TERENCE YOUNG'S 'SAFARI' WITH VICTOR MATURE & JANET LEIGH

<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/AVvXsEiEXa3gipR3Moalve1GiLlM8_pB_aeEguiuXV9oHi71rtja_fuYFErwqyelGY3VS_LgQWzdmpmIy9unpa05_bHbjBJ8ZqZT_gQXwvFfw1VlcfB7PZIXLQwjTO8RcVuG5wsAfgv18h_aX44VUai8kZUWc_cyGlrYdbhZYhedCTFkWSWTvEnN98ggCNBcOfzW/s2042/SS.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="2042" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEXa3gipR3Moalve1GiLlM8_pB_aeEguiuXV9oHi71rtja_fuYFErwqyelGY3VS_LgQWzdmpmIy9unpa05_bHbjBJ8ZqZT_gQXwvFfw1VlcfB7PZIXLQwjTO8RcVuG5wsAfgv18h_aX44VUai8kZUWc_cyGlrYdbhZYhedCTFkWSWTvEnN98ggCNBcOfzW/s16000/SS.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SAFARI Year: 1956 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1956, future James Bond franchise director Terence Young had Victor Mature playing a charming kind of scoundrel, twice... in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/11/zarak.html">ZARAK</a> his title character's an Arab bandit, and in SAFARI he's a kind of AFRICAN QUEEN Humphrey Bogart had he been in a revenge-driven b-adventure flick...<br><br>As the worst parts occur before he's hired to be a lion-hunting guide for old rich jerk Roland Culver, engaged to one of the most gorgeous actresses of all time, looking possibly her most gorgeous here... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, british, fifties, janet leigh, john justin, jungle, liam redmond, roland vulver, terence young, victor mature

TERENCE YOUNG'S 'SAFARI' WITH VICTOR MATURE & JANET LEIGH

Title: SAFARI Year: 1956 Rating: *** In 1956, future James Bond franchise director Terence Young had Victor Mature playing a charming kind o...

TERENCE YOUNG'S 'ZARAK' WITH VICTOR MATURE & EUNICE GAYSON

<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/AVvXsEgPbdhyX3Cs3MWxMHThwMC1uDy9pHS_aweGJagSCD0YVMLe1VfDsLN3_o_-GY5YyxKJKEzgcGNEXmag1_PEkZsrGne3v5Q-2VvNOu8jmfQXwmjDFW2BW62ZN_7wC7Zx0FmlzamRpJqizj9aJ379dmyeQ6PnHtsqtYDHfTIU1jQBvL8VEaf-Hrknn5W4VRuv/s1510/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-26%20at%201.40.43%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPbdhyX3Cs3MWxMHThwMC1uDy9pHS_aweGJagSCD0YVMLe1VfDsLN3_o_-GY5YyxKJKEzgcGNEXmag1_PEkZsrGne3v5Q-2VvNOu8jmfQXwmjDFW2BW62ZN_7wC7Zx0FmlzamRpJqizj9aJ379dmyeQ6PnHtsqtYDHfTIU1jQBvL8VEaf-Hrknn5W4VRuv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-26%20at%201.40.43%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ZARAK Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Future James Bond directing icon Terence Young made the Arabic Adventure ZARAK so full of bright 1950's technicolor, it's only when the matte paintings of lush background sunsets and deserts are too obvious is it apparent this is basically yet another low-budget British potboiler... but those matte paintings are painted beautifully...<br><br>And with the kind of setup for what would seem a pre LAWRENCE OF ARABIA epic, where a powerful Arab leader father banishes his son Cain-style into the endless sandy wilderness for having an affair with his prettiest of many wives, Anita Ekberg, American import Victor Mature's title character is really a charming anti-heroic bandit straight from any American-shot b-Western...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, anita ekberg, bonar colleano, british, eddie byrne, eunice gayson, fifties, patrick mcgoohan, terence young, victor mature

TERENCE YOUNG'S 'ZARAK' WITH VICTOR MATURE & EUNICE GAYSON

Title: ZARAK Year: 1956 Rating: ***1/2 Future James Bond directing icon Terence Young made the Arabic Adventure ZARAK so full of bright 1950...

