cult film freak: harry shannon

Showing posts with label harry shannon. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 6/25/2026 / No comments / film noir or melodrama , forties , harry shannon , laird cregar , marc lawrence , pamela blake , robert preston , veronica lake

ALAN LADD, VERONICA LAKE & LAIRD CREGAR 'THIS GUN FOR HIRE'

<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/AVvXsEh2kyy0jHVzTtRKPd3pGNWyadyz5rOxSFOOCIvi41wTZOAW7EXjCk8nRN3D_uWkr0ZLrJo4NCzxoCwF_q6hjW1wOxe3pzqft1fsU0DUxIddig4XjCQZ_B44qGJInV7GtTAEOtUOTkKd1eiSH3Li-wrrisuf3PhJxqsQUNsJokMq3kMSIMpnQ_4L4fPTw1Ml/s1532/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-03%20at%2012.40.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="1532" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2kyy0jHVzTtRKPd3pGNWyadyz5rOxSFOOCIvi41wTZOAW7EXjCk8nRN3D_uWkr0ZLrJo4NCzxoCwF_q6hjW1wOxe3pzqft1fsU0DUxIddig4XjCQZ_B44qGJInV7GtTAEOtUOTkKd1eiSH3Li-wrrisuf3PhJxqsQUNsJokMq3kMSIMpnQ_4L4fPTw1Ml/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-03%20at%2012.40.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1942 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Then-newcomer Alan Ladd's first and best collaboration with equally diminutive and great-looking Veronica Lake, in THIS GUN'S FOR HIRE he hardly speaks a word... the characterization of paid hit-man Philip Raven's etched upon a narrowed, coolly serious expression while he murders crooked targets while protecting a crippled girl and a kitten...<br><br>That alone providing what's a proto-noir ambiguous-criminal template for a bad guy's who's really not that bad... especially compared to genuine antagonist Laird Cregar's scene-stealing overweight middleman Willard Gates, an American traitor assisted by more creatively hands-on-ruthless Marc Lawrence...</p><p><span></span></p>

film noir or melodrama, forties, harry shannon, laird cregar, marc lawrence, pamela blake, robert preston, veronica lake

ALAN LADD, VERONICA LAKE & LAIRD CREGAR 'THIS GUN FOR HIRE'

Year: 1942 Rating: **** Then-newcomer Alan Ladd's first and best collaboration with equally diminutive and great-looking Veronica Lake, ...

ROBERT MITCHUM AND FAITH DOMERGUE IN 'WHERE DANGER LIVES'

<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/AVvXsEi91S1vpDvPPIZt5BJDqdsNE0y3ACG22LACv7ogGOe68BjJgdtEs9LcUIa1bSerPksR2pBOK6LIpPWXHwncxJ7u0-BoL1xyYJQ3IfYR0-jcuZ4E86GUxl8acLesxZs3mHyAt-yEue8Exr7YiNRKcw6PT4p246rtAijhz38yEZA0HT-5p5pat2C3L4R1WDrE/s1168/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-03%20at%203.04.28%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi91S1vpDvPPIZt5BJDqdsNE0y3ACG22LACv7ogGOe68BjJgdtEs9LcUIa1bSerPksR2pBOK6LIpPWXHwncxJ7u0-BoL1xyYJQ3IfYR0-jcuZ4E86GUxl8acLesxZs3mHyAt-yEue8Exr7YiNRKcw6PT4p246rtAijhz38yEZA0HT-5p5pat2C3L4R1WDrE/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-06-03%20at%203.04.28%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: WHERE DANGER LIVES Year: 1950 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From HIS KIND OF WOMAN to THE BIG STEAL, Howard Hughes's RKO Pictures usually had Robert Mitchum on the run into Mexico wherein WHERE DANGER LIVES is the most lackluster, providing the sleepy-eyed sex symbol a role that didn't technically suit him at all...</p><p></p><p>As a doctor performing surgery on a little girl (Sherry Jackson), Mitchum's mile-high pompadour above the surgical mask is unintentionally hilarious... and yet his usual low-key performance somewhat carries him through the initial set-up where, after quickly falling in love with gorgeous yet troubled (and secretly suicidal) patient Faith Domergue, the usual noir-device of the old/rich husband being murdered by the young lover happens in an accidental flash...</p><p><span></span></p>

claude rains, faith domergue, fifties, film noir or melodrama, harry shannon, howard hughes, road movie, robert mitchum, sherry jackson

ROBERT MITCHUM AND FAITH DOMERGUE IN 'WHERE DANGER LIVES'

Title: WHERE DANGER LIVES Year: 1950 Rating: ** From HIS KIND OF WOMAN to THE BIG STEAL, Howard Hughes's RKO Pictures usually had Robert...

