JAMES CAGNEY WITH RICHARD CONTE IN '13 RUE MADELEINE'

<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/AVvXsEiquXOAZXdln2FZLBqKH_mmuUBVI3i5PM8P2uSEEP24zuPyOTDpmHwmBq41GIzTEi_tpgGUTHZURBDI5py8HzzIvnkUgN5x0SxS6JyU-h8Bpt8Ifs4BGlGAg7T8niX1Cvq0TKcMUGitUut6RTCGZv15UrV8Xyp0nqDcZ5HLsk9z4f7KnU1FT9Qzub9okWPl/s1346/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-02%20at%207.34.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiquXOAZXdln2FZLBqKH_mmuUBVI3i5PM8P2uSEEP24zuPyOTDpmHwmBq41GIzTEi_tpgGUTHZURBDI5py8HzzIvnkUgN5x0SxS6JyU-h8Bpt8Ifs4BGlGAg7T8niX1Cvq0TKcMUGitUut6RTCGZv15UrV8Xyp0nqDcZ5HLsk9z4f7KnU1FT9Qzub9okWPl/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-08-02%20at%207.34.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney and Richard Conte in RUE MADELEINE Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 </u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p>In the 1940's, James Cagney went to war... well, not literally... but at forty-years old and already an iconic movie star, once WW2 began, he put away his wise-guy garb and did only patriotic features...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is unfortunate, as the soldiers overseas would probably rather cheer Cagney on in another ROARING TWENTIES-style vehicle to get their minds off reality... But maybe these features were for American audiences to see what sacrifices were going on overseas... </p><span></span>

espionage, forties, frank latimore, henry hathaway, james cagney, karl malden, richard conte, sam jaffe, spy, thriller, world war II

JAMES CAGNEY WITH RICHARD CONTE IN '13 RUE MADELEINE'

James Cagney and Richard Conte in RUE MADELEINE Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 In the 1940's, James Cagney went to war... well, not literally...

ORSON WELLES HYPNOTIZES NANCY GUILD WITH 'BLACK MAGIC'

<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/AVvXsEgcsdU-bowMNuYSBU2-n0QZqIGRFIumd5fv52JBK8fRUEyOz4eNtgeJGPPlx-5UHFa27AurPD2khtjHLhR5rpq3uReMTaTmqf5CyHoJAsTiOvRt3Xj9qOwHlFqM4-BI3_jxR06F0OgBmBff_0MP40dDenLmP2D7AMyL4OS2-YWfEcgUSYHgpF9jV1MOLw/s1022/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="556" data-original-width="1022" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcsdU-bowMNuYSBU2-n0QZqIGRFIumd5fv52JBK8fRUEyOz4eNtgeJGPPlx-5UHFa27AurPD2khtjHLhR5rpq3uReMTaTmqf5CyHoJAsTiOvRt3Xj9qOwHlFqM4-BI3_jxR06F0OgBmBff_0MP40dDenLmP2D7AMyL4OS2-YWfEcgUSYHgpF9jV1MOLw/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles and Nancy Guild starring in BLACK MAGIC Year: 1948 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As a hired actor instead of director or producer, Orson Welles — while making money for those projects he developed on his own — was used for his deep, godlike voice, but in BLACK MAGIC... released the same year as THE THIRD MAN which epitomized that sublime vocal delivery... it was his sharp, cold, piercing eyes that were the most exploited...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He's a hypnotist after all: born the son of two 1700's-era gypsies and whose mother could actually foretell the future, he is soon orphaned when they're hanged for wielding so-called demonic powers...  </p><span></span>

adventure, akim tamiroff, berry kroeger, con man, drama, forties, frank latimore, nancy guilt, occult, orson welles, period piece, revenge, reymond burr, victorian

ORSON WELLES HYPNOTIZES NANCY GUILD WITH 'BLACK MAGIC'

Orson Welles and Nancy Guild starring in BLACK MAGIC Year: 1948 Rating: **1/2 As a hired actor instead of director or producer, Orson Welles...

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' WITH JOHN PHILLIP LAW

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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 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/AVvXsEhSc4_ix08RGWWjEjiNTtMyoegbGtX0-CRzPH7Vk78cUfzLpmMco3cK15XCAk116vxFKrugb4F-axvt3QQIkQfh4z_qnceEn_V-qT4ZQASiqiX3OUy5lntBpKnCqXS2hPNanj8AikeTWJoLgLnT7OghVMqpyes1lzlMaQPDmMHrzDIr-yPGjOefWwKfdQ/s992/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%204.28.33%20AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="699" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSc4_ix08RGWWjEjiNTtMyoegbGtX0-CRzPH7Vk78cUfzLpmMco3cK15XCAk116vxFKrugb4F-axvt3QQIkQfh4z_qnceEn_V-qT4ZQASiqiX3OUy5lntBpKnCqXS2hPNanj8AikeTWJoLgLnT7OghVMqpyes1lzlMaQPDmMHrzDIr-yPGjOefWwKfdQ/w225-h320/Screen%20Shot%202023-05-15%20at%204.28.33%20AM.jpeg" width="225"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's not just <i>what</i> THE SERGEANT is about, or even <i>who</i> it's about: An American World War II hero returned to France ten years later for an otherwise breezy peacetime gig not as risky or daring...</p><p>This Army Sergeant of military construction laborers wielding old-school brass tactics to shape things up... until both someone <i>and</i> something distracts him... because MSgt. Albert Callan is a closet homosexual, and on the surface, Rod Steiger portrays a lonesome Army lifer who finally finds a true friend he can mentor and/or simply hang around with...</p><p></p><p></p><p>Of course it's deeper than that... but as a film from 1968 <i>about</i> 1952, John Flynn directs with a unique, strategic, cautious approach aptly suited for and catered to Steiger's creepy-harsh yet desperately sympathetic performance...</p><p></p><p>And on the other side is tall, handsome John Phillip Law, who often plays calm wooden types but he plays them well... His targeted Pfc. Swanson to Steiger's subtle style of persuasive bullying... after being shifted to his personal office clerk... is, in its own way, equal to the intense title role...<br> </p><p>Law's oblivious reactions to the passive/aggressive action that only an offbeat genius like Steiger could effectively pull off within this sparse, subtle maze countered by French starlet Ludmila Mikaël as Law's gorgeous town-next-door girlfriend (who he's captivated with like Steiger is to him), caught in the middle of something that would not only be considered completely impossible back then, but never fathomed in the first place: And yet, putting the controversial theme aside, THE SERGEANT is an outright buddy flick bromance coinciding with the gentle male/female love story. Surprisingly, it's the latter that comparably lacks conviction and seduction.</p><p><span></span></p>

controversial, drama, exploitation, frank latimore, homosexual, john flynn, john phillip law, ludmila mikaël, military, rod steiger, sixties, warner archives

ROD STEIGER COMMANDS 'THE SERGEANT' WITH JOHN PHILLIP LAW

Year: 1968 Rating: ****1/2 It's not just what THE SERGEANT is about, or even who it's about: An American World War II hero return...