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEik2yYKAeosus31RNiQfBZPjomm1z3tiMeeSDhCjGpE9pnvDoddXutx5iuNnvsaWGRdeAM25WChylhc_CsbsUw_TUivXuuMzb7r2chOqWx1SffFIcsZ1B7vH9Omj8AmCGt4RIsk-nWK4BzKdWHU95wwT9I6dsC04USv_mps2bf8i0oRRy5JazDFTBrCibjV/s1604/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-02%20at%206.25.54%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="812" data-original-width="1604" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2yYKAeosus31RNiQfBZPjomm1z3tiMeeSDhCjGpE9pnvDoddXutx5iuNnvsaWGRdeAM25WChylhc_CsbsUw_TUivXuuMzb7r2chOqWx1SffFIcsZ1B7vH9Omj8AmCGt4RIsk-nWK4BzKdWHU95wwT9I6dsC04USv_mps2bf8i0oRRy5JazDFTBrCibjV/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-02%20at%206.25.54%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with agent Martin Balsam about doing or <i>not</i> doing a French existential film, you'll simply want things to narrow into what the <i>real</i> movie's about as AFTER THE FOX doesn't mean <i>what follows</i> but <i>who's followin</i>g Peter Sellers' criminal named Fox, who broke out of prison, in disguise, and there's plenty of humor but not enough laughs... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Shame since the cinematography's so gorgeous, a satire on the pretentious side of 1960's French New Wave cinema, ironically directed by 1950's minimalist BICYCLE THIEVES auteur Vittorio De Sica, not allowing either his funny guy (Sellers) or straight man (Mature) enough time together... </p><p><span></span></p>

akim tamiroff, brit ekland, british, comedy, cult, french, heist, jailbreak, maria grazia buccella, peter sellers, post-heist, satire, sixties, victor mature

PETER SELLERS, BRITT EKLAND & VICTOR MATURE 'AFTER THE FOX'

Title: AFTER THE FOX Year: 1966 Rates: *** Victor Mature plays an aged, has-been actor who spends so much time bickering with agent Martin B...

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'VIOLENT SATURDAY' WITH VICTOR MATURE

<p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEhZ2PODFlnroMgovaHJR-BRB0PdCte9eIprlXxGvSoIBiyuobR0m_D12CFEDrMtOhojLwrqtLz0fUwkh_jbURqlmIWCmzUjILQ9eEzaP974xFKNzTnbIE0lLDQgDTwkasNO3lnVD6LGxgtOb6sC8e2StXSsmoHK1njY2WdI7wEsNvBbFVMioHvI6SKbocfA/s2524/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-26%20at%204.14.41%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="2524" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ2PODFlnroMgovaHJR-BRB0PdCte9eIprlXxGvSoIBiyuobR0m_D12CFEDrMtOhojLwrqtLz0fUwkh_jbURqlmIWCmzUjILQ9eEzaP974xFKNzTnbIE0lLDQgDTwkasNO3lnVD6LGxgtOb6sC8e2StXSsmoHK1njY2WdI7wEsNvBbFVMioHvI6SKbocfA/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-26%20at%204.14.41%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: VIOLENT SATURDAY Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Richard Fleischer crafted a tight, sparse, edgy noir also replete with enough paperback melodrama for a dozen Douglas Sirk features, which <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/V-sat.html">VIOLENT SATURDAY</a> resembles but only from either close-up or afar...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The first because of the soapy situations, like a cheating wife or a father whose son seems to hate him... and the latter from the vibrant technicolor cinematography of an Arizona small town, richly contrasting from Fleischer's previous B&W city-set thrillers ARMORED CAR ROBBERY,  FOLLOW ME QUIETLY and THE CLAY PIGEON...</p><p><span></span></p>

dorothy patrick, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, j. carrol naish, lee marvin, love triangle, margaret hayes, richard egan, richard fleischer, stephen mcnally, victor mature, virginia leith

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S 'VIOLENT SATURDAY' WITH VICTOR MATURE

Title: VIOLENT SATURDAY Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2 Director Richard Fleischer crafted a tight, sparse, edgy noir also replete with enough pa...

