ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN IN 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s1882/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguor00zaLn8rcQF8pCjcOACGQEReXaWzBZ0a3V_jFZ9cSA8qu47pgYhL8pkxqcEX714-nQJw1MNqE8IcCpYP6qbz05xxau_EWS4eFsVKXdp15o9fBY9vTUh-fJ4tk6T7ogivvUpv7LPQ08b31Tyo_yMktiet64bAvcJLuj5rFi8KcSYPoKss0CRMgL8DCc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-05-02%20at%2011.00.48%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year: 1943 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and very passive arms dealer... who ironically has never fired a gun... stuck on a cargo ship where there lurks a clandestine Nazi out to kill him...<br> <br> Joseph Cotten stars as the hunted pawn who, having left loyal wife Ruth Warrick ashore, is reluctantly sent aboard with dancer Dolores Del Rio and meets various passengers including a Turkish tobacco dealer, a slick gambler and a German businessman. It's not hard figuring out who the main heavy is, but it doesn't matter...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

agnes moorehead, classic, delores del rio, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, hit-man, joseph cotten, mystery, nazi, norman foster, orson welles, ruth warrick, suspense

ORSON WELLES AND JOSEPH COTTEN IN 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Year: 1943 Rating: **** An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and ver...

RALPH BAKSHI'S ANIMATED APOCALYPTIC-FANTASY 'WIZARDS'

<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/AVvXsEiE-zlJcBxjusZhRmr3BAZ5_ecn4bz4-cfZnRmwRenLAB8f5E0ILbOa4nkTcF_urrnnoTA4cpbip7Lc6A1jmi_Fzq89T5AEgPzISChJSrq7wr_QXFODKLQXQJTd5eHRclmPinXmI4UDpziXakdzqtzMp7Ki3r4s0JV5e-WgLIhv4smgKkyu3aBKDGc0UfCu/s2134/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-20%20at%201.02.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="2134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-zlJcBxjusZhRmr3BAZ5_ecn4bz4-cfZnRmwRenLAB8f5E0ILbOa4nkTcF_urrnnoTA4cpbip7Lc6A1jmi_Fzq89T5AEgPzISChJSrq7wr_QXFODKLQXQJTd5eHRclmPinXmI4UDpziXakdzqtzMp7Ki3r4s0JV5e-WgLIhv4smgKkyu3aBKDGc0UfCu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-20%20at%201.02.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: WIZARDS Year: 1977 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Animation director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/ralph%20bakshi">Ralph Bakshi's</a> infamously rushed/ill-conceived <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/LOTR78.html">LORD OF THE RINGS</a>, combining the then-new Rotoscoping process of animating actual people/objects without seeming entirely animated, began with WIZARDS where that bizarre, half-baked process eventually makes sense...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Not centered on an already famous source like J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth trilogy, WIZARDS (liken to Terry Brooks's SWORD OF SHANNARA) is set in the post-apocalyptic future where, instead of the usual barren scorched landscape, everything's gone back to the dreamy world of wizards, elves, fairies...</p><p><span></span></p>

animation, david proval, fantasy, jesse welles, mark hamill, nazi, ralph bakshi, richard romanus, science-fiction, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI'S ANIMATED APOCALYPTIC-FANTASY 'WIZARDS'

Title: WIZARDS Year: 1977 Rating: **** Animation director Ralph Bakshi's infamously rushed/ill-conceived LORD OF THE RINGS , combining ...

HARRISON FORD AS 'INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY'

<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/AVvXsEg4zUQRh0vSzDw43U9Z4EsjeY8Zk57E_l06aOAE5gWozrTZcwGDe9sh6tTWN8LeK20g1eNiNVOAmbYl4OLa4JuN3i74_GAVJb40a0J4XaBml7-6S3a4_YaktpVlrCezDJX-zfmHupn5SdVbvIbYD8cXgkw4c58ZjbGdNHt7UsSnMlTytxBLgqJErd5036Li/s2240/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-01%20at%203.29.45%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4zUQRh0vSzDw43U9Z4EsjeY8Zk57E_l06aOAE5gWozrTZcwGDe9sh6tTWN8LeK20g1eNiNVOAmbYl4OLa4JuN3i74_GAVJb40a0J4XaBml7-6S3a4_YaktpVlrCezDJX-zfmHupn5SdVbvIbYD8cXgkw4c58ZjbGdNHt7UsSnMlTytxBLgqJErd5036Li/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-01%20at%203.29.45%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Year: 2023 Grade: C</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For diehard defenders of the entire INDIANA JONES franchise (not just those who feel that RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK stands alone since it was <i>never</i> called INDIANA JONES AND THE RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), they'll throw the titular Ark of the Covenant coming alive with floating spirits whenever the later episodes go too far into the fantasy or, for the last two ventures, science-fiction and/or science-fantasy realm... but had RAIDERS ended up with Indy in Jerusalem B.C. or seated at The Last Supper for THE LAST CRUSADE, well, then... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>To give one small thing away with DIAL OF DESTINY would blow the entire cover, but basically new helmer James Mangold deliberately makes the Steven Spielberg action-directing-playbook a helluva lot noisier and way more needlessly violent: anyone helping-out the now extremely-aged and initially grouchy Jones will wind up quickly dead, making those random map-scattered characters not matter much beyond moving the bombastic adventure from one point to another — in itself an important action-packed aspect which is often done decently enough...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, franchise, harrison ford, indiana jones, james mangold, john rhys-davies, karen allen, mads mikkelsen, nazi, new, science-fiction

HARRISON FORD AS 'INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY'

Title: INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY Year: 2023 Grade: C For diehard defenders of the entire INDIANA JONES franchise (not just those...

