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...

DANA ANDREWS AND GENE TIERNEY IN OTTO PREMINGER'S 'LAURA'

<table align="center" 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/AVvXsEimd-Hf86aZKkNUPDYRjFrE9YcsaKCFHfoEmcjk94MGlr4L5d2eNFPD_H-O6g0TFh-yHnxwQqdmgtc8jzW2W4aywHTNBKimwKjuCy6Ig0z8Wp3_IAz-O5QUH7DAaVV4ieiYCwP0oXpmlqGiRmGizGrewO2nhti3iYbN7abBfaD4FdSHpbmL9dNpP2ntJI98/s1846/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-24%20at%2010.06.02%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="1846" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimd-Hf86aZKkNUPDYRjFrE9YcsaKCFHfoEmcjk94MGlr4L5d2eNFPD_H-O6g0TFh-yHnxwQqdmgtc8jzW2W4aywHTNBKimwKjuCy6Ig0z8Wp3_IAz-O5QUH7DAaVV4ieiYCwP0oXpmlqGiRmGizGrewO2nhti3iYbN7abBfaD4FdSHpbmL9dNpP2ntJI98/w400-h295/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-24%20at%2010.06.02%20PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1944 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>Dana Andrews as Det. Lt. Mark McPherson has fallen in love with a ghost, kind of, and that's not to be spoiled for anyone who hasn't seen LAURA with its particular dreamlike camera panning from a sleeping McPherson, and we get the murderous yarn, spun all over again in a different fashion and with a twist that could be something else entirely as our hero deals with two creeps connected with the ingenue: especially a cerebral "sugar daddy" in a sophisticated Clifton Webb...<br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <br> Word is the producer frowned on this important casting because of... well... what's pretty apparent about the futzy fella, and he can't shake that aspect from his character of a character, Waldo Lydecker. But Webb is perfect as LAURA seems to be the only girl who can rid the sophisticated and manipulative Lydecker from his daily uptight uptown lunch, all by himself with a contented life all mapped-out...<br>

classic, clifton webb, cop, crime, dana andrews, film noir, forties, gene tierney, mystery, otto preminger, vincent price

DANA ANDREWS AND GENE TIERNEY IN OTTO PREMINGER'S 'LAURA'

Year: 1944 Rating: ***** Dana Andrews as Det. Lt. Mark McPherson has fallen in love with a ghost, kind of, and that's not to be spoile...

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

<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><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/AVvXsEjqGcowbgZy8_l1GFYTSWL4ZdjJz6ZieNOvvxYkA4dAEPcRDJukjslHkvqW8Nm4xUtljM-Da1jwEwFD1ZOxmCjs0rN1BFJ8ewgaGY0bo0_2-wfdmX66DWqp96oqRIG7tolnRHh9WUJANcZk8kzgzn3DvTwYLMnXa7X0hruRvLHkQGG6w24BDzbwVQwmFdG_/s1512/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%202.37.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="1512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqGcowbgZy8_l1GFYTSWL4ZdjJz6ZieNOvvxYkA4dAEPcRDJukjslHkvqW8Nm4xUtljM-Da1jwEwFD1ZOxmCjs0rN1BFJ8ewgaGY0bo0_2-wfdmX66DWqp96oqRIG7tolnRHh9WUJANcZk8kzgzn3DvTwYLMnXa7X0hruRvLHkQGG6w24BDzbwVQwmFdG_/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-25%20at%202.37.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Steve McQueen in BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for the media since director Peter Yates's prior chase in his British heist thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/09/AR.html">ROBBERY</a> was so admired by Steve McQueen, Yates got <i>this</i> gig... </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>But like there is far more than just action throughout the strategically tempered neo noir cadence of ROBBERY, Yates's cop/crime classic BULLITT is also more about words than wheels...</p><span></span>

action, bill hickman, carl reindel, classic, cop, crime, cult, don gordon, felice orlandi, jacqueline bisset, jazz-score, pat renella, peter yates, robert vaughn, simon oakland, sixties, steve mcqueen, thriller

PETER YATES GIVES MORE THAN CHASE IN THE CLASSIC 'BULLITT'

Steve McQueen in BULLITT Year: 1968 Rating: ***** The iconic car chase is the only thing that seems to matter in BULLITT, and not just for t...