VICTOR MATURE AND TREVOR HOWARD BATTLE IN 'PICKUP ALLEY'

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

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

VICTOR MATURE AND TREVOR HOWARD BATTLE IN 'PICKUP ALLEY'

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

VICTOR MATURE WITH DIANA DORS TRUCKING IN 'THE LONG HAUL'

<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/AVvXsEhds55toXEPVh93M7s_m1hwQIvZ0gsZe_ioJVC2oqlcangr_0lmx5FfQRUOmoH9CNWjbSXj6cr8D_xGNyYs8zeTUjSgqJGNyUqqgelZDh-aH2Hi8oLN0JKpjdCdyVC2SYWGlvThb6R2LcZGhpbC61luLbXGjD1tNBV5IoMZrMlkmEA0DNuaQDCFjoy0nA7X/s1584/370584764_1791579744604527_233743414952011159_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1584" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhds55toXEPVh93M7s_m1hwQIvZ0gsZe_ioJVC2oqlcangr_0lmx5FfQRUOmoH9CNWjbSXj6cr8D_xGNyYs8zeTUjSgqJGNyUqqgelZDh-aH2Hi8oLN0JKpjdCdyVC2SYWGlvThb6R2LcZGhpbC61luLbXGjD1tNBV5IoMZrMlkmEA0DNuaQDCFjoy0nA7X/s16000/370584764_1791579744604527_233743414952011159_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE LONG HAUL Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What begins as a kind of lightweight <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/HellDrivers.html">HELL DRIVERS</a> with token Yankee Victor Mature joining a breakneck trucking company, having to drive as quickly and dangerously as possible, far too quickly turns into an ON THE WATERFRONT of crooked British hauling... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where a time-worn yet leathery-tough Mature... sprung from Army life and stuck in Liverpool with a wife who wants to stay put (plus a young son)... screws up company mob boss Patrick Allen's caper of robbing his own business: Thus making both the verbal and physical altercations between Mature (with plucky sidekick Liam Redmond) and Allen... equally square-jawed, stubborn and no-nonsense... fairly entertaining Noir... </p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir/melodrama, caper, diana dors, fifties, gene anderson, liam redmond, patrick allen, truck, victor mature

VICTOR MATURE WITH DIANA DORS TRUCKING IN 'THE LONG HAUL'

Title: THE LONG HAUL Year: 1957 Rating: ***1/2 What begins as a kind of lightweight HELL DRIVERS with token Yankee Victor Mature joining a ...

VICTOR MATURE AND LAIRD CREGAR IN 'I WAKE UP SCREAMING'

<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/AVvXsEjCWO1np82hbOR9gz4aPJLN1NWqdG5WHRLwMNGPfj9odQY8ab0VlU-jmV_BnIGrwfCgZsv77PRBYZWdvxpV-wZgu6KO6iX6vNuM0c7W7vqyKhvyqRqhijgi_9ENm_M6a-JAFZBywLNCOvYqytinJLH6fIXRnA2UYP5F_MbEp-qEGPxLVdLUfnEPtIeaG2j_/s1957/gggggg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1360" data-original-width="1957" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCWO1np82hbOR9gz4aPJLN1NWqdG5WHRLwMNGPfj9odQY8ab0VlU-jmV_BnIGrwfCgZsv77PRBYZWdvxpV-wZgu6KO6iX6vNuM0c7W7vqyKhvyqRqhijgi_9ENm_M6a-JAFZBywLNCOvYqytinJLH6fIXRnA2UYP5F_MbEp-qEGPxLVdLUfnEPtIeaG2j_/s16000/gggggg.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: I WAKE UP SCREAMING Year: 1941 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Originally named HOT SPOT since we begin with Victor Mature, noisily and rudely interrogated by detectives and, with that bright light in his eyes, this title describes anyone being heatedly interrogated... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And while the source novel I WAKE UP SCREAMING might have fit the pulpy page, it has nothing to do with this story involving Mature as a talent promoter who, after attempting to turn a beautiful nowhere waitress into an overnight sensation, is blamed for her murder...</p><p><span></span></p>

betty grable, carole landis, cop, film noir or melodrama, forties, laird cregar, mystery, thriller, victor mature, wrong man

