CLINT EASTWOOD IN 'THE EIGER SANCTION' WITH GEORGE KENNEDY

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEidiwvn0rUnrwFPp06oSCfu1F5lsKVbuAHOkbMJiW_h8PwwqcYF79fEisWSvRMVRatpvsUo3X0Q9HUGVPRlYgBFrfyEf1fhLeSg05kJbAdQozKzqUExMJIUvnKeHrxa3IOaeQdGxtK4ev946LhMQ8nEzoDCSWt1Z6XnH3EQ21W0GESQ3v4b0VE-qGdu0Su3/s1602/1%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="728" data-original-width="1602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiwvn0rUnrwFPp06oSCfu1F5lsKVbuAHOkbMJiW_h8PwwqcYF79fEisWSvRMVRatpvsUo3X0Q9HUGVPRlYgBFrfyEf1fhLeSg05kJbAdQozKzqUExMJIUvnKeHrxa3IOaeQdGxtK4ev946LhMQ8nEzoDCSWt1Z6XnH3EQ21W0GESQ3v4b0VE-qGdu0Su3/s16000/1%203.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE EIGER SANCTION Year: 1975 Rating: *** Grade: C+</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Clint Eastwood's THE EIGER SANCTION foreshadows RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK having an otherwise mild-mannered, seemingly-average college professor with a dangerous side-job... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Only here Clint's Jonathan Hemlock is far more dangerous being a hired assassin in what plays like a James Bond vehicle including an enigmatic, monologue-spouting code-name tycoon and several gorgeous, extremely easy women (featuring gorgeous blaxploitation starlet Vonetta McGee) who turn on the central hero...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, candice rialson, clint eastwood, george kennedy, gregory walcott, hit-man, jack cassidy, neo noir, seventies, thayer david, vonetta mcgee

CLINT EASTWOOD IN 'THE EIGER SANCTION' WITH GEORGE KENNEDY

Title: THE EIGER SANCTION Year: 1975 Rating: *** Grade: C+ Clint Eastwood's THE EIGER SANCTION foreshadows RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK havin...

JIM BROWN, DON STROUD AND GEORGE KENNEDY 'TICK, TICK, TICK'

<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/AVvXsEg1Z16S_LEM-DaU99WwnnEl_RQOWosscpZGyFh9DUuPVdFlyqLVHgf68TOgsKE2KD1vQrU8iMfQvoJWuvDZdGH0nXjFM6k91Kr4BYvYs1LgRVB2W-hXlfHQHTq3BGkiYNsLRoVaVAjXNrR4O1WTRecJsTStM8T6DUZZ-OPDGn5-6sqgHejUSrqmayRFZg/s1474/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Z16S_LEM-DaU99WwnnEl_RQOWosscpZGyFh9DUuPVdFlyqLVHgf68TOgsKE2KD1vQrU8iMfQvoJWuvDZdGH0nXjFM6k91Kr4BYvYs1LgRVB2W-hXlfHQHTq3BGkiYNsLRoVaVAjXNrR4O1WTRecJsTStM8T6DUZZ-OPDGn5-6sqgHejUSrqmayRFZg/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Brown in TICK, TICK, TICK Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Similar plot-line to the past and future, TICK TICK TICK pays homage to IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT while foreshadowing a dramatic version of BLAZING SADDLES since there's a new sheriff/lawman in a small Southern town from the late 1960's, and Jim Brown replaces a surprisingly upbeat, open-minded George Kennedy backed by semi-progressive mayor Fredric March: one winding up the black man's deputy, the other a semi-mentor...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What plays out more like a TV-movie or series pilot than a theatrical motion picture, TICK is also the beginning of Brown's racially-driven foray into 1970's low-budget blaxploitation after co-starring in the previous decade's blockbusters or crime potboilers: from THE DIRTY DOZEN and ICE STATION ZEBRA to THE RIOT and THE SPLIT... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, bernie casey, blaxploitation, cop, don stroud, exploitation, fredric march, george kennedy, jim brown, mills watson, seventies, small town, thriller

JIM BROWN, DON STROUD AND GEORGE KENNEDY 'TICK, TICK, TICK'

Jim Brown in TICK, TICK, TICK Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2 Similar plot-line to the past and future, TICK TICK TICK pays homage to IN THE HEAT ...

