RALPH MEEKER HAMMERS ROBERT ALDRICH'S 'KISS ME DEADLY'

<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/AVvXsEh08pO4qc5MbAoDeqi7Gs1-mYufr0mg4QOavoNUgEz7pTVCrLhnbPhjCSm1bVn5L5WxpmLMJ9RGys4laeryoZQbhHtjm5Ukln2fqy6LSUErWjwO5MH17WO4ay8C2JB5d6NemC-SEQdNa3UmZ7KBXFQtfyTJ717QzGXXkkbWK1l68tV1noQwuMQfyIehMOxe/s2570/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-09%20at%2011.45.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1320" data-original-width="2570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh08pO4qc5MbAoDeqi7Gs1-mYufr0mg4QOavoNUgEz7pTVCrLhnbPhjCSm1bVn5L5WxpmLMJ9RGys4laeryoZQbhHtjm5Ukln2fqy6LSUErWjwO5MH17WO4ay8C2JB5d6NemC-SEQdNa3UmZ7KBXFQtfyTJ717QzGXXkkbWK1l68tV1noQwuMQfyIehMOxe/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-09%20at%2011.45.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Wesley Addy & Ralph Meeker in KISS ME DEADLY Year: 1955 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>When hitchhiking damsel-in-distress Cloris Leachman is picked up by convertible driving private-eye rogue Mike Hammer in Robert Aldrich's noir classic KISS ME DEADLY, actor Ralph Meeker epitomizes the role without uttering a single word... <br></p><p></p><p>After she asks if he likes poetry, his manly/glib shrug speaks volumes in what's a gumshoe thriller that plays out like a tapestry of vignettes... thrust into a cautionary tale involving the most important of three ingenues that Meeker's Hammer uses to figure out what/who killed first-girl Leachman, and why... </p><p><span></span></p>

albert dekker, cloris leachman, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gumshoe, jack elam, jack lambert, leigh snowden, marian carr, maxine cooper, paul stewart, ralph meeker, robert aldrich, wesley addy

RALPH MEEKER HAMMERS ROBERT ALDRICH'S 'KISS ME DEADLY'

Wesley Addy & Ralph Meeker in KISS ME DEADLY Year: 1955 Rating: ***** When hitchhiking damsel-in-distress Cloris Leachman is picked up ...

CORNEL WILDE INVESTIGATING DON SIEGEL'S 'EDGE OF ETERNITY'

<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/AVvXsEjraQu5NSIGTO-wzK8EyZF6eOt68gLKCehXCTLbqnaZBMHb7Kwgk5UdGtawHWvBxRF7_PQDQFwkVy2CqixKfTSXuJTqtRX93vjT2wuOOZs7NxObMG4FiU7Gi3vMY9ezmuyTa9hVwFB-RBah07EEZ_MBMXyCRtuAxH0dTBqIDLod_nfvM0zH1BXfRkiiZzWM/s934/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2012.11.22%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="934" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjraQu5NSIGTO-wzK8EyZF6eOt68gLKCehXCTLbqnaZBMHb7Kwgk5UdGtawHWvBxRF7_PQDQFwkVy2CqixKfTSXuJTqtRX93vjT2wuOOZs7NxObMG4FiU7Gi3vMY9ezmuyTa9hVwFB-RBah07EEZ_MBMXyCRtuAxH0dTBqIDLod_nfvM0zH1BXfRkiiZzWM/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-12-13%20at%2012.11.22%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1959 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Don Siegel's EDGE OF ETERNITY is a Technicolor Neo Noir, a B-Movie Potboiler and a Novelty Film using actual footage of (and being based around) The Grand Canyon... where at the crest, a murder takes place before the body's mysteriously hung in a small rural connecting town's vacant office... where good deputy Cornel Wilde investigates what's also a partial Mystery/Whodunnit...<br><br>Although there aren't many juicy culprits to choose from, the most obvious being otherwise affable bartender Mickey Shaughnessy, who has played so many energetically cutthroat villains, he can't be what he seems (the same going for chain-smoking Canyon custodian Jack Elam)... <br><span></span></p>

action, alexander lockwood, cornel wilde, dabbs greer, don siegel, edgar buchanan, fifties, jack elam, jazz-score, mickey shaughnessy, neo noir, victoria shaw

CORNEL WILDE INVESTIGATING DON SIEGEL'S 'EDGE OF ETERNITY'

Year: 1959 Rating: *** Don Siegel's EDGE OF ETERNITY is a Technicolor Neo Noir, a B-Movie Potboiler and a Novelty Film using actual foot...

