cult film freak: robert aldrich

Showing posts with label robert aldrich. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 4/09/2026 / No comments / albert dekker , cloris leachman , fifties , film noir or melodrama , gumshoe , jack elam , jack lambert , leigh snowden , marian carr , maxine cooper , paul stewart , ralph meeker , robert aldrich , wesley addy

RALPH MEEKER HAMMERS ROBERT ALDRICH'S 'KISS ME DEADLY'

<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/AVvXsEh08pO4qc5MbAoDeqi7Gs1-mYufr0mg4QOavoNUgEz7pTVCrLhnbPhjCSm1bVn5L5WxpmLMJ9RGys4laeryoZQbhHtjm5Ukln2fqy6LSUErWjwO5MH17WO4ay8C2JB5d6NemC-SEQdNa3UmZ7KBXFQtfyTJ717QzGXXkkbWK1l68tV1noQwuMQfyIehMOxe/s2570/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-09%20at%2011.45.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08pO4qc5MbAoDeqi7Gs1-mYufr0mg4QOavoNUgEz7pTVCrLhnbPhjCSm1bVn5L5WxpmLMJ9RGys4laeryoZQbhHtjm5Ukln2fqy6LSUErWjwO5MH17WO4ay8C2JB5d6NemC-SEQdNa3UmZ7KBXFQtfyTJ717QzGXXkkbWK1l68tV1noQwuMQfyIehMOxe/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-09%20at%2011.45.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Wesley Addy & Ralph Meeker in KISS ME DEADLY Year: 1955 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>When
 hitchhiking damsel-in-distress Cloris Leachman is picked up by 
convertible driving private-eye rogue Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's noir classic 
KISS ME DEADLY, actor Ralph Meeker epitomizes the role without 
uttering a single word... <br></p><p></p><p>After she asks if he likes poetry, his manly/glib shrug speaks volumes in what's a gumshoe thriller that plays out like a tapestry of vignettes... thrust into a cautionary tale
involving the most important of three ingenues that Meeker's Hammer uses 
to figure out what/who killed first-girl Leachman, and why... </p><p><span></span></p>

albert dekker, cloris leachman, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gumshoe, jack elam, jack lambert, leigh snowden, marian carr, maxine cooper, paul stewart, ralph meeker, robert aldrich, wesley addy

RALPH MEEKER HAMMERS ROBERT ALDRICH'S 'KISS ME DEADLY'

Wesley Addy & Ralph Meeker in KISS ME DEADLY Year: 1955 Rating: ***** When hitchhiking damsel-in-distress Cloris Leachman is picked up ...

BURT REYNOLDS IN THE ROBERT ALDRICH NEO NOIR 'HUSTLE'

<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/AVvXsEiTuIA-FWcxw2RqgumYpd6hoEeJHdRn_J1vH0a0-_EIPkGe88KqPqd67STusHlQFM2IyKM69_o6otytun718CXRh50UR0h0qYjJQYIh-scYfG1efH8ZdfhTN3RJLTK2L6DNYUpxic4uNdpcEVv4qArPVDlcVUd6LyH_9lElupyKNVYYoceubPCHl67qvg/s2010/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-03%20at%2011.22.19%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1140" data-original-width="2010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTuIA-FWcxw2RqgumYpd6hoEeJHdRn_J1vH0a0-_EIPkGe88KqPqd67STusHlQFM2IyKM69_o6otytun718CXRh50UR0h0qYjJQYIh-scYfG1efH8ZdfhTN3RJLTK2L6DNYUpxic4uNdpcEVv4qArPVDlcVUd6LyH_9lElupyKNVYYoceubPCHl67qvg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-09-03%20at%2011.22.19%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Burt Reynolds and Paul Winfield in HUSTLE Year: 1975 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of those “stick with it” kind of movies, after the success of the universally entertaining THE LONGEST YARD, director Robert Aldrich reunites with Burt Reynolds in a noirish cop melodrama that takes some time to get going...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Reynolds is Phil Gaines, a bitter, world-weary detective (with a monotone seriousness reminiscent of his detective TV-series DAN AUGUST) who, living with a high priced prostitute, doesn’t represent the typical law and order existence. After the dead body of a drugged young girl turns up on the beach, Gaines and his partner, Paul Winfield’s Belgrave, write it off as suicide...</p><span></span>

ben johnson, burt reynolds, catherine bach, catherine deneuve, cop, crime, eddie albert, ernest borgnine, neo noir, paul winfield, robert aldrich, seventies

BURT REYNOLDS IN THE ROBERT ALDRICH NEO NOIR 'HUSTLE'

Burt Reynolds and Paul Winfield in HUSTLE Year: 1975 Rating: *** One of those “stick with it” kind of movies, after the success of the univ...