DUSTIN HOFFMAN ALONGSIDE JON VOIGHT IN 'MIDNIGHT COWBOY'

<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/AVvXsEhDu84Kn72nGi9-ZG-ttp4H0o5oEgvQiNK19p6c2OGxhB2mFBQ0r0uxpZ8v9S95ebdXPFVunxZdUb6RhEbVaotM30dQ7va5E6T_8wiPmFoB_5_9JXLv8r4cesNGGdWHt5iG5Pv80Bx4CX9Qg6_OumcAgSIKOvcES6vDgEzyrGe0npkhjNOY-I0pYPwQ7hUc/s2080/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-24%20at%209.08.34%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu84Kn72nGi9-ZG-ttp4H0o5oEgvQiNK19p6c2OGxhB2mFBQ0r0uxpZ8v9S95ebdXPFVunxZdUb6RhEbVaotM30dQ7va5E6T_8wiPmFoB_5_9JXLv8r4cesNGGdWHt5iG5Pv80Bx4CX9Qg6_OumcAgSIKOvcES6vDgEzyrGe0npkhjNOY-I0pYPwQ7hUc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-24%20at%209.08.34%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in MIDNIGHT COWBOY Year: 1969 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A simplistic but mostly naive young man from Texas, Joe Buck, ironically becomes a cowboy<i> after</i> deciding to leave his hometown, headed to the last place that that kind of legendary hero exists, New York City, as every frame of MIDNIGHT COWBOY means something: starting from a sunlit drive-in to a public shower where Joe drops the soap... <br> </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><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p> An obvious nod for an inevitable detour within a disturbing, almost sadistic character-driven story that's also bright and cheerful, particularly when initially centered on Jon Voight's title character, who shows enough humanity and vulnerability in what he's hiding as first-billed sidekick Dustin Hoffman's crippled con-man hustler, Ratso Rizzo, only <i>seems</i> helpful up front... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

buddy, classic, drama, drug culture, dustin hoffman, jon voight, m. emmett walsh, oscar, sixties

DUSTIN HOFFMAN ALONGSIDE JON VOIGHT IN 'MIDNIGHT COWBOY'

Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight in MIDNIGHT COWBOY Year: 1969 Rating: ***** A simplistic but mostly naive young man from Texas, Joe Buck, iro...

DOUBLE TRIAD FROM STEVEN SPIELBERG'S MASTERPIECE 'JAWS'

<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/AVvXsEjuI19B2xWasR-0vsNcUZbF_NPtUdews4S--j6w6D1CedRywkDkjH0up3kaWgF63YkLgJpW2hC0nFgJCwvxxpzdEAdKSCEpVINr325uwyeENsv0E4W0IBsMYVlk0N2GCWZODAZIIuSi7as9UieEIg3LeglFYnFKzrQosXinKrYZXIEUj-_-Z4mpywbipQ/s1624/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-05%20at%205.18.15%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="862" data-original-width="1624" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuI19B2xWasR-0vsNcUZbF_NPtUdews4S--j6w6D1CedRywkDkjH0up3kaWgF63YkLgJpW2hC0nFgJCwvxxpzdEAdKSCEpVINr325uwyeENsv0E4W0IBsMYVlk0N2GCWZODAZIIuSi7as9UieEIg3LeglFYnFKzrQosXinKrYZXIEUj-_-Z4mpywbipQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-05%20at%205.18.15%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Defining the three leads of JAWS Year: 1975 Rating: *****<br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Never has a motion picture made such perfect use of three acts, and three main characters... As Martin Brody, the relatively new Chief of Police in the beachside town of Amity, <u>ROY SCHEIDER</u> solely headlines the first act of JAWS... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which can be titled <u>ACT 1) WARNING</u>, as he investigates the death of a young female swimmer by what is, despite the eventual coverup, a bonafide SHARK ATTACK. Thus Brody both leads the show <i>and</i> blends into the canvas of the eccentric town, lost in mazy politics concerning keeping the beaches open despite the immanent danger...</p><span></span>

classic, cult, jaws, lorraine gary, murray hamilton, richard dreyfuss, robert shaw, roy scheider, seventies, shark, steven spielberg

DOUBLE TRIAD FROM STEVEN SPIELBERG'S MASTERPIECE 'JAWS'

Defining the three leads of JAWS Year: 1975 Rating: ***** Never has a motion picture made such perfect use of three acts, and three main ch...

NOT A REVIEW BUT MORE A REMINDER OF 'GONE WITH THE WIND'