MICHAEL WINNER DIRECTS OLIVER REED IN 'HANNIBAL BROOKS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEgNOp0MSjHb0QcrIj9pIpQdMlDxOzx46ZSDOp34n_LHmXbjmuHNkg2UCDFccQwgbeeaYgLgNLsv0FEX9pFPL3xTF43OIx9tl3pneSSqky39CDTljNbgduUN2lx9MFvW9VFBNm4vSev6d7QmbjlATrIUxEpuuK8WQoIs1o1YJWBypo_xCwjIEWZuXeuQCNsO/s1936/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-15%20at%205.22.12%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1936" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNOp0MSjHb0QcrIj9pIpQdMlDxOzx46ZSDOp34n_LHmXbjmuHNkg2UCDFccQwgbeeaYgLgNLsv0FEX9pFPL3xTF43OIx9tl3pneSSqky39CDTljNbgduUN2lx9MFvW9VFBNm4vSev6d7QmbjlATrIUxEpuuK8WQoIs1o1YJWBypo_xCwjIEWZuXeuQCNsO/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-15%20at%205.22.12%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oliver Reed in HANNIBAL BROOKS Year: 1969 Rating: ***</u><u>*</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Short, quirky, extremely offbeat Michael J. Pollard is like a novelty song of an actor, with BONNIE AND CLYDE his one big hit while in other movies — like <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/michael%20winner">Michael Winner's</a> fourth collaboration with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/10/system.html">THE SYSTEM</a> star <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/oliver%20reed">Oliver Reed</a> titled HANNIBAL BROOKS — Pollard doesn't really fit at all... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Although he's almost deliberately cast against type as a gung-ho explosives-expert leading partisans around to kill Germans, and since Reed himself hardly seems part of World War II, both work together comfortably enough in a hybrid of road movie, physical comedy and action/adventure where Reed, a POW in Germany... after conveniently working in a German zoo... takes a prized elephant across enemy lines to their long-shot goal of Switzerland... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, comedy, helmuth lohner, james donald, john alderton, michael j. pollard, michael winner, nazi, oliver reed, pow, road movie, sixties, terence sewards, wolfgang preiss, world war II

MICHAEL WINNER DIRECTS OLIVER REED IN 'HANNIBAL BROOKS'

Oliver Reed in HANNIBAL BROOKS Year: 1969 Rating: *** * Short, quirky, extremely offbeat Michael J. Pollard is like a novelty song of an act...

BRANDO AND BRYNNER IN THE WARTIME THRILLER OF 'MORITURI'

<p></p><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/AVvXsEjyffmQQszDaOIXPSlcDE4g0lg8_ZXatUwhLJeMztXVu3UT45_TObooET7yNsrBJu9U8uNb6E3TP_kMC9Lw26FMXJZ7fjeR5_CES32ArHuwWSMIri5-A_DtCdvrZ5DlvFHKsPB6hvV2X-pbuggf_n8fW7EFzIXhqr-DSMFuZ1C74FZ3cnLn6-1Ps_wWWVIv/s2008/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2010.11.59%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="930" data-original-width="2008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyffmQQszDaOIXPSlcDE4g0lg8_ZXatUwhLJeMztXVu3UT45_TObooET7yNsrBJu9U8uNb6E3TP_kMC9Lw26FMXJZ7fjeR5_CES32ArHuwWSMIri5-A_DtCdvrZ5DlvFHKsPB6hvV2X-pbuggf_n8fW7EFzIXhqr-DSMFuZ1C74FZ3cnLn6-1Ps_wWWVIv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-21%20at%2010.11.59%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner in MORITURI Year: 1965 Grade: B— upon a **1/2 star rating</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>During Marlon Brando's lost decade — of box office and critical failures in-between ONE-EYED JACKS and THE GODFATHER — he played the unlikeliest of World War II-movie heroes in MORITURI... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is where Brando's Robert Crain begins... in an expository mission-setup sequence with Trevor Howard, who finds Marlon's pacifist German character hiding out in India before thrusting him into the complicated task...</p><p><span></span></p>

espionage, hans christian blech, janet margolin, marlon brando, nazi, sixties, thriller, trevor howard, william redfield, world war II, yul brynner

BRANDO AND BRYNNER IN THE WARTIME THRILLER OF 'MORITURI'

Marlon Brando and Yul Brynner in MORITURI Year: 1965 Grade: B— upon a **1/2 star rating During Marlon Brando's lost decade — of box offi...

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS NEO NAZI FILM NOIR 'THE STRANGER'

<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/AVvXsEj6ho3zge4OwcPVeusZz5X5VjyWXVmZVixeXcQfQWMxhEKxaOrIsZGn-XmSd5LVinlOVMT4RKJ4r4LiFf0mWZRF49SsRg9zEuCBdNeW2gll4URelN_8-S_JfV-KSMLMe3vUn5DENrs5ptT_B6eO2Vde-51FKc5rAhyG0TGKmMfIl4KDaflzcyIIODUzAw/s1647/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-29%20at%204.05.47%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="867" data-original-width="1647" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6ho3zge4OwcPVeusZz5X5VjyWXVmZVixeXcQfQWMxhEKxaOrIsZGn-XmSd5LVinlOVMT4RKJ4r4LiFf0mWZRF49SsRg9zEuCBdNeW2gll4URelN_8-S_JfV-KSMLMe3vUn5DENrs5ptT_B6eO2Vde-51FKc5rAhyG0TGKmMfIl4KDaflzcyIIODUzAw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-29%20at%204.05.47%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spouting teacher about to marry the beautiful daughter of a renown judge in a small town epitomizing post-war, postcard America....</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Here where he's the perfect man: brilliant, handsome, and determined, with only one drawback — he's a former Nazi; on top of which, he still believes in "the cause" and that it could possibly sustain... </p><span></span>

billy house, byron keith, edward g. robinson, film noir or melodrama, forties, loretta young, nazi, orson welles, richard long, thriller

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS NEO NAZI FILM NOIR 'THE STRANGER'

Title: The Stranger Year: 1946 Rating: **** Orson Welles plays an edgy and intense but, on the surface, affable, intellectual, quote-spoutin...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FROZEN DEAD' FEATURING ANNA PALK

<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/AVvXsEjEu1ZC-M1cf58b0Dk324pZkIxNQIR3CgX0iUOPVSK69HynUyU1OFnDH8bJ-h6keeCHxChw94QcDgSjY3l7LedYy9msDKD3SMmgYMTgO6mqvR_fLQ7ngqPBvjUNBvIGQUCjN5uZO6Lfi7wknft2wuw-eqAZty7BM_lOTN_1GHBP55Y9K0FxQ9mT_LjZlw/s1685/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%2011.14.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="827" data-original-width="1685" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEu1ZC-M1cf58b0Dk324pZkIxNQIR3CgX0iUOPVSK69HynUyU1OFnDH8bJ-h6keeCHxChw94QcDgSjY3l7LedYy9msDKD3SMmgYMTgO6mqvR_fLQ7ngqPBvjUNBvIGQUCjN5uZO6Lfi7wknft2wuw-eqAZty7BM_lOTN_1GHBP55Y9K0FxQ9mT_LjZlw/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-27%20at%2011.14.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews with Anna Palk in THE FROZEN DEAD Year: 1966 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Dana Andrews plays a German Nazi scientist in the modern era (1966) while his gorgeous niece, played by Anna Palk, who initially visited her father's manor with a friend, who quickly vanishes by morning... and both ingenues makes this almost worth the price of admission and the torture of sitting through... almost... <br> <br> The previous year Andrews played another... well not a mad scientist but more an impatient one from CRACK IN THE WORLD while his time, Dana's Dr. Norberg keeps his cool, acting gentlemanly...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

anna palk, dana andrews, exploitation, horror, kathleen breck, nazi, science-fiction, sixties

DANA ANDREWS IN 'THE FROZEN DEAD' FEATURING ANNA PALK

Dana Andrews with Anna Palk in THE FROZEN DEAD Year: 1966 Rating: ** Dana Andrews plays a German Nazi scientist in the modern era (1966) wh...

