JOHN GUILLERMIN'S 'THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN' WITH BEN GAZARRA

<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/AVvXsEhGzNP0XqbXX9lYFs7JEbEOsq4bs8SI9AQuBjBkNNqkLS6N1A6zYDVmDpBXi7S_Jd4URsKbjKMzwLSXQuvhwGGD84mEAMBjtRyC9XmOZVTT6YKUqistWW-9HYrJ6AGEwsUXNmwvAFChM4X4JV7mGX3cvQDaCHDRHu10T7nf1YAs7vwFywV9TpOx_zdpyS_B/s1554/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-30%20at%2011.06.04%20PM%203%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="770" data-original-width="1554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGzNP0XqbXX9lYFs7JEbEOsq4bs8SI9AQuBjBkNNqkLS6N1A6zYDVmDpBXi7S_Jd4URsKbjKMzwLSXQuvhwGGD84mEAMBjtRyC9XmOZVTT6YKUqistWW-9HYrJ6AGEwsUXNmwvAFChM4X4JV7mGX3cvQDaCHDRHu10T7nf1YAs7vwFywV9TpOx_zdpyS_B/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-30%20at%2011.06.04%20PM%203%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Segal and Ben Gazzara in The Bridge at Remagen Year: 1969 Rates: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>George Segal had already played a resilient soldier in a World War II movie, KING RAT, who scrounges off the dead and unlucky to make money from the living...<br><br>Which is Ben Gazarra's scene-stealing maverick role in British director John Guillermin's THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN as secondary-lead to Segal's authority-hating, war-weary lieutenant...</p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

anna gaël, ben gazzara, bo hopkins, bradford dillman, e.g. marshall, george segal, hans christian blech, john guillermin, matt clark, robert logan, sixties, steve sandor, world war II

JOHN GUILLERMIN'S 'THE BRIDGE AT REMAGEN' WITH BEN GAZARRA

George Segal and Ben Gazzara in The Bridge at Remagen Year: 1969 Rates: *** George Segal had already played a resilient soldier in a World W...

WARNER ARCHIVES MELODRAMA 'CONVICTS 4' WITH BEN GAZARRA

<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/AVvXsEgNUXT7Vjqn9Jgh2hAek_dogirXD5QCgKnVAhWa7_TaINaAjs7cwSlc7mAoL5UBtkYuk_Pcf48VjcQQuOcBUKOa7A4yoIYTgmon8-irrvvLLItKNo4-U750xbfKx1QCzl8r68mtD0WWcV_PasVGAeeaBdzS2WbPU5Cw1Ulvmpr2U5ZwOM0YtZQaWxOTbA=s1178" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="772" data-original-width="1178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgNUXT7Vjqn9Jgh2hAek_dogirXD5QCgKnVAhWa7_TaINaAjs7cwSlc7mAoL5UBtkYuk_Pcf48VjcQQuOcBUKOa7A4yoIYTgmon8-irrvvLLItKNo4-U750xbfKx1QCzl8r68mtD0WWcV_PasVGAeeaBdzS2WbPU5Cw1Ulvmpr2U5ZwOM0YtZQaWxOTbA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ben Gazarra and Sammy Davis Jr. in CONVICTS 4 Year: 1962 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a point in the prison drama CONVICTS 4 when Ben Gazzara, after standing-through a rowdy lecture from one-scene-only chief guard Rod Steiger, complains about bedbugs in his cot: Which wouldn't seem all that questionable if the film actually began with Gazarra's John Resko being thrown into this not-so-cleanly prison...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But what the audience and main character had suffered through during an entire first act was a waiting game for impending execution on death row, harboring the most suspenseful and effective scenes and making those gripes about the next prison's subpar prison-conditions seem outright ludicrous...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

andy williams, ben gazzara, broderick crawford, death row, drama, prison, rod steiger, sammy davis jr., sixties, stuart whitman, timothy carey, warner archives

WARNER ARCHIVES MELODRAMA 'CONVICTS 4' WITH BEN GAZARRA

Ben Gazarra and Sammy Davis Jr. in CONVICTS 4 Year: 1962 Rating: ** There's a point in the prison drama CONVICTS 4 when Ben Gazzara, aft...