GARY LOCKWOOD WITH JAMES STEWART & HENRY FONDA 'FIRECREEK'

<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/AVvXsEjvGRLaTzSaAO6chJDrI_T019EqDsJd7MrqQ7_45dkzjkgNgvDderu7KeqOZDXlX721of8kPfEDHqodFRdf4yMTGomogwOAjN0TpmUEDGknTPzxNdsjUTkbZuRZU1QSmNRAedu71rz7wkGXBVsSaXzgnb0bCLSYeCTs-0-qD9TR_DtYNt-qCapuuS05qLo4/s2080/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%202.30.32%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1210" data-original-width="2080" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvGRLaTzSaAO6chJDrI_T019EqDsJd7MrqQ7_45dkzjkgNgvDderu7KeqOZDXlX721of8kPfEDHqodFRdf4yMTGomogwOAjN0TpmUEDGknTPzxNdsjUTkbZuRZU1QSmNRAedu71rz7wkGXBVsSaXzgnb0bCLSYeCTs-0-qD9TR_DtYNt-qCapuuS05qLo4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-15%20at%202.30.32%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gary Lockwood in FIRECREEK Year: 1968 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With biker movies all the rampaging counter-culture rage, lower budgeted Westerns during the 1960's and 1970's became far more dark, violent, pulpy and contained, and yet, some still followed the old John Ford giant landscape aesthetic — in full background display for FIRECREEK where a gang of subtle yet vicious marauding riders ride into a small town that's literally a main street, and hardly even that...<br> <br> Where James Stewart plays a humble outskirts-farmer/passive substitute sheriff in this titular locale "taken over" in a passive-aggressive fashion, where much of the suspense relies more on implied threat than bloodshed... which <i>does</i> occur at the climax: a worthy wait after a few long scenes where the good guys ponder their lives in existential "is this all there is?" dialogue (one involving Dean Jagger describing the purgatory "town full of losers")...<br> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

brooke bundy, gary lockwood, henry fonda, inger stevens, jack elam, jacqueline scott, james best, james stewart, louise latham, morgan woodward, robert porter, sixties, thriller, western

GARY LOCKWOOD WITH JAMES STEWART & HENRY FONDA 'FIRECREEK'

Gary Lockwood in FIRECREEK Year: 1968 Rating: **** With biker movies all the rampaging counter-culture rage, lower budgeted Westerns during...

JAMES STEWART WITH DONALD CRISP IN 'THE MAN FROM LARAMIE'

<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/AVvXsEizmRCoXCqF_tvhiH-ZKpz0UuoWe-HrEzXi9zSg_7cP2sNDtu5inH4VqyaUsFXQswoizZ0ah9qlDMM1CjNeZ04gUGmulz1KwReqeIyCEf6rAYp5FTNJF9YkQLdIluJGxiIbGP_tB59XP7C-QohBsdiRdbIqd9PmOUXe9DgXkrWeTm6Q_wBxoK_x3-Mrc_6E/s2166/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-25%20at%2011.33.19%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1212" data-original-width="2166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizmRCoXCqF_tvhiH-ZKpz0UuoWe-HrEzXi9zSg_7cP2sNDtu5inH4VqyaUsFXQswoizZ0ah9qlDMM1CjNeZ04gUGmulz1KwReqeIyCEf6rAYp5FTNJF9YkQLdIluJGxiIbGP_tB59XP7C-QohBsdiRdbIqd9PmOUXe9DgXkrWeTm6Q_wBxoK_x3-Mrc_6E/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-25%20at%2011.33.19%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE MAN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Within moments of Anthony Mann's THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, the old and new aspects of the beloved genre shift, and progress: opening with an old-fashion crooner singing about the title character and then, once we meet James Stewart's Will Lockhart, it's soon learned he's investigating the sale of repeating rifles to Apache Indians, causing his brother's death and leading to an edgy revenge plot popular in almost any Western to come...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And, although eventually revealed to be a Army officer, his agenda — having traveled from Laramie to the small town of Coronado — is like a film noir detective, making LARAMIE stand out from other Mann/Stewart Westerns along with a cerebral theme from William Shakespeare's fallen-monarch tragedy, King Lear...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, alex nicol, anthony mann, arthur kennedy, cathy o'donnell, donald crisp, jack elam, james stewart, mystery, thriller, wallace ford, western

JAMES STEWART WITH DONALD CRISP IN 'THE MAN FROM LARAMIE'

Title: THE MAN FROM LARAMIE Year: 1955 Rating: ****1/2 Within moments of Anthony Mann's THE MAN FROM LARAMIE, the old and new aspects of...