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

<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/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s1122/36.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="637" data-original-width="1122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ6GkisxXEHkX9avasJnODPr7TRSNMl3end-uZs6IKG7kalnMWJMcVojIUTvsmN_OkRU3sawuaf3bB439Xl3VI0Sl6-_CXNBvjrTDjxMtw4jPDBZLVL7B2_iqAUlGn2Lb--uqWZtyqIVMiIv9w9rYravZfYpv4GWf-ddu6TLCptpraYfuem1v4s43ERA/s16000/36.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a quote in the 1974 cult action flick THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT about an experienced ex-bank robber played by Clint Eastwood teamed with a young freewheeling Jeff Bridges... <br> <br> Ironically "Stick with me, kid, you're gonna live forever" is young Jeff's line as Lightfoot to Clint's Thunderbolt since the<i> </i>enigmatic, offbeat youngster  speaks in almost all hackneyed adages...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

action, bill mckinney, catherine bach, chase, clint eastwood, geoffrey lewis, george kennedy, hangout, heist, jack dodson, jeff bridges, june fairchild, michael cimino, roy jenson

CANVASING THE UNIQUE CAPER OF 'THUNDERBOLT AND LIGHTFOOT'

Title: THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTFOOT Director: Michael Cimino Stars: Clint Eastwood Year: 1974 Score: **** There's a quote in the 1974 cu...

SUSAN BLAKELY FLYING HIGH INTO 'THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT 79'

<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/AVvXsEh82VDJb8vnZrem8SAMnahfk3o06Lt00zAvPmbdUzb8HB3PGId7zQdg_PjVBUz2oySEUg4TFSIx_wpF4I5Ij8nLI2cO2iAZq-YI9uALNB2Dz9ZuZx5O5J3bzZ9jTi04J-8zrwgd1KzbGs2VvGKy967Eeo25V_h7phX3Noor6Gqj9VN69VDaMDYF5WSKxQ/s1069/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%208.22.09%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="552" data-original-width="1069" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh82VDJb8vnZrem8SAMnahfk3o06Lt00zAvPmbdUzb8HB3PGId7zQdg_PjVBUz2oySEUg4TFSIx_wpF4I5Ij8nLI2cO2iAZq-YI9uALNB2Dz9ZuZx5O5J3bzZ9jTi04J-8zrwgd1KzbGs2VvGKy967Eeo25V_h7phX3Noor6Gqj9VN69VDaMDYF5WSKxQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%208.22.09%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1979  rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A jet plane, like the ones in the AIRPORT films, can’t do much. But unlike those bulky airliners, a hot rod can do plenty. And the Concorde Jet is the speedster of the skies.<br> <br> So here's a plane that can dodge heat-seeking missiles, which occurs during the first of two flights – there and back from America to Paris. The plot has Robert Wagner as a corrupt businessman with something to hide. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

david warner, disaster, ensemble, george kennedy, seventies, susan blakely, suspense, sybil danning

SUSAN BLAKELY FLYING HIGH INTO 'THE CONCORDE: AIRPORT 79'

year: 1979  rating: *** A jet plane, like the ones in the AIRPORT films, can’t do much. But unlike those bulky airliners, a hot rod can do p...

PERRY KING FIGHTS IN 'SEARCH AND DESTORY' WITH DON STROUD

<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/AVvXsEgSavkjF_azRd2MZFRT9od-5HRuhLNDF4OzE7Gj2EZhDZwMZbGn1EFLaXGv9UaQZvGFManfWO1ZmuDOZzvEWbh_WgU1QCSNOxVJUjOJ87g8R2-_SMzqtURl_nlU4SX8-U4FU9n3vt2gm0E2/s1600/search-and-destroy-original-movie-poster-15x21-in-1979-william-fruet-perry-king.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1020" height="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSavkjF_azRd2MZFRT9od-5HRuhLNDF4OzE7Gj2EZhDZwMZbGn1EFLaXGv9UaQZvGFManfWO1ZmuDOZzvEWbh_WgU1QCSNOxVJUjOJ87g8R2-_SMzqtURl_nlU4SX8-U4FU9n3vt2gm0E2/s400/search-and-destroy-original-movie-poster-15x21-in-1979-william-fruet-perry-king.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In Vietnam a company of American soldiers try saving a South Vietnamese man from "Charlie" and fail. He is captured by the enemy and now we cut five years later and the Vietnamese man is back in the States for revenge...<br> <br> He kills one of the vets and this peaks the attention of Perry King, an auto shop worker, as he is next in line...<br> <br> Along with fellow vet Don Stroud, a happy-go-unlucky drunkard boat captain in Niagara Falls inspired by Hemingway Noir tales, they try first finding who the killer is, and then stopping him. But he's trained in killing and is almost unstoppable. Great action scenes all set in the gorgeous Niagara Falls area, and lots of violence makes this a real treat: a fun ride that never derails. George Kennedy adds a little something as a small town cop who winds up allowing Perry King to take care of matters his own way.<br>

