SUE LYON IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S 'LOLITA' WITH JAMES MASON

<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/AVvXsEjGUf3zkX7S6hWRTiVXI36Vv792O1AB3QO7XuNS20rC8zvtcimMd36j6OoX57qPLe12u1dEnzILK20anUmvirhUU-lKgPEb-Ri-hsQ8lWxWAA5aWeMgLAmYvdv5zxqprI83Okm-puM4WhLbnEOC18qbE8vfEHSVqRzssW-FBwF6UFCiPHzUy5BE2nVJ9fwe/s1616/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-22%20at%204.10.49%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="1616" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGUf3zkX7S6hWRTiVXI36Vv792O1AB3QO7XuNS20rC8zvtcimMd36j6OoX57qPLe12u1dEnzILK20anUmvirhUU-lKgPEb-Ri-hsQ8lWxWAA5aWeMgLAmYvdv5zxqprI83Okm-puM4WhLbnEOC18qbE8vfEHSVqRzssW-FBwF6UFCiPHzUy5BE2nVJ9fwe/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-22%20at%204.10.49%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Peter Sellers with Marianne Stone and Sue Lyon in Stanley Kubrick's LOLITA Year: 1962 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between Stanley Kubrick's financial gig on Kirk Douglas's epic SPARTACUS and the immense Cold War dark comedy DR. STRANGELOVE is the subtle yet brilliant LOLITA, perhaps his most conventionally filmed and least visually offbeat since the storyline takes care of all that... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Middle-aged British college professor James Mason falls for the titular Sue Lyon, whose mom, Shelley Winters, bounces around a suburban East Coast dream house, stealing all the first act scenes in what feels like a short film in itself... </p><p><span></span></p>

dark comedy, exploitation, james mason, jazz score, jerry stovin, marianne stone, peter sellers, road movie, shelley winters, sixties, stanley kubrick, sue lyon

SUE LYON IN STANLEY KUBRICK'S 'LOLITA' WITH JAMES MASON

Peter Sellers with Marianne Stone and Sue Lyon in Stanley Kubrick's LOLITA Year: 1962 Rating: **** Between Stanley Kubrick's financi...

VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

<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/AVvXsEjo6un97B2w4zbuKKV9EtsUOnNFVDWO4GEVEz6CVnuoBcYWHxm9vpznvlhlamV3t-novtp5jK4sfM8jSofMERmVEd8DqvxeOwXmK6GGXCpc5ScIPbIJoDQtoltM7StUZEgVpfJaN7AdWPjzCWPVEeAmVijIDCQI4J2ccj82yiuKzsNMNdr2fAM2uxcHApSS/s1926/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-09%20at%2012.20.26%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1926" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo6un97B2w4zbuKKV9EtsUOnNFVDWO4GEVEz6CVnuoBcYWHxm9vpznvlhlamV3t-novtp5jK4sfM8jSofMERmVEd8DqvxeOwXmK6GGXCpc5ScIPbIJoDQtoltM7StUZEgVpfJaN7AdWPjzCWPVEeAmVijIDCQI4J2ccj82yiuKzsNMNdr2fAM2uxcHApSS/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-09%20at%2012.20.26%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY Year: 1960 Rates: ***</u><u>*</u><u>*</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest directing his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/03/YE.html">YESTERDAY'S ENEMY</a> leading man Stanley Baker, HELL IS A CITY is not only a Noir-like Police Procedural but an Escaped Convict Procedural as sinister John Crawford hops from various former colleagues and lovers while intense cop Baker, who'd originally put him away and is revenge-driven to nab him back, visits/questions the same people...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>From a bookie's cheating wife (Billie Whitelaw ignoring rich husband Donald Pleasence who employed doomed Lois Daine); a flirty waitress; a stubborn salesman with a gorgeous deaf/dumb daughter (Sarah Branch); and featuring various locales run by a shady gang with deliciously pulpy nicknames like Clogger Roach...</p><p><span></span></p>

billie whitelaw, british neo noir, donald pleasence, geoffrey frederick, george a. cooper, hammer films, jazz score, john crawford, lois daine, sarah branch, sixties, stanley baker, val guest, vanda godsell

VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

Stanley Baker in HELL IS A CITY Year: 1960 Rates: *** * * The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest directing his YESTERDAY'S E...

VICTOR MATURE AND TREVOR HOWARD BATTLE IN 'PICKUP ALLEY'