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & BETTY LAWFORD IN 'THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE'

<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/AVvXsEhiUb-hHCwW1l7_8YYgwQkftxWEuAeLcSzh52PoanFyT52NN06qvxaCpKUm4DIcK2bdx2EJTRNsvxVya2DuGmC8nIStBS6VoDDxfz93IQCQ13y7Nh43h2x3xYci0rwtlRnH7x6rVam560R23-vvbIreUVbk8ZfWpGm8MVJhZMuSLFFsCJA5ZQHJd0TEVzCH/s2076/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1316" data-original-width="2076" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiUb-hHCwW1l7_8YYgwQkftxWEuAeLcSzh52PoanFyT52NN06qvxaCpKUm4DIcK2bdx2EJTRNsvxVya2DuGmC8nIStBS6VoDDxfz93IQCQ13y7Nh43h2x3xYci0rwtlRnH7x6rVam560R23-vvbIreUVbk8ZfWpGm8MVJhZMuSLFFsCJA5ZQHJd0TEVzCH/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lawrence Tierney & Betty Lawford in The Devil Thumbs a Ride Year: 1947 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One year after Lawrence Tierney played an affable character with a cute pet dog in STEP BY STEP, he was back to being bad, in this case downright formidable, preferring friendly driver Ted North <i>run over </i>a dog than almost crash with four people on board, including two dames with nowhere to go until meeting Tierney's secretly-on-the-lam criminal Steve Morgan and North as a mundane traveling salesman heading back home to his typical wife...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet most of THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE pans out like an early version of DESPERATE HOURS, off road after a motorcycle-cop-chase and in a (Hollywood-shot) Oceanside to Laguna Beach beach-house where North's friend left a key while Tierney takes his time, keeping his ace card pocketed from the conveniently useful man and dames...</p><p><span></span></p>

betty lawford, crime, film noir or melodrama, forties, harry shannon, lawrence tierney, nan leslie, road movie, ted north, thriller

LAWRENCE TIERNEY & BETTY LAWFORD IN 'THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE'

Lawrence Tierney & Betty Lawford in The Devil Thumbs a Ride Year: 1947 Rates: ***1/2 One year after Lawrence Tierney played an affable c...

FILM NOIR MELODRAMA 'THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK'

<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/AVvXsEj0cqyh2-ekWROSCc5O0y384-CJuv4UeQ4TqgRjTjFniEjKJ3QdB1YJBEdQLUj2ha2p0djbb9FyxaaHWgfQlZvSHzTJQpUDLgGOayR3GiIPh753Cba_fc9TIVxJCRYUCiC2W8N0vMc36wUwMdwUyVMBS0bnZ6EV0dmJoKAd-CvbHKoW7kmOSYwOJwQEM24I/s2016/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-19%20at%2010.32.37%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0cqyh2-ekWROSCc5O0y384-CJuv4UeQ4TqgRjTjFniEjKJ3QdB1YJBEdQLUj2ha2p0djbb9FyxaaHWgfQlZvSHzTJQpUDLgGOayR3GiIPh753Cba_fc9TIVxJCRYUCiC2W8N0vMc36wUwMdwUyVMBS0bnZ6EV0dmJoKAd-CvbHKoW7kmOSYwOJwQEM24I/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-19%20at%2010.32.37%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK Year: 1950 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK is a <i>that </i>not a <i>who</i>, and two movies in one: the first a noirish b-crimer involving pretty blonde Evelyn Keyes right off the New York City train with a package of smuggled diamonds that her crooked boyfriend is waiting for... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>She has a prettier little sister in future PETER GUNN beauty Lola Albright having a secret affair with said beau Charles Korvin, and, once that affair's revealed, the second film has already begun...</p><p><span></span></p>

barry kelley, charles korvin, crime, disease, evelyn keyes, fifties, film noir or melodrama, harry shannon, jim backus, lola albright, thriller, william bishop

FILM NOIR MELODRAMA 'THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK'

THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK Year: 1950 Rating: **** THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK is a that not a who , and two movies in one: the f...

JACQUES TOURNEUR DIRECTS DANA ANDREWS IN 'CANYON PASSAGE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CANYON PASSAGE Year: 1946 Rates: ****1/2<br></u></td></tr>
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Over a decade before <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/feardemon.html">CURSE OF THE DEMON</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/feardemon.html">THE FEARMAKERS</a>, Jacques Tourneur directed Dana Andrews in a well-dressed, comfortably-paced North Western, CANYON PASSAGE, taking place mostly within a small, makeshift town built from — and tucked within the shade of — the surrounding forest, a knee-jerk away from an uneasy peace with brooding Indians... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana on book</u><br></td></tr>
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Yet the suspense relies more on how two particular characters develop 
than the horse-clopping action taking most of the third act: In almost every Western with Dana Andrews there's an edgy gallows kangaroo court involved, and here it's the least important aspect although would-be victim Brian Donlevy, as extremely unlucky, altogether-cursed gambler, George, sharpens Dana's workaholic, mule running/cargo moving entrepreneur, Logan, since he has to keep covering his old pal from gambling debts and other vices: including a possible murder. This is really a tale on how far a friendship can bend... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Riding into the Portland Oregon rain</u></td></tr>
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And there's only a hint of romance between Andrews... engaged to a Stepford Prairie Girl played by British import Patricia Roc... and future MY FOOLISH HEART co-star Susan Hayward as a beautiful tomboy — both share a cool friendship almost too perfect to hinder with complications: Actually, she already belongs to the flaky loser/dreamer, Donlevy... kind of... though it's obvious where her heart <i>really </i>is...<br>
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Meanwhile, interesting side-characters include another frequent Dana co-star, musician Hoagy Carmichael (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/05/stinking-at-butches.html">NIGHT SONG</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BYOOurLIVES.html">BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES</a>), as a mandolin-playing expository moral conscious, and Lloyd Bridges (later in Tourneur's Western <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/W-stands-for-Witchia.html">WICHITA</a>) spitefully ruling the kangaroo court: But the true antagonist's played with gusto by Ward Bond (Dana's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/SwampWater.html">SWAMP WATER</a> foe), who causes all sorts of bruised-up and/or deadly havoc, especially in a sublimely choreographed saloon fight scene, where director Tourneur's otherwise rich, artistic lens flows with testosterone-fueled bravado.<br>
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