RICHARD FLEISCHER'S T-MEN HEIST FILM NOIR OF 'TRAPPED'

<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/AVvXsEjxCUStevh1W1gt55njlib2n66MQrsISLXKHCGk9v6e-h2vuqck8xbNDuclbv2Ob4k9wpZc2amwmrXPip-gkezWMvFIUgW-lizueH24mOwX6qY7kPDyK3tBPB-yGhYYQRrdWGKeME0YF4Tyn9cGYzS4_B_0xhG8YP3XbCtnI108KBBeGX_2QizFpbrxAxDR/s2138/ORIG%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="2138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxCUStevh1W1gt55njlib2n66MQrsISLXKHCGk9v6e-h2vuqck8xbNDuclbv2Ob4k9wpZc2amwmrXPip-gkezWMvFIUgW-lizueH24mOwX6qY7kPDyK3tBPB-yGhYYQRrdWGKeME0YF4Tyn9cGYzS4_B_0xhG8YP3XbCtnI108KBBeGX_2QizFpbrxAxDR/s16000/ORIG%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TRAPPED Year: 1949 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's a shame that director Richard Fleischer didn't realize how good the usual good guy Lloyd Bridges was at playing bad... in this case a counterfeiter in prison, given a deal to get out but only if he rats on past associates for the cops...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>After which the best moments occur, leading to the first 30-minutes of the T-MEN style noir of TRAPPED in which several twists occur that makes Bridges a free man, quickly holed-up with former girlfriend Barbara Payton, a dive bar waitress with the potential of a femme fatale but playing a rather pathetic lovelorn starlet... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, barbara payton, escape, film noir or melodrama, heist, john hoyt, lloyd bridges, richard fleischer

RICHARD FLEISCHER'S T-MEN HEIST FILM NOIR OF 'TRAPPED'

Title: TRAPPED Year: 1949 Rating: ** It's a shame that director Richard Fleischer didn't realize how good the usual good guy Lloyd B...

SCOTT BRADY & JEFF COREY PRISON ESCAPE NOIR 'CANON CITY'

<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/AVvXsEijSPFZq860vvHLfTN8OIZjy9oPr0o8XNSG6ripi_6A5-VQ6h7wb1tDGYVTmDQi3Jbe4O00zfjgEVccxM_MMZYQqOtL8SMB5qE9_r6K4ritZ38ug_wPqfwWBLemsnCexnQ6EId9ZL0p4x_lJ-h1qndC1jQ-Mb8Lq4l6RlHmWH2eo7y9lkdb1P0Fe5DYxcDP/s1804/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%206.40.12%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1804" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijSPFZq860vvHLfTN8OIZjy9oPr0o8XNSG6ripi_6A5-VQ6h7wb1tDGYVTmDQi3Jbe4O00zfjgEVccxM_MMZYQqOtL8SMB5qE9_r6K4ritZ38ug_wPqfwWBLemsnCexnQ6EId9ZL0p4x_lJ-h1qndC1jQ-Mb8Lq4l6RlHmWH2eo7y9lkdb1P0Fe5DYxcDP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%206.40.12%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: CANON CITY Year: 1948 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The semi-documentary/docudrama film noir device can be awkward, always beginning with real glimpses into actual people, including, in this case, the title prison CANON CITY warden Roy Best, along with several actual inmates, being asked questions off-camera by the deep voice of Reed Hadley... so when we reach the fictional story with tough guy actors wanting to break out of a prison they consider unlawful (and that looks pretty awful to the naked eye), it's confusing as to why they'd start off with such outright propaganda for such a crummy place...</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 Scott Brady's the link between good and evil, being the sole honest prisoner who wants nothing to do with the impending escape he's forced into, and, led by lockup-noir veteran Jeff Corey from BRUTE FORCE, the planning stages are the most intriguing, using creative shadows while the central prisoners are fleshed-out decently enough...</p><p><span></span></p>

docudrama, escape, film noir or melodrama, forties, prison, scott brady, whit bissell

SCOTT BRADY & JEFF COREY PRISON ESCAPE NOIR 'CANON CITY'

Title: CANON CITY Year: 1948 Rating: *** The semi-documentary/docudrama film noir device can be awkward, always beginning with real glimpses...