<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/AVvXsEgy33Rr1Ww_apBeyTbSElQCojWQrDdRSEHxpOPdw6wfZJiXNrz3wL4aPtPqLCX1DHQaoY78iMaQ-tMIhHqmUdEmGPsQnn3XuVw6mAr3LDWyGkDoYwwHCy4cfcph7u7SJFHJF53wu4jxZDpLRYx7fxFv0bhpAg6xlVokiuzOzFIrn5KOv2SPna3MhbCEQ4Ki/s1858/369792540_1791421271287041_2486943400021753132_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1082" data-original-width="1858" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy33Rr1Ww_apBeyTbSElQCojWQrDdRSEHxpOPdw6wfZJiXNrz3wL4aPtPqLCX1DHQaoY78iMaQ-tMIhHqmUdEmGPsQnn3XuVw6mAr3LDWyGkDoYwwHCy4cfcph7u7SJFHJF53wu4jxZDpLRYx7fxFv0bhpAg6xlVokiuzOzFIrn5KOv2SPna3MhbCEQ4Ki/s16000/369792540_1791421271287041_2486943400021753132_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster art for Pickup Alley Year: 1957 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sometimes those late 1950's anti-drug, jazz-soaked neo noirs feature shaky method actors mimicking shaky legend James Dean, and for a reason... they're coming off heroin... and preachy melodrama ensues. But this British import starring American actor Victor Mature only begins that way... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>What everything narrows down to is Mature, a U.S. drug enforcement agent, going after classy drug-smuggling kingpin Trevor Howard, himself after an eventual load of heroin in a port among various countries, from England to Greece to France, yet this was all filmed in Italy while making terrific use of their iconic Roman ruins...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, alec mango, anita ekberg, bonar colleano, brian wilde, british film noir, drugs, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jazz score, john gilling, maurice browning, trevor howard, victor mature

VICTOR MATURE AND TREVOR HOWARD BATTLE IN 'PICKUP ALLEY'

Poster art for Pickup Alley Year: 1957 Rating: **** Sometimes those late 1950's anti-drug, jazz-soaked neo noirs feature shaky method ac...

GEORGE HAMILTON KILLS FOR 'CRIME AND PUNISHMENT U.S.A.'

<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/AVvXsEgcRQoPHyllQWbUPinBppZlPptD_6CWxHmjFf1QvT48dLnYMUmSInUt27h-sH0bEcrdFSQlHVHU0HCeloQiu0TTCjdh7PdDAbbepsNYBoeqcdkLnN6xafF4p1ZWBYqTEUW4id1kg7uOqCFltVgkpzmeUUQAEMJ3y4k-BrVUCphZh5rSk4zF0sOg5lH-TwPi/s2314/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%207.41.52%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1490" data-original-width="2314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcRQoPHyllQWbUPinBppZlPptD_6CWxHmjFf1QvT48dLnYMUmSInUt27h-sH0bEcrdFSQlHVHU0HCeloQiu0TTCjdh7PdDAbbepsNYBoeqcdkLnN6xafF4p1ZWBYqTEUW4id1kg7uOqCFltVgkpzmeUUQAEMJ3y4k-BrVUCphZh5rSk4zF0sOg5lH-TwPi/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-28%20at%207.41.52%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT U.S.A. Year: 1959 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Actually more like the previous years' <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/stockwell-dillman.html">COMPULSION</a> than a modernization of Fyodor Dostoevsky's CRIME AND PUNISHMENT... although that's exactly what it is, by title, and if Frank Silvera's friendly, complimenting homicide detective is reminiscent of the 1970's TV-cop <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/peter%20falk">COLUMBO</a>, both are based on the same literary character...</p><p></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 ironically, George Hamilton became a victim-of-persuasion from both determined constables and here, resembling Anthony Perkins with the combined personalities of either brainy <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/stockwell-dillman.html">COMPULSION</a> killer... heavily into Atheist philosophy while inwardly justifying a <i>necessary murder</i>... he's more aimless than guilt-ridden... </p><span></span>

adaptation, fifties, frank silvera, george hamilton, jazz score, mary murphy, neo noir, warner archives, wayne heffley

GEORGE HAMILTON KILLS FOR 'CRIME AND PUNISHMENT U.S.A.'

Title: CRIME AND PUNISHMENT U.S.A. Year: 1959 Rating: **** Actually more like the previous years' COMPULSION than a modernization of Fy...

BILLIE WHITELAW, MICHAEL CRAIG & WILLIAM LUCAS IN 'PAYROLL'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjYyd1FqLiQMtqfrXj97GD_-a2xr2rt-kEPFtvjUnWnbvHp9AshdbWfIVaPNYhpo4t5-AYB4eQ9djudsgWSPJFQcc6zjrzliHDscM1ZiYONYzpKrvoihtJ0z47TA_Pv_m1tIC0F2n9rT5Y3kq4yveoSp039dhkh2Rp3v8UDx2gcuCHG9tM-TC8-Jl_Yme4U/s1670/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-05%20at%2010.02.22%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="942" data-original-width="1670" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYyd1FqLiQMtqfrXj97GD_-a2xr2rt-kEPFtvjUnWnbvHp9AshdbWfIVaPNYhpo4t5-AYB4eQ9djudsgWSPJFQcc6zjrzliHDscM1ZiYONYzpKrvoihtJ0z47TA_Pv_m1tIC0F2n9rT5Y3kq4yveoSp039dhkh2Rp3v8UDx2gcuCHG9tM-TC8-Jl_Yme4U/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-05%20at%2010.02.22%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Original Title: PAYROLL/I PROMISED TO PAY Director: Cliff Owen Year: 1961 Rates: ***</u><u>*1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Early example of girl power encroaching a manly action flick, or more like widow power in that Billie Whitelaw only initially <i>seems</i> the docile suburban wife/mother, married to the literally <i>driven</i> creator of an armored vehicle... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Whose invention thwarts a gang's plan to rob a factory safe, now mobile... but the equally driven <i>and</i> dangerous Michael Craig (contrasting to the heroic <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/Misland.html">MYSTERIOUS ISLAND</a> role) is hell-bent on the blag going down... </p><p><span></span></p>

armored car, billie whitelaw, british neo noir, françoise prévost, glyn houston, heist, jazz score, keith faulkner, kenneth griffith, michael craig, pauline shepherd, sixties, tom bell, vanda godsell, william lucas

BILLIE WHITELAW, MICHAEL CRAIG & WILLIAM LUCAS IN 'PAYROLL'

Original Title: PAYROLL/I PROMISED TO PAY Director: Cliff Owen Year: 1961 Rates: *** *1/2 Early example of girl power encroaching a manly ac...

