cult film freak: darren mcgavin

Showing posts with label darren mcgavin. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 9/05/2021 / No comments / action , booth colman , brian g. hutton , cop , darren mcgavin , film noir or melodrama , margaret hayes , peggy mccay , robert osterloh , warren stevens

DARREN MCGAVIN COPPING OUT 'THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN'

<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/AVvXsEhU_k2VkEdHRK9qAFrq69GS7dp_DjBQcqOM4S54KqI_2at_2rDvwfpWc2qm9P9dRTJvb4L9-zKYJT6qYfFuoIXTVzXuZXi1I1hv-gaHqt8M7gOgfzO9BBnPwAEJrTW6Bps8GdObTVUd0Lpa/s1794/Screen+Shot+2021-09-05+at+2.00.37+PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1278" data-original-width="1794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU_k2VkEdHRK9qAFrq69GS7dp_DjBQcqOM4S54KqI_2at_2rDvwfpWc2qm9P9dRTJvb4L9-zKYJT6qYfFuoIXTVzXuZXi1I1hv-gaHqt8M7gOgfzO9BBnPwAEJrTW6Bps8GdObTVUd0Lpa/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-09-05+at+2.00.37+PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Margaret Hayes & Darren McGavin THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN Year: 1958 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"Maybe he's queer for widows who run garages" says a drunk and jilted Margaret Hayes to square-jawed (surreptitious to her) villain Warren Stevens, and she's talking about an undercover cop she'd uncovered in married Darren McGavin, having feigned a bachelor salesman type and whose best scenes are what led to up the poor dame being so ticked-off...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And she has other problems, much deeper... Her husband, owing a bundle to bookies in which Stevens was the thuggiest, fatally crashed his truck, purposefully looking like a Double Indemnity accident and leaving her to "run" the garage near a tavern where she's a wishbone between both good and bad guy... albeit both are manipulating liars... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, booth colman, brian g. hutton, cop, darren mcgavin, film noir or melodrama, margaret hayes, peggy mccay, robert osterloh, warren stevens

DARREN MCGAVIN COPPING OUT 'THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN'

Margaret Hayes & Darren McGavin THE CASE AGAINST BROOKLYN Year: 1958 Rates: ***1/2 "Maybe he's queer for widows who run garages...

BURT REYNOLDS 'RIVERBOAT' COMMAND AND EXTERNAL TRIBUTE

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<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/AVvXsEgqooy49X_xfhPOvpOXySRGZk586rObXn-S7YIiY8iiliOBgd5oqOAG7N_g6Sqvfg63JR5evhKpS238G_DJZfnSDH8MzWs_u0My-m2OxpsDrcpS3BeJzm-M7iItaFxpdipcuCZ_DykDgIaYEzej7U1-b9_yhgYlWY9zyDsfGw7_lQL4lRbJ3LGZRWon8Q8i/s1286/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-15%20at%203.11.16%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="1286" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqooy49X_xfhPOvpOXySRGZk586rObXn-S7YIiY8iiliOBgd5oqOAG7N_g6Sqvfg63JR5evhKpS238G_DJZfnSDH8MzWs_u0My-m2OxpsDrcpS3BeJzm-M7iItaFxpdipcuCZ_DykDgIaYEzej7U1-b9_yhgYlWY9zyDsfGw7_lQL4lRbJ3LGZRWon8Q8i/w400-h291/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-15%20at%203.11.16%20AM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Burt Reynolds in RIVERBOAT season one circa 1959</u></td></tr></tbody></table>The late Burt Reynolds held a fine line between movie star and cult actor: Before he got really famous, he appeared in edgy movies like DELIVERANCE, THE LONGEST YARD, HUSTLE...<br>
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After he skyrocketed in SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT and became a superstar, he'd been around the car movie block in more subtle vehicles like WHITE LIGHTNING and GATOR. And for some, his immense fame became a cult in itself. Following two Hal Needham directed BANDIT flicks was arguably his greatest "race car" movie (also directed by Needham), CANNONBALL RUN, and the entertaining stunt man tribute, HOOPER. Alas, like most big stars, a string of mediocre romantic comedies and sequels disintegrated these fun, frolicking romps that seemed made for everyone. Worse than even BANDIT 2 was the second CANNONBALL RUN, which hardly involved a race at all, and then... STROKER ACE provided the hammered nails in a coffin that'd already been pretty much closed...<br>

action, adventure, ape suit, burt reynolds, darren mcgavin, ensemble, fifties, heist, tribute, tv series, vincent price, western