OLIVER REED AND FABIO TESTI ITALIAN CRIME FLICK 'REVOLVER'

<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/AVvXsEgbzqe3e5SbKoh58txrGN4L0xsHCOtALR1aIYXNLU7hNapc8XK1P8W14ayo8YB7a6bOogcWpyrgG-XXpxxRb04OS7inTDGXkU-b3KNc2gSnwGGnZM3Nk6-i2GVmlpt5BPmy8HQbNuJB-f8g4uTbgxsNjr2QgAo_khMfoU8hH7OXUX7MzT90Qld4ZOmh0-Go/s1904/22.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1130" data-original-width="1904" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzqe3e5SbKoh58txrGN4L0xsHCOtALR1aIYXNLU7hNapc8XK1P8W14ayo8YB7a6bOogcWpyrgG-XXpxxRb04OS7inTDGXkU-b3KNc2gSnwGGnZM3Nk6-i2GVmlpt5BPmy8HQbNuJB-f8g4uTbgxsNjr2QgAo_khMfoU8hH7OXUX7MzT90Qld4ZOmh0-Go/s16000/22.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: REVOLVER Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Clever premise of a prison warden in genuine tough guy and here, promoted ex-cop Oliver Reed... who surreptitiously allows a prisoner to escape before abducting him in exchange for his (own) kidnapped wife between steely, intentionally claustrophobic scenes in dingy offices harboring dingier jail sells... </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>The best moments involves uptight lawman Reed (described as "a stray dog without a home") and co-star Fabio Testi's initially reluctant, affable criminal teamed-up on the run — in the latter's rogue territory... </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/AVvXsEh4yVlmqaOZn283UyaZ2FQuwo8kDKWoY_IEbmdXoPafZNByQ_LTg7X9oEDmkIluud2R0Fo1z5MUfrbTtPe7Q1c5QYqHe_OnlSHf9SOQKjYvv_B_UHd9pbAh28tdCndKV7h0idbLX1uNJlS6d4Sm1xJYg2oiB6Ec27dHHsAyj04gEVtvZNzxn0jJ_7p4DLdP/s2134/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%202.13.50%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1084" data-original-width="2134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yVlmqaOZn283UyaZ2FQuwo8kDKWoY_IEbmdXoPafZNByQ_LTg7X9oEDmkIluud2R0Fo1z5MUfrbTtPe7Q1c5QYqHe_OnlSHf9SOQKjYvv_B_UHd9pbAh28tdCndKV7h0idbLX1uNJlS6d4Sm1xJYg2oiB6Ec27dHHsAyj04gEVtvZNzxn0jJ_7p4DLdP/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-01-17%20at%202.13.50%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Oliver Reed in REVOLVER</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As the petty thief teaching the strict, timid lawman to steal a car a standout, and there needed more of this kind of Film Noir-inspired ambiguity beyond a meandering subplot involving a flaky musician connected to a powerful politician — while an uncompromising Reed, with an overly-pronounced American accent he's previously used satirically, doesn't overact to show the love for his wife (an insanely gorgeous Agostina Belli), or the needed desperation to cut corners... </p><p>But if only Fabio Testi were given half his partner's infectious intensity and overall motivation instead of coolly underplaying a glib character meant to fit within the buddy-plot plot-line, REVOLVER... with a surging Ennio Morricone score and the usual dose of melodramatic vocal-dubbing... would be more a time-killer than time-filler. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, crime, ennio morricone, escape, fabio testi, frédéric de pasquale, italian, jailbreak, kidnapping, oliver reed, paola pitagora, sergio sollima, seventies, teamup, thriller, wrong man

OLIVER REED AND FABIO TESTI ITALIAN CRIME FLICK 'REVOLVER'

Title: REVOLVER Year: 1973 Rating: ***1/2 Clever premise of a prison warden in genuine tough guy and here, promoted ex-cop Oliver Reed... wh...

