene Hackman, Al Pacino Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 In a roundabout way, independent director Jerry Schatzberg made Al...

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, KAREN BLACK & GENE HACKMAN 'CISCO PIKE'

<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/AVvXsEjca0OogyxbVy1JWT23-OVMOfUA_T3HQaPFiFbhaiwh0w8f2L2SVRJdO13X81KK0QkGSgj2w3Wr4SnZ2zfBrdji8NrZNrC7OTkpNAbbuNtHWUaVXEawbEjhF7HpDHyp2wpPC094BJ4wN6YMGEX3a-0bIYpai80ZPFIasNOxRYuNzURI2n6TGQ-W0QZBSiCu/s1749/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-04%20at%2012.10.35%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="890" data-original-width="1749" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjca0OogyxbVy1JWT23-OVMOfUA_T3HQaPFiFbhaiwh0w8f2L2SVRJdO13X81KK0QkGSgj2w3Wr4SnZ2zfBrdji8NrZNrC7OTkpNAbbuNtHWUaVXEawbEjhF7HpDHyp2wpPC094BJ4wN6YMGEX3a-0bIYpai80ZPFIasNOxRYuNzURI2n6TGQ-W0QZBSiCu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-04%20at%2012.10.35%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kris Kristofferson in CISCO PIKE Year: 1971 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since EASY RIDER ignited movies by stoners for stoners, CISCO PIKE takes it a step further: while Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda safely sold cocaine in Mexico before riding off into America, CISCO has a different approach...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>By having the title character... a musician fresh outta jail played by acting-newcomer Kris Kristofferson... blackmailed to sell pot by crooked cop Gene Hackman, the crime-thriller genre's mixed into an otherwise spontaneously free-form counter-culture expose...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

cop, counter-culture, exploitation, gene hackman, hangout, harry dean stanton, joy bang, karen black, kris kristofferson, music, seventies, viva

KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, KAREN BLACK & GENE HACKMAN 'CISCO PIKE'

Kris Kristofferson in CISCO PIKE Year: 1971 Rating: **** Since EASY RIDER ignited movies by stoners for stoners, CISCO PIKE takes it a step...

JIM BROWN AND GENE HACKMAN ALMOST TEAM FOR 'THE SPLIT'

<p></p><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/AVvXsEiAX-SNKELW1jWIbR_m2RHkx0y6n4Q7Zwk_oVQoB9a_BM5nSs2sXdKhmIiaPAMjebSkbGsXADHszXEeMzewIbsRg_w0w0oOj69vgmHcWhcxb7GvTDlS8OTsNLWva8k2sm7haydLRH4jODokmaVcu43F6UHVHZqZaWs23WTPnPxmWf-f0eKQzgvpqPzP9A/s2136/bew.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1081" data-original-width="2136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAX-SNKELW1jWIbR_m2RHkx0y6n4Q7Zwk_oVQoB9a_BM5nSs2sXdKhmIiaPAMjebSkbGsXADHszXEeMzewIbsRg_w0w0oOj69vgmHcWhcxb7GvTDlS8OTsNLWva8k2sm7haydLRH4jODokmaVcu43F6UHVHZqZaWs23WTPnPxmWf-f0eKQzgvpqPzP9A/s16000/bew.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Brown in THE SPLIT Year: 1968 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The first Rated-R movie ever made came out the same year as a similar ensemble heist picture THE THOMAS CROWNE AFFAIR, centering on selected thieves chosen to rob a giant bank...</p><p></p><p></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 here, starring former record-breaking football hero turned groundbreaking black movie star Jim Brown, THE SPLIT proves just how long ago Brown was a truly relevant star... </p><p><span></span></p>

crime, donald sutherland, ernest borgnine, football, gene hackman, heist, jack klugman, jim brown, julie harris, neo noir, sixties, warren oates

JIM BROWN AND GENE HACKMAN ALMOST TEAM FOR 'THE SPLIT'

Jim Brown in THE SPLIT Year: 1968 Rating: ** The first Rated-R movie ever made came out the same year as a similar ensemble heist picture TH...