CAROL LYNLEY, GIG YOUNG & OLIVER REED IN 'THE SHUTTERED ROOM'

<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/AVvXsEj9EMgCXboxY58-vdVsKrShprjoJlD0duReNMb1vD0ipBmPYPokso-hgWRbxm2Vi3pXBs1_O6KNXwTPdLMhSPG-grHBSofvYdkX6Vddt_HqcQpW8Rq7S2GiNQTh16XN58cCoaZ5GfFud09n6J8SY9nW-G2ljtk7_ISzMcX9tVpBWEmt0_d-Urubj2r8iw/s1759/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="834" data-original-width="1759" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EMgCXboxY58-vdVsKrShprjoJlD0duReNMb1vD0ipBmPYPokso-hgWRbxm2Vi3pXBs1_O6KNXwTPdLMhSPG-grHBSofvYdkX6Vddt_HqcQpW8Rq7S2GiNQTh16XN58cCoaZ5GfFud09n6J8SY9nW-G2ljtk7_ISzMcX9tVpBWEmt0_d-Urubj2r8iw/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SHUTTERED ROOM Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A near clone of Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS only five years earlier, during the psychedelic era, which is only apparent from the bare-bone jazz soundtrack orchestrating a married couple consisting of a beautiful blonde wife with an ordinary, unassuming husband returning to her small New England-based island home (yet obviously shot in the beautifully rustic exterior of England), part of an eerie Gothic mill that's its very own living/breathing character...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Making the inevitable climax of who's hiding within the titular SHUTTERED ROOM not that important a surprise-twist having been teased during a surreal, horror-trope prologue by mostly TV-director David Greene...  </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, british, bully, carol lynley, david greene, drama, gig young, gothic, horror, jazz score, oliver reed, rural, sixties, thriller

CAROL LYNLEY, GIG YOUNG & OLIVER REED IN 'THE SHUTTERED ROOM'

Title: THE SHUTTERED ROOM Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 A near clone of Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS only five years earlier, during the psych...

STEVE MCQUEEN IN THE ORIGINAL LEGENDARY CLASSIC 'THE BLOB'

<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/AVvXsEjDsuFtjyrWUVDH7BhgL91grP10vXlJaXxuVMxP4IeDSO1TIxBtMheS6LufjkHwTCWNYIhzIhNS2XyREviZUuIYjTD5iosFimWgM5QDDy9bSgFUWUwo544ORY6gdr5VU266k40GwerMeDwmWGRliB8_dJLC_nvNodRJPAHCuTMsv6edsq-TrLKJZn_ywBUc/s1309/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-05%20at%209.31.48%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDsuFtjyrWUVDH7BhgL91grP10vXlJaXxuVMxP4IeDSO1TIxBtMheS6LufjkHwTCWNYIhzIhNS2XyREviZUuIYjTD5iosFimWgM5QDDy9bSgFUWUwo544ORY6gdr5VU266k40GwerMeDwmWGRliB8_dJLC_nvNodRJPAHCuTMsv6edsq-TrLKJZn_ywBUc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-05%20at%209.31.48%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve McQueen in THE BLOB Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>During the prelude of an eclectic and highly successful career, Steve McQueen, billed as Steven McQueen as a guy named Steve, has never played a character so untrusted, underrated or downright frustratingly unappreciated...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He knows what everyone, including his best girl, has strong, stubborn doubts about. And we're not only supposed to believe that the rugged-looking, world-weary McQueen is a teenager but that he'd actually get taunted, goaded and borderline bullied by bunch of small town car-jerks who look as if <i>they'd</i> follow <i>him</i>...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, cult, dinosaur, exploitation, fifties, horror, irvin s. yeaworth jr., jack harris, james congdon, jazz score, lee meriwether, robert fields, robert lansing, sixties, steve mcqueen, suspense, thriller

STEVE MCQUEEN IN THE ORIGINAL LEGENDARY CLASSIC 'THE BLOB'

Steve McQueen in THE BLOB Year: 1958 Rating: ***1/2 During the prelude of an eclectic and highly successful career, Steve McQueen, billed ...