BURT REYNOLDS 'RIVERBOAT' COMMAND AND EXTERNAL TRIBUTE

Burt Reynolds in RIVERBOAT season one circa 1959 The late Burt Reynolds held a fine line between movie star and cult actor: Before he got...

DISNEY TRIPLE FEATURES 'NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN' WITH 'HOT LEAD & COLD FEET' AND 'THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1976 Rating: **</u></td></tr>
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<u>NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN</u>: Disney flick with Don Knotts whose usual, more natural Tim Conway sidekick is replaced by Darren McGavin as one of two 
dimwitted brother-in-law safecrackers tangled with 
two prep-school kids...<br>
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The girl being Kim Richards (your author's first crush, as made public on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, episode <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3448200/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast">The Curse of Carlton</a> taking place at an autograph show) who, along with familiar child actor face Brad Savage, ditch their stuffy 
grandfather David Niven at the airport, and the kids learn their 
thief-pals owe money to a crime boss (Vic Tayback) and to help they
 come up with a plan to fake a kidnapping. The ransom by wealthy gramps 
will bring in the money needed. Niven keeps avoiding the payments, 
knowing it's all a practical joke. And other than some car chases and 
Don Knotts chasing a pet skunk, that's about the gist of it. It all 
seems like a bunch of actors stuck in a constrained story. McGavin is 
miscast as Knott's straight man and Knotts isn't very funny as the 
doofus. There are better Disney flicks. Take CANDLESHOE, also starring 
David Niven (with Jodie Foster as the kid) and involving wily kids who, unlike this, have a decent, 
more interesting premise to follow.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1978 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr>
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<u>HOT LEAD & COLD FEET</u>: Having
 watched this movie as a kid the only scenes remembered were of Don Knotts involved in unsuccessful take-ten-paces-and-draw 
showdowns. But the main storyline is about two brothers... played by the same actor, Jim Dale, a Disney regular and now very obscure... one a mean gunslinger the other a
 preachy do-gooder taking part in a race involving mini stream-engine 
trains, canoes down rapids and mountain-climbing, all in order to inherit a 
load of money from their crazy white-bearded father (also played by 
Dale... the white Eddie Murphy of his time)...<br>
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The good brother wants the money for... good reasons (building a 
church with tough and pretty school teacher Karen Valentine and two 
savvy orphans) and the bad brother wants the money for — you get the 
idea. The town bullies and the crooked banker, along with Disney 1970's go-to Darren McGavin, are 
rooting for the villain because they have something to gain, sabotaging the good brother in a tortoise-vs-hare fashion throughout this semi-funny Disney film with enough happening to keep you interested, 
although the build-up, introducing the siblings in contrasting lives 
before they meet, fares better than the wacky race: which not only gets
 tiresome but neglects the other characters. And those Don Knotts scenes
 happen only sporadically; he's sort of a cameo-with-hiccups.<br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1971 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr>
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<u>THE BAREFOOT EXECUTIVE</u>: Disney's child-teen regular's regular Kurt
 Russell plays a climber. A dreamer. A junior college student working as a 
gopher at a television studio, and he wants to be a programmer but has no idea 
what shows are good... And most important — his girlfriend adopts a chimp who also sits and watches 
TV, with a twist...<br>
<br>
The chimp sits mesmerized when he likes a show, and goes bonkers 
when he doesn't. It turns out, the chimp has a pulse on what shows work 
and what shows don't as later indicated by the ratings. And if the 
same monkey were watching this film it'd commit suicide, and yet, somehow, it's not that entirely god-awful, with some entertaining chase scenes. But overall this standard 
by-the-numbers live-action Disney film that never really evolves just isn't worth the climb. 
<br>