JIM BROWN WITH GENE HACKMAN ESCAPE THE CELL BLOCK 'RIOT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEhw-heW70nO9dEuixq3RwLARtEsslCY0GdciTkPIFKgdw_gNaUVjxIwz76jzqzgTTpdetOwIAjwRsNKUAHn897TnileyKJu6qLtCwHZB50pqaPlaVPkJfqYKvP7Iar59yxaJgu8DGPo3T43QNtPwxTFsBsA-AKS8RySSweUGSUYqJgBA7M_lhGbADrMUYQu/s2258/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%204.20.12%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="2258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-heW70nO9dEuixq3RwLARtEsslCY0GdciTkPIFKgdw_gNaUVjxIwz76jzqzgTTpdetOwIAjwRsNKUAHn897TnileyKJu6qLtCwHZB50pqaPlaVPkJfqYKvP7Iar59yxaJgu8DGPo3T43QNtPwxTFsBsA-AKS8RySSweUGSUYqJgBA7M_lhGbADrMUYQu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%204.20.12%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Brown </u><u>and Gene Hackman in RIOT Year: 1969 Rating: **** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Basically a remake of Don Siegel's docudrama noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/block11.html">RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11</a>, Buzz Kulick's RIOT follows its muse by having the titular convict pandemonium — after capturing the guards — not matter beyond a strategic distraction...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead centering on a few clever inmates' feigning an attempt for a media-led change of inhumane prison conditions — but this RIOT goes one step beyond Siegel's CELL BLOCK political expose...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, buzz, clifford david, drama, escape, gene hackman, gerald s. o'loughlin, jim brown, mike kellin, prison, sixties, suspense, thriller, william castle

JIM BROWN WITH GENE HACKMAN ESCAPE THE CELL BLOCK 'RIOT'

Jim Brown and Gene Hackman in RIOT Year: 1969 Rating: **** Basically a remake of Don Siegel's docudrama noir RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 , Buz...

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN & JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'TWO OF A KIND'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiIbLPkMq5vs2Kf4rpok04CY-LE2UPjgQzc2myONKVzb7k0gBM-HBq7jV6Ay7DM7unUrDj4ZK3eMqtdl83T7JoSt-dBIEm501R5QpwqMIPnOIFQUo0lnxS0UHjvcqlUQ5oJf4K2u6g19j_Zn8NphsKyEhFRwOov1sf1cVGqsJsR-oOBpLP74fE82RMbtA/s1578/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-08%20at%204.37.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="1578" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIbLPkMq5vs2Kf4rpok04CY-LE2UPjgQzc2myONKVzb7k0gBM-HBq7jV6Ay7DM7unUrDj4ZK3eMqtdl83T7JoSt-dBIEm501R5QpwqMIPnOIFQUo0lnxS0UHjvcqlUQ5oJf4K2u6g19j_Zn8NphsKyEhFRwOov1sf1cVGqsJsR-oOBpLP74fE82RMbtA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-08-08%20at%204.37.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Olivia Newton-John Travolta in TWO OF A KIND Year: 1983 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Iconic <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/09/grease-revisited.html?fbclid=IwAR0-PhBPy889pCmRszKQD5oPStQoljiUhS7-RsVTruqtL-UYJW8GzAmLKS4">GREASE</a> stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John turned down reprising their roles in the sequel because of a bad script, and yet they chose the bizarre TWO OF A KIND instead, a romantic comedy involving guardian angels... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Including Charles Durning and Scatman Crothers who, to save Earth from God voiced by Gene Hackman, must prove that the randomly selected John Travolta, as a bank robbing inventor, could risk everything for equally broke bank teller Olivia Newton-John, pulling off what Elliott Gould did to Christopher Plummer in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/02/need-a-plummer.html">THE SILENT PARTNER</a>: keeping the money the crook reportedly stole...</p><p><span></span></p>

charles durning, eighties, fantasy, gene hackman, heist, john travolta, oliver reed, olivia newton-john, richard bright, romantic comedy, scatman crothers

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN & JOHN TRAVOLTA IN 'TWO OF A KIND'

Olivia Newton-John Travolta in TWO OF A KIND Year: 1983 Rating: *** Iconic GREASE stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John turned down re...