<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/AVvXsEgdTTnAcPMKrj2umdk3HaN0j7Tf-cdk2A3pDL_ER-fZn52oXZFsxghzT33vzUP1U8HE1nAmnf3E0-zLnfKiKcUMS-NJNh1lD2Rjasdg5faa9YnSLPZr-2VJlpPrermn_-u_RHn6GwnN9Dd4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-14+at+10.15.30+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1408" data-original-width="1595" height="352" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTTnAcPMKrj2umdk3HaN0j7Tf-cdk2A3pDL_ER-fZn52oXZFsxghzT33vzUP1U8HE1nAmnf3E0-zLnfKiKcUMS-NJNh1lD2Rjasdg5faa9YnSLPZr-2VJlpPrermn_-u_RHn6GwnN9Dd4/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-06-14+at+10.15.30+PM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gone with the Wind from 1939</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The same industry that's still moaning about the 70-year-old Blacklist is now banning/blacklisting a classic motion picture where the first <i>African American</i> actress/actor ever won an Oscar...<br> <br> Heck, even George Clooney, in his own infamous Oscar Speech, took partial credit for Hattie McDaniel's victory... years before he was born... and now he's probably right on board throwing GONE WITH THE WIND into the cautious, politically-correct wind...<br> <br> And yet, if it must be done, the only reason to ban such a magnificent-looking movie is that it's a tad overrated. Especially since the secondary male lead in Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes is so outrageously miscast, fitting his proper wife Olivia de Havilland as Melanie Hamilton but for the wonderfully cute and spunky, timeless beauty Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara to pathetically hold a torch for this dullard who resembles an anorexic goat is just... too much to fathom...<br> <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/AVvXsEg2EvcwvDjxc-TQa_hEs-lvRLy_lAkjUXatoHHVB3fBIL6Zn77HtDc57zSkH-H4hCxTkE7ymnQyAhyphenhyphen5AvbyQ1clUmDttXsupgSXI77dD7faLO3Oki3t2B0iYOM9HA3SQIYOc31XIxEG5Zlc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-21+at+1.19.07+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2EvcwvDjxc-TQa_hEs-lvRLy_lAkjUXatoHHVB3fBIL6Zn77HtDc57zSkH-H4hCxTkE7ymnQyAhyphenhyphen5AvbyQ1clUmDttXsupgSXI77dD7faLO3Oki3t2B0iYOM9HA3SQIYOc31XIxEG5Zlc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-06-21+at+1.19.07+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O'Hara in GONE WITH THE WIND</u></td></tr> </tbody></table>

article, civil war, clark gable, classic, epic, everett brown, hattie mcdaniel, history, leslie howard, olivia de havilland, thirties, vivian leigh

NOT A REVIEW BUT MORE A REMINDER OF 'GONE WITH THE WIND'

Gone with the Wind from 1939 The same industry that's still moaning about the 70-year-old Blacklist is now banning/blacklisting a cl...

STOMPING THROUGH THE LEGENDARY ORIGINAL 'KING KONG'