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

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

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

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

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

GLENN FORD IN 'THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE'

<span face=""verdana" , sans-serif"><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/AVvXsEj2WpAcgQ1EW290ypOs8CJiUws2wLFVw9E3WwkeTilOufLg3Ekuotism34PWOIsdF-ETK8NPuxRhSY9T6PsWG-vybGcX3xTJrmN9vX4FPy_fdYqWZn21JgBYvEPPvlT5_96X_A5U9-YCKrVgjbxHsb0KFTCF12ki4mglORwmhMr3dlHne9a4WSmrfJIsQ/s1170/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-27%20at%204.49.20%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="777" data-original-width="1170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2WpAcgQ1EW290ypOs8CJiUws2wLFVw9E3WwkeTilOufLg3Ekuotism34PWOIsdF-ETK8NPuxRhSY9T6PsWG-vybGcX3xTJrmN9vX4FPy_fdYqWZn21JgBYvEPPvlT5_96X_A5U9-YCKrVgjbxHsb0KFTCF12ki4mglORwmhMr3dlHne9a4WSmrfJIsQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-03-27%20at%204.49.20%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>YEAR: 1962</u></td></tr></tbody></table>In GET SHORTY, John Travolta's movie fanatic gangster brags about going to see "Charlton Heston playing a Mexican" on the big screen, a pop culture punchline for the classic border killing Film Noir TOUCH OF EVIL, probably since there wasn't anywhere to go from that point... I</span><span face=""verdana" , sans-serif">n actuality, Heston, known for chewing up intentionally overboard roles (many based on Biblical stories) is at his most subtle and genuine, turning in a surprisingly realistic and earthy performance while the likes of, "You damn dirty gringo!" is nowhere to be heard... </span><br> <br> <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/AVvXsEg67bdGiuiIoBoJWxt9tV1LvHQghEOA9Hw0rcgxWX66eL3zK15ND8_wI19WgVU1WywqTh3WHIY9P1LgHQz61pwygoI9ba6P_MjFcn5yjopmg27srYGFq2P3kmWohbqz0YEQgzLiE4DGdmlX/s1600/%2524%2528KGrHqV%252C%2521nsFJv%2529qWSH4BSeCeuekbg--60_1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg67bdGiuiIoBoJWxt9tV1LvHQghEOA9Hw0rcgxWX66eL3zK15ND8_wI19WgVU1WywqTh3WHIY9P1LgHQz61pwygoI9ba6P_MjFcn5yjopmg27srYGFq2P3kmWohbqz0YEQgzLiE4DGdmlX/s400/%2524%2528KGrHqV%252C%2521nsFJv%2529qWSH4BSeCeuekbg--60_1.jpg" width="277"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Warner Archive Original Blue Cover</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The same goes for Glenn Ford, a much more subtle and overall dependable actor to begin with, as the rich grandson of boisterous old-timer Lee J. Cobb; both are from Argentina; Ford a flaky, would-be painter hanging around Paris during the late 1930's without a care in the world — other than seducing a classy married French society dame played to perfection by Ingrid Thulin, whose husband is sent overseas to fight the Nazis: Those infamous devils being all too human here, including Ford's own cousin who was a med student in Germany before joining the Third Reich. This soft-spoken yet proud and intense young man is also the grandson of the family patriarch, Lee J. Cobb, who stretches a small amount of time onscreen to the hilt, and beyond...<br> <br> Leading to the most intense, memorable and important scene, and (arguably) the campiest. Cobb, who, along with grandson Ford, both bear the name of Julio (while looking entirely Caucasian), loses his mind after finding out, at a dinner party reunion, that one-third of his clan serve proudly under Adolf Hitler, making Cobb's Julio Sr. suffer a panic attack followed by a heart attack. Before which, he hallucinates the four title horsemen from the Bible's book of Revelations: a creepy and sinister vision riding the darkened clouds. This catapults a two-hour-plus soap operatic melodrama separating those against the Nazi takeover of France, like Julio's sister, a young idealistic college beauty, Yvette Mimieux, who tries to get her brother to stop having so much fun and to join the cause.<br>

charles boyer, epic, glenn ford, karlheinz böhm, lee j. cobb, melodrama, nazi, romance, sixties, war, warner archives, yvette mimieux

GLENN FORD IN 'THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE'

YEAR: 1962 In GET SHORTY, John Travolta's movie fanatic gangster brags about going to see "Charlton Heston playing a Mexican" ...

CHARLES BRONSON & JASON ROBARDS REUNITE IN 'CABOBLANCO'

<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/AVvXsEgwKdkxza0msZrmAXd1bM6jghFtmd_PLhqicu2IN9go4w5E1GMQAaiP-ocy_Mr7gyMWaZ5er9vbEDj1SYEQ8uSCheclWb0zZgEEWikyR2kXXgMk5A-s_NDycdkYZxWc1uCbUJf7jbBRpPw4/s921/Screen+Shot+2021-07-18+at+11.43.11+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="921" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwKdkxza0msZrmAXd1bM6jghFtmd_PLhqicu2IN9go4w5E1GMQAaiP-ocy_Mr7gyMWaZ5er9vbEDj1SYEQ8uSCheclWb0zZgEEWikyR2kXXgMk5A-s_NDycdkYZxWc1uCbUJf7jbBRpPw4/w400-h304/Screen+Shot+2021-07-18+at+11.43.11+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Cabo Blanco Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This spiritual remake of CASABANCA about an American who runs a Peruvian hotel/nightclub harboring a French woman who knows about a local sunken ship's treasure is also similar to future blockbuster TITANIC; and for some reason the cache-seeking ship's captain, played by youthful surrogate hero <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/10/jaws-3-sucks-greatly.html">Simon MacCorkindale</a> sending a mini-sub to investigate, also narrates, eventually injured since this <i>is</i> a <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson</a> vehicle: But unlike the Bogart classic, Dominique Sanda and Bronson's Giff Hoyt didn't have a previous affair... </p><p>And yet she <i>did</i> have a former French lover (his friend) who provided details about that treasure which... sadly, since <i>fortune hunting neo noirs</i> are usually pretty good... is quickly <i>buried</i> in a limited plot concerning pressure from the second/third of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, Jason Robards as the Nazi main villain (hooked with blonde moll <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/07/downhill-racer.html">Carmilla Sparv</a> who should have replaced the wooden Sanda).... even less threatening than his native law-leg Fernando Rey or Aryan assassin <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/theparty.html">Denny Miller</a>. Meanwhile the biggest shame is that CABO has fantastically manned camera-direction by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/06/ClockworkPassage.html">J. Lee Thompson</a>, seeming more in-tune with a modern (1980) thriller that the wardrobe and certain technological aspects also resemble. And while primed to beat a lot of people up, Bronson's hardly in any <i>real</i> danger throughout — so why even bother?<br><span></span></p>

camilla sparv, charles bronson, denny miller, dominique sanda, eighties, fernando rey, j. lee thompson, jason robards, mystery, nazi, neo noir, simon maccorkindale, thriller, time period, treasure