ROBERT REDFORD DELIBERATELY CHILLY FOR 'DOWNHILL RACER'

<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/AVvXsEiKGl3Bvk5b16pCDc2XfVHgj6V1n4bLKLrTdtd_j9KkwSv_PEmcJd9bHqrhv5feJgVjOfe7upsR7eFFstLm0ntnUlIlPbG_lLXqHT7yiwmum8qyP-cFan83N_zQBTMWiiARblghC1XFUS52A6h-0CUYLYdHAc-FfXAohWgRkEJGhi3L9ukXJ1kFEJq5Jbo0/s2048/396535265_1828502070912294_4946696812217336166_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGl3Bvk5b16pCDc2XfVHgj6V1n4bLKLrTdtd_j9KkwSv_PEmcJd9bHqrhv5feJgVjOfe7upsR7eFFstLm0ntnUlIlPbG_lLXqHT7yiwmum8qyP-cFan83N_zQBTMWiiARblghC1XFUS52A6h-0CUYLYdHAc-FfXAohWgRkEJGhi3L9ukXJ1kFEJq5Jbo0/s16000/396535265_1828502070912294_4946696812217336166_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Robert Redford in DOWNHILL RACER Year: 1969 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A movie has to be about <i>something</i> or <i>someone</i>, and reading any synopsis for DOWNHILL RACER, you'd think the main character, played by Robert Redford, was the biggest jerk on the planet...<br> <br> And while he<i> is</i> difficult and stubborn, childish and bitter, selfish, aloof and argumentative, aren't all great athletes? At least the ones who have <i>only winning</i> on the brain...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

camilla sparv, carole carle, dabney coleman, drama, gene hackman, jim mcmullan, kathleen crowley, michael ritchie, robert redford, sixties, sport

ROBERT REDFORD DELIBERATELY CHILLY FOR 'DOWNHILL RACER'

Robert Redford in DOWNHILL RACER Year: 1969 Rates: ****1/2 A movie has to be about something or someone , and reading any synopsis for DOW...

WILLIAM CONRAD PRESENTS 'FIRST TO FIGHT' WITH CHAD EVERETT

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEju2lIuHvMK8MdJNWNnU17mt6G_IaItjKyDmtXvibfxexF0jqSNpH-yJedY_HVmQ_VB-47OnKuW9gh1nHVq5zYfnavQQsscwSlkoKsFS2Gb_Q3q_3eNLMpIoD8pgVdpoAqvGyYYsp_o6Std7Cagtf2M1VT_lZJCNjXHGerzps5EbRNOnEPxxDk1J4PLREqp/s1936/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-28%20at%2010.27.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="938" data-original-width="1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju2lIuHvMK8MdJNWNnU17mt6G_IaItjKyDmtXvibfxexF0jqSNpH-yJedY_HVmQ_VB-47OnKuW9gh1nHVq5zYfnavQQsscwSlkoKsFS2Gb_Q3q_3eNLMpIoD8pgVdpoAqvGyYYsp_o6Std7Cagtf2M1VT_lZJCNjXHGerzps5EbRNOnEPxxDk1J4PLREqp/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-28%20at%2010.27.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Chad Everett in FIRST TO FIGHT Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Starting out an old school hunkered-in-the-trenches World War II action flick with heroic Chad Everett holding off approaching Japanese soldiers in an off-river jungle setting, FIRST TO FIGHT... produced and narrated by William Conrad with direction by Christian Nyby... makes an abrupt shift into a budding Stateside romance...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Progressively ignited between Everett's surviving and returning Sgt. Jack Connell and the lovely, classy and hard-to-get war bond touring chief Marilyn Devin; yet the best scenes have our true blue veteran competing with cocky cad Bobby Troup, who's not good enough to win this lady over...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bobby troup, chad everett, claude akins, dean jagger, gene hackman, james best, marilyn devin, norman alden, romance, warner archives, wings hauser, world war II

WILLIAM CONRAD PRESENTS 'FIRST TO FIGHT' WITH CHAD EVERETT

Chad Everett in FIRST TO FIGHT Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 Starting out an old school hunkered-in-the-trenches World War II action flick with ...

THE FRIEDKIN WAVE: EXORCST MEETS FRENCH CONNECTION

<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/AVvXsEgeHzd55c_c2ghEUBSfrM8g85lkHEQdWRRNWJLFFtiXlaC8iCMoNWU_RR3EnZ5nlS35jp1I86MdMYXMaUiAC4rMf0TkJa5fIjRb1lLGykXGcjva8o_vJMfuX10n5qCEErY-nspLiF5UoKsp/s947/120235767_1076711666091342_4907259652741418304_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="946" data-original-width="947" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeHzd55c_c2ghEUBSfrM8g85lkHEQdWRRNWJLFFtiXlaC8iCMoNWU_RR3EnZ5nlS35jp1I86MdMYXMaUiAC4rMf0TkJa5fIjRb1lLGykXGcjva8o_vJMfuX10n5qCEErY-nspLiF5UoKsp/s16000/120235767_1076711666091342_4907259652741418304_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman meets Pazuzu connecting William Friedkin's The French Connection & The Exorcist</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Turns out that Pazuzu the Demon Statue from William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST was merely channeling goading cop Gene Hackman in his earlier Oscar-winning THE FRENCH CONNECTION. <br /><p></p>