VICTOR MATURE AND LAIRD CREGAR IN 'I WAKE UP SCREAMING'

Title: I WAKE UP SCREAMING Year: 1941 Rating: **** Originally named HOT SPOT since we begin with Victor Mature, noisily and rudely interroga...

VICTOR MATURE 'KISS OF DEATH' INTRODUCING RICHARD WIDMARK

<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/AVvXsEi0HWIIQGIeQA7VODaWI4fF08k0PUDvhHy2IMwSFcaCs3AUgS1rYYPfhCrS0YZRXT4MmgZQCcF9TC1JT44I7SaGYx8FCjUK8PKxxiOn2YgCUKQ3ur4mTTMCKnUwZ6l97JToCk5IpUbXHMhduLL1e3IlOupJx27Z9FUeogsMDcfT5z30KSQl7wwbSJhG1Iwt/s1732/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-26%20at%201.26.10%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="1732" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0HWIIQGIeQA7VODaWI4fF08k0PUDvhHy2IMwSFcaCs3AUgS1rYYPfhCrS0YZRXT4MmgZQCcF9TC1JT44I7SaGYx8FCjUK8PKxxiOn2YgCUKQ3ur4mTTMCKnUwZ6l97JToCk5IpUbXHMhduLL1e3IlOupJx27Z9FUeogsMDcfT5z30KSQl7wwbSJhG1Iwt/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-26%20at%201.26.10%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Widmark and Victor Mature in KISS OF DEATH Year: 1947 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The original KISS OF DEATH is several movies in one, beginning as a tension-filled heist flick that quickly leads to a prison melodrama involving the husband/father crook going to jail (refusing to rat on his criminal partners)... and then becomes a thriller about one thing and one thing only  — fear...</p><p></p><p></p><p>And it's no coincidence that this part sets up when central lead Victor Mature meets extremely talky and psychotic gangster Tommy Udo, played by cinema newcomer Richard Widmark... thus kicking into <i>full fear</i> gear during the second and third act, after Mature's failed attempt of turning Udo over to dogged moral conscience D.A. Brian Donlevy...</p><span></span>

brian donlevy, coleen gray, film noir or melodrama, forties, heist, karl malden, richard widmark, suspense, thriller, victor mature

VICTOR MATURE 'KISS OF DEATH' INTRODUCING RICHARD WIDMARK

Richard Widmark and Victor Mature in KISS OF DEATH Year: 1947 Rating: **** The original KISS OF DEATH is several movies in one, beginning as...

VICTOR MATURE, PETER LORRE & KATHRYN GRANT 'THE BIG CIRCUS'

<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/AVvXsEglr--JXms8YdA6doIPfXQfC35B-MOHGmCDNk9Y-yKmOCH0Z8VZMU7zXs62MXcImt6F9xHDpSjfMGF8kbczZnZoY3ABYxRliw2Yf8o3tiAbHrpzcZK6UF-PbL66sqkUSsp9V5d9F9cuVS8UyvsVFhA3W7uoJE7qMtH8btPIg4ykDEaI0_HOYoADjwm6ZjjO/s2248/44.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="2248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglr--JXms8YdA6doIPfXQfC35B-MOHGmCDNk9Y-yKmOCH0Z8VZMU7zXs62MXcImt6F9xHDpSjfMGF8kbczZnZoY3ABYxRliw2Yf8o3tiAbHrpzcZK6UF-PbL66sqkUSsp9V5d9F9cuVS8UyvsVFhA3W7uoJE7qMtH8btPIg4ykDEaI0_HOYoADjwm6ZjjO/s16000/44.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE BIG CIRCUS Pictured: Petter Lorre Year of Release: 1959 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Circus movie with the same plot as <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/03/RINGofFEAR.html">RING OF FEAR</a> where someone is sabotaging the acts, threatening lives <i>and</i> the entire traveling business, only in THE BIG CIRCUS we don't know who the culprit is... although with so many menacing shots of famously-menacing Vincent Price as the ringleader, one thing's for certain: it isn't him...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Run by bigger-than-life promotion king Henry Jasper 'Hank' Whirling, played by a confident, capable <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/victor%20mature">Victor Mature</a>, he's saddled with a sidekick in Red Buttons as an accountant from a bank about to close down the show... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, charles watts, circus, fifties, howard mcnear, kathryn grant, mystery, peter lorre, red buttons, rhonda fleming, thriller, victor mature, warner archives