CHARLES BRONSON & JASON ROBARDS REUNITE IN 'CABOBLANCO'

Title: Cabo Blanco Year: 1980 Rating: **1/2 This spiritual remake of CASABANCA about an American who runs a Peruvian hotel/nightclub harbori...

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & ROY SCHEIDER RUN THROUGH 'MARATHON MAN'

<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/AVvXsEjU9MzFCRp9M-KIyOz3H_BK-jx58SVUDL9ja5Av1VDut8JQmIMkDEJan9QyierxDcrm9jFAuhvKG81QUSCP2e1eMG-MbcuVt7eo5DlBeuADbgHK0nJlb7L7ghPnlkMXF3DQOe-cbbolSNvO/s1600/tumblr_msckju3KWo1qkcj94o1_1280.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1213" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9MzFCRp9M-KIyOz3H_BK-jx58SVUDL9ja5Av1VDut8JQmIMkDEJan9QyierxDcrm9jFAuhvKG81QUSCP2e1eMG-MbcuVt7eo5DlBeuADbgHK0nJlb7L7ghPnlkMXF3DQOe-cbbolSNvO/s400/tumblr_msckju3KWo1qkcj94o1_1280.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MARATHON MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2<br></u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The epitome of a Thriller, John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN <i>can</i> be a letdown with the teaming of two legends — one an old stage actor, the other a young method actor... And we'll get the "Why don't you try acting" elephant out of the room — which was Olivier's quip to Hoffman when he needed to actually run to seem winded...<br> <br> Then again, Dustin <i>is </i>the title<i> </i>character spending most of the picture exhausted from either jogging around New York's Central Park or being chased throughout the last half when this Thriller morphs into an Action flick: Which <i>isn't</i> the best part of MARATHON MAN as Roy Scheider plays Dustin's older brother in the most suspenseful scenes: as some kind of secret agent, he's eventually connected with his passive New York collegiate sibling after being introduced in Paris, France, where director Schlesinger (reunited with MIDNIGHT COWBOY star Hoffman) evokes a fair amount of Hitchcockesque tension (plus a GODFATHER 2 style strangling) as things either explode or seem just about to... <br>

action, dustin hoffman, espionage, john schlesinger, laurence olivier, marc lawrence, marthe keller, nazi, richard bright, roy scheider, seventies, thriller

DUSTIN HOFFMAN & ROY SCHEIDER RUN THROUGH 'MARATHON MAN'

Title: MARATHON MAN Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2 The epitome of a Thriller, John Schlesinger's MARATHON MAN can be a letdown with the ...

PETER O'TOOLE 'THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS' TOM COURTENAY

<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/AVvXsEiV3i6Vw8zxNLCsVEAh6UmMa8hg7W9vLBVLrJYqTQv5WAbiMGlLPi-Poh9xXAOFNUnnyvkj9sddmtrq2YEFb9AKgZ8XsYYtOQ-Ydmjp_N9tKUNp8QV5PqhPiW5t4adO93yMu9cv7EgGPbG3pzDYj6rXINAPJtm9nLXEruoJ8SoLnj1mOHPGseBcITInpPZ5/s1210/14.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3i6Vw8zxNLCsVEAh6UmMa8hg7W9vLBVLrJYqTQv5WAbiMGlLPi-Poh9xXAOFNUnnyvkj9sddmtrq2YEFb9AKgZ8XsYYtOQ-Ydmjp_N9tKUNp8QV5PqhPiW5t4adO93yMu9cv7EgGPbG3pzDYj6rXINAPJtm9nLXEruoJ8SoLnj1mOHPGseBcITInpPZ5/s16000/14.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS Year: 1967 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The fact that a movie from the producer of and two main leads from LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and another David Lean-directed actor, Tom Courtenay, from the epic followup that also starred Omar Sharif, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, was just a pretty-good and not a really-great motion picture is probably why "all the hate" has been given for THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS throughout the years...<br> <br> And while spending far too much of that hefty run-time making for too long a movie in <i>general</i>, it's still a neat cinematic experience, especially the narrowed last half as a reluctant Courtenay's put in passive charge of driving/escorting bloodthirsty Nazi general Peter O'Toole around occupied yet art-inspired Paris: He's one of three German Generals that could be the murderer of a female German spy, unseen in the movie's expository prologue...<br> </p><p></p>

charles gray, donald pleasence, joanna pettet, mystery, nazi, omar sharif, patrick allen, peter o'toole, sixties, thriller, tom courtenay, véronique vendell, war, world war

PETER O'TOOLE 'THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS' TOM COURTENAY

Title: THE NIGHT OF THE GENERALS Year: 1967 Rating: **** The fact that a movie from the producer of and two main leads from LAWRENCE OF ARA...

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 ...