MARLON BRANDO INVADES 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEhYz3-V8gOl8aW_N-3G3CEI4cplBiXx1y8xNaLeI9zNefFeRttq7sBssofE_XdqW0g4PF0AbpFG9vFGwJuXrI8cjZEIxYbMV9KM-6vz5ZH8ibT_w4M2S-ADshzPtDKg2lSL0CajL7wKR_BTn8lU9GEEMMoXp1NWjH2_n-9RHMKUH8aMa2vhqSdRdavDnBHQ/s2004/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-03%20at%207.45.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2004" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYz3-V8gOl8aW_N-3G3CEI4cplBiXx1y8xNaLeI9zNefFeRttq7sBssofE_XdqW0g4PF0AbpFG9vFGwJuXrI8cjZEIxYbMV9KM-6vz5ZH8ibT_w4M2S-ADshzPtDKg2lSL0CajL7wKR_BTn8lU9GEEMMoXp1NWjH2_n-9RHMKUH8aMa2vhqSdRdavDnBHQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-03%20at%207.45.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando in The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There are two things that <i>must be </i>intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One is fortyish Marlon Brando was proving to <i>still </i>be fit and great looking (and he did); the other is this kidnap-thriller's not one bit thrilling, and director Hubert Cornfield deliberately made a character-driven film more about edgy criminals than the edgy situation they're involved in... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></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 kidnapped Pamela Franklin is hardly shown, especially once inside the main location, a French beach house where even a literally fishing cop — flirting with Brando's junky girlfriend (and the passive leader's sister) Rita Moreno — doesn't  evoke suspense...</p><p><span></span></p>

al lettieri, hubert cornfield, jazz score, jess hahn, kidnapping, marlon brando, neo noir, pamela franklin, richard boone, rita moreno, sixties, suspense, thriller

MARLON BRANDO INVADES 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

Marlon Brando in The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2 There are two things that must be intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOL...

TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEhtGcC5wmc2qV4s9l5AbXYU-SJ6hVinnTOJUPnsB8kj2qnFE-RNszdLQWyCZGMNoh5yczFAYkwfAnNpNrFPE1omf6pXYUkUxjXAVhAFi-X9Y7_HXKjxeXCYKiL9dDbxJ5hQlXQA4_PttdvBmxVDXmToVkq_Cu5Ps3qyXVobsd3Nv2LBg3mfIriVyN-yvqNB/s1986/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-27%20at%2010.50.10%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1068" data-original-width="1986" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtGcC5wmc2qV4s9l5AbXYU-SJ6hVinnTOJUPnsB8kj2qnFE-RNszdLQWyCZGMNoh5yczFAYkwfAnNpNrFPE1omf6pXYUkUxjXAVhAFi-X9Y7_HXKjxeXCYKiL9dDbxJ5hQlXQA4_PttdvBmxVDXmToVkq_Cu5Ps3qyXVobsd3Nv2LBg3mfIriVyN-yvqNB/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-27%20at%2010.50.10%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Courtenay & James Bolam THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING gets credit for igniting the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/british%20new%20wave">British New Wave</a>, otherwise known as Kitchen Sink Dramas centering on the working class in England's late 50's/early 60's, that film's producer Tony Richardson's directorial THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER really thrust the movement forward...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With an active sport-plot behind character-driven, documentary-style social themes, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/tom%20courtenay">Tom Courtenay</a> plays young contented loser Colin Smith, newly arrived at a rural juvenile detention center from a renovated castle, run by ambitious warden (aka governor) Michael Redgrave...</p><p><span></span></p>

british new wave, cult, drama, frank finlay, indie, james bolam, jazz score, joe robinson, julia foster, michael redgrave, prison, sixties, sport, tom courtenay, tony richardson, topsy jane

TOM COURTENAY 'THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER'

Tom Courtenay & James Bolam THE LONELINESS OF THE LONG DISTANCE RUNNER Year: 1962 Rating: ***** Although SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNI...

CORNEL WILDE, JEAN WALLACE & RICHARD CONTE 'THE BIG COMBO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEgTpIgO3K_l-NKvyT5ZDDZpnpGOeuuvBozAAQRAGtwhhmOMUZhnK0A-nUV5VdLz4iHgN6mscddhJhdcCgL_3lxtGwrKfhw4Z7zwDUMYpy-WON5SFiY6Umcjqt167U2XndvD0XSDRylfhXAryZTm0gVAWwdbFOZ4cX-EKqQPdkL4rE2MEV6jUjrx0Yx6FbbQ/s2062/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-07%20at%2011.22.40%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="2062" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpIgO3K_l-NKvyT5ZDDZpnpGOeuuvBozAAQRAGtwhhmOMUZhnK0A-nUV5VdLz4iHgN6mscddhJhdcCgL_3lxtGwrKfhw4Z7zwDUMYpy-WON5SFiY6Umcjqt167U2XndvD0XSDRylfhXAryZTm0gVAWwdbFOZ4cX-EKqQPdkL4rE2MEV6jUjrx0Yx6FbbQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-07%20at%2011.22.40%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Conte & Cornel Wilde in THE BIG COMBO Year: 1955 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Given a dollar for every time Richard Conte's big time gangster says he makes more money than idealist cop Cornel Wilde, you'd be richer than Conte's Mr. Brown, a kingpin with an Achilles Heel shown right off the bat: his reluctant and guilt-ridden, suicidal moll, Jean Wallace, Who becomes more of a wishbone between Wilde and Conte, and it's a gritty, sleazy, jazz-soaked time reaching a conclusion that becomes more  unpredictable with another dame in the mix... </p><p></p><p></p><p></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 low-rent showgirl Helene Stanton has more femme fatale attitude despite being the cop's girl, "used like a glove when he's cold" and, with Wallace's Susan spitefully in love with her first love Conte, things get pretty chilly in this late Noir that, like many, recalls the sparse 1930's gangster style over the sinfully lavish programmers of the 40's...</p><span></span>

cop, cornel wilde, earl holliman, film noir or melodrama, helen walker, helene stanton, jazz score, jean wallace, lee van cleef, richard conte

CORNEL WILDE, JEAN WALLACE & RICHARD CONTE 'THE BIG COMBO'

Richard Conte & Cornel Wilde in THE BIG COMBO Year: 1955 Rates: **** Given a dollar for every time Richard Conte's big time gangster...