MERRY ANDERS WITH JOHNNY DESMOND 1957 DOUBLE-FEATURE

<p> <u></u></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><u></u></div><p><u></u></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/AVvXsEhAd9xLOokoeOzpaPO57SmouGv8KimvxCH-7adMnKTqKzRWxE6A21CthdWMkyhdFOQzlZ8gNxiEGsLi8YGUtD26Czq360ry70z9xPy4nAUaontsqXuyDWAsdMojqFoG1-d7suZBD_wx4aizb3PaiAYrKHJ57ZBjt6JRJFiF-NDiH8mMyCGj2cIysMgduVHj/s1205/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAd9xLOokoeOzpaPO57SmouGv8KimvxCH-7adMnKTqKzRWxE6A21CthdWMkyhdFOQzlZ8gNxiEGsLi8YGUtD26Czq360ry70z9xPy4nAUaontsqXuyDWAsdMojqFoG1-d7suZBD_wx4aizb3PaiAYrKHJ57ZBjt6JRJFiF-NDiH8mMyCGj2cIysMgduVHj/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Merry Anders with villain Richard Devon in ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN Year: 1957 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p><u>ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN</u>: More a legit film noir than the b-crime programmer it otherwise seems from the action-faring, plot-describing title, which can mislead viewers into thinking ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN centers more on high-octane breakout bedlam than dialogue-driven suspense with a side dish of gun-wielding intrigue since all the usual hackneyed prison devices are absent, including makeshift underground tunnels, irritable guards, a Fascist warden and put-upon convicts tapping dire/urgent messages along the walls...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Instead, the rudimentary setting is a work farm not a prison; and it's one man's occupation, or in this case, previous skill that makes real life crooner Johnny Desmond a lucrative player for his hardened convict and cellmate "buddy" Richard Devon, whose tough lifer character, Roy, unlike Johnny's Mike who has only two years left, goads him into flying a small plane to freedom in what's ultimately a much too simple escape, especially for the movie to be named after: the duo headed to the same town where Roy buried a bag of loot...</p><p><span></span></p>

alan arkin, comedy, double-feature, escape, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fred f. sears, johnny desmond, meg myles, merry anders, michael granger, music, prison, richard devon, victor millan

MERRY ANDERS WITH JOHNNY DESMOND 1957 DOUBLE-FEATURE

Merry Anders with villain Richard Devon in ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN Year: 1957 Rating: ****1/2 ESCAPE FROM SAN QUENTIN : More a legit film n...

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BAND APART FOR 'BREAKOUT'

<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/AVvXsEgEhvd0Sb_UlVtNIuL63ZQOfL81SqBuBygSDz1JTK1ukn63MWGpGT5WAnnmPIqSvDQ1tgOhFDw3GSbju3ss6EQTBxhF5xEfrc14PuDtwQm06WKkDO9wAUzNfAkYptgNHbGnYIB4hEoVULKiQxGMOZKtCfOFhyreqzWr7cOlSa3CFML6vUoewq8OST7WCw/s2182/2.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1114" data-original-width="2182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhvd0Sb_UlVtNIuL63ZQOfL81SqBuBygSDz1JTK1ukn63MWGpGT5WAnnmPIqSvDQ1tgOhFDw3GSbju3ss6EQTBxhF5xEfrc14PuDtwQm06WKkDO9wAUzNfAkYptgNHbGnYIB4hEoVULKiQxGMOZKtCfOFhyreqzWr7cOlSa3CFML6vUoewq8OST7WCw/s16000/2.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you could call it BRING ME THE HEAD OF ROBERT DUVALL, and the Bloody Sam similarities include echoed gunshots under the hot Mexico sun; a white shirt soaked with gory, bright red blood; a slow-motion body falling to the ground as the opening credits appear across  paused-images as Jerry Goldsmith's score opens with soft, skeletal vibes into a Spanish groove... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And even beyond all that, BREAKOUT is a modern Spaghetti Western (released the same year as Gries/Bronson's actual Western BREAKHEART PASS) wherein action hero Charles Bronson is similar to his colorful MR. MAJESTYK character, only even more playfully cocky and wisecracking... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, alan vint, charles bronson, escape, jailbreak, jill ireland, john huston, mexico, prison, randy quaid, robert duvall, roy jenson, rural, seventies, sheree north, tom gries

CHARLES BRONSON & ROBERT DUVALL BAND APART FOR 'BREAKOUT'

Charles Bronson in BREAKOUT Year: 1975 Rates: ***1/2 The violent prologue of the 1975 Tom Gries jailbreak flick is so Sam Peckinpah you cou...