ROBERT ALDRICH'S WAR MISSION ENSEMBLE OF 'THE DIRTY DOZEN'

<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/AVvXsEh4A3mAlkqkzEWXXuE7iD67pT2OI90JhKxiFPx_lKve_b-yiye7g-VQxzZ0RnjcpIPZllqFN6piNJxUjA5YpFqWclE3J951hevwjrPpoM2uaAqIUn7G2o67Anh9P73Xgereg3N4fzDempdGd83nl7jkM5RCvo5TD-u2tDPsfM3B_PqjKVxc_U2pIy4dJQ/s1946/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-29%20at%205.48.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="970" data-original-width="1946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A3mAlkqkzEWXXuE7iD67pT2OI90JhKxiFPx_lKve_b-yiye7g-VQxzZ0RnjcpIPZllqFN6piNJxUjA5YpFqWclE3J951hevwjrPpoM2uaAqIUn7G2o67Anh9P73Xgereg3N4fzDempdGd83nl7jkM5RCvo5TD-u2tDPsfM3B_PqjKVxc_U2pIy4dJQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-29%20at%205.48.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson and Jim Brown in THE DIRTY DOZEN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Both THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN have a lot in common yet are completely different as World War II adventure films... the first has a group of POW's escaping from the Germans while the second involves American convicts training to <i>enter</i> Germany, as both somewhat awkwardly balance comedy with drama, and, while entertaining popcorn time-fillers, they're predictably and painfully mainstream...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>While ESCAPE centered on many men hoping to tunnel out, only a handful are centered on, which happens with DOZEN: but THE DIRTY HALF-DOZEN lacks the catchy alliteration... </p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, clint walker, donald sutherland, jim brown, john cassavetes, lee marvin, mission, ralph meeker, robert aldrich, telly savalas, war, world war II

ROBERT ALDRICH'S WAR MISSION ENSEMBLE OF 'THE DIRTY DOZEN'

Charles Bronson and Jim Brown in THE DIRTY DOZEN Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 Both THE GREAT ESCAPE and THE DIRTY DOZEN have a lot in common ye...

BURT REYNOLDS GETS CAPTURED FOR 'THE LONGEST YARD'

<div>
<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/AVvXsEhD2EmKs0xztng9r-jRfc-VVmIS25A8WeCFIwa_yBMoSxzplXOrxTvSs03tZDGLdEZB64abj3LEx75_aKesSR9n1mKMUAdVkHdb8m_4LrFnKIWk7SsYtRrjRvQDrogtfeARbh1C3hPeFeJJUpMfUWQx727zdytJPaIoo9aMVdTMSk-lpPg6ZWhd10v92g/s1037/the_longest_yard__1974__poster_by_a_jaded_smithy_d9qld7i_pre.0%202.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="586" data-original-width="1037" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD2EmKs0xztng9r-jRfc-VVmIS25A8WeCFIwa_yBMoSxzplXOrxTvSs03tZDGLdEZB64abj3LEx75_aKesSR9n1mKMUAdVkHdb8m_4LrFnKIWk7SsYtRrjRvQDrogtfeARbh1C3hPeFeJJUpMfUWQx727zdytJPaIoo9aMVdTMSk-lpPg6ZWhd10v92g/s16000/the_longest_yard__1974__poster_by_a_jaded_smithy_d9qld7i_pre.0%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Burt Reynolds in THE LONGEST YARD Director: Robert Aldrich Year: 1974 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Having  experienced the many Burt Reynolds road flicks throughout the mid/late  seventies and early eighties, you'd expect him to, in the very beginning  as he's being chased by cops in a stolen hot rod, get away and avoid  all punishment... </div><div> </div><div>Nothing doing in THE LONGEST YARD since Burt, playing a has-been football star,  is sent to a backwards Florida work-camp where he's called upon by a  power hungry warden (Eddie Albert backed by chief guard Ed Lauter) to start a team of convicts: who end  up challenging the prison guard semi-pro outfit with a start-up game (fitfully helmed by DIRTY DOZEN prisoners-with-a-purpose director Robert Aldrich) ...</div><p><span></span></p><span></span>

action, alfie wise, bernadette peters, burt reynolds, comedy, drama, ed lauter, football, harry caesar, james hampton, michael conrad, prison, richard kiel, robert aldrich, seventies, sport

BURT REYNOLDS GETS CAPTURED FOR 'THE LONGEST YARD'

Burt Reynolds in THE LONGEST YARD Director: Robert Aldrich Year: 1974 Rating: **** Having experienced the many Burt Reynolds road flicks ...