DANA ANDREWS IN 'BERLIN CORRESPONDENT' W/ MARTIN KOSLECK

<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/AVvXsEh9z4trZtwrzbJxbXpHyQ4YAD4gbI0AdLdn9nVraTWu6Poi59PSqSlTZPEe0CuIWZgnBRPxf0bpuvmDPay7C9PDtjz521he6pdS_1LASFErZvRoLcc5WsdtGjZV3bLJRAtfx2LZ28xLu_vz/s1600/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="669" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9z4trZtwrzbJxbXpHyQ4YAD4gbI0AdLdn9nVraTWu6Poi59PSqSlTZPEe0CuIWZgnBRPxf0bpuvmDPay7C9PDtjz521he6pdS_1LASFErZvRoLcc5WsdtGjZV3bLJRAtfx2LZ28xLu_vz/s400/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews in an early wartime role from the YEAR: 1942</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Sustaining our Dana Andrews retrospective we'll share this with intense German actor Martin Kosleck as a kind of villain's villlain: a role Dana would play twenty-years later, and like it...<br> <br> Kosleck is perhaps best known or recognized as the red-herring windmill resident/replacement in Alfred Hitchcock's post-war espionage-adventure classic, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT...<br> <br> And unlike that memorable, sparse yet important cameo, he's pretty much the entire vehicle for <i>this</i> CORRESPONDENT made two years later. Only now we're on his home turf during, not before, The Second World War: BERLIN, Germany against American Dana Andrews, with a Valentino pencil thin mustache usually given to Silent Movie stars, playing the most intrepid role by mere introduction...<br>

dana andrews, espionage, martin kosleck, nazi, thriller, virginia gilmore, war, world war II

DANA ANDREWS IN 'BERLIN CORRESPONDENT' W/ MARTIN KOSLECK

Dana Andrews in an early wartime role from the YEAR: 1942 Sustaining our Dana Andrews retrospective we'll share this with intense Ge...

CAROLE LOMBARD AND JACK BENNY STAR IN 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

<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/AVvXsEhNK1XUAg-QxhDOOgsZUhevTjfgkWIapbduYsMUO87cEA9C48PbzZvUWEtHC6iABql_v4IPQL2T8SSSlo5I4wM1sx1qKnLoHFqz2bIr2nJDhqMquDRzz8kEvf_q916wkH1eYClhdow1sZVw/s1600/72980_front.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1207" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNK1XUAg-QxhDOOgsZUhevTjfgkWIapbduYsMUO87cEA9C48PbzZvUWEtHC6iABql_v4IPQL2T8SSSlo5I4wM1sx1qKnLoHFqz2bIr2nJDhqMquDRzz8kEvf_q916wkH1eYClhdow1sZVw/s400/72980_front.jpg" width="321"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TO BE OR NOT TO BE Year: 1942 </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Ernst Lubitsch takes a complicated plot and with an easygoing acting style of the performers under tightly-wound direction, headed by Jack Benny and Carole Lombard, it flows from beginning to end as the ups and downs, curves, twists and turns provide both subtle humor and edgy suspense, centering on a group of stage actors in Poland before and during the Nazi takeover on the boot-heels of World War II...<br> <br> They must trick their antagonists into thinking Benny... who plays a hammy stage actor (exactly the opposite of his famously deadpan style)... is a scientist who's a traitor to the good guys and... well it really doesn't matter because TO BE OR NOT TO BE has to be seen, heard and concentrated on for the plot to make clear and interesting (as well as intriguing) sense...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </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/AVvXsEi1sQxBhYE83sNtDNC22lMQjfmTyyzHqy5eECMEpszGOECeZBn6fUeDLT6buGIXCY_YG9lxZbjMRWab9qTZ1bTW9rlcSjA8yVM4QpKTeEhqpAH2jJp55Tn6cF9eZwhx9BAjTUTmlM9JT3xOgi9Oj5d9v_bU6PbzsBCD1WuInp4U6yC6M7JhhyHvmaS8lg/s1277/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-17%20at%204.35.38%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1277" data-original-width="910" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sQxBhYE83sNtDNC22lMQjfmTyyzHqy5eECMEpszGOECeZBn6fUeDLT6buGIXCY_YG9lxZbjMRWab9qTZ1bTW9rlcSjA8yVM4QpKTeEhqpAH2jJp55Tn6cF9eZwhx9BAjTUTmlM9JT3xOgi9Oj5d9v_bU6PbzsBCD1WuInp4U6yC6M7JhhyHvmaS8lg/w228-h320/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-17%20at%204.35.38%20AM.jpeg" width="228"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Movie Score: ****1/2<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table>More or less a con artist caper movie, and unlike the inferior <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/05/TBONTBee.html">Mel Brooks remake</a>, the Germans, while not exactly brilliant, are  genuinely imposing and formidable to instill enough danger for all the verbal laps to matter beyond hitting punchlines at the right moment...<br> <br> Although everything does rely on the actors-within-the-movie hitting their own marks for the ruse to work, hence the title taken after a pivotal line from William Shakespeare's Hamlet that, if spoken by a novice stage performer, can hinder the entire show...<br> <br> The fun's watching Benny trying to outdo his character's own lack of talent (scenes with German actor Sig Ruman work splendidly, as with Tom Dugan, who plays a fictional Hitler) while Lombard is the real trickster, weaving in and out of both the bad guys and a handsome young lieutenant Robert Stack (whose role is played by Tim Matheson in the Brooks remake, and both starred in another WWII comedy involving romance in a bomber plane, Steven Spielberg''s 1941): If anyone on board has the most work, it's Lombard... in what's sadly, tragically, her last picture. <br>

carole lombard, comedy, ernst lubitsch, espionage, forties, george lynn, jack benny, lionel atwill, nazi, parody, robert stack, romance, sig ruman, stanley ridges, tom dugan, war, world war II

CAROLE LOMBARD AND JACK BENNY STAR IN 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

Title: TO BE OR NOT TO BE Year: 1942 Ernst Lubitsch takes a complicated plot and with an easygoing acting style of the performers unde...

MEL BROOKS & ANNE BANCROFT REMAKE 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

<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/AVvXsEiyldTe2uDO0aKQVaxYcBTBxfZKEIRb2_J1v93UvLRHAeEpwrp_3Hh-9wVFVqd8uITL_jRQl_N0ZbiKOfaXFUA8ofUH3sDOE1dAJTkBxLFEl4Ht045IBbThDVmY_250Bb_vrqh7bPXSlJJe/s1600/BDDefinition-ToBeOrNotToBe-b-1080-800x450.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="340" data-original-width="494" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyldTe2uDO0aKQVaxYcBTBxfZKEIRb2_J1v93UvLRHAeEpwrp_3Hh-9wVFVqd8uITL_jRQl_N0ZbiKOfaXFUA8ofUH3sDOE1dAJTkBxLFEl4Ht045IBbThDVmY_250Bb_vrqh7bPXSlJJe/s400/BDDefinition-ToBeOrNotToBe-b-1080-800x450.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Mel Brooks makes a Bust of Hitler SCORE: **1/2 Year: 1982</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Starts out decently enough, and surprisingly different for Mel Brooks to direct a remake: something that isn't a parody of a serious genre or a humorous take on historical events... <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <br> But then the set up, of a husband and wife who are famous stage performers in Poland who, when Hitler takes over, has to close up their theater, becomes an overlong skit involving Brooks and real-life wife Anne Bancroft, with the aid of a sad throwaway role by ANIMAL HOUSE star Tim Matheson as a love-struck soldier: The entire menagerie playing an elaborate scheme on the Nazis that gets way too complicated for it's own good in this remake of a Jack Benny 1940's vehicle (when ensemble comedies were the norm)... Not only do all the wires get tangled up within each other, there's way too many to begin with. And it's understandable turning the Nazis into complete buffoons, especially when spoofing them... but in doing so it takes away any valid threat, making it meaningless to have to trick or defeat them in the first place.<br> <br>

anne bancroft, comedy, mel brooks, nazi, remake, tim matheson, world war II

MEL BROOKS & ANNE BANCROFT REMAKE 'TO BE OR NOT TO BE'

Mel Brooks makes a Bust of Hitler SCORE: **1/2 Year: 1982 Starts out decently enough, and surprisingly different for Mel Brooks to dire...