actopm. don stroud, george kennedy, neo noir, perry king, seventies, vigilante

PERRY KING FIGHTS IN 'SEARCH AND DESTORY' WITH DON STROUD

Year: 1979 Rates: ***1/2 In Vietnam a company of American soldiers try saving a South Vietnamese man from "Charlie" and fail....

DANA ANDREWS CAUSES THE MAIN CRASH IN 'AIRPORT 1975'

<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/AVvXsEiKooZKNEAIQGdCi7WTeOGXhEFoRyDRZg8Ri_vPOa-OD-2QOt06hUjBkFGAn8NjSTMEpPO-M9pC18aoPODjGgwiEYIqWCL5tahPwtxtpLrH7Pe_mRNVWiYVOdYbh3gIj1u4fnHt8cbIwM8/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-07-30+at+4.39.47+PM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKooZKNEAIQGdCi7WTeOGXhEFoRyDRZg8Ri_vPOa-OD-2QOt06hUjBkFGAn8NjSTMEpPO-M9pC18aoPODjGgwiEYIqWCL5tahPwtxtpLrH7Pe_mRNVWiYVOdYbh3gIj1u4fnHt8cbIwM8/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-07-30+at+4.39.47+PM.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews has a sky-high problem in Airport 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Like ZERO HOUR! and unlike AIRPLANE!, things are dead serious but so corny they're just begging to be morphed into punchlines, including a sick young girl played by EXORCIST starlet Linda Blair, who'd become LOVE BOAT kiddo Jill Whelan in AIRPLANE!, being serenaded by a nun (Helen Reddy, whose name is used as a punchline in AIRPLANE!)...<br /> <br /> A stuffy surgeon in an office talking about said girl... And our main couple; one a stewardess in buried lead Karen Black and the first-billed Charlton Heston, mainliner from the original AIRPORT, who, along with another AIRPORT veteran, George Kennedy, plan to rescue the plane that'd been swiped by none other than Dana Andrews, a jet-set businessman with a fatal heart condition...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgJH_tjjdG81q90W-5YuJAc8-Xpi2H_MVx7NAwJTj-eAfoi-YDkWKFw-8ooE8WtvIKN3HCXtPK9LUQsrMUbCixdtRQBmd39__DOrLK0glXELjxt_yZtzF8liVdPiY9-yPu6CEJfvWn39sw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-07-30+at+4.41.07+PM.jpg" 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/AVvXsEgJH_tjjdG81q90W-5YuJAc8-Xpi2H_MVx7NAwJTj-eAfoi-YDkWKFw-8ooE8WtvIKN3HCXtPK9LUQsrMUbCixdtRQBmd39__DOrLK0glXELjxt_yZtzF8liVdPiY9-yPu6CEJfvWn39sw/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-07-30+at+4.41.07+PM.jpg" width="155" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Airport 1975</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The reason the plane starts going down, and why the pilots are killed, is because Dana's Scott Freeman crashes into the (side of the) cockpit, causing the famous (or infamous) visual of our heroic stewardess, Karen Black, sitting at the controls, an iconic moment in camp cinema: with her intense cross-eyes on fire and acting to the hilt, Karen not only steals the show, she practically owns it...<br /> <br /> But the producers still got their money's worth with Heston during the 11th hour when he risks his life in a small rescue plane, eventually flying parallel with a cable "rope" connecting both: attempting to slide over into the cockpit to aid his girlfriend while injecting genuinely palpable suspense.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </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/AVvXsEhazQ6bVzP6FNulBoNr-swuv-QlGNDafqYYUm3IOsvkBuze_KGL7IynU8eBdc1BwUwnhPm67rbELKOwHw7FnAj36I1_pa34XFfUH9mDPirR8hCNyI4GWwpfdQuw9Yl-lIXVW_4NqFkB-34/s1600/43.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazQ6bVzP6FNulBoNr-swuv-QlGNDafqYYUm3IOsvkBuze_KGL7IynU8eBdc1BwUwnhPm67rbELKOwHw7FnAj36I1_pa34XFfUH9mDPirR8hCNyI4GWwpfdQuw9Yl-lIXVW_4NqFkB-34/s320/43.png" width="284" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SUNSET BLVD meets EXORCIST Score: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The passengers are, as is usual with the Disaster Genre, a bevy of semi-famous folk including three drunks, Jerry Stiller, Norman Fell and Conrad Janis and playing herself is SUNSET BLVD's Gloria Swanson. And although they don't share a scene together, that Noir classic's ingenue "girlfriend" of TOWERING INFERNO veteran William Holden... Nancy Olson... plays Linda Blair's mom...<br /> <br /> And of all the AIRPORT flicks, not only does this have the most in common with AIRPLANE!, but it's arguably the most entertaining of the four-film series also including AIRPORT '77 and the franchise-killing <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/09/the-concorde-airport-79.html">CONCORDE: AIRPORT '79</a>, which actually isn't altogether horrible... With a spooky harpsichord invading a cliche symphonic soundtrack, there's a bit of strange horror underlining what's considered one of the campiest pictures of all time: And another important bit of trivia that's already covered online, and isn't altogether original here: While Efrem Zimbalist Jr's jet fighter crashed into Dana's commercial airliner in THE CROWDED SKY, Dana gets his revenge... The FBI television actor is the main pilot in this film, and much unluckier than Dana was: In fact, the swarthy actor didn't have it too good in both features, making TV a much safer medium...