SUSANNAH YORK IN 'THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE' W/ BERYL REID

<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/AVvXsEhG0j87SkYaxmoC7RUjOqYHs65oVny3h0heW2V1i56ezaQkxFiADsvxFtgnILA24CdgL7mrGtEiAnDEoKgz9J7mY-L6ayLZPe_jMVfny7vPOasqeaQn7H9J3PvlsRFbEUHA0kbPuXyRe5av/s1442/Screen+Shot+2021-08-29+at+2.34.56+AM+2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="579" data-original-width="1442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0j87SkYaxmoC7RUjOqYHs65oVny3h0heW2V1i56ezaQkxFiADsvxFtgnILA24CdgL7mrGtEiAnDEoKgz9J7mY-L6ayLZPe_jMVfny7vPOasqeaQn7H9J3PvlsRFbEUHA0kbPuXyRe5av/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-08-29+at+2.34.56+AM+2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE Year: 1968 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After director Robert Aldrich exploded with THE DIRTY DOZEN he returned to an independent style melodrama in the fashion of WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE although THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE is really a hybrid of STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE and DEATH OF A SALESMAN but in this case the saleswoman's an actress fearing the possible death of her fictional character from a long-running British soap, and it all sounds like Aldrich's BIG KNIFE style parody of insider's show business... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yet most of SISTER GEORGE centers on a gorgeous blonde childlike, doll-collecting Susannah York, the titular starlet's lover, and their bickering, apartment-dwelling scenes, ranging from the middle-aged has-been played by middle-aged firebrand Beryl Reid, wielding mind games, making her lover literally eat cigar tips or threatening to behead one of her beloved antique dolls... </p><p><span></span></p>

beryl reid, british, coral browne, homosexual, melodrama, robert aldrich, sixties, susannah york

SUSANNAH YORK IN 'THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE' W/ BERYL REID

Title: THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE Year: 1968 Rating: *** After director Robert Aldrich exploded with THE DIRTY DOZEN he returned to an ind...

LEE MARVIN & ERNEST BORGNINE IN 'EMPEROR OF THE NORTH'

action, adventure, depression-era, ernest borgnine, keith carradine, lee marvin, robert aldrich, seventies

LEE MARVIN & ERNEST BORGNINE IN 'EMPEROR OF THE NORTH'

Foreign Poster for EMPEROR OF THE NORTH Year: 1973 EMPEROR OF THE NORTH has us believe that, during the Depression when hobos made thei...

MARVIN VS BORGNINE IN 'EMPEROR OF THE NORTH'