crime, cult, gene hackman, horror, photobreak, seventies, william friedkin

THE FRIEDKIN WAVE: EXORCST MEETS FRENCH CONNECTION

Gene Hackman meets Pazuzu connecting William Friedkin's The French Connection & The Exorcist Turns out that Pazuzu the Demon Statue ...

GENE HACKMAN RIDES IN 'BITE THE BULLET' WITH JAMES COBURN

<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/AVvXsEgWU9XbmqOsvkx5hkDOZIsqLS6lLx9RM_8-dJkDWSJr3htURJt5QIwVOzF1rzk1bMmhS0ffaS7jhTUTjvAZIxlOoi7avktbcJY6mAdGGSoMLzJNGiS4ursZedXjjWzbW65a9nHbu8sF32Xc/s1600/4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="755" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWU9XbmqOsvkx5hkDOZIsqLS6lLx9RM_8-dJkDWSJr3htURJt5QIwVOzF1rzk1bMmhS0ffaS7jhTUTjvAZIxlOoi7avktbcJY6mAdGGSoMLzJNGiS4ursZedXjjWzbW65a9nHbu8sF32Xc/s400/4.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Coburn in BITE THE BULLET Year: 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A homesteader's chopping wood when James Coburn rides up and, after asking several questions without a response, tells the man he doesn't know nothin', for which Wood Chopper replies: "I ain't the one who's lost." And snappy dialogue is the best thing going, especially with Coburn's scene-stealing character, at one point saying to young and obnoxious Jan-Michael Vincent, more antagonistic than he'd ever been before or after: "I want you to tell me the story of your life: Just skip everything up till the last fifteen minutes."<br> <br> BITE THE BULLET is a Western action/adventure about a horse race more character-driven than horse-driven, and that's good and bad since the characters are played by wonderful actors who share a few wonderful moments, but some are borderline cliché: Like pacifist Gene Hackman as an ex Rough Rider who may have been the founder of PETA while Candace Bergen is a modern feminist in chaps, and would have been more realistic if played by tougher-looking "hooker" Sally Kirkland, who'd sell her body the same year in another Western, BREAKHEART PASS: both featuring a pivotal train and veteran actor Ben Johnson, here an old-timer with a predictable death scene...<br>

action, adventure, ben johnson, candace bergen, ensemble, gene hackman, james coburn, jan-michael vincent, richard brooks, sally kirkland, seventies, western

GENE HACKMAN RIDES IN 'BITE THE BULLET' WITH JAMES COBURN

James Coburn in BITE THE BULLET Year: 1975 A homesteader's chopping wood when James Coburn rides up and, after asking several questi...

BURT LANCASTER AND GENE HACKMAN SOARING 'THE GYPSY MOTHS'

<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/AVvXsEjKsVpIuBboq01kvV_U4hSswY3cRanhGg_M_IlNeOLTAWVhwHC2jdiPNlT82sPd4ozuSse40RaPDz6BfYVcc-OqG_0opaAjJkJy1IPc_dPb5AO06kXN4n4Qv-YhJYfubcZs7w2L7eD1E6ho/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-07+at+4.27.44+PM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKsVpIuBboq01kvV_U4hSswY3cRanhGg_M_IlNeOLTAWVhwHC2jdiPNlT82sPd4ozuSse40RaPDz6BfYVcc-OqG_0opaAjJkJy1IPc_dPb5AO06kXN4n4Qv-YhJYfubcZs7w2L7eD1E6ho/s400/Screen+Shot+2018-10-07+at+4.27.44+PM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scott Wilson's yellow suited character's jump YEAR: 1969 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> John Frankenheimer's THE GYPSY MOTHS has some incredible aerial shots, and it's a shame they had to, right off the bat, provide studio inserts of two of the actors: one who should have been famous from IN COLD BLOOD and the other soon to make his breakthrough in THE FRENCH CONNECTION...<br> <br> When Scott Wilson and Gene Hackman, as the gold and white suited jumpers, are shown in an obviously contrived setting with a counterfeit sky-blue backdrop, supposedly far up and descending with their own colored parachutes open, it's impossible <i>not</i> to tell we're watching a motion picture... But Frankenheimer, in what's his personal favorite film, and, despite a dated made-for-television style main theme, gives us the impression, otherwise, that these guys are the genuine article: not only by the myriad of actual footage, but in a more harmonious, less obvious rhythm, combining these with close-up expressions of each actor, about to jump for what may be their very lives...<br>