JIM BROWN'S PAPILLON CLONE 'I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND'

<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/AVvXsEhaGTCLGrosJZtERIkaAn3I6NwqX1ArIq7uXR9oAezX7KfyDYtb1Xc0j5yqjJXxsMsn01exxP0Fii1HkJAVCnd0yRC3L94GR_Jb4n1kW8faJBlFHf5myFa9UtZen2heD7pjpOEcR2jDAJxDbIH5IJ2dkvX6pXaRkD3Jc2wE3VYLhBaH5GKDKfYjmZSl1Q/s1152/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-30%20at%2012.22.45%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="1152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaGTCLGrosJZtERIkaAn3I6NwqX1ArIq7uXR9oAezX7KfyDYtb1Xc0j5yqjJXxsMsn01exxP0Fii1HkJAVCnd0yRC3L94GR_Jb4n1kW8faJBlFHf5myFa9UtZen2heD7pjpOEcR2jDAJxDbIH5IJ2dkvX6pXaRkD3Jc2wE3VYLhBaH5GKDKfYjmZSl1Q/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-30%20at%2012.22.45%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Brown in I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND Year: 1973 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Straying from his usual racially-charged blaxploitation cinema, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/jim%20brown">Jim Brown</a> in I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND is not only pure <i>exploitation</i>, attempting to bank on the popularity of the novel turned adapted motion picture <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/pap.html">PAPILLON</a> about a French prisoner who escapes this movie's titular island, but it's practically an outright remake...<br><br>Jim Brown has the strong escape-minded Steve McQueen part while the vulnerable Dustin Hoffman sidekick role's for Christopher George, a passive progressive that Brown has to carry (while roughnecks Robert Phillips and James Luisi both fill Woodrow Palfrey's shoes), and, starting from a beach-set bamboo-scattered makeshift prison, brutal guard <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/05/underw.html">Richard Rust</a> reigns — and there's even a helpful homosexual convict along with a neighboring leper colony...</p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, christopher george, escape, indie, james luisi, jim brown, jungle, prison, richard rust, robert phillips, roland bob harris, seventies, shark

JIM BROWN'S PAPILLON CLONE 'I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND'

Jim Brown in I ESCAPED FROM DEVIL'S ISLAND Year: 1973 Rating: *** Straying from his usual racially-charged blaxploitation cinema, Jim Br...

JIM BROWN WITH GENE HACKMAN ESCAPE THE CELL BLOCK 'RIOT'

<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/AVvXsEhw-heW70nO9dEuixq3RwLARtEsslCY0GdciTkPIFKgdw_gNaUVjxIwz76jzqzgTTpdetOwIAjwRsNKUAHn897TnileyKJu6qLtCwHZB50pqaPlaVPkJfqYKvP7Iar59yxaJgu8DGPo3T43QNtPwxTFsBsA-AKS8RySSweUGSUYqJgBA7M_lhGbADrMUYQu/s2258/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%204.20.12%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1218" data-original-width="2258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw-heW70nO9dEuixq3RwLARtEsslCY0GdciTkPIFKgdw_gNaUVjxIwz76jzqzgTTpdetOwIAjwRsNKUAHn897TnileyKJu6qLtCwHZB50pqaPlaVPkJfqYKvP7Iar59yxaJgu8DGPo3T43QNtPwxTFsBsA-AKS8RySSweUGSUYqJgBA7M_lhGbADrMUYQu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-03%20at%204.20.12%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jim Brown </u><u>and Gene Hackman in RIOT Year: 1969 Rating: **** </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Basically a remake of Don Siegel's docudrama noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/block11.html">RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11</a>, Buzz Kulick's RIOT follows its muse by having the titular convict pandemonium — after capturing the guards — not matter beyond a strategic distraction...</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>Instead centering on a few clever inmates' feigning an attempt for a media-led change of inhumane prison conditions — but this RIOT goes one step beyond Siegel's CELL BLOCK political expose...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, buzz, clifford david, drama, escape, gene hackman, gerald s. o'loughlin, jim brown, mike kellin, prison, sixties, suspense, thriller, william castle

JIM BROWN WITH GENE HACKMAN ESCAPE THE CELL BLOCK 'RIOT'

Jim Brown and Gene Hackman in RIOT Year: 1969 Rating: **** Basically a remake of Don Siegel's docudrama noir RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11 , Buz...