VICTOR MATURE, PETER LORRE & KATHRYN GRANT 'THE BIG CIRCUS'

Title: THE BIG CIRCUS Pictured: Petter Lorre Year of Release: 1959 Rating: ***1/2 Circus movie with the same plot as RING OF FEAR where som...

THE MONKEES MIND THEIR MALIGNED BUSINESS THROUGH 'HEAD'

<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/a/AVvXsEhXVmljhqzNZ0qhQPY08IuoRJ0PDBin0Q3HLUhIi6Yia4v5RAylJ_Z_WIGsQeSUOVFd_aPhzqnaeDknlGwq2a5l8eHsbk3G6niqMgIwtR-KGRgfMA06Ujmi9U1wCik6-6sr7KLPdqY9x9gjD-AcCD8iSgPqcG2d7JMqVepWIoz0dIHgTlp8Ofp2U8jDJA=s1278" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="577" data-original-width="1278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhXVmljhqzNZ0qhQPY08IuoRJ0PDBin0Q3HLUhIi6Yia4v5RAylJ_Z_WIGsQeSUOVFd_aPhzqnaeDknlGwq2a5l8eHsbk3G6niqMgIwtR-KGRgfMA06Ujmi9U1wCik6-6sr7KLPdqY9x9gjD-AcCD8iSgPqcG2d7JMqVepWIoz0dIHgTlp8Ofp2U8jDJA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Micky Dolenz & Mike Nesmith in artwork more 1980's than 1960's for HEAD Year: 1968 Rates: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>No rock group nor any music act in history would take part in a motion picture created primarily to ruin their image; but The Monkees, who were infamously NOT an actual band, had no <i>real</i> image to either ruin or protect...  </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Except their immensely popular and beloved TV show THE MONKEES, in which, after the second season cancellation, producer Bert Schnieder with producer/director Bob Rafelson alongside Rafelson's future FIVE EASY PIECES star/then-writer Jack Nicholson created a big-screen HEAD... </p><p><span></span></p>

bob rafelson, counter-culture, davy jones, ensemble, jack nicholson, michael nesmith, micky dolenz, montage, music, peter tork, psychedelic, the monkees, timothy carey, victor mature

THE MONKEES MIND THEIR MALIGNED BUSINESS THROUGH 'HEAD'

Micky Dolenz & Mike Nesmith in artwork more 1980's than 1960's for HEAD Year: 1968 Rates: ** No rock group nor any music act in ...

VICTOR MATURE DIVES INTO JERRY HOPPER'S 'THE SHARKFIGHTERS'