action, burt lancaster, carl reindel, deborah kerr, drama, gene hackman, john frankenheimer, romance, scott wilson, sheree north, sixties, sport, suspense, william windom

BURT LANCASTER AND GENE HACKMAN SOARING 'THE GYPSY MOTHS'

Scott Wilson's yellow suited character's jump YEAR: 1969 John Frankenheimer's THE GYPSY MOTHS has some incredible aerial sho...

GORGEOUS DOUBLE FEATURE OF HAWAII & THE HAWAIIANS

<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/AVvXsEg_8dwVzrmGz-0LLLW6HwVKe7icDNLSS-sdDLY1558du5sw1-drKuXoe6nBsF90l0YZ7ux4hinjoRsXK7xIJgzlWwHKa311OVdyVjVlU8Bbmt0CcxXlPwK1aFV74vqB8m2TlxBTs5Jpk-M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-05-01+at+2.04.07+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_8dwVzrmGz-0LLLW6HwVKe7icDNLSS-sdDLY1558du5sw1-drKuXoe6nBsF90l0YZ7ux4hinjoRsXK7xIJgzlWwHKa311OVdyVjVlU8Bbmt0CcxXlPwK1aFV74vqB8m2TlxBTs5Jpk-M/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-05-01+at+2.04.07+AM.png" width="360"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Blu Ray HAWAII Film Original Release: 1966</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>HAWAII</u>: Max Von Sydow often played old men, even fifty years ago when he was young. He has not lost the game of chess with Death, yet, a nod to his central character in THE SEVENTH SEAL. He recently gave a scroll to catapult the new STAR WARS FORCE AWAKENS, and his most famous role is the title character in THE EXORCIST, where his wise Father Merrin tries and tries but just can't beat The Devil... <br> <br> Before that, he was Jesus Christ himself in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD. Yes, truly, Max Von Sydow has, religiously relating to the silver screen, from the top to the bottom of the rung, almost done it all: And wedged in-between those more famous turns is perhaps his most intense religious character, severe missionary Rev. Abner Hale, so desperately crazed from Yale to be sailed off to Hawaii to save every native "godless savage" soul, he just can't contain himself, yet at first he's unmarried. And with his personality, it's no surprise. Thus the awkward and not altogether visually perfect Sydow is a perfect fit for God but makes for an imperfect pair with the (always) lovely Julie Andrews, eventually becoming his missionary wife in Hawaii, long before it was the Hawaii we know today, and, although first billed from her small yet important number of giant roles including MARY POPPINS and THE SOUND OF MUSIC, it's Max's movie and almost his alone...<br>

charlton heston, dalton trumbo, gene hackman, george roy hill, julie andrews, mako, max von sydow, richard harris, sixties, tina chen

GORGEOUS DOUBLE FEATURE OF HAWAII & THE HAWAIIANS

Twilight Time Blu Ray HAWAII Film Original Release: 1966 HAWAII : Max Von Sydow often played old men, even fifty years ago when he was y...

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN TRAVOLTA STAR IN TWO OF A KIND

