TV MINISERIES 'HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY' WITH STANLEY BAKER

<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/AVvXsEg2qla7LnDbRggENB7Os3YDgAqeOJe0arH7hpEOghBtMo_zlsWIufvESUIsT9RBXWfQ5cgpRZ0xAzAiaXVi5B4nk6KX7XeqjV4wfYSaGiECwmLaRcbqNDx1v9hTB543tvK7wmAm07w4cafsLRRu4xCcMUPcexrn-mE3JLngtDMhhlqvZyt9Yet8BZvkUKMK/s1878/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-09%20at%2012.35.55%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1878" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2qla7LnDbRggENB7Os3YDgAqeOJe0arH7hpEOghBtMo_zlsWIufvESUIsT9RBXWfQ5cgpRZ0xAzAiaXVi5B4nk6KX7XeqjV4wfYSaGiECwmLaRcbqNDx1v9hTB543tvK7wmAm07w4cafsLRRu4xCcMUPcexrn-mE3JLngtDMhhlqvZyt9Yet8BZvkUKMK/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-06-09%20at%2012.35.55%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stanley Baker in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY Year: 1975 Rating: ****</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1975, the BBC brought HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY... John Ford's 1941 Oscar winning film that somehow beat CITIZEN KANE for best  picture and (more insanely) best director... back home... </p><p></p><p>Here using the novelty of casting only Welsh actors in a miniseries about the hard-working 19th century Welsh people... primarily centering on an initially crippled son with his mine-working father, two brothers, two sisters and a strong mother involved in endless bad luck situations, taking up a total of six hours from six hour-long episodes... </p><span></span>

british tv, gareth edwards, john clive, mike gwilym, miniseries, ray smith, remake, seventies, siân phillips, stanley baker, sue jones-davies, union, victoria plucknett

TV MINISERIES 'HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY' WITH STANLEY BAKER

Stanley Baker in HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY Year: 1975 Rating: **** In 1975, the BBC brought HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY... John Ford's 1941 Os...

JAMES CAGNEY DRIVES 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiyjHtA9kPkv-N-FGuFpvaswDkEkTtIuRtK-X9DUfZ_TqNVHGHT3gYAPkZTTOvvHWyuFPSjtIRjEdYxf5cQ2CM0gd_mEsBpOH7J-rjZ-HUvowjkarHpBxpY6R1wRCxd_H2Dz_ZJWhVRTl0R7bPELoF-YlbXhuWkEEx-AqwZuaiK88Qf1xWsg_O1dauJXz76/s1080/385069195_1812194819209686_2458443501429365532_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyjHtA9kPkv-N-FGuFpvaswDkEkTtIuRtK-X9DUfZ_TqNVHGHT3gYAPkZTTOvvHWyuFPSjtIRjEdYxf5cQ2CM0gd_mEsBpOH7J-rjZ-HUvowjkarHpBxpY6R1wRCxd_H2Dz_ZJWhVRTl0R7bPELoF-YlbXhuWkEEx-AqwZuaiK88Qf1xWsg_O1dauJXz76/s16000/385069195_1812194819209686_2458443501429365532_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE ST. LOUIS KID Year: 1934 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck drivers going from the city into the country to deliver milk... And, troubled by a troubling dame and a group of protesting union farmers, Cagney's Eddie Kennedy wins over the town, mostly from a jail cell... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He's initially sentenced from a fist-fight turned headbutt, in-between getting chewed out by his truck company boss, pressuring the duo to cross union lines where the only drama's injected, including violence... And residing in that cell (playing checkers with his jailers), he's able to sneak out at night... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, allen jenkins, comedy, dorothy dare, gertrude short, james cagney, patricia ellis, thirties, union, warner archives, wrong man

JAMES CAGNEY DRIVES 'THE ST. LOUIS KID' WITH ALLEN JENKINS

Title: THE ST. LOUIS KID Year: 1934 Rating: **** Great early James Cagney romp has he and glass-jaw sidekick Allen Jenkins as truck drivers ...

BRIAN KEITH AND BEVERLY TYLER IN 'CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL'