<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/AVvXsEgLV6tnJ0lfGdUx_R0lC8u3Ifksk9Do0tmIfZmuNxgCkZRuVonNu95vSCGd28ueLStXxyBo83wN1YRvy4C6ZzqQD0PEYgIQ0LzRU-ychZIRbAIhB1jMUujlbILMfT-rkHqMHWOlmOLCkOp5/s1600/33%252B1.06.07%252BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="679" data-original-width="813" height="331" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLV6tnJ0lfGdUx_R0lC8u3Ifksk9Do0tmIfZmuNxgCkZRuVonNu95vSCGd28ueLStXxyBo83wN1YRvy4C6ZzqQD0PEYgIQ0LzRU-ychZIRbAIhB1jMUujlbILMfT-rkHqMHWOlmOLCkOp5/s400/33%252B1.06.07%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Fay Wray as Ann Darrow in KING KONG Year: 1933</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> If you discovered prehistoric/extremely instinct dinosaurs roaming on an uncharted island, would a giant gorilla really matter? Well in this case it’s personal as the legendary simian is ticked off with brutal fists flying, razor-sharp teeth, and he’s captured Ann Darrow, the street girl turned makeshift actress hired by maverick cinema auteur Carl Denham to star in his next picture shot entirely at Skull Island, a location that doesn’t even appear on the map and, shrouded by a wall of thick, ominous, forbodeing fog, it's place you don’t want to spend your vacation…<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgphVylFKEkYuav_a_S1g04fCFwDN2MR4lovuPhVD3TuQBBs7USxAVz1iYgfMMPo-fEK7SK3OpUnamyiINaYbWv_SWe8W7qnEzbQw_jYKPHWiGFtCsRdBZ-EW7lemGgLHU3X9-dVn-IvTZN/s1600/MPW-28028.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="307" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgphVylFKEkYuav_a_S1g04fCFwDN2MR4lovuPhVD3TuQBBs7USxAVz1iYgfMMPo-fEK7SK3OpUnamyiINaYbWv_SWe8W7qnEzbQw_jYKPHWiGFtCsRdBZ-EW7lemGgLHU3X9-dVn-IvTZN/s320/MPW-28028.jpeg" width="152"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>King Kong Rates: *****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Natives dot the shoreline and reside mostly behind a giant fortress protected from the unseen god they live to fear… And King Kong Kong might not be impressively aesthetic to today’s standards. His hair moves with each movement, but we can suspend cinema disbelief by blaming wind. In reality, Willis O’Brien moved Kong by hand, and those are their very own imprints.<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/AVvXsEia6wXlNcb0Oc3JMNxS1r1q373r6k0RZKQERKKDBFim2AD4RxF3YgCTXigx1fwWgz9ssO4lpHx8i27NmN7yZg-a-gq7uGl-cx2Qs_H8483eSzZO_VgGN9BB4oCr19qDOgFYPr9b6kLvRy3u/s1600/35705343540_fa13e7375b_b.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="871" data-original-width="692" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia6wXlNcb0Oc3JMNxS1r1q373r6k0RZKQERKKDBFim2AD4RxF3YgCTXigx1fwWgz9ssO4lpHx8i27NmN7yZg-a-gq7uGl-cx2Qs_H8483eSzZO_VgGN9BB4oCr19qDOgFYPr9b6kLvRy3u/s320/35705343540_fa13e7375b_b.jpeg" width="254"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Timeless beauty Fay Wray as Ann</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> As later on, the famously fake looking shark in JAWS didn’t matter or distract from the well-told story, either does a model-clay gorilla... There's enough build-up to get to know the characters, beginning with a middleman telling Robert Armstrong’s headstrong director no studio will allow an actress to risk such a venture: So Denhman hits the New York Depression-era streets and finds his dame in the form of Faye Wray’s Darrow…<br> <br> With pale skin, longing eyes, a windswept countenance and an almost primal, haunting beauty, Wray, who even at the time was no stranger to horror film roles, was given her big break – she's the perfectly suited scream queen and boy can she holler… After the forty-five minute mark, when she’s kidnapped by the natives and sacrificed to a giddy Kong, her wailing never really ceases and, unlike the two remakes, the human ingénue doesn’t fall in subliminal love with her giant captor… It’s an unrequited, one-sided obsession, and that makes the titular ape even more formidable and sinister. <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/AVvXsEgypU-_xWBSsP0U5VhfJ0GvGPDlTT-QCWXbKsqq95QpiYZsxW3kvpftiD4-_RTVERDoCINPcgO7Wc0gjmmWiUZ6WDsyZ_rg6cPpIP8IWafvoyxvOWtInWJYGjQBXSebFj54YTfz0fMDDSc/s1600/6.jpg" 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/AVvXsEgypU-_xWBSsP0U5VhfJ0GvGPDlTT-QCWXbKsqq95QpiYZsxW3kvpftiD4-_RTVERDoCINPcgO7Wc0gjmmWiUZ6WDsyZ_rg6cPpIP8IWafvoyxvOWtInWJYGjQBXSebFj54YTfz0fMDDSc/s320/6.jpg" width="228"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Terrific Pulpy Artwork</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> As Kong battles a giant snake, a menacing pterodactyl and a  romping and raging, tail-wagging T-Rex to protect his new discovery, he becomes a savior/bodyguard, but most likely for territorial reasons...<br> <br> Although, Bruce Cabot’s John Driscoll is perpetually shadowing Kong to get his lady back... One great camera-gliding visual has Driscoll and a weary Darrow running for safety as an unseen Kong approaches... And although Cabot is the heroic lead, Armstrong’s Denham is the main male character...<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/AVvXsEhTl4kU2RbpONAO-fzZIkM2yXc2M2s72lU1_1LkgMucTWLdF5n7FWiwpRdejuh6F4g5a5fjvj7nG_OmC9IdrcywlRgn33E36_jh4CnHd9QS_3WQrL291cz-DiPofPGygM31lUBrvXYMioW0/s1600/king-kong-poster-1933-granger.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="380" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTl4kU2RbpONAO-fzZIkM2yXc2M2s72lU1_1LkgMucTWLdF5n7FWiwpRdejuh6F4g5a5fjvj7nG_OmC9IdrcywlRgn33E36_jh4CnHd9QS_3WQrL291cz-DiPofPGygM31lUBrvXYMioW0/s400/king-kong-poster-1933-granger.jpeg" width="246"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Original King Kong Poster Art </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the modern era, never would a man responsible for capturing and exploiting an extremely rare species be considered a hero of any kind… In fact, Charles Grodin and Jack Black, basically playing the same guy in both sequels, were villains and/or jerks. Either way, “It was beauty that killed the beast" lends more cruel irony than anything else. But perhaps this line can be explained when, on the Island, Kong breaks down the native's wall that, most likely, couldn't be penetrated under normal circumstances...<br> <br> It took Darrow to give him the extra strength to fulfill his tragic destiny. And despite ravaging the native village and following the Americans to shore with loathsome vengeance, Kong is no match against gas bombs being hurled at his feet, cutting quickly from Skull Island back to New York, where Kong’s on display for a theater of impatient sophisticates, resulting in a barrage of the city leading to the famous Empire State Building standoff where Kong battles airplanes with machine guns, the unfair slaying of an iconic creature beloved by audiences, still, even though, in the original movie and in his original form, KING KONG was a lethal monster to both respect and fear.<br>

bruce cabot, classic, creature, ernest schoedsack, fay wray, franchise, king kong, merian cooper, robert armstrong, sequel, stop-motion, thirties

STOMPING THROUGH THE LEGENDARY ORIGINAL 'KING KONG'

Fay Wray as Ann Darrow in KING KONG Year: 1933 If you discovered prehistoric/extremely instinct dinosaurs roaming on an uncharted islan...