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON FOR 'THE WILD RIDE'

<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/AVvXsEgUGF2UBvTkZGCIz5DpOSf-0Wa0-pIenIB_4CXBH0oomsBHZbyUaFwK_MfL4zNoILF_DfRYIbBzJU3WtLTSXGtMYIe0l4aq7xZHPS4FtwS4tPVzPl_CXi6yZ6IUBRQleNYwPAbM-W_F_lThqzGZIE6a-45qZaT4MXBS7hRmhUDhhDx3ZiuuvJsQ-h00hw/s1548/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-18%20at%2011.30.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="813" data-original-width="1548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUGF2UBvTkZGCIz5DpOSf-0Wa0-pIenIB_4CXBH0oomsBHZbyUaFwK_MfL4zNoILF_DfRYIbBzJU3WtLTSXGtMYIe0l4aq7xZHPS4FtwS4tPVzPl_CXi6yZ6IUBRQleNYwPAbM-W_F_lThqzGZIE6a-45qZaT4MXBS7hRmhUDhhDx3ZiuuvJsQ-h00hw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-18%20at%2011.30.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A young Jack Nicholson in THE WILD RIDE Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before the term Speed Kills referred to drugs it was for souped-up fast cars... There weren't any protests under the influence of psychedelia just yet; the 1950's and early 1960's were about hot rods and youth and the latter's misuse was the subject of many films, mostly cautionary tales but this one's a bit more ambiguous and peripheral...<br> <br> THE WILD RIDE stars a young Jack Nicholson as Johnny Varron. He's mostly alone and, with a jovially jazzy soundtrack, every now and then grooving smoothly into a vibe-laden skeletal strut, he's cool to watch driving along a rural road, somewhere in California...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, drama, exploitation, hangout, jack nicholson, jazz score, melodrama, race car, roger corman, romance, sixties, teen

RACING THROUGH EARLY JACK NICHOLSON FOR 'THE WILD RIDE'

A young Jack Nicholson in THE WILD RIDE Year: 1960 Rating: **1/2 Before the term Speed Kills referred to drugs it was for souped-up fast ca...

VINCE EDWARDS IN THE ATOMIC AGE LATE NOIR 'CITY OF FEAR'

<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/AVvXsEgRq11_qKGWT10RGc-cSrWfNR-21UOU8UbcMk2dKaDw-b-bzxeTft85zPOO7Nq7P0dfXgwsgT2EB7XvMXWxMpIxy1ty8v0_agZK9lwqfb7-bEsKO04WFFNP6njhQE-xAudSt-6iMcbjNLsTEhKC5cQ1aXLTiU6XZo-U6TxwViNBELmkodpU54ZnM6_ozmpg/s2572/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-05%20at%203.14.28%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="2572" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRq11_qKGWT10RGc-cSrWfNR-21UOU8UbcMk2dKaDw-b-bzxeTft85zPOO7Nq7P0dfXgwsgT2EB7XvMXWxMpIxy1ty8v0_agZK9lwqfb7-bEsKO04WFFNP6njhQE-xAudSt-6iMcbjNLsTEhKC5cQ1aXLTiU6XZo-U6TxwViNBELmkodpU54ZnM6_ozmpg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-05%20at%203.14.28%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CITY OF FEAR Stars: Vince Edwards, Steven Ritch Year: 1959 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An escaped convict, played by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/vince%20edwards">Vince Edwards</a>, steals a metal container of what he thinks is uncut heroin, but is really radioactive cobalt and, as he ventures through sparse Los Angeles, slowly dying in a kind of nuclear cautionary tale version of D. O.A., a cop (WHITE HEAT heat John Archer), a dame (Patricia Blair) and doctor (<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/steven%20ritch">Steven Ritch</a> from PLUNDER ROAD) are after him... <br> <br>The edgy, stylized yet subtle nuance of CITY OF FEAR exceeds the somewhat sluggish pace when our ailing anti-hero, not on screen, is discussed by other cast members: a symbolic comparison to that lethal cobalt and the 1950's American male criminal... both are active, deadly...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, hit-man, irvine lerner, jazz score, john archer, kathie browne, kelly thorsden, patricia blair, road movie, steven ritch, vince edwards

VINCE EDWARDS IN THE ATOMIC AGE LATE NOIR 'CITY OF FEAR'

Title: CITY OF FEAR Stars: Vince Edwards, Steven Ritch Year: 1959 Rating: *** An escaped convict, played by Vince Edwards , steals a metal c...