<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/AVvXsEj8TLmiZ1i7uRnWnHb78t6MhuTFxLS1A0Sdjk6hS85KK2zHKl5XRb04WavTnPIHHzIlTqCcY4D_ca-VhK0rZoPvCQ0Uorl2n4bZTjXiZIuFaGot51mQNxdeToYuhoyxBTuVSCVQSkNOqR4/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TLmiZ1i7uRnWnHb78t6MhuTFxLS1A0Sdjk6hS85KK2zHKl5XRb04WavTnPIHHzIlTqCcY4D_ca-VhK0rZoPvCQ0Uorl2n4bZTjXiZIuFaGot51mQNxdeToYuhoyxBTuVSCVQSkNOqR4/s400/8.jpg" width="260"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year Released: 1983</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Not being a huge fan of what's considered the so-called Golden Era of Cinema wherein Welles, Hitchcock and Film Noir is more of a Sleek Silver, this used to happen all the time...<br> <br> <table align="center" 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/AVvXsEjHjC2tIUiL2GJzrl_uQiH7IHnEv5sv3yBIAIxujHHcM3NVUKdWoCop4At7k9-kD5hTuPnBlqxscRwswrOPnpzF5q_Y1bGWPpXM14pxt4tWDg3633k_Q2axrM-cekgBTGyOFoYAiZSOqe1C/s1600/8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHjC2tIUiL2GJzrl_uQiH7IHnEv5sv3yBIAIxujHHcM3NVUKdWoCop4At7k9-kD5hTuPnBlqxscRwswrOPnpzF5q_Y1bGWPpXM14pxt4tWDg3633k_Q2axrM-cekgBTGyOFoYAiZSOqe1C/s400/8.jpg" width="261"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Image Rotated</td></tr> </tbody></table> Back when an actor and actress teaming up for a handful of different vehicles, not always sequels which, since the 1980's, have become something of a typical Hollywood expectation when two people spark in one film and are expected to sustain as those same characters thereafter: To name a few past couple/partners in cinema are Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. Or more intense duos John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Bogart and his young trophy wife Lauren Bacall. James Cagney and Joan Blondell. But more befitting this particular film occurred a few years later, when no-name actress turned superstar PRETTY WOMAN Julia Roberts and Richard Gere returned for what wasn't an anticipated sequel of their blockbuster, but a project (with the same director) all it's own about a RUNAWAY BRIDE. And so, onto the subject at hand, the year following GREASE 2, where (of the youngsters) only Didi Conn's ex Pink Lady returned, the world must have been yearning for that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John chemistry that made the original GREASE – along with being a fantastic musical with terrific side characters – so incredibly dynamic...<br>

charles durning, gene hackman, john travolta, oliver reed, olivia newton-john, romantic comedy, scatman crothers, team-up

OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN TRAVOLTA STAR IN TWO OF A KIND

Year Released: 1983 Not being a huge fan of what's considered the so-called Golden Era of Cinema wherein Welles, Hitchcock and Film ...