WAR NOIR IMPRESSION OF MARLON BRANDO IN 'THE YOUNG LIONS'

<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/AVvXsEjHNCcQIfljdRpaddGOk6FS62VWwHIBt8DYd_6HnC4LnMMKNyfOyrX0rVP-REqnx0QYi-4EZCzOEA0AAWCJGiw305AjYrXiv_2DyujZxQ_GJdaGviB16PqgaNu_zwRiZI9EschOT9wGGCw/s1600/The_Young_Lions-623942047-large.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHNCcQIfljdRpaddGOk6FS62VWwHIBt8DYd_6HnC4LnMMKNyfOyrX0rVP-REqnx0QYi-4EZCzOEA0AAWCJGiw305AjYrXiv_2DyujZxQ_GJdaGviB16PqgaNu_zwRiZI9EschOT9wGGCw/s400/The_Young_Lions-623942047-large.jpg" width="276" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brando and Britt in The Young Lions from 1958</u><br /> </td></tr> </tbody></table> Director Edward Dmytryk's War Noir, THE YOUNG LIONS, based on a novel by Irwin Shaw, stars Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin as two polar opposite American soldiers, Jewish everyman Noah Ackerman and entertainer Michael Whitacre.<br /> <br /> One is brooding and bullied, the other aloof, smooth, reluctant and cool... Take a guess who's who. And on the flip-side of the coin are two Germans: One isn't bullied at all but very brooding, charming, handsome, and deadly when he has to be while the other is a full-blown Nazi, bringing to the table all that that name brings...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Marlon Brando and Maximilian Schell as German officers Lt. Christian Diestl and Capt. Hardenberg, contrary in that one fights because he has to while the other is having a glorious time in battle. Brando, as usual, is great to watch as he, using a brilliant, unique form of Broken English playing a German, wields his usual non-deliberate chops that don't seem like a performance, and unlike his roles in early Kazan features, Schell is pretty much caught up with his partner's style, almost equal in non-performance, only one has a much better role to play... Meanwhile, in America, the best scenes occur as Clift and Martin survive boot camp, but not under a screaming drill Sarge like in most war flicks.<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/AVvXsEgV1ZJAr9ExKst5QL0gH3fOilXEosWiE8gHlAeJsIIkEr6FHXbDsr331Uml5K-MnyXomlDMwAYUtw9fecpZzCeCDTH_p_uMQemSS4DsQTPTi9O4cpKqhgK8VraKdhjZJ2oYpuF6D4ohN-LS/s1600/the-young-lions-italian-movie-poster.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="474" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV1ZJAr9ExKst5QL0gH3fOilXEosWiE8gHlAeJsIIkEr6FHXbDsr331Uml5K-MnyXomlDMwAYUtw9fecpZzCeCDTH_p_uMQemSS4DsQTPTi9O4cpKqhgK8VraKdhjZJ2oYpuF6D4ohN-LS/s400/the-young-lions-italian-movie-poster.jpeg" width="236" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Movie Score: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> It's the fellow officers who make Clift's Jewish Ackerman's life a living hell, and one of them is Lee Van Cleef, whose hawklike eyes would hypnotize the next decade's Sergio Leone Italian "Spaghetti Westerns". And while Clift fights to be able to eventually... fight, Dean Martin's Whitacre, about to get his wish to return to New York as an entertainer, not a soldier, lets his weak, skinny yet completely fearless friend take care of things himself...<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/AVvXsEjJG9tiYC-7mzTE5pn4rWnCXcfghaT4Llnex5DBcsvEkNUX_FAdHe7cBA_QOYGbuo706xrkuZmOEMt5qzoa6-DQ50Lgf0mExdCaZkYEEyPTNcVOY1eagNypsBl5wVjLO_RGY4yh_uSxfhZN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-07+at+2.53.41+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1064" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJG9tiYC-7mzTE5pn4rWnCXcfghaT4Llnex5DBcsvEkNUX_FAdHe7cBA_QOYGbuo706xrkuZmOEMt5qzoa6-DQ50Lgf0mExdCaZkYEEyPTNcVOY1eagNypsBl5wVjLO_RGY4yh_uSxfhZN/s320/Screen+Shot+2020-06-07+at+2.53.41+AM.jpeg" width="308" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando in The Young Lions</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> As "Monty" does in wonderful scenes that, concerning both men, literally stride hand-in-hand with girlfriends that don't distract from the masculine mainline...<br /> <br /> And while Hope Lange, pretty and vulnerable, belonging to Clift but with a reluctant, old-fashioned father (a miscast Vaughn Taylor straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting), does an okay job as the girl next door (only much prettier), it's May Britt who steals the show as the German femme fatale of sorts, flirting with Brando's Diestl even though she's his vicious Captain's girl. Brando and Britt's scenes, based only on lust, are far more entertaining and realistic than Monty and Hope's far too rushed courtship to marriage.<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/AVvXsEi2hZ5Jjkqqp6TbPEbwiYVmDsTI99oQtAtt0CdsZNCPrU2llaSqNKSxstpiHou2vZBfYdcH90ST_0ObXm8qfQQBkW09PunaXN7eaCQ9MsprcxeO_JFvDKeuUNPwP6sWtty0c5oB1Q0lEes/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+5.53.56+AM.png" 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/AVvXsEi2hZ5Jjkqqp6TbPEbwiYVmDsTI99oQtAtt0CdsZNCPrU2llaSqNKSxstpiHou2vZBfYdcH90ST_0ObXm8qfQQBkW09PunaXN7eaCQ9MsprcxeO_JFvDKeuUNPwP6sWtty0c5oB1Q0lEes/s320/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+5.53.56+AM.png" width="140" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Last but not least, Barbara Rush, the main connection to German and America, having been almost romanced by Brando before the war and the singer girlfriend of Martin, is the most important actress aboard this three man's show.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The always-intense Schell hardly plays the villainous role with delicious savor meant to be abhorred to a post-war audience... Instead, he's simply an extremely severe man with a rigid cause as THE YOUNG LIONS follows these four (but eventually, and rather quickly, only three) men like WAR AND PEACE...