PETER BOGDANOVICH DIRECTS BEN GAZARRA AS 'SAINT JACK'

<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/AVvXsEjXeCYsHagvno8-zR1vL_lCB8S3139pbAQxYPrglH-44MnBjfn6svPeBZA3kkTi1xlaCBM0GhBrNpUF8zuawxgZ_Ij88Hn9YaLaODUG_LVOy6ROWR6rMnMrfhWzNQrTWIBXXYNq1xK0qxwi/s1600/f949264bb3de06fde3d5371d847c9715.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="964" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXeCYsHagvno8-zR1vL_lCB8S3139pbAQxYPrglH-44MnBjfn6svPeBZA3kkTi1xlaCBM0GhBrNpUF8zuawxgZ_Ij88Hn9YaLaODUG_LVOy6ROWR6rMnMrfhWzNQrTWIBXXYNq1xK0qxwi/s1600/f949264bb3de06fde3d5371d847c9715.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hugh Hefner & Roger Corman present Peter Bogdanovich directing Ben Gazzara in SAINT JACK Year: 1979 Rating: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> SAINT JACK is the ironic nickname for Jack Flowers, a resilient American pimp in the late 1960's Singapore trying to run a "house," which isn't so easy with torturous thugs who, at one point when he finally owns his own brothel, doesn't allow it to prosper for very long... <br> <br> All this before we learn about Jack's occupation by basically following him around, from location to location, within the gloriously sinful, uniquely dilapidated, exotically historic Singapore.<br>

ben gazzara, denholm elliott, drama, george lazenby, mafia, neo noir, peter bogdanovich, seventies, suspense

PETER BOGDANOVICH DIRECTS BEN GAZARRA AS 'SAINT JACK'

Hugh Hefner & Roger Corman present Peter Bogdanovich directing Ben Gazzara in SAINT JACK Year: 1979 Rating: **** SAINT JACK is the i...

LAURA JOHNSON HAUNTS GENA ROWLANDS IN 'OPENING NIGHT'

<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/AVvXsEi_UAsgPMu9qLDJOOc_gc0IPCEmtLPRrEkCkEGvnTDab7w3_Q2bWl2jcQLHBnfy2r_ALn-ipUrGwyaj7fckqzmHLHqse5y6lag5khEKHHEwe31YdPXuLk2IYe7wKYq1u40j6O1xmjAoXFOO/s1600/41843222_572848109811036_8834029222793052160_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="621" data-original-width="960" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_UAsgPMu9qLDJOOc_gc0IPCEmtLPRrEkCkEGvnTDab7w3_Q2bWl2jcQLHBnfy2r_ALn-ipUrGwyaj7fckqzmHLHqse5y6lag5khEKHHEwe31YdPXuLk2IYe7wKYq1u40j6O1xmjAoXFOO/s400/41843222_572848109811036_8834029222793052160_n.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1977 pictured here is haunting beauty Laura Johnson </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Not only centering on an actress portrayed by director John Cassevete's wife Gena Rowlands preparing for a Broadway play making initial rounds in New Haven and other small venues, but beneath the surface of this play-within-a-movie, there's an intense and spooky, eerie "ghost story" involving a beautiful young emotional fan, who's killed by a car after the first performance...<br> <br> Enter a primal, lusty, jarring, hauntingly gorgeous Laura Johnson stalking throughout as Cassavetes takes us on a voyeuristic journey with many layers albeit with the same frantic vibe, as if real life and fiction were inseparably hybrid: backstage, on stage, and in various locations where other characters, including Ben Gazzara as the director, Joan Blondell as the writer, Paul Stewart as the producer, and Cassevetes himself as the co-star, all try desperately to get Rowlands on track before <i>opening night.</i>..<br>

ben gazzara, drama, gena rowlands, independent, joan blondell, john cassavetes, laura johnson, paul stewart, seventies

LAURA JOHNSON HAUNTS GENA ROWLANDS IN 'OPENING NIGHT'

year: 1977 pictured here is haunting beauty Laura Johnson Not only centering on an actress portrayed by director John Cassevete's w...

'THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE' TRIBUTES DONNA GORDON

<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/AVvXsEiqxbVhmIwDJ0L_ow8iBoXsWcDYILbZf9Zd2mQJrxinQYRGbl2UHZJyZVlQEiUn_bfHAL8ZH6TyYx61dLtRBxcNb2lVNobEMwFLHEu0nlBi61ih4JZTBTEDHrkRoOxj8gPaOgDMeivXEOzL/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-07-21+at+6.02.40+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="539" data-original-width="624" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxbVhmIwDJ0L_ow8iBoXsWcDYILbZf9Zd2mQJrxinQYRGbl2UHZJyZVlQEiUn_bfHAL8ZH6TyYx61dLtRBxcNb2lVNobEMwFLHEu0nlBi61ih4JZTBTEDHrkRoOxj8gPaOgDMeivXEOzL/s400/Screen+Shot+2017-07-21+at+6.02.40+PM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Writeup for the Memorial of Donna Marie Gordon i.e. Margo Donnar</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Donna Gordon stood out in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Of all the dancers at Ben Gazzara's nightclub, she was the toughest, and most blunt, honest. That was Donna in real life too. She was one of my closest friends, especially a few years back, and even took my cat, Buzz, into her care: he had a great life. And I really miss her. And here's to her life, and recent death on July 1st, 2017, this BOOKIE writeup has been reposted...</i></span><br> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE (1978 DIRECTOR'S CUT)</u>: An important bridge in John Cassavete's directorial career, progressing from his usual improvisational character studies to a more structured film involving a strip club owner in debt to the mob given a seemingly impossible task as explained in the title.</span><br>

alice friedland, ben gazzara, donna gordon, indie, john cassavetes, mob, seventies, stripper, timothy carey

'THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE' TRIBUTES DONNA GORDON

Writeup for the Memorial of Donna Marie Gordon i.e. Margo Donnar Donna Gordon stood out in THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE. Of all the d...

BOGDANOVICH DIRECTS GAZZARA IN HEFNER'S SAINT JACK

<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/AVvXsEic5u-LPfrw3FI-JC8rzDv3-spZJKn8w1D5Q3T-Fu1FIxlzrDwlWPeLO_3_MVBMfnavdSJSqHvfB_Ys8Hqv3_3TbAfoalw6P8C65SIlAtH_Px5y8BgLHTWz5Xr_9wOTahw3Ogj_OMl8n1k/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5u-LPfrw3FI-JC8rzDv3-spZJKn8w1D5Q3T-Fu1FIxlzrDwlWPeLO_3_MVBMfnavdSJSqHvfB_Ys8Hqv3_3TbAfoalw6P8C65SIlAtH_Px5y8BgLHTWz5Xr_9wOTahw3Ogj_OMl8n1k/s640/2.jpg" width="505"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Signed by Bond actor George Lazenby</td></tr> </tbody></table> SAINT JACK is about Jack Flowers, a low-rent, backroom yet determined and confident American pimp in Singapore trying to run a "house," which isn't so easy with torturous thugs who, at one point when his wish finally comes true to own a brothel/manor, doesn't last long...<br> <br> All this before, using mostly one-shot/non-cut direction, the camera turning and almost showing the actor where to go but not in a contrived fashion... more like director and actor as one in the same flowing motion... we learn about Jack's occupation by basically following him around, from location to location, at times with his new endearing accountant, Denholm Elliott's William, while some of the other dialogue mirrors the improvisational vibe of Ben Gazzara's most famous role helmed by John Cassavetes, THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE, which this is extremely similar to in rhythm, style and substance, and most of all, spontaneity (plus irony: in CHINESE BOOKIE, Ben's character fights to not "sell" Americans to an Asian, and in JACK, his job is to do the complete opposite)...<br>

ben gazzara, denholm elliott, drama, peter bogdanovich, seventies, suspense

BOGDANOVICH DIRECTS GAZZARA IN HEFNER'S SAINT JACK

Signed by Bond actor George Lazenby SAINT JACK is about Jack Flowers, a low-rent, backroom yet determined and confident American pimp in...