ROBERT ARMSTRONG RETURNS IN 'SON OF KONG' WITH HELEN MACK

<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/AVvXsEi0hWbwzERdRDB-qRlAV7TDwsXIsvNz0ZbVdNrXBERMF0DfdOEWMVD_2Kv7qcytp3xLCs4KHvJAwuCk_9y83Tbc_VC-dl1be9CPPB7kknQtwWmcwLHCmVIgRahSI5a7aWEIm0Z8p5em99UL/s1600/the-son-of-kong-affiche_158192_23698.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="293" data-original-width="413" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hWbwzERdRDB-qRlAV7TDwsXIsvNz0ZbVdNrXBERMF0DfdOEWMVD_2Kv7qcytp3xLCs4KHvJAwuCk_9y83Tbc_VC-dl1be9CPPB7kknQtwWmcwLHCmVIgRahSI5a7aWEIm0Z8p5em99UL/s400/the-son-of-kong-affiche_158192_23698.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Artwork for SON OF KONG Year of Release and Capture: 1933</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Skull Island… But why return to a place full of carnivorous monstrosities? And you thought forced sequels were a new concept... yet SON is actually not that bad, and Carl Denham, again played by Merien Cooper doppelganger Robert Armstrong, had a lousy year… His giant attraction ruined most of New York City...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> From tossing a woman off a building to stepping on residents to damaging a subway car, the once great filmmaker is facing lawsuits that will put him in debt for centuries. Then he gets a shamelessly convenient second chance in the form of the original charter Captain Englehorn (Frank Reicher along with Victor the Chinese Cook) to hitch a ride and become partners in the freight business… Denham sets out on the same boat for a far off location to seek new customers, and just happens to catch a low-rent stage show including an insanely adorable Helen Mack as Hilda, who's just as girl-next-girl cute as Fay Wray was bombshell-gorgeous.<br>

action, adventure, classic, creature, dinosaur, ernest schoedsack, fantasy, helen mack, king kong, merian cooper, monster, robert armstrong, sequel, thirties

ROBERT ARMSTRONG RETURNS IN 'SON OF KONG' WITH HELEN MACK

Artwork for SON OF KONG Year of Release and Capture: 1933 Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Skull Island… But why return t...

HELEN MACK BACK WITH SON OF KONG'S MERIAN COOPER FOR 'SHE'

<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/AVvXsEgynU56yWyd8u8W5qxO2VYhGSjfTKdtriuBn8oL4yux_wN5q4gJlTypLMUmIL-j_DpJrAYodQVd2JH7NnO1iLUdLilGODj3voQXtqnCuW6vFyT5KIPzgTimC-hDQhpGHAxemRt0bxrBnIwk/s1600/she-nigel-bruce-randolph-scott-helen-mack-1935%252C2408198.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="394" data-original-width="552" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgynU56yWyd8u8W5qxO2VYhGSjfTKdtriuBn8oL4yux_wN5q4gJlTypLMUmIL-j_DpJrAYodQVd2JH7NnO1iLUdLilGODj3voQXtqnCuW6vFyT5KIPzgTimC-hDQhpGHAxemRt0bxrBnIwk/s400/she-nigel-bruce-randolph-scott-helen-mack-1935%252C2408198.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nigel Bruce, Randolph Scott & Helen Mack in SHE Year: 1935</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> H. Rider Haggard's immortal book SHE was produced by RKO under the leadership of KING KONG creator Meriam Cooper and writer/adapter Ruth Rose, and the similarities go beyond the exact same massive wall and an even more immense cliff-side: It's basically an adventure story that, unlike the classic gorilla flick, lacks smaller adventures along the way...<br> <br> Known simply as SHE and played by Helen Gahagan, SHE isn't quite as fulfilling. Imagine if in KONG, instead of battling various prehistoric monsters leading up to the title character, the only adversaries were those natives, and that's what happens here. Actually, there is one creature they run into along the way: an immense sabertooth tiger, which would have been a terrific and timeless stop-motion visual...<br>

action, adventure, classic, fantasy, helen mack, merian cooper, nigel bruce, randolph scott, thirties

HELEN MACK BACK WITH SON OF KONG'S MERIAN COOPER FOR 'SHE'

Nigel Bruce, Randolph Scott & Helen Mack in SHE Year: 1935 H. Rider Haggard's immortal book SHE was produced by RKO under the le...