TWO SERVINGS OF 'PRIME CUT' W/ LEE MARVIN & GENE HACKMAN

<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/AVvXsEhUz15R8-Yl4v4x-fH5EOku737PqpXzTRSBeJ17jrqZSn3yuMfjaGDNx8YOFYCvryuyAYlp2onSJjwFNJoa5z521Wr_mm72eN48maRAE6kP6aHWxpVaOVIw4uQztYEK34Koe2j2MWPduxY/s1600/tumblr_n052pwxE5j1r6ivyno1_1280.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUz15R8-Yl4v4x-fH5EOku737PqpXzTRSBeJ17jrqZSn3yuMfjaGDNx8YOFYCvryuyAYlp2onSJjwFNJoa5z521Wr_mm72eN48maRAE6kP6aHWxpVaOVIw4uQztYEK34Koe2j2MWPduxY/w440-h640/tumblr_n052pwxE5j1r6ivyno1_1280.jpg" width="440" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1972 Director: Michael Ritchie</td></tr> </tbody></table> 1970's crime flicks don't get this strange, although PRIME CUT is also pretty basic and simple, and it takes an eclectic powerhouse actor like Gene Hackman to pull off playing a flawed, perverted character actually named Mary Ann (the boy called Sue had no problems comparably), a Kansas City gangster turned cattle rancher dealing in young prostitutes, initially giving in quickly to leading man Lee Marvin as Chicago mob enforcer Nick Devlin who, with a group of hired (albeit friendly) thugs, travels from big city Chicago to rural Middle America where it's not easy to hide from the bullets: especially once they start flying. And that occurs during the third act, a wonderfully prolonged death hunt within a wheat field (a nod, perhaps, to Alfred Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST), extremely suspenseful despite such a wide open space.<br /> <br /> After Marvin's Nick frees one of the more vulnerable girls from a literal barn auction of young, heroin-addled female flesh, there's sweet but ponderous and even overly-sentimental downtime with Sissy Spacek's sweet-natured Poppy, who ultimately contrasts from Angel Tompkins as rich bitch Clarabelle, a sort of THIRD MAN character more spoken of/anticipated than actually seen in this Neo Noir meets gritty exploitation helmed by Michael Ritchie, who would go on to direct mostly comedies (though classic ones including THE BAD NEWS BEARS and FLETCH), keeping the pace at such a cool, even keel while every second matters. For this isn't just another nickel-plated Lee Marvin vehicle. It truly belongs to the rural location serving as a purgatory that makes Marvin's usual tough guy out of place and more interesting and desperate than ever. Meanwhile, Gregory Walcott, as Hackman's brother/partner-in-crime, catapults the movie in one of the best opening credit sequences ever, and in his own way, within this gritty, hopeless setting, seems more genuine than any actor on board.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfajOrulVYV-7HunXE3dO5KOBrgbpin0wKz7VVYehovztKDEAEPPLkYrSv0AWrEdpwsjZy_FslowY_88zEE2jNdunZBgF8oH00UoWpJt0jYSwJV-fJhyLFsLE-z4jBbt7yklPorbA8mA/s1600/prime-cut-cinema-quad-movie-poster-%25281%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkfajOrulVYV-7HunXE3dO5KOBrgbpin0wKz7VVYehovztKDEAEPPLkYrSv0AWrEdpwsjZy_FslowY_88zEE2jNdunZBgF8oH00UoWpJt0jYSwJV-fJhyLFsLE-z4jBbt7yklPorbA8mA/s400/prime-cut-cinema-quad-movie-poster-%25281%2529.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>title: </b>PRIME CUT<br /> <b>year: </b>1972<br /> <b>cast:</b> Lee Marvin, Gene Hackman<br /> <b>rating: </b>****1/2<br /> <br /> “Chicago is a sick old sow grunting for fresh cream... Someday they’re gonna boil that town down for fat.” This is what Gene Hackman’s Mary Ann (what a name for a thug) tells Lee Marvin’s Nick Devlin, a mob enforcer sent from the Windy City to Kansas to collect a half a million-dollar debt. The opening credit sequence, as a very special batch of hot dogs are created inside a beef factory, could make you never want to go to a ballgame again. And for a reason: Turns out there’s been three different thugs sent to Kansas after Mary Ann and his strong-arm partner. All turn up missing and/or… lunch. Here’s a gritty and bizarre crime flick with a simple premise: one guys owes money and another’s gonna collect. Ex Illinois criminal Hackman owns a plush beef factory and estate, a front for an underage prostitute slave ring. Marvin winds up saving a teenager, Poppy, played by a lovely and vulnerable Sissy Spacek (while poor Janit Baldwin stays put).<br /> <br /> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpC50Obmt_lpZpwlQGx4X6O7Al1tsKR4FyC-nmBp8z0mUtQ4mGLbQU2PbPJyoyBz0X7LRGqV_26KqOLVGf3s9i18tJujbxPxcvBqKaCbYfimT7A3cWqpxTPG6aZXOMcaBNb5bRPYXwcdB4/s1600/MPW-38052.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpC50Obmt_lpZpwlQGx4X6O7Al1tsKR4FyC-nmBp8z0mUtQ4mGLbQU2PbPJyoyBz0X7LRGqV_26KqOLVGf3s9i18tJujbxPxcvBqKaCbYfimT7A3cWqpxTPG6aZXOMcaBNb5bRPYXwcdB4/s400/MPW-38052.jpg" width="400" /></a>Much like TAXI DRIVER a few years later, our antihero wants to protect the ingénue from the bad element with no ulterior motive. But his main job is to first collect from, and then escape from, a lethal Hackman: who’s got the home court advantage. A visual masterpiece that doesn’t need a lot of action to gain momentum or intensity. Rural Heartland Kansas, with the slop and slime and surreptitious criminal underbelly, is seedier than an urban alleyway. And one pivotal scene, when Marvin and Spacek escape from the local Fair into a field of wheat (perhaps a nod to NORTH BY NORTHWEST), proves director Michael Ritchie, most known for making comedies, had a real edge.

angel tompkins, crime, eddie egan, gene hackman, howard platt, janit baldiwn, lee marvin, les lannom, neo noir, seventies, sissy spacek

TWO SERVINGS OF 'PRIME CUT' W/ LEE MARVIN & GENE HACKMAN

year: 1972 Director: Michael Ritchie 1970's crime flicks don't get this strange, although PRIME CUT is also pretty basic and sim...