<br /> <br /> <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/AVvXsEjW0bu89_bQQ2P90yJjMG9nSAcmGk99pp_3-Vb2HZMvnRXw9UkpoR_lK9xJuMxHFeJli3bHxzphxaPMgfFLHGQlUF4T5uR6BrJzd7iwuKJdkC6J_pPMxlxB0PPSuvmtXePhJHCgiGdArIo/s1600/Screen+shot+2016-05-04+at+11.09.17+PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW0bu89_bQQ2P90yJjMG9nSAcmGk99pp_3-Vb2HZMvnRXw9UkpoR_lK9xJuMxHFeJli3bHxzphxaPMgfFLHGQlUF4T5uR6BrJzd7iwuKJdkC6J_pPMxlxB0PPSuvmtXePhJHCgiGdArIo/s320/Screen+shot+2016-05-04+at+11.09.17+PM.png" width="156" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Where scenes take place in their own idyllic city and suburban America to a ghostly, occupied France to the aforementioned boot camp to bloody battles in Africa, each filmed like a meticulous chess match, and a particularly drawn-out death sequence left an impression on one of the greatest actors of the 1970's, big and cool "tough black dude" Yaphet Kotto, who, when asked about working with musician urned actor Isaac Hayes in the blaxploitation classic <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/05/yaphet-kotto-110th-truck-turner.html">TRUCK TURNER</a>, wrote:<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </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/AVvXsEj3ZVtLcPlteRn2daQfJwh0GkeXcDuUAO4mq53JbSl2QB2nnIRJAhp-5K8vhARGK-ucx4hyphenhyphen8ucUsIjWWGVKOVQl7hzGaC0pe9QNoQpB2Ikzdi8cfH96KT89J2T_nJ0hbThZgZU28y-Ksyc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+6.01.48+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/AVvXsEj3ZVtLcPlteRn2daQfJwh0GkeXcDuUAO4mq53JbSl2QB2nnIRJAhp-5K8vhARGK-ucx4hyphenhyphen8ucUsIjWWGVKOVQl7hzGaC0pe9QNoQpB2Ikzdi8cfH96KT89J2T_nJ0hbThZgZU28y-Ksyc/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-05-13+at+6.01.48+AM.png" width="132" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brando as German</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> "We got along great. He watched me do the death scene and that’s all he talked about afterwards: 'Man, you all see the way my man Yaphet did his death scene!' I can’t take too much credit for that scene, I had seen it in THE YOUNG LIONS with MARLON BRANDO and that gave me a skeleton to work from." Which is no surprise, for Brando was, and still is, the "skeleton" hanging within a timeless actor (and actress) workshop classroom; and if you take note at some of the expressions on the leading men today, his immortal impression remains: And in LIONS it's no surprise he steals the show, a more realistic turn than Clift, who, despite a great performance, looks a bit too old for the role of an awkward virgin...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEjg50V-devzvsbOS6NJFcW3ja6fQjRAwdc0xtHoDTzM6iUYzBYfCEeoAYV2zNSDpT0oc6vibOGz3UIwxonNvD1OeBAU_zW-sUk7Q855e9et7zLHYr8SoMsa8YPDUiC6_G9vEOecd6jjXVny/s1600/lf+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1232" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg50V-devzvsbOS6NJFcW3ja6fQjRAwdc0xtHoDTzM6iUYzBYfCEeoAYV2zNSDpT0oc6vibOGz3UIwxonNvD1OeBAU_zW-sUk7Q855e9et7zLHYr8SoMsa8YPDUiC6_G9vEOecd6jjXVny/s400/lf+2.jpeg" width="307" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Young Lions Poster Cinemascope</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And his "Hope full" love scenes with Lange, though genuinely heartfelt, feel a bit dated and staged unlike Brando's hopeless conversation with a tough, bitter (with damn good reason!) French Girl. Her "hath no fury" practically equals Brando's curtain-closing, hellish death scene that does, in fact, take its time, sad and slow, a downhill climb that's difficult to watch...<br /> <br /> And being a German who we're feeling for is proof of the Noir template: a sympathetic man whose heart is in the wrong place yet still trying to do his best in his own way, and, judging by several askew glances by the mere mention of the name, he's not a fan of Adolf Hitler...<br /> <br /> Marlon's character, like Dean Martin's in New York but for only for three months of the year, was basically that of a lazy Playboy. War gets in the way of pretty much everything! But even the worst wars end while the impression of an actor is timeless.<i> "</i>I went in and sat down and saw ON THE WATERFRONT," Yaphet Kotto stated. "I was so blown away after that day – it was Brando’s performance that made me leave the streets to become an actor!"<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table 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/AVvXsEgoiLuvP-X_80rTw3QeI3jqcAQT9u0IoBHMDaPReBP-kDreBmLPZ65Y8TAwVOIgOTyepjbQuI53Vg4I4C32FAcfDGOAL6bYSQaKVywhhvXr5eqQOsY5ZBnym9ton1ELxIPICPmaQmvlEI42/s1600/49346108_628721384223708_8024458038167470080_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiLuvP-X_80rTw3QeI3jqcAQT9u0IoBHMDaPReBP-kDreBmLPZ65Y8TAwVOIgOTyepjbQuI53Vg4I4C32FAcfDGOAL6bYSQaKVywhhvXr5eqQOsY5ZBnym9ton1ELxIPICPmaQmvlEI42/s1600/49346108_628721384223708_8024458038167470080_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando in THE YOUNG LIONS </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </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/AVvXsEh7w4kGresQ0Kx7xppHTOnUxGWWKcxOk_h2fONZ9zOen9Gizrr7WBJsxFqKiJGJfvwZP0zGXmrSmgR3bdWDzLRbkmHpYeiRYhpOyMw8_EtP_PT_Z9kAb5m0owkhzUgu04ulVdH9F5ERTeU/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7w4kGresQ0Kx7xppHTOnUxGWWKcxOk_h2fONZ9zOen9Gizrr7WBJsxFqKiJGJfvwZP0zGXmrSmgR3bdWDzLRbkmHpYeiRYhpOyMw8_EtP_PT_Z9kAb5m0owkhzUgu04ulVdH9F5ERTeU/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Maximilian Schell and Marlon Brando posing for a shot within a shot within THE YOUNG LIONS Year: 1958</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/AVvXsEiQ-6zR9eG0ZSOyUQmGKWyHoBn4RkjrKEIq1xF7niTu3VHkCGbDIlE1wCp_fR54_DP_fwhXMzCLK8Rey1KRm73kghqw3g8XZDWsoJgAQ_YP2J_jmREeJ9V-hmkAVdZYEwz6TbiDp23VOSQW/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-07+at+2.58.11+AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1367" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ-6zR9eG0ZSOyUQmGKWyHoBn4RkjrKEIq1xF7niTu3VHkCGbDIlE1wCp_fR54_DP_fwhXMzCLK8Rey1KRm73kghqw3g8XZDWsoJgAQ_YP2J_jmREeJ9V-hmkAVdZYEwz6TbiDp23VOSQW/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-07+at+2.58.11+AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>German Marlon Brando takes aim against the French Resistance in THE YOUNG LIONS</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

dean martin, fifties, interview, lee van cleef, marlon brando, maximillian schell, montgomery clift, nazi, war, world war II, yaphet kotto