OLIVER REED & KATHERINE WOODVILLE IN 'THE PARTY'S OVER'

<p></p><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/AVvXsEhn9mj31x2IEZ0CnTZ_S0ewiijIwytKuxXE2qDlYeviG5Vo_tRTtHzKjTwe6U9sCrNkuF_9tvTxrSTBHMGIgTafmoQngfl_mOFDTHojepAfKE3xqU6b-XUfCIqQU-YoMCALKXu6Q7LVf_rxYGvyruwDNao8-BRDpC_Qk85fQhhtfHII1yQ7sF2j8jr_ZA/s1214/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-06%20at%201.36.30%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn9mj31x2IEZ0CnTZ_S0ewiijIwytKuxXE2qDlYeviG5Vo_tRTtHzKjTwe6U9sCrNkuF_9tvTxrSTBHMGIgTafmoQngfl_mOFDTHojepAfKE3xqU6b-XUfCIqQU-YoMCALKXu6Q7LVf_rxYGvyruwDNao8-BRDpC_Qk85fQhhtfHII1yQ7sF2j8jr_ZA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-05-06%20at%201.36.30%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Title: THE PARTY'S OVER Year: 1965 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Executive Producer Peter O'Toole and Jack Hawkins along with director Guy Hamilton took their names off this controversial British Beatnik flick where an American girl, missing from her New York tycoon father and businessman fiance, is supposedly raped/screwed after death: so for them it wasn't controversial enough...<br> <br> Yet no actual necrophilia occurs (unless you count a quick posthumous kiss), even in the restored cut when — a day before THE PARTY'S OVER — Oliver Reed and his wayward cohorts play cat-and-mouse with Clifford David as the rich chick's arranged fiance, Carson...<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>

ann lynn, beatnik, british, british new wave, clifford david, counter-culture, crime, eddie albert, jazz score, katherine woodville, louise sorel, maurice browning, mystery, oliver reed, romance, sixties

OLIVER REED & KATHERINE WOODVILLE IN 'THE PARTY'S OVER'

Title: THE PARTY'S OVER Year: 1965 Rating: **** Executive Producer Peter O'Toole and Jack Hawkins along with director Guy Hamilton...

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...

BRITISH NEW WAVE CRIME MELODRAMA OF 'A MATTER OF CHOICE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMjS25KjXkb2Ug3niSSvOceT5_21aeZv8rH69gJ2eTUql-k6dr2Si9pYGheNw_63cAovEe4dwHgfV33osfK2n8exysvlPnyma3TtzE8tkmxAkV00XemKy7Lk8Xkt1VXiObwLq-Dw9QN83p5Qra8R48dpjTNglwBuuZwJDCPzXdTxKbSPBSC19HvTDuWw=s1102" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="545" data-original-width="1102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgMjS25KjXkb2Ug3niSSvOceT5_21aeZv8rH69gJ2eTUql-k6dr2Si9pYGheNw_63cAovEe4dwHgfV33osfK2n8exysvlPnyma3TtzE8tkmxAkV00XemKy7Lk8Xkt1VXiObwLq-Dw9QN83p5Qra8R48dpjTNglwBuuZwJDCPzXdTxKbSPBSC19HvTDuWw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Penny Morrell in A MATTER OF CHOICE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>If A MATTER OF CHOICE didn't rely on the titular melodramatic fateful inevitability premise, it would more smoothly summarize the British New Wave of the 1960's, liken to THE LONELINESS OF A LONG DISTANCE RUNNER had Tom Courtenay and James Bolam never been arrested since the best scenes involve two young men just hanging out... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Herein lifted from Leopold and Loeb-inspired ROPE and COMPULSION as these fellas seem more interested in each other than women... and their goal to find the perfect chick's more a dare than possible conquest...  </p><p><span></span></p>

anthony steel, british neo noir, british new wave, ensemble, jazz score, jeanne moody, lisa peake, malcolm gerard, marie noël, melodrama, penny morrell, sixties

BRITISH NEW WAVE CRIME MELODRAMA OF 'A MATTER OF CHOICE'

Penny Morrell in A MATTER OF CHOICE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 If A MATTER OF CHOICE didn't rely on the titular melodramatic fateful inev...

SHARY MARSHALL IN STEVE COCHRAN'S 'TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT'