<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/AVvXsEiQEpn791pxrYkuz-s41CaIJTvulsO8Sr2hgCJQNOFt9jFtibDSu1iQZcjOVhzE4TSDDsTgpAyDcJjWfQxw5tIwZ2_KXAQGY9C-6SERSfo26_gcR3XBNjFERTVy249RkKjLnx5CV1mqtbjMM2xSUjdBREtJWP_jHXBc-1ISOvmVjPOiMAj1e6WVOGVSQA/s1061/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1061" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQEpn791pxrYkuz-s41CaIJTvulsO8Sr2hgCJQNOFt9jFtibDSu1iQZcjOVhzE4TSDDsTgpAyDcJjWfQxw5tIwZ2_KXAQGY9C-6SERSfo26_gcR3XBNjFERTVy249RkKjLnx5CV1mqtbjMM2xSUjdBREtJWP_jHXBc-1ISOvmVjPOiMAj1e6WVOGVSQA/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL Shown: Jack Lambert, Beverly Tyler Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of several late-noirs about Union corruption, for a basic seventy-five-minute programmer, CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL has just about everything... </p><p>From murderous thugs to their sophisticated bosses to courtroom drama involving a wrong man to <i>all</i> heavies eventually being hunted down, Brian Keith stars as a lawyer fighting to get wrongly-accused union leader Dick Foran off the hook from an ON THE WATERFRONT style stool-pigeon murder (care-of usual Noir torpedo Jack Lambert) that happens right off the bat...</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/AVvXsEg1RsPp-pDIHfXPNfEqjP8CSCviQlIlzOAkzlXKXwRSuoRTDah9UOUKYJ2BLHnna2xp4M-lrEMj84uYGNvN7SRysvIKKyqVlZNtScXIovCbyKUCgSk_AvpbTfPUmnUelw3CIW0ESt9yIq0dCOK-VAXKV-hK3dLlq6xj5Eg7iDEelFbIz83z8WmC91RK4fUK/s1817/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1817" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1RsPp-pDIHfXPNfEqjP8CSCviQlIlzOAkzlXKXwRSuoRTDah9UOUKYJ2BLHnna2xp4M-lrEMj84uYGNvN7SRysvIKKyqVlZNtScXIovCbyKUCgSk_AvpbTfPUmnUelw3CIW0ESt9yIq0dCOK-VAXKV-hK3dLlq6xj5Eg7iDEelFbIz83z8WmC91RK4fUK/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Asa Maynor in CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Giving CONFIDENTIAL a tight, edgy and at the same time breezily entertaining pulse where the best sequences take place beyond expository offices and into the shadowy streets... </p><p></p><p>Or else inside a smoky nightclub that harbors sultry and experienced b-girls led by an equally vulnerable Beverly Tyler (along with cute alcoholic Asa Maynor), stealing scenes not only from Keith's picture-pretty housewife and lead ingenue (Foran's secretary) Beverly Garland, but the men as well.</p><p><span></span></p>

asa maynor, beverly garland, beverly tyler, brian keith, courtroom drama, dick foran, elisha cook jr., fifties, film noir or melodrama, jack lambert, linda brent, union, wrong man

BRIAN KEITH AND BEVERLY TYLER IN 'CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL'

Title: CHICAGO CONFIDENTIAL Shown: Jack Lambert, Beverly Tyler Year: 1957 Rates: ***1/2 One of several late-noirs about Union corruption, fo...

JAMES CAGNEY'S NO DIRTY RAT IN THE BRISK MELODRAMA 'TAXI'

<p></p><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/a/AVvXsEgIWRoAtFQG5JGJW8gg3Bkk-lRThX8RRBfwlk5sw2IwfdIi3PUKIOGbOgFTeVdb5cCUm8I-8xWjhi3gFkepjkfLPdSA1sA0Hpn1TwpywZXWUlDPHVvql0Xd1t2LNXoImKBr50ZNN1MQM0YvvbSSWczhncYcmQmuKue1yQmUnR2Y7vry9tVV9TRGHLzg8A=s745" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="745" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgIWRoAtFQG5JGJW8gg3Bkk-lRThX8RRBfwlk5sw2IwfdIi3PUKIOGbOgFTeVdb5cCUm8I-8xWjhi3gFkepjkfLPdSA1sA0Hpn1TwpywZXWUlDPHVvql0Xd1t2LNXoImKBr50ZNN1MQM0YvvbSSWczhncYcmQmuKue1yQmUnR2Y7vry9tVV9TRGHLzg8A=w400-h251" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TAXI Year: 1931 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Begins as a predictable, cliché melodrama dealing with the haves… a monopolizing consortium cab company… against the have-nots: independent cabbies trying to make it on their own without getting whacked in the process...</p><p></p><p>But soon the message peels into involving crime fare with James Cagney as Matt Nolan, who... along with future <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/shanghaiduck.html">FRISCO KID</a> sidekick George E. Stone... never actually says "You dirty rat" but barks something similar to best girl Loretta Young...<br></p><p></p><p>The movie gets better as the more stress enters Nolan's life: various thugs from the consortium move in, and every dame... from the one good to the several bad/untrusting... annoy the hell out of him: providing the cocky firebrand the usual classic tantrums, and so, Matt Nolan is like most of Cagney’s early-era tough guys, only with a real cause he's extra ticked-off and super edgy. Fighting the good fight you'll back him all the way, so much so the other characters seem nonexistent whether he's on, or off, the screen.</p><p><span></span></p>

action, crime, george e. stone, james cagney, loretta young, melodrama, thirties, union, warner archives

JAMES CAGNEY'S NO DIRTY RAT IN THE BRISK MELODRAMA 'TAXI'

Title: TAXI Year: 1931 Rating: *** Begins as a predictable, cliché melodrama dealing with the haves… a monopolizing consortium cab company… ...