REVIEW OF 'I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG' W/ PAUL MUNI

<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/AVvXsEg69eXtRR1_JfAIt75Ck6GZzNwFCn-DFuu9T-Jxo9KhW-G_vmlcCN0w12VxVRQuvWxFOkfelCfTHzF9lixrwkbaK-m-hSNlEu_nd-wzpryrhzELkcQkouxW-wNPLSi00y6Pn65qdG98NXM2/s1600/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="459" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg69eXtRR1_JfAIt75Ck6GZzNwFCn-DFuu9T-Jxo9KhW-G_vmlcCN0w12VxVRQuvWxFOkfelCfTHzF9lixrwkbaK-m-hSNlEu_nd-wzpryrhzELkcQkouxW-wNPLSi00y6Pn65qdG98NXM2/s400/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lobby Card of the Paul Muni Chain Gang Classic YEAR: 1932</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> A visual masterpiece with Film Noir elements despite being a decade shy of that particular "genre" and/or style of edgy crime thrillers led by a flawed yet sympathetic hero (turned anti-hero)...<br> <br> In this case it's James Allen played by Paul Muni, who, as an intense everyman, is discontented after WW1 and winds up caught between three dames: one good (Helen Vinson) and two bad (first Noel Francis and especially Glenda Farrell)...<br> <br> And the most Noir-esque is the Wrong Man element — falsely accused of a theft that put him into the titular CHAIN GANG to begin with (later hilariously parodied in Woody Allen's TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN: from a guard whipping what the audience can only see is a prisoner's shadow, right down to a muscular black prisoner helping loosen the shackles so our man can go free)...<br>

action, classic, crime, drama, glenda farrell, helen vinson, novel francis, paul muni, prison, thirties, thriller

REVIEW OF 'I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG' W/ PAUL MUNI

Lobby Card of the Paul Muni Chain Gang Classic YEAR: 1932 A visual masterpiece with Film Noir elements despite being a decade shy of t...

DANA ANDREWS STARRING IN 'THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES'

<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/AVvXsEgcx1iU0EDsxgyzelx7RHMP6bg8J6rvhSYnvhV4T_XfFJ0_tqJTPgX9_1AFR6Obrh1zXmKoxPYVVRm5hyphenhyphenP6ZGzV8L7qBFdEwPBPzE1pJXmUjPT4sO0beWJy7YgWFA0hmK_46SSV6s8HVDWu/s1600/71170079_1227635127439629_3592650880798687232_n.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="615" height="385" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcx1iU0EDsxgyzelx7RHMP6bg8J6rvhSYnvhV4T_XfFJ0_tqJTPgX9_1AFR6Obrh1zXmKoxPYVVRm5hyphenhyphenP6ZGzV8L7qBFdEwPBPzE1pJXmUjPT4sO0beWJy7YgWFA0hmK_46SSV6s8HVDWu/s400/71170079_1227635127439629_3592650880798687232_n.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo in Best Years circa 1946</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> For a nearly three-hour film, the first hour (fifty-four minutes to be exact) is set in the course of one day and all night, something rare for that time, 1946, just after World War II ended...<br> <br> As THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES has an ironic title being those YEARS are never shown, and only spoken of once, with bitter sarcasm by the token lush played by Virginia Mayo: And her "Best Years" aren't even known, nor were they experienced by three men, our leads back from the war but by the family and friends, where a particular amnesia of the soldier's importance...<br> <br> And what they did, including dying, overseas, has struck the United States, especially rough for manly leading man Dana Andrews as Captain Fred Derry, whose aforementioned cheating wife, Mayo, and a dilapidated parental home/shack awaits, and even the smallest of jobs... working at the ladies section of a drugstore (which were supermarkets in those days) and then his old gig as a soda jerk... is tough to keep.<br>

classic, dana andrews, ensemble, forties, fredrick march, gladys george, harold russell, hoagy carmichael, myrna loy, ray collins, teresa wright, virginia mayo, war

DANA ANDREWS STARRING IN 'THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES'

Dana Andrews and Virginia Mayo in Best Years circa 1946 For a nearly three-hour film, the first hour (fifty-four minutes to be exact) is...

RANT FOR BRANDO KAZAN THREE: ON THE WATERFRONT

<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/AVvXsEjLPBFcqz_d5AYlrVS1xqV6CWbSk4jbx09pjhLhAt1ke3XYsYbWq5XvJn7mPb5EpCMbC4vEgBjZmuPONA3JpI96AXTJ_fVGQfJM_I91aTb53g7EK6mteEdBtuzG6uuZPLVTEHS-dqRCBfo/s1600/2275501396_6e251dc339_b.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLPBFcqz_d5AYlrVS1xqV6CWbSk4jbx09pjhLhAt1ke3XYsYbWq5XvJn7mPb5EpCMbC4vEgBjZmuPONA3JpI96AXTJ_fVGQfJM_I91aTb53g7EK6mteEdBtuzG6uuZPLVTEHS-dqRCBfo/s16000/2275501396_6e251dc339_b.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Marlon Brando turns in a performance of a lifetime, and many other lifetimes, in ON THE WATERFRONT</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Popular cinematic line about not being able to take it anymore and being mad as hell and all that business, but it'll be a cold day in that very same hell before another film is viewed on the big screen of the classic Golden or Silver Age nature when hosted by Robert Osbourne's Bat Faced TCM replacement, who told the audience tonight that it's up to us, we the audience, we the people, to decide whether or not so-and-so is a good movie, or not, after all we've heard during his preamble that, having to do with behind-the-scene elements of an incredible film harboring one of the greatest performances to date, one that the likes of Millennial favorites Leo and Johnny D., and many others, aspire to be... And whose attempt to equal this man's talent, frozen in time and history, is very unlikely...<br>