<div style="text-align: left;"> <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/AVvXsEhukXVKQhJ_eYciCT8uXOvDtawOOTM18VIo-UMcL5Kwe6X7GYmg8StcDVxXTaKfeaUepg4voqFkObvuDSTOfAfRa_xrglnysX9QTviR4QS2z12MeuOw5dW_UFr3-sR03qomB9omDm1ko4gUoM6F6iGVL-xniZRijpEc15qA8XDzoVtz-Or1nJuSlRPJMavt/s1766/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-09%20at%208.32.56%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1766" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhukXVKQhJ_eYciCT8uXOvDtawOOTM18VIo-UMcL5Kwe6X7GYmg8StcDVxXTaKfeaUepg4voqFkObvuDSTOfAfRa_xrglnysX9QTviR4QS2z12MeuOw5dW_UFr3-sR03qomB9omDm1ko4gUoM6F6iGVL-xniZRijpEc15qA8XDzoVtz-Or1nJuSlRPJMavt/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-09%20at%208.32.56%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE SHARKFIGHTERS Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>THE SHARKFIGHTERS is but an ingredient of what would make a bonafide World War II movie's main course: In order for soldiers to survive in the ocean — either far out or close to an invading beach — without being eaten by those infamously ravaging dorsal-finned predators, it's the job of a scientific military unit, stationed in pre-Castro Cuba, to develop a liquid-repellent to keep sharks away, and for long enough to matter...<br></div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">That's the plot overall, and there's a lot of testing in-between, making up a few suspenseful scenes when not wasting superfluous time inland, in Havana, where the main character, war hero Lt. Cmdr. Ben Staves, played by Victor Mature, enjoys live mamba music with his gorgeous wife (Karen Steele), whose character is all but deleted by the token expository shark expert who, like any film's stock "better half" sans the romance,  must weather his new moody boss on the boat or back at a compound, located at a fishing village looking straight out of Hemingway... <br></div><span></span>

action, claude akins, fifties, jerry hopper, karen steele, philip coolidge, rafael campos, shark, suspense, victor mature, war

VICTOR MATURE DIVES INTO JERRY HOPPER'S 'THE SHARKFIGHTERS'

Title: THE SHARKFIGHTERS Year: 1955 Rating: **** THE SHARKFIGHTERS is but an ingredient of what would make a bonafide World War II movie...

RODDY MCDOWALL WITH LAURETTE LUEZ IN 'KILLER SHARK'

<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/AVvXsEh3KZwOESH6C0wtRAfH8JUnmRdEdeFs5x9hliYjigbSUi1ad94K6cJ3bhX3-zo4Z4D951vwlpCXse79tOWTlfXAoSaZ1B_Ax-oClIOEW0qUXoFb1H0Yv7z3Rf16lx7k9kBimRZs3y8CLs51/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-03-03+at+4.03.25+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3KZwOESH6C0wtRAfH8JUnmRdEdeFs5x9hliYjigbSUi1ad94K6cJ3bhX3-zo4Z4D951vwlpCXse79tOWTlfXAoSaZ1B_Ax-oClIOEW0qUXoFb1H0Yv7z3Rf16lx7k9kBimRZs3y8CLs51/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-03-03+at+4.03.25+AM.jpg" width="320"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>KILLER SHARK Year: 1950</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Following the bizarre Neo Noir <span style="color: #444444;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/02/sharksT.html">SHARKS' TREASURE</a> </span>and continuing our monthlong review of underrated or relatively unknown shark flicks, here's a rare catch titled...<br> <br> <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/AVvXsEjXc25uaYheUGeh8IXOhW83CMdAVQQugd4Mzo_HaIXBXsuQgYas0Ok2oIyG4Jd21rokZDYcExFLRKfp4p0tjFOzpaDRKIN6-vUFfrDykuMku9FTyMbGcyXxxiz2xc_9190o7afG0h65NfW9/s1600/16425950_264903767272140_9217931512980432120_n+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" 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/AVvXsEjXc25uaYheUGeh8IXOhW83CMdAVQQugd4Mzo_HaIXBXsuQgYas0Ok2oIyG4Jd21rokZDYcExFLRKfp4p0tjFOzpaDRKIN6-vUFfrDykuMku9FTyMbGcyXxxiz2xc_9190o7afG0h65NfW9/s320/16425950_264903767272140_9217931512980432120_n+%25281%2529.jpg" width="165"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>McDowall in Killer Shark</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> KILLER SHARK, a sort of CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS only with a semi-grownup preppy college kid visiting his once American office desk-set turned hardworking fisherman father in Mexico. Starring Roddy McDowall who also co-produced, turning in his usual dependable performance, at this point having worked for a decade, and his character's insecure whininess doesn't get too incessant or annoying, which is good for obvious reasons but there lacks a turnaround worth rooting for. Yet there <i>is</i> a changeling (albeit very quick) and, for the most part, he comes around when dad points out he sounds like a snob, like his mother. Filmed in sparse black & white and showing every nook of the boat including the crowded sleeping quarters, a busy upward deck, a high rise crow's nest and, putting the audience <i>out there </i>a sea, soon enough Roddy's Ted White is part of the group of tough Spanish sailors. He does make one mistake; putting his father in harm's way, and not by a singular KILLER SHARK but a horde of them. Herein the suspense mounts and the plot thickens, progressing from Act One that seemed like a short film docudrama on the predatory creatures and the brave souls who hunt them for a dangerous (and not very lucrative) living.<br>