STEVE MCQUEEN AND JAMES GARNER MAKE 'THE GREAT ESCAPE'

<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/AVvXsEj8oyNg-8zJuTkddWXiGvHty-UhhMSusP9Ql93nfeMymLAmBCLp0pwflQUmBUuzTS7oaW40S4HzxE_4QluqDK-4W4VFo6l88FSSxW-FUgwErG_Oj8fgSfau-DfliGWCtsIuUOiWBRaq3HMybtlSyMwFns6ZsB2m-1GRrFVi3XoVvG2bwf1UWtNBuCG_DA/s1921/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1189" data-original-width="1921" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8oyNg-8zJuTkddWXiGvHty-UhhMSusP9Ql93nfeMymLAmBCLp0pwflQUmBUuzTS7oaW40S4HzxE_4QluqDK-4W4VFo6l88FSSxW-FUgwErG_Oj8fgSfau-DfliGWCtsIuUOiWBRaq3HMybtlSyMwFns6ZsB2m-1GRrFVi3XoVvG2bwf1UWtNBuCG_DA/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE GREAT ESCAPE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While the World War II German-set Prison-of-War movie THE GREAT ESCAPE was being filmed, and would eventually make Steve McQueen a superstar, he was doing everything possible to ruin that potential since he wanted as many lines as other cast members, and would often storm off the set and at one point nearly flew back home... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Being especially envious of James Garner as Scrounger, the token sneaky resilient fella who can get anything, and — teamed with Donald Pleasance as a completely vulnerable Forger slowly going blind — he's the most interesting and overall entertaining character, with the right combination of affable humor and focused determination... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

charles bronson, david mccallum, donald pleasence, ensemble, escape, james coburn, james donald, james garner, john leyton, prison, richard attenborough, sixties, steve mcqueen, world war II

STEVE MCQUEEN AND JAMES GARNER MAKE 'THE GREAT ESCAPE'

Title: THE GREAT ESCAPE Year: 1963 Rating: ***1/2 While the World War II German-set Prison-of-War movie THE GREAT ESCAPE was being filmed, a...

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS IN DON SIEGEL'S 'ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ'

<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/AVvXsEh0NMPbGR7g33hXOhOea16iVFXLDy79HlkFJyKKA-qTNKkfvlNELXZ--xFhSETJFBPHVaxjlT1osuyYCbj7bWX-TWtucyIgc508bEufPEhv_eHlmnkzktZuUntqkaxR6BkUY3QrRhtdDq6RbCrwOXB-NjH0O9h-kY4KmrXQcasdviU_5rVkxHZzGaKiBg/s1597/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-17%20at%205.31.47%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1052" data-original-width="1597" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0NMPbGR7g33hXOhOea16iVFXLDy79HlkFJyKKA-qTNKkfvlNELXZ--xFhSETJFBPHVaxjlT1osuyYCbj7bWX-TWtucyIgc508bEufPEhv_eHlmnkzktZuUntqkaxR6BkUY3QrRhtdDq6RbCrwOXB-NjH0O9h-kY4KmrXQcasdviU_5rVkxHZzGaKiBg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-17%20at%205.31.47%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Clint Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Don Siegel's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ starred his most famous actor/collaborator, Clint Eastwood, and it turns out the picture seems more Eastwood-directed because of the rather safe, mainstream appeal...</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>For instance, once Eastwood as new inmate Frank Morris... the real life prisoner who actually escaped with two brothers and were never heard of since... enters the infamous rock island as horror movie lightning lights up the dark Alcatraz interior, the upcoming sequences has Clint's character meeting friendly inmates and, with one major exception, the most notorious prison in American history doesn't seem all that awful...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bruce m. fischer, clint eastwood, don siegel, escape, exploitation, fred ward, jack thibeau, larry hankin, patrick mcgoohan, paul benjamin, prison, roberts blossom, seventies

CLINT EASTWOOD STARS IN DON SIEGEL'S 'ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ'

Clint Eastwood in ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ Year: 1979 Rating: ***1/2 Don Siegel's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ starred his most famous actor/collabo...