charlton heston, dana andrews, disaster, efrem zimbalist jr., erik estrada, franchise, george kennedy, gloria swanson, karen black, linda blair, nancy olson, norman fell, sequel

DANA ANDREWS CAUSES THE MAIN CRASH IN 'AIRPORT 1975'

Dana Andrews has a sky-high problem in Airport 1975 Like ZERO HOUR! and unlike AIRPLANE!, things are dead serious but so corny they...

COOL HAND LUKE

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuO02GiQ4LWdUdOTovwhzLtf9WpayTvej27goHRjy-XCoEW1riXxqtEbNl5dBOQDVnpcPyFenIqvASZev8B3fUnzHDzWYH7zUDTi2_CmlACcFm5P_1OfCikNiiJPoCVEprjRFt6pXJoY/s1600/Cool-Hand-Luke.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5593626434211136482" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSuO02GiQ4LWdUdOTovwhzLtf9WpayTvej27goHRjy-XCoEW1riXxqtEbNl5dBOQDVnpcPyFenIqvASZev8B3fUnzHDzWYH7zUDTi2_CmlACcFm5P_1OfCikNiiJPoCVEprjRFt6pXJoY/s200/Cool-Hand-Luke.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 122px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>COOL HAND LUKE<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1967<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /> <br /> "You're all feedin' off me!" shouts the title character, a prisoner played by Paul Newman, to his fellow inmates within a sweaty bunkhouse. And that's just it: the film belongs entirely to Newman with some input from George Kennedy, a prisoner who first tries to break, and then worships, our proudly one-dimensional antihero. But the real chore is the chain gang, toiling beneath the scrutiny of gun-toting "bosses" and warden Strother Martin, who utters the famous line about communication, along with Morgan Woodword as a lethal gun-toting guard wearing mirror shades. The direction and editing correlate perfectly, seeming like a propaganda film for rebellion. Yet with so many recognizable actors including Dennis Hopper, Harry Dean Stanton, Joe Don Baker, and even Wayne Rogers... more give-and-take between prisoners, all surviving this hell together, would have been nice: replacing, perhaps, an overlong scene with Newman and his coughing, dying mother. A bit overrated, but still quite good.

action, courtroom drama, dennis hopper, george kennedy, harry dean stanton, morgan woodword, paul newman, prison, sixties, strother martin

COOL HAND LUKE

title: COOL HAND LUKE year: 1967 cast: Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin rating: ***1/2 "You're all feedin' of...