ROAD HOUSE (1989)

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_44Mi3JYoVvjjGh0OqokbGZjFXBCztcqdhO83tl2h28XeeK1E5lFXMxCrxsjDGJoJ5u2GN7-2BmGS1aWxc5-DLkZ1mfhavr46ZnW7dUPeBMpLWxjgP_GGNK6xdnIqCM292lsqGVnGt8x/s1600/01patrick-swayze-roadhouse1.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5619043261296854866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb_44Mi3JYoVvjjGh0OqokbGZjFXBCztcqdhO83tl2h28XeeK1E5lFXMxCrxsjDGJoJ5u2GN7-2BmGS1aWxc5-DLkZ1mfhavr46ZnW7dUPeBMpLWxjgP_GGNK6xdnIqCM292lsqGVnGt8x/s200/01patrick-swayze-roadhouse1.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 194px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> ROAD HOUSE<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1989<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, Sam Elliott, Kelly Lynch<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***1/2<br /><br />This late-80's Patrick Swayze action vehicle has become a sort of pop culture punchline; but as bloody-knuckle entertainment goes, this is topnotch stuff. A sought-after bouncer... Swayze with cool, brooding gusto... is imported to a small town to "clean up" a seedy road house dive. And that he does, first by getting rid of the crooked employees and then beating up the particularly seedy customers who turned the place into something worse than the STAR WARS Cantina. The transition of old bar to new one hold the best scenes, but the work's only half done. For the town is owned by a Hugh Hefner gone bad millionaire played by Ben Gazzara, who not only imports all the town's booze, but has the vicious hots for Swayze's love interest. Sam Elliott, as Swayze's bouncer mentor, adds world-weary charm and classic vitality to an already kickass film.<br /><iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/7Ikfz-S6Tjo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" width="530"></iframe>

action, ben gazzara, eighties, kelly lynch, patrick swayze, sam elliott

ROAD HOUSE (1989)

title: ROAD HOUSE year: 1989 cast: Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, Sam Elliott, Kelly Lynch rating: ***1/2 This late-80's Patrick Swayze...

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE REVIEW HAS RELOCATED

<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/AVvXsEiQi_INuaTtNXaR3l5q3_yKsYehTAQ8vSwTV547QagmxxvfvOKGN6BMEWUG1U0rRmFCp9Pi6MVvYKvFC37GsRYjuuVE7l0_M46dToK7IgDYeZz3IoFE_UkV0VHHWfcrFfGLtkV-QSRcKooO/s1600/18489935_315820352180481_8374350590777312922_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQi_INuaTtNXaR3l5q3_yKsYehTAQ8vSwTV547QagmxxvfvOKGN6BMEWUG1U0rRmFCp9Pi6MVvYKvFC37GsRYjuuVE7l0_M46dToK7IgDYeZz3IoFE_UkV0VHHWfcrFfGLtkV-QSRcKooO/s400/18489935_315820352180481_8374350590777312922_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1978 Director's Cut by John Cassavetes</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <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/AVvXsEitARArrDD3Oa8JgWceWlhLuJPCuusQ7FTiC1iQe-stIQ5uNJ0Fybl_HpGmsHDONWUaAblUfTGgjlJ5ftHSY5zCqaGx9t4jqR8CqoYXzq2MO3UunyQfxXC-wWcAJWMNSAUAOaL2ZarjgvI/s1600/Picture3_2-2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitARArrDD3Oa8JgWceWlhLuJPCuusQ7FTiC1iQe-stIQ5uNJ0Fybl_HpGmsHDONWUaAblUfTGgjlJ5ftHSY5zCqaGx9t4jqR8CqoYXzq2MO3UunyQfxXC-wWcAJWMNSAUAOaL2ZarjgvI/s320/Picture3_2-2-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ben Gazzara and Timothy Carey</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In memorial of friend and actress, dancer and 70's starlet Donna Gordon, this review has moved to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/07/donna-gordon.html">Donna's memorial page</a>...<br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

ben gazzara, donna gordon, drama, independent, john cassavetes, mob, neo noir, seventies, timothy carey

THE KILLING OF A CHINESE BOOKIE REVIEW HAS RELOCATED

1978 Director's Cut by John Cassavetes Ben Gazzara and Timothy Carey In memorial of friend and actress, dancer and 70's st...