RAY LIOTTA VS STUART WILSON IN 'NO ESCAPE' WITH ERNIE HUDSON

<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/AVvXsEh70fXoT4QMcnRii_a3Eb_hDbXhf1tumHHpn4gIyQtsvY_PTpcLZlfnHTzPbn82LHRU1KvUzMCZ9Urnnf06HVp7ETYoLW6Kv9P3o8AKiySuz1TXw9fvca6dA0wnplSC1VNY7bhtCmP7dEp8AAHgEozhOaJwOJb7Vtdek_yTiFefBSbcFbDqwU0sQw8qHry6/s2634/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-30%20at%2010.44.08%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1154" data-original-width="2634" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh70fXoT4QMcnRii_a3Eb_hDbXhf1tumHHpn4gIyQtsvY_PTpcLZlfnHTzPbn82LHRU1KvUzMCZ9Urnnf06HVp7ETYoLW6Kv9P3o8AKiySuz1TXw9fvca6dA0wnplSC1VNY7bhtCmP7dEp8AAHgEozhOaJwOJb7Vtdek_yTiFefBSbcFbDqwU0sQw8qHry6/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-30%20at%2010.44.08%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: NO ESCAPE Year: 1994 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An action-packed b-movie that takes itself way too seriously, which is what makes NO ESCAPE great fun as Ray Liotta's only in an actual Fascist-future prison for a brief time, ironic since it's a prison-genre flick but taking place on a penal island like PAPILLON following the survival rules and ragged costume design of THE ROAD WARRIOR...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Genuinely cool and fit, Liotta is, of course, the toughest and strongest and a completely handy stranger in a fortress world run by a passive yet formidable Lance Henriksen, polar opposite of British actor Stuart Wilson ruling the woodsy outskirts, whose insanely overboard, monologue-spouting dictator makes Dennis Hopper's WATERWORLD performance seem tame (and all but drowns out the prison's computer-monitor-monitoring warden Michael Lerner)... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, ernie hudson, escape, ian mcneice, kevin dillon, lance henriksen, nineties, prison, ray liotta, stuart wilson

RAY LIOTTA VS STUART WILSON IN 'NO ESCAPE' WITH ERNIE HUDSON

Title: NO ESCAPE Year: 1994 Rating: ***1/2 An action-packed b-movie that takes itself way too seriously, which is what makes NO ESCAPE great...

VAL KILMER & LUCY GUTTERIDGE SEND UP SPIES IN 'TOP SECRET!'

<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/AVvXsEjBdVsQPgnAEpW1jefT67viN6o7J2qnKkdH0wzxUxe0Mx1jjC-4ifhaZ4v2SqHAXhyH3VugZGF5XRPrBXgQuV18cJz4AOeAjuQzPseuiK8JUBHiFCy4smHUz45naHtwHe-PQ4fqjMvAraZI/s2014/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.36.55+AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="2014" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBdVsQPgnAEpW1jefT67viN6o7J2qnKkdH0wzxUxe0Mx1jjC-4ifhaZ4v2SqHAXhyH3VugZGF5XRPrBXgQuV18cJz4AOeAjuQzPseuiK8JUBHiFCy4smHUz45naHtwHe-PQ4fqjMvAraZI/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.36.55+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers in TOP SECRET! Directors: Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Nonstop humor with a real plot is called funny... without a plot, silly... and the creators of the extremely funny AIRPLANE! deliberately set out to make a fast-paced, extremely silly satire covering a bagful of genres...</p><p></p><p>Particularly WW2 spy thrillers with Elvis Musicals thrown in... in the form of Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers, a somehow contemporary Rock N' Roller booked to play a Nazi German concert that sort of comes and goes... </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/AVvXsEiAxeBKIEb2EmOzy6jPW5HHo_kZWWyIqCzQCX_q-UcJfAJTR60M4byCqiO9EFml658ah5Ak7nUh1lkuqAc5HQS0Jv7ingh9MNNVb0xF7VIasWjgzygV8URA5vQDW1guXG5TA9p6kNLzs0dx/s2048/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.38.45+AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1185" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAxeBKIEb2EmOzy6jPW5HHo_kZWWyIqCzQCX_q-UcJfAJTR60M4byCqiO9EFml658ah5Ak7nUh1lkuqAc5HQS0Jv7ingh9MNNVb0xF7VIasWjgzygV8URA5vQDW1guXG5TA9p6kNLzs0dx/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.38.45+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Lucy Gutteridge as Hillary Flammond in TOP SECRET!</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Meanwhile the actual attempt at a primary plot involves ingenue Lucy Gutteridge's scientist father needing rescue by the help of a goofy band of French Resistance fighters, only around to finish off a busy, somewhat exhausting story that the jokes leading up served an almost constant bulwark for... </p><p></p><p>They're mostly action-based visual gags since this <i>is</i> an action/adventure, albeit more like Mel Brooks (parodying movie-making itself) than Abrahams, Zucker & Zucker's previous (POLICE SQUAD) and future work (the NAKED GUN franchise, in which Omar Sharif foreshadows OJ Simpson's accident-prone Wile E. Coyote type)...</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/AVvXsEhipQS3VpBg3p7RQ7zX8kvGQghOmhAlA0a3nrdQlaHFAqm5bA5_Z3syMR__L5_u_-WnoxJgUQlQlgxJ3xrDHYsw2RFNuIZsaq77fhEabFoDtCeXjpXQv0aeAdl3g5TnHaAUSwqJhG5LAEd3/s2048/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.50.28+AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhipQS3VpBg3p7RQ7zX8kvGQghOmhAlA0a3nrdQlaHFAqm5bA5_Z3syMR__L5_u_-WnoxJgUQlQlgxJ3xrDHYsw2RFNuIZsaq77fhEabFoDtCeXjpXQv0aeAdl3g5TnHaAUSwqJhG5LAEd3/s16000/Screen+Shot+2021-07-28+at+6.50.28+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Cows through binoculars from TOP SECRET!</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Perhaps the writing/directing trio worked too hard to accomplish a multi-satire that's gained a pretty decent cult following despite (and because of) the disappointing opening-weekend... Or those who tire of the AIRPLANE! accolades while pushing the dark-horse notion that this one's a lot better, funnier... </p><p></p><p>Overall TOP SECRET! is yet another "underrated failure because it wasn't treated fairly" that <i>does</i> deserve more recognition... including Val Kilmer's naturally appealing comic timing sustained in REAL GENIUS... but perhaps more for the entertainingly energetic ambition than end result. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, amar sharif, eighties, escape, ian mcneice, lucy gutteridge, musical, peter cushing, satire, spy, val kilmer, warren clarke, world war II