classic, elia kazan, fifties, marlon brando, tcm

RANT FOR BRANDO KAZAN THREE: ON THE WATERFRONT

Marlon Brando turns in a performance of a lifetime, and many other lifetimes, in ON THE WATERFRONT Popular cinematic line about not bein...

ALL THE FUSS ABOUT MOCKINGBIRD

<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/AVvXsEgA_T5nDTjZOYF9Qak7qd9zqg0x1R9OxAOyUZjGk7cRoGIkkIfH91HySl8Kcli3L15GF1NvC5sJLXyyeyghg7e0Cl-d_46c_xb-zkrB6ooBXN4H98hQ-WhqO81_SUqdJxH-FNGz5XzhFL0/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_T5nDTjZOYF9Qak7qd9zqg0x1R9OxAOyUZjGk7cRoGIkkIfH91HySl8Kcli3L15GF1NvC5sJLXyyeyghg7e0Cl-d_46c_xb-zkrB6ooBXN4H98hQ-WhqO81_SUqdJxH-FNGz5XzhFL0/s1600/11.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> <u>Mary Badham struggles with hard times and mean people with father/lawyer/mentor Gregory Peck</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It's a falsehood what they say about birds. A falsity. What's the right word, Norman? Anyhow, we're not talking stuffed motel birds or real sky birds, but one in particular. Mockingbirds, that's it. And as we learn from one of many lectures, they don't hurt anybody, true; yet those suckers can keep you awake all night.<br>

adaptation, classic, gregpry peck, mary badham, philip seymour hoffman

ALL THE FUSS ABOUT MOCKINGBIRD

  Mary Badham struggles with hard times and mean people with father/lawyer/mentor Gregory Peck It's a falsehood what they say about ...

REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL KING KONG

<span style="font-size: x-large;">KING KONG<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/11/classic-kong.html"> REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE</a></span><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/AVvXsEg3NTGGy86e7PolsG3Hcyy1BuJhlNSCqLkz0hblt-JiBCi0m9cW7n8QmtAABE-UTf6IuwIl564Mj5q1r4m1caL7gqC-ivmR_dNv7t-0GMOplka9OBLtRACGA2Se_1eSF2CdfhuzjV502Ko/s1600/1.jpg" 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/AVvXsEg3NTGGy86e7PolsG3Hcyy1BuJhlNSCqLkz0hblt-JiBCi0m9cW7n8QmtAABE-UTf6IuwIl564Mj5q1r4m1caL7gqC-ivmR_dNv7t-0GMOplka9OBLtRACGA2Se_1eSF2CdfhuzjV502Ko/s320/1.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">Fantastic King Kong poster</span></u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br />

bruce cabot, classic, creature, ernest schoedsack, fay wray, franchise, helen mack, king kong, merian cooper, robert armstrong, sequel, stop-motion, thirties

REVIEW OF THE ORIGINAL KING KONG

KING KONG REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE Fantastic King Kong poster

ORSON WELLES CINEMA: HIS TIMELESS TURN AS 'CITIZEN KANE'