<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/AVvXsEjJ0xgijerXs_aDj7YosOylgg6a8H44WWRzVH7qru_nQ2l-4DsGl1TTMVg0MeJg-0xb-E3LRSi3YOrTV0m6RFlgXvxSjHktLy-nccA0KTBjuNPU4bAJHPDqiG_4GGlVDcMmVsqAq9L-VJU/s1600/emp0.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0xgijerXs_aDj7YosOylgg6a8H44WWRzVH7qru_nQ2l-4DsGl1TTMVg0MeJg-0xb-E3LRSi3YOrTV0m6RFlgXvxSjHktLy-nccA0KTBjuNPU4bAJHPDqiG_4GGlVDcMmVsqAq9L-VJU/s400/emp0.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lee Marvin & Robert Carradine in this Robert Alrich action flick</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Arguably, director Robert Aldrich turned in his best work over a decade before he got down and DIRTY DOZEN...<br />
<br />
That is, the entire Film Noir genre was practically named after his severe yet subdued, intensely claustrophobic KISS ME DEADLY, adding cult status with the risky thriller WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE, but it's a movie like EMPEROR OF THE NORTH, pitting a folk-hero hobo against a lethal Railroad man in the height of the Depression in a sort of cat and mouse game with taut action and gorgeous exterior, that Aldrich pulls off splendidly... <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/AVvXsEhQT2I9TFGBs_rIbO11AKXduHS6BNaInlCYUt39jcb5zm1K6lxOiWRFqLGrGP9zwUOwXimszcy_MF4Ai7QZM0fu2SfZrmy99xHby8mW4m_sZpRgXh0GNB6pxkjsipEXldGXGUYFyOigxMg/s1600/emp3.jpg" 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/AVvXsEhQT2I9TFGBs_rIbO11AKXduHS6BNaInlCYUt39jcb5zm1K6lxOiWRFqLGrGP9zwUOwXimszcy_MF4Ai7QZM0fu2SfZrmy99xHby8mW4m_sZpRgXh0GNB6pxkjsipEXldGXGUYFyOigxMg/s320/emp3.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sid Haig joining in</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The eclectic filmmaker's work resembles the antique film stock of a, for instance, Franklin J. Schaffner, or even Richard Fleischer, keeping an "old style" antique look, almost seeming like color was added to black & white film stock, counterbalancing the more modern realism of the 1970's, providing a throwback vibe and allowing actors to, like in NORTH, break into sudden bursts of hysterical laughter wherein you can almost hear the director yelling "Action" and "Cut" in-between the over-the-top hysterical outbursts...<br />
<br />
Hell, it even happened in what's considered Sam Peckinpah's greatest achievement (not agreed here), THE WILD BUNCH, after the title bandits, surrounding a campfire, found out they stole bagfuls of slugs. Long story short, some movies didn't have the timeless vibe of a FRENCH CONNECTION or GODFATHER during that time: even though there's a degree of exploitive violence that you won't see in the other more realistic projects. And talk about violent: Ernest Borgnine plays the horrendously awful villain, Shack, equally despised by his employees and fellow railroad workers as he is the bums who know his legendary ways of cleaning up infamous Train 19: by finding any particular stowaway hobo and busting his skull with a mallet, and that's the end of that. It's as if they never existed.<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/AVvXsEjP3oIMGklMcOl2PxliXUeZBcmk3sZwjxBfNkDCm3tCZOeArPdHduBpM6_Nspt1KCcrswdbTCU3HPwuNryanYbpVpKj7-5Srv-cU-jX3y9UeEqw3w18ZKVZ_T8w9tmlEffcBjXAlnYBnDk/s1600/emp11.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP3oIMGklMcOl2PxliXUeZBcmk3sZwjxBfNkDCm3tCZOeArPdHduBpM6_Nspt1KCcrswdbTCU3HPwuNryanYbpVpKj7-5Srv-cU-jX3y9UeEqw3w18ZKVZ_T8w9tmlEffcBjXAlnYBnDk/s320/emp11.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Borg9 going overboard again</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The best scenes are the interplay between veteran actors Lee Marvin and Borgnine; Marvin's character a folk hero amongst train-jumpers and vowing to ride old 19 despite the fact it's an almost impossible task. The way he plays tricks on both the machine and the machinist throughout the gorgeous location makes not only for mobile adventure, but dark humor and loads of suspenseful momentum: The irony is that the DOZEN veterans don't spend much time on screen together at all, save for their final battle, which could very well be one of the best man-to-man fights ever filmed. And beforehand, for anyone to "accuse" Borgnine for overacting, well... it's not that much a stretch. But with his face, he can get away with just about anything; and does here, in droves. <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/AVvXsEjzhVpk2iSLKRa4vwZMetLOsNu0hm5WHspqiziY4MtSiZL2xGgq_t5nI0exyikR4-eTjVLSKAM6meuNiloWVjROTxtWg1Xg4zkljNLnhTb-vdGKx5hzFZCKC7g_PMu0zir_XhcoDaWtfNaV/s1600/EmperorOfTheNorth_BD_HighRes__29466.1522683638.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1241" data-original-width="766" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzhVpk2iSLKRa4vwZMetLOsNu0hm5WHspqiziY4MtSiZL2xGgq_t5nI0exyikR4-eTjVLSKAM6meuNiloWVjROTxtWg1Xg4zkljNLnhTb-vdGKx5hzFZCKC7g_PMu0zir_XhcoDaWtfNaV/s320/EmperorOfTheNorth_BD_HighRes__29466.1522683638.jpg" width="197" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Limited Edition Blu Ray</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the softer, younger and more vulnerable side, Keith Carradine's cocky yet vulnerable upstart, Cigaret, who Marvin's character, known simply as "A Number 1," is reluctant to take in as a partner. Lee's no mentor and yet, with Carradine's persistence, he has no choice. Think Jon Voight and Eric Roberts in RUNAWAY TRAIN years later, only they were on the same proverbial boat from the beginning, and here we have no unnecessary love interest to derail the bloody, sweaty ride that, although contrived at times, is never unfocused on what, or rather, who the important elements are: two men doing their jobs, and only one getting paid for it.<br />
<br />
<u>RATING</u>: ***1/2<br />
<u>TRIVIA</u>: Many faces turn up quickly without much of a part other than the main four or five leads including Western favorite Matt Clark and THE LONGEST YARD snitch and always villainous Charles Tyner, the ultimate YARD rat who doesn't think much of James Hampton... Speaking of that film, underrated black actor, Harry Caesar, whose bug-eyes seem like they've seen just about everything and everyone, is the coal shoveling man on the train, and as pictured, an actor who'd become a b-movie legend years later, Sid Haig, plays one of many laughing bums, this one holding a turkey, while Marvin's in the process of derailing Borgnine's legacy.

adventure, ernest borgnine, keith carradine, lee marvin, robert aldrich, seventies, sid haig