action, creature, fifties, laurette luez, roddy mcdowall, shark, thriller, victor mature, war

RODDY MCDOWALL WITH LAURETTE LUEZ IN 'KILLER SHARK'

KILLER SHARK Year: 1950 Following the bizarre Neo Noir  SHARKS' TREASURE   and continuing our monthlong review of underrated or rela...

MATURE & SCOTT HAVING A BALL IN TOURNEUR'S 'EASY LIVING'

<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/AVvXsEhgLsF3ASA-KpRYXlzAbohwS5_KAokjubFFNcqslRgAwaCRSwf-OSazTMkSx95Jg4HtlIMQwu7B1y8pwVMgHBw4gM4ulKfDJ0uIuiiTBZLlycs_UdFxkcol0qfmzVHMwukGlMn9e_zKeEoC/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+4.31.20+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1123" data-original-width="686" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgLsF3ASA-KpRYXlzAbohwS5_KAokjubFFNcqslRgAwaCRSwf-OSazTMkSx95Jg4HtlIMQwu7B1y8pwVMgHBw4gM4ulKfDJ0uIuiiTBZLlycs_UdFxkcol0qfmzVHMwukGlMn9e_zKeEoC/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-17+at+4.31.20+AM.jpeg" width="243"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Release: 1949</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A kind of Sports Noir given that the three main stars <i>and</i> director were staples of that particular mostly black-and-white, dark and shadowy genre...<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/AVvXsEgRM96Om56LEnRHp53Gil5v5htJ2RAq0ag0NiCCzWDB2GapE_6VtNJ99p6zQderHFJB-6QO9__ovwG5VfUR5ZeNTEdQZCOrJpsh_hUqNTcRNWvQN85QUGPGF4GX4rHeR8PbG1MPXxWT1Q2v/s1600/Screen+Shot+2018-10-13+at+4.50.49+AM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="896" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRM96Om56LEnRHp53Gil5v5htJ2RAq0ag0NiCCzWDB2GapE_6VtNJ99p6zQderHFJB-6QO9__ovwG5VfUR5ZeNTEdQZCOrJpsh_hUqNTcRNWvQN85QUGPGF4GX4rHeR8PbG1MPXxWT1Q2v/s320/Screen+Shot+2018-10-13+at+4.50.49+AM.jpg" width="252"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Victor Mature and Lucille Ball</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> And maybe Jacques Tourneur fans, expecting another CAT PEOPLE or OUT OF THE PAST were letdown, surprised or both that their man...<br> <br> Who usually thrived on dark subject matters or lavish, energetic Westerns, was behind a seemingly mundane picture about a quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams <i>almost </i>past his prime. But there's a lining in any and every cinematic rainbow <i>if </i>you admire a director enough to find their signature gold in an otherwise vacant mine — thanks especially to Tourneur, who helped a project that might've been a completely dull programmer instead of an entertaining, time-filling programmer that, though taking about fifteen minutes to take shape, flows together smoothly...<br>

art baker, drama, football, forties, jack paar, jacques tourneur, june bright, lizabeth scott, lucille ball, melodrama, richard erdman, sonny tufts, sport, victor mature

MATURE & SCOTT HAVING A BALL IN TOURNEUR'S 'EASY LIVING'

Year of Release: 1949 A kind of Sports Noir given that the three main stars and director were staples of that particular mostly black-a...