QUICK REVIEW & YAPHET KOTTO REFLECTION OF 'BLUE COLLAR'

<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/AVvXsEgxVVTpzZPrz1-cr8um7NmJTRQuBUucWJqChXsWD75S1Dro07mqXYr5Klxlz--hRO3MF9LkcrqglUfJQT-ACYgUodFHZpBb3OLmGmszsyJ5s52aBZnutI6uXxko20TZ8TCSVFlq_H_jbi-zLv2c5r6Edd3nvXP-w9ycmofnHARKiwAy6FZMOGOxZJmg0w/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202020-06-04%20at%2010.23.22%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxVVTpzZPrz1-cr8um7NmJTRQuBUucWJqChXsWD75S1Dro07mqXYr5Klxlz--hRO3MF9LkcrqglUfJQT-ACYgUodFHZpBb3OLmGmszsyJ5s52aBZnutI6uXxko20TZ8TCSVFlq_H_jbi-zLv2c5r6Edd3nvXP-w9ycmofnHARKiwAy6FZMOGOxZJmg0w/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202020-06-04%20at%2010.23.22%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Yaphet Kotto with Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel in Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR Year: 1978 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>"The whole thing," shares iconic black actor Yaphet Kotto of BLUE COLLAR, "had become one improvisation after another... But if my memory serves me correct, director Paul Schrader told me, Harvey Keitel and Richard Pryor to improvise because he said we were 'Director Proof' actors and to 'improvise when you feel it’s necessary'; yet when we did as directed, I’m told he was annoyed — but he was lucky to have had us: The movie is a classic."<br> <br> And after writing Martin Scorsese's TAXI DRIVER, it's Paul Schrader's directorial debut: An underrated gem caught between the end of blaxploitation and the beginning of the end for the drug culture during the gloriously gritty 1970's: also the "Renaissance Period" of directors having complete control — and yet <i>the lack of</i> control is what really works...<br>

caper, cliff deyoung, dark comedy, drama, drugs, ed begley jr., harry bellaver, harry northup, harvey keitel, heist, interview, paul schrader, richard pryor, seventies, union, yaphet kotto

QUICK REVIEW & YAPHET KOTTO REFLECTION OF 'BLUE COLLAR'

Yaphet Kotto with Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel in Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR Year: 1978 Rating: **** "The whole thing," s...

SYLVESTER STALLONE IN F.I.S.T.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVyoHtM8XxNLFzJmeIXti4lzUY0zhzXPg_ipMWg4DxZiJdzZtG0EAZ6vsugU06cOHAt8_I4ZZhucKI6NXiC3f6YWQMhqWom4tTDIHepTENQD7MxoM4M6olgBKnlddVGY1QkaAH-GMhmMQ/s1600/Sly-Stallone-Fist_l.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573311413758810722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVyoHtM8XxNLFzJmeIXti4lzUY0zhzXPg_ipMWg4DxZiJdzZtG0EAZ6vsugU06cOHAt8_I4ZZhucKI6NXiC3f6YWQMhqWom4tTDIHepTENQD7MxoM4M6olgBKnlddVGY1QkaAH-GMhmMQ/s200/Sly-Stallone-Fist_l.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 166px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1978 <span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /> <span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Sylvester Stallone, Richard Herd, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle<br /> <br /> During the depression, unions were important, being that there weren't many and workers were exploited. And that's what this movie shows from the first minute to the last, all within a two-and-a-half hour epic that needed more humanity than plot: that is, the moments between the strikes and hardships were too few and far between, never really getting to know the characters as actual people. Sylvester Stallone, fresh from his breakthrough in ROCKY, is hit-or-miss. His sometimes mumbling, other times voracious character moves up the ladder, from put-upon factory worker to spokesman for a trucker's union, way too fast. And the side-characters, including Peter Boyle and Rod Steiger, serve only as fuel to entice or enrage Stallone: who's fighting for a<span style="font-style: italic;"> real </span>cause... but it's all too heavy, and goes on way too long, to be genuinely effective. And while this might be the kind of thing Stallone always wanted to do, and finally got the chance, it doesn't mean he should have. <br />

depression-era, peter boyle, rod steiger, seventies, sylvester stallone, union

SYLVESTER STALLONE IN F.I.S.T.

year: 1978 rating: ** cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Herd, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle During the depression, unions were important, b...