WAR NOIR IMPRESSION OF MARLON BRANDO IN 'THE YOUNG LIONS'

Brando and Britt in The Young Lions from 1958 Director Edward Dmytryk's War Noir, THE YOUNG LIONS, based on a novel by Irwin Shaw, ...

CAROL REED DIRECTS REX HARRISON IN 'NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH'

<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/AVvXsEiXv_ffGFoEJqs5cW8pbkHqcMN8SmN_pKCJrOLDcUjvlZrleqauaHJHSuYHprA0dpaJ6-ckxalJopi-6_YdG45uWDB36s-McFXpCCaOpe9ksWZC0gECYdGSQBiiyjjlLcloYKYuLcOoAXg/s1600/91BDRfAUvKL._SL1500_.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/AVvXsEiXv_ffGFoEJqs5cW8pbkHqcMN8SmN_pKCJrOLDcUjvlZrleqauaHJHSuYHprA0dpaJ6-ckxalJopi-6_YdG45uWDB36s-McFXpCCaOpe9ksWZC0gECYdGSQBiiyjjlLcloYKYuLcOoAXg/w277-h400/91BDRfAUvKL._SL1500_.jpg" width="277"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1940 Rating: ***</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> By the time we're on that title train to the title location, the dialogue-driven European WW2 espionage is pretty much done, and the Germans think our leading man Rex Harrison, as Dickie Randall a.k.a. Gus Bennett, is a Nazi, a British agent or a Nazi for the British or a Brit for their their own cause being he's so charmingly sneaky, and that makes for an effective performance since in any thriller genre, a touch of mystery is needed to keep things fresh, and the subtle chase, following said character, on a windswept pace, leads to more of an action/adventure at the end, though a bit too little, too late.<br> <br> As for direction, Carol Reed moves his chess pieces around nicely, including lovely first-billed Margaret Lockwood, who has to trust this dashing, talky mystery man to help her and her scientist father escape from the world-dominating villains, after she'd fallen pathetically hard for the true Nazi spy in extra-polite charmer Paul Henreid, and there's more than a touch of dark humor being that NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH was made on hte verge of war, this a journey on the edge that never goes full-out where it needs to be. Yet had the same plot and, for the time, decent special effects occurred, say, in 1946, this might have been a lot stronger for the characters (including the cricket-loving duo who stole the Hitchcock's connected A LADY VANISHES but are overused here) and audience alike. But what's there to experience is a decent visual page-turner; although it goes in one ear and out the other... The best thing about this TRAIN is the Criterion DVD cover, perhaps the best ever, ever, in their series consisting of some of the best artwork ever, ever created for collectors of vintage motion pictures. What's unfortunate are the grainy cuts to actual war planes, not fitting the actual film's aesthetic; however, the use of model buildings and factories looks fantastic. <br>

british, carol reed, espionage, forties, franchise, margaret lockwood, nazi, paul henreid, rex harrison, thriller, war, world war II

CAROL REED DIRECTS REX HARRISON IN 'NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH'

year: 1940 Rating: *** By the time we're on that title train to the title location, the dialogue-driven European WW2 espionage is pr...

THE DEBT

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ffxpmGdGEG8cRlNivWd-4maOh5XS32KXLaO9WLVfGGM3LIToK8s3S_qjrfGY8CdZf9d4zCflNp8zmaGG6tGb7Rj_WMWdowBRR0tR2DTGaWhfNBhxOaRtkRW-i-8lwOvO91_KkYQ_0Rsg/s1600/2011_the_debt_022.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5651346137925616898" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ffxpmGdGEG8cRlNivWd-4maOh5XS32KXLaO9WLVfGGM3LIToK8s3S_qjrfGY8CdZf9d4zCflNp8zmaGG6tGb7Rj_WMWdowBRR0tR2DTGaWhfNBhxOaRtkRW-i-8lwOvO91_KkYQ_0Rsg/s200/2011_the_debt_022.jpg" style="float: right; height: 200px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; width: 173px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> THE DEBT<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 2011<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /> <br /> An entertaining thriller dealing with the past and present (although the<span style="font-style: italic;"> present</span> is 1997, but you get the idea) delivers the goods, mostly when it centers in 1965: where three Mossad Secret Agents plan to kidnap a former Nazi doctor and bring him to Israel to stand trial.<br /> <br /> The chemistry between Jessica Chastain as Rachel, Sam Worthington as David, and Marton Csokas as Stephen... holing up for a<span style="font-style: italic;"> human heist... </span>are some of the best moments, really putting you inside the bleak, contained atmosphere of an East Germany tenement.<br /> <br /> The agent’s personalities: the gorgeous Rachel can kick ass, David is brooding and calculating, and Stephen's an artistic charmer, give each a color and style of their own. And although they fail at delivering the kidnapped Doctor to a departing train, they decide to keep him around till another possible chance.<br /> <br /> Here’s where things get personal, as the tied-up heavy, played with goading villainy by Jesper Christenson, gets into the agent’s heads: all having lost relatives in the War. This pivotal mainline is successful enough to make one forget it’s merely a flashback... returning to Helen Mirren as the older Rachel, whose daughter has written a book about their supposed slaying of the infamous Nazi.<br /> <br /> The second half fails to deliver like the back-story. The characters, being older, have lost their intensity and, in dealing with a burdensome guilt, do nothing but sulk towards a conclusion. But once our aged protagonist gets one last assignment, all envelopes into a worthy thriller far surpassing the dull title.

drama, espionage, helen mirren, jessica chastain, nazi, sam worthington, tens

THE DEBT

title: THE DEBT year: 2011 cast: Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain rating: ***1/2 An entertaining thriller dealing with the past and p...