VAL KILMER & LUCY GUTTERIDGE SEND UP SPIES IN 'TOP SECRET!'

Val Kilmer as Nick Rivers in TOP SECRET! Directors: Jim Abrahams, David & Jerry Zucker Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 Nonstop humor with a re...

ROBERT SHAW & MALCOLM MCDOWELL 'FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE'

<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/AVvXsEjhHAmIY4gCntvexrmwVYkR5dV0jy0gDYDGSazTu7Uyce3TMlf1-SqrME5Uo-y6yPOv_xzeBiLGbEL2KbaeGasOrcG5y2oicst-NxnBpQud11SIBJUtwDhKSR-qtI7q6ijbuuSceiWNmJ36/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-07-11+at+12.46.13+AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="771" data-original-width="1382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhHAmIY4gCntvexrmwVYkR5dV0jy0gDYDGSazTu7Uyce3TMlf1-SqrME5Uo-y6yPOv_xzeBiLGbEL2KbaeGasOrcG5y2oicst-NxnBpQud11SIBJUtwDhKSR-qtI7q6ijbuuSceiWNmJ36/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-07-11+at+12.46.13+AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kino Lorber Blu Ray Cover for FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table><p>In a brief encounter with Malcolm McDowell at an autograph show, upon a friend mentioning this particular 1970 film, Malcolm rolled his eyes, and spoke bluntly of his working stint with Robert Shaw — how it was a grueling four month shoot since the very unpredictable actor had a penchant for the bottle, and Malcolm finished with: “But I loved him.”<br> <br> Well this sort of love/hate relationship exists between Shaw’s coldblooded, experienced MacConnachie and McDowell’s naïve yet wily young Ansell (much like the later RUNAWAY TRAIN with Jon Voight and Eric Roberts): two escaped convicts — with a mysterious past only partially learned through sparse, pulpy, existential dialogue — on the run in an unnamed country... <br> </p>

action, adventure, escape, helicopter, malcolm mcdowell, robert shaw, seventies

ROBERT SHAW & MALCOLM MCDOWELL 'FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE'

Kino Lorber Blu Ray Cover for FIGURES IN A LANDSCAPE Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2 In a brief encounter with Malcolm McDowell at an autograph...