<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/AVvXsEgCf2aquv_Ctn2MyV-3CgAgZ7hyzus3ZkwlAJEzBOqGNuvBUfO0Nq68ZYN6jjfnMalxTTlqE2c0CkQ4yQZkxX583xa4ftAgcpco6xYD8xtjXi2ghkpfJNWLhrA0iHc9INKXhFHOO4ZPWeHW/s915/zz+2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="701" data-original-width="915" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCf2aquv_Ctn2MyV-3CgAgZ7hyzus3ZkwlAJEzBOqGNuvBUfO0Nq68ZYN6jjfnMalxTTlqE2c0CkQ4yQZkxX583xa4ftAgcpco6xYD8xtjXi2ghkpfJNWLhrA0iHc9INKXhFHOO4ZPWeHW/w400-h306/zz+2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SUNLIGHT was Filmed: 1962 Released: 1965 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>First time director Steve Cochran directs himself against his usual villainous type in TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT as a laidback sailor on the coast of Nassau, Bahamas, wandering the nighttime town on what feels a never-ending leave from the parked ship, picking-up on a young Mexican girl more than half his age and getting nowhere till the next night when, after a shave & haircut by another toned-down usual-villain Jay Robinson, he meets a stripper named Julie played by drop-dead-gorgeous Shary Marshall... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>And after crowded smoky shots in a noisy bamboo-filled strip joint, most of the picture has the new couple hanging around town at night, providing TELL ME the kind of indie project that'd seem commonplace a decade later but in the early 1960's, when it was actually made then released upon Cochran's death, it's a poor man's b-movie romance both steamy and sexy yet without any sex... So Marshall's heart-of-gold stripper is a different kind of girl-next-door while Cochran, usually a slap away from getting what he wants from a dame, is even more subdued, patient, and cautious... like his film, the only he'd direct as, on the same  yacht he'd be found dead on, he was scouting the next tropics-set locale. Making the plot-less yet thoughtful SUNLIGHT shine brighter knowing it's not just the last, but the only. </p><span></span>

indie, jay robinson, jazz score, neo noir, romance, shary marshall, sixties, steve cochran, stripper

SHARY MARSHALL IN STEVE COCHRAN'S 'TELL ME IN THE SUNLIGHT'

SUNLIGHT was Filmed: 1962 Released: 1965 Rating: **** First time director Steve Cochran directs himself against his usual villainous type in...

NAMES BEHIND THE GROOVY COFFEE HOUSE BAND FROM 'BULLITT'

<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/AVvXsEgFYiN6lZCRVkfj2SLJw7lduwMHXTLu4F-Z32tt-jJYx5GAUghH74xqrShcMKuymDhY0SxHwGwxRS46uSpcocJPTN0STqYoNqfP8IKGxc9_VdN-9RwLZLullNr8yJypZBip6yaysrCvrecBMYjyz9GOjDqI4VkinxOwglfm3VyGF942T4OdE4wrnd2Lqg/s2048/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1167" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFYiN6lZCRVkfj2SLJw7lduwMHXTLu4F-Z32tt-jJYx5GAUghH74xqrShcMKuymDhY0SxHwGwxRS46uSpcocJPTN0STqYoNqfP8IKGxc9_VdN-9RwLZLullNr8yJypZBip6yaysrCvrecBMYjyz9GOjDqI4VkinxOwglfm3VyGF942T4OdE4wrnd2Lqg/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jazz Flautist Julie Iger Roseman imposed behind Steve McQueen in BULLITT</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A memorable yet dated scene in Peter Yates's cop classic BULLITT starring Steve McQueen, thrusting audiences into the groovy late-1960's with a flurry of flute-spouting, bass-thumping, guitar-strumming hippie jazz is also pretty cool because, hell, it's a standout part of BULLITT; so here's some info backing up the San Francisco band playing at the COFFEE CANTATA where McQueen's titular cop has dinner with his gorgeous gal Jacqueline Bissett...</p><p></p><p></p><p>The group was known as MERIDIAN WEST and the members were, on guitar: LARRY VOGT; flute: JULIE IGER ROSEMAN; percussion: AL PIMENTAL and the obvious leader, on standup bass: NAT JOHNSON. </p><p>According to flautist Julie Iger Roseman, McQueen had discovered the Bay Area musicians, bought them a drink, and hired them for the movie (<a href="http://reelsf.com/reelsf/bullitt-coffee-cantata">info discovered here</a>), in which Meridian West was recorded at Francis Ford Coppola's local studio. But guitarist Larry Vogt stated that the actual music heard was performed and written by composer Lalo Schifrin (with his ensemble), and NOT this foursome... who DID perform live at the Hollywood Opening/Premiere party. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

article, cop, cult, jacqueline bisset, jazz score, music, peter yates, sixties, steve mcqueen

NAMES BEHIND THE GROOVY COFFEE HOUSE BAND FROM 'BULLITT'

Jazz Flautist Julie Iger Roseman imposed behind Steve McQueen in BULLITT A memorable yet dated scene in Peter Yates's cop classic BULLIT...

MARILEE EARLE IN 'STREET OF SINNERS' W/ GEORGE MONTGOMERY

<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/AVvXsEhSFfYo9OAGCmqKRueRYN1FV9_b0-CRHcpTQlBIonHn_DEcwJKpW3zBqdhURi1jABLpf8m24o0lhDAlp3paEsjg-ixbMxCgBswQ1n6YFWVJStaEyI3PgxMDdTh6lugekfQNaBt4MTasJ7px/s1600/11.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="817" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFfYo9OAGCmqKRueRYN1FV9_b0-CRHcpTQlBIonHn_DEcwJKpW3zBqdhURi1jABLpf8m24o0lhDAlp3paEsjg-ixbMxCgBswQ1n6YFWVJStaEyI3PgxMDdTh6lugekfQNaBt4MTasJ7px/s400/11.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marilee Earle and George Montgomery in Street of Sinners Year: 1957</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> With Dana Andrews as Cult Film Freak's all-time favorite actor, and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/08/feardemon.html">THE FEARMAKERS</a> the favorite movie, it's hard not to fall hard for obscure ingenue/bombshell Marilee Earle, whose deep, dark, narrowed, penetrating eyes are reminiscent of Elizabeth Short i.e. The Black Dahlia — yet with a sweet voice she'd often play vulnerable characters: alongside Dana she's a kindhearted secretary and a meek pregnant wife in the cold war thriller THE LOST MISSILE...<br> <br> So she really gets to shine in STREET OF SINNERS, a stage play type of B&W melodrama where everything is pushed into one setting, basically: a restaurant run by shady and not very mysteriously nefarious Nehemiah Persoff, who plays a different kind of crime boss who "runs the entire street" since he fully admits and even brags about his crooked reign, even to a much-too-old rookie cop played by George Montgomery as John Dean....<br>