<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/AVvXsEgYwuROaEAJaFsAaOWFD9Pb_UJ_T6nEWZoSD026w-EulpPuWoi_Vgdfj3hAkli9QvvB2dz5bYa6_M2339ihxSBUvxO2_JDiq4Zid7-PgqXtFiDsuUU-bchZ9RX7xwGDrYEiLNOFrMwbN4Zs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-23+at+4.01.09+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="620" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwuROaEAJaFsAaOWFD9Pb_UJ_T6nEWZoSD026w-EulpPuWoi_Vgdfj3hAkli9QvvB2dz5bYa6_M2339ihxSBUvxO2_JDiq4Zid7-PgqXtFiDsuUU-bchZ9RX7xwGDrYEiLNOFrMwbN4Zs/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-08-23+at+4.01.09+PM.jpeg" width="208" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles 1941 rating: *****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> If you hear something, anything, is the best ever made enough times you're gonna fight it. Even the most initially uncelebrated, despised, forgotten, and almost-literally-destroyed film can seem, after so many years and so much hype, mainstream and run-of-the-mill...<br /> <br /> But this controversial early-forties gem has not only stood the test of time but has yet to be equaled, at least not in acting, directing, and storytelling. But let's focus on one aspect, Orson Welles the actor, as the title character Charles Foster Kane, born into wealth and who makes more mistakes than money. That is, he already has the money so the mistakes come easy... and often.<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/AVvXsEhS2U6ZLWn1p0QVhzlHzbHDXV6TXkM86RQiuQ6wi_-T7MtqSzAcfJLwPpxt8E6fNvn763VlShouqFU1S9CHim-HgH4fpVlWl2SALeIQDi2M0I7pxisxX_lRF4htYACisMU0dbcd2WMGQQWu/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-08-23+at+4.12.03+PM.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="1447" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS2U6ZLWn1p0QVhzlHzbHDXV6TXkM86RQiuQ6wi_-T7MtqSzAcfJLwPpxt8E6fNvn763VlShouqFU1S9CHim-HgH4fpVlWl2SALeIQDi2M0I7pxisxX_lRF4htYACisMU0dbcd2WMGQQWu/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-08-23+at+4.12.03+PM.jpeg" width="288" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dorothy Comingore in Citizen Kane</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In portraying a twenty-five year old (amazingly, his age at the time) and then other stages: from forty to sixty to a dying codger, Welles continuously pulls of the miraculous, and with somewhat realistic looking makeup. In one particular scene, a fifty-something Kane is watching his young trophy girlfriend (Dorothy Comingore in what should have been an Oscar-winning turn) playing the piano: his eyes both leering, like a dirty old man in <i>lust</i>... And at the same time, adoring... like a dirty old man in<i> love</i>!<br /> <br /> Not much more needs to be said Kane reviews are as abundant as feathers on a duck, or an entire flock of them, and so many are tired of that duck, those ducks, with shotguns aimed in spite and anger, but if you haven't seen KANE, or if you're avoiding the experience because everyone else has, just remember: some things are considered classic and timeless for a reason!

classic, drama, forties, joseph cotten, orson welles, ruth warrick

ORSON WELLES CINEMA: HIS TIMELESS TURN AS 'CITIZEN KANE'

Orson Welles 1941 rating: ***** If you hear something, anything, is the best ever made enough times you're gonna fight it. Even th...

DEFENDING THE CONTROVERSIAL LEGEND OF 'A CLOCKWORK ORANGE'

<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/AVvXsEjh7OrQfAtx8fGSi7F0USG8EwAIIN2DD0aXbD-cGgiRTWKNjPvuTQnBz63EbTAR4849PWmcWDqWuEqds8lPS_PRozCMd1TJ4W04cX17I6ovvBBTBE1mlIbJPPow6fX1tiG8fADyP-bcJfEQBAdTkCi6Rst_2lEnUkA6pc2xMGjkt7qbpQHXmKlwiMk_BJe-/s986/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-10%20at%203.52.34%20PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="986" data-original-width="772" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7OrQfAtx8fGSi7F0USG8EwAIIN2DD0aXbD-cGgiRTWKNjPvuTQnBz63EbTAR4849PWmcWDqWuEqds8lPS_PRozCMd1TJ4W04cX17I6ovvBBTBE1mlIbJPPow6fX1tiG8fADyP-bcJfEQBAdTkCi6Rst_2lEnUkA6pc2xMGjkt7qbpQHXmKlwiMk_BJe-/s320/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-10%20at%203.52.34%20PM.png" width="251" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1971 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table>TAKE ONE: This movie caters to the cold-hlooded. Shows rape and murder as a fun and frolicking game and, adding insult to injury, the gloriously rapturous music of Beethoven, and the dapper old ditty "Singin' in the Rain," are used to drive nefarious young Alex DeLarge, played by Malcolm McDowell, leader of a blood-thirsty futuristic gang of clown-like thugs, to commit horrendous acts of "ultra-violence" against society. TAKE TWO: This movie shows cold-blooded killers having a great time killing and raping to classical music because that's what they do. It's merely a joke... <i>for them</i>, not director Stanley Kubrick who, in creating a futuristic society of recklessly-determined, guiltless youth, shows it without a buffer or remorse i.e. shit happens 'cause it happens. McDowell brilliantly displays viciousness, childishness, stubbornness, insanity, sympathy, and even humor. Yes, humor: an important aspect haters seem to miss. The parody is the pandemonium and vice versa. "Viddy Well, little brother, Viddy Well!" TAKE THREE: So remember: that to believe <i>pure evil</i> exists on screen you must visually experience it, and for this to happen it must be genuinely, and shamelessly, represented. And that's just the first half. The rest, concerning the government's experimental "cure" for violence and mayhem, and the ramifications thereafter, is where the true story lies. <br />

action, classic, dark comedy, drama, exploitation, malcolm mcdowell, prison, science-fiction, seventies, stanley kubrick

DEFENDING THE CONTROVERSIAL LEGEND OF 'A CLOCKWORK ORANGE'

Year: 1971 Rating: ***** TAKE ONE: This movie caters to the cold-hlooded. Shows rape and murder as a fun and frolicking game and, adding ins...