andra martin, clifford david, crime, diana millay, drama, exploitation, fifties, george montgomery, geraldine brooks, jazz score, marilee earle, melodrama, mob, nehemiah persoff

MARILEE EARLE IN 'STREET OF SINNERS' W/ GEORGE MONTGOMERY

Marilee Earle and George Montgomery in Street of Sinners Year: 1957 With Dana Andrews as Cult Film Freak's all-time favorite actor, ...

FROM 'MADMAN OF MANDORAS' TO 'THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN'

<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/AVvXsEgi0AhTq7O_H-DTv05IRoY54NTvq0dBxfL9-2nLPMJ1Hl4R05l6leVrLBDGMR1LDQta_Q0pdIU57SNHOLShW6Z8qsmYzqmTVEWNn0kESKlCXbK0h0DN0YrTEhPQzyPyqfakPiSW5Fkcp038/s1600/hqdefault.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="473" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi0AhTq7O_H-DTv05IRoY54NTvq0dBxfL9-2nLPMJ1Hl4R05l6leVrLBDGMR1LDQta_Q0pdIU57SNHOLShW6Z8qsmYzqmTVEWNn0kESKlCXbK0h0DN0YrTEhPQzyPyqfakPiSW5Fkcp038/s400/hqdefault.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Madman of Mandoras Years: 1963 into Hitler's Brain: 1968</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Well someone out there knew the title THEY SAVED SATAN'S BRAIN, a television movie in 1968, sounded much more campy and nafarious and downright awesome than the 1963 vehicle where most of the scenes were lifted, THE MADMEN OF MANDORAS... <br> <br> And the real shame is our first two heroes, tacked-on from the latter sixties and resembling that loose, shaggy, counter-culture era compared to the earlier clean-cut handsome/beautiful hero inspired by Eisenhower scientists from the early sixties, are fun to watch as porn-jazz music plays in the background, resulting in a banal argument about male chauvinism where eventually, the two polar opposites not only get along, but seem to have a future... in the story itself...<br>

audrey caire, cult, exploitation, horror, jazz score, nazi, sixties, suspense, thriller

FROM 'MADMAN OF MANDORAS' TO 'THEY SAVED HITLER'S BRAIN'

The Madman of Mandoras Years: 1963 into Hitler's Brain: 1968 Well someone out there knew the title THEY SAVED SATAN'S BRAIN, a ...

SUE LYON IN 'TAROT' AKA 'THE MAGICIAN' WITH FERNANDO REY

<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/AVvXsEjNaMeTObpLc744-OMdDO1qfbh7RuRxBO9igBzZFAlYud0J73jGPtVC98YvCOngQMctQ8UVWn8JnEixNaZ5F4tXJ5uyYm8GIlT0dCzdLA5_r-cFiQO2vYcU2mzAJk21AmTj6zMYPiBvphM8/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-09-05%252Bat%252B6.04.07%252BAM%252B2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNaMeTObpLc744-OMdDO1qfbh7RuRxBO9igBzZFAlYud0J73jGPtVC98YvCOngQMctQ8UVWn8JnEixNaZ5F4tXJ5uyYm8GIlT0dCzdLA5_r-cFiQO2vYcU2mzAJk21AmTj6zMYPiBvphM8/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-09-05%252Bat%252B6.04.07%252BAM%252B2.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sue Lyon in TAROT aka AUTOPSY aka GAME OF MURDER from 1973</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Fernando Rey, the suave actor best known for THE FRENCH CONNECTION as the resilient drug lord taking a busman’s holiday in New York City, gets mixed up with LOLITA herself, Sue Lyon, who, over a decade since her star-making role in the Stanley Kubrick classic, had a sexy weathered look with cheap blue eyeliner, glazed/glossy eyes and a personal penchant for dirt bikes...<br> <br> Albeit completely befitting a dusty exploitation from Spain titled TAROT, also known as THE MAGICIAN, ANGELA or AUTOPSY... you choose... Beginning with a semi-psychedelic opening credit sequence related to the film’s title: a collage of those spooky cards, including Death on a Horse, than can foresee the future no matter how bleak…<br>

con man, exploitation, fernando rey, gloria grahame, import, jazz score, neo noir, seventies, sue lyon, thriller

SUE LYON IN 'TAROT' AKA 'THE MAGICIAN' WITH FERNANDO REY

Sue Lyon in TAROT aka AUTOPSY aka GAME OF MURDER from 1973 Fernando Rey, the suave actor best known for THE FRENCH CONNECTION as the re...