JAMES GARNER IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF' W/ BRUCE DERN

<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/AVvXsEi8UJaSDfWIPSUi2ikebc3j_og525TlU1kg3Bt7hIhh2TE6JE2MIaTZk8vL2Dlr9igN9bpfQDEu7ztaH0wNTaefGt_7OsGvyJcrKHKatUiRuOIvIs-c4xqE7j8u94t7ojOLFI8H0ukl4IDn/s1600/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-03-29%252Bat%252B3.39.04%252BPM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="1054" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8UJaSDfWIPSUi2ikebc3j_og525TlU1kg3Bt7hIhh2TE6JE2MIaTZk8vL2Dlr9igN9bpfQDEu7ztaH0wNTaefGt_7OsGvyJcrKHKatUiRuOIvIs-c4xqE7j8u94t7ojOLFI8H0ukl4IDn/s400/Screen%252BShot%252B2019-03-29%252Bat%252B3.39.04%252BPM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Garner, Bruce Dern and Jack Elam YEAR: 1969</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> In the part of Jason McCullough, supposedly on his way to Australia where the Wild West is starting all over again, James Garner is the guy we know and love, and the actor, soon to find his niche, again, on television's ROCKFORD FILES, is as relaxing as a warm setting sun, and nothing can stop him...<br> <br> Not Bruce Dern, who'd slay John Wayne in THE COWBOYS and would often play crazies, and is basically what Claude Akins was to RIO BRAVO. His scruffy clan consisting of two brothers and a headstrong father who need to break him free, at any cost. And yet, like that montage in BLAZING SADDLES... though this is comedy, not spoof... whatever they throw at the Sheriff to stop him is quickly, easily, without a single hitch or problem, taken care of... Kind of like the cartoon of Popeye sleepwalking on a construction site girder, his feet accidentally yet successfully guiding him through one stage to anther till he's safe on the other side...<br>

action, bruce dern, comedy, harry morgan, jack elam, james garner, joan hackett, sixties, western

JAMES GARNER IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF' W/ BRUCE DERN

James Garner, Bruce Dern and Jack Elam YEAR: 1969 In the part of Jason McCullough, supposedly on his way to Australia where the Wild W...

DIRECTOR JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'WITCHITA' STARRING JOEL MCCREA

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCAJt2qWOCh27p8cS7U6E_SjJbANwpihQUA1ckhRe4Yy0kU8CJWzBWkTUg9JYC0t5Jc79WOYOLPgiE-ReonBNu3q9gJDk3Vb1Yf6lFWjVRsS4OWJV4N_rB5gzgj_lTSdEMkzt5WTX16d6Ie5tHanozdApRrvmx-g5Fs9St1nP6sNMRORqI9pG3sZNnDQ=s1181" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="764" data-original-width="1181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiCAJt2qWOCh27p8cS7U6E_SjJbANwpihQUA1ckhRe4Yy0kU8CJWzBWkTUg9JYC0t5Jc79WOYOLPgiE-ReonBNu3q9gJDk3Vb1Yf6lFWjVRsS4OWJV4N_rB5gzgj_lTSdEMkzt5WTX16d6Ie5tHanozdApRrvmx-g5Fs9St1nP6sNMRORqI9pG3sZNnDQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: WICHITA Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This Jacques Tourneur's Western is as basic and entertaining as they come, centering on what begins as a distant dot viewed by men camped on the plain surrounded by cattle and all on their slow, deliberate pace to that Promised Land of WICHITA harboring many saloons...<br> </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> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div><p> That dot nears, and turns out being buffalo hunter Wyatt Earp, played by Joel McCrea, visually perfectly suited (though too old) for the real life legendary lawman, at first reluctant to become Wichita's Sheriff until the rowdy cowboys ignite drunken gun-blazing pandemonium...</p><span></span>

edgar buchanan, fifties, jack elam, jacques tourneur, joel mccrea, john smith, lloyd bridges, peter graves, robert wilke, sam peckinpah, wallace ford, warner archives, western

DIRECTOR JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'WITCHITA' STARRING JOEL MCCREA

Title: WICHITA Year: 1955 Rating: **** This Jacques Tourneur's Western is as basic and entertaining as they come, centering on what beg...

MICKEY ROONEY CAUGHT IN 'QUICKSAND' WITH JEANNE CAGNEY

<p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_PiOvnpXYL2_iRPGNu_xmACAHUDcwbZXLOm7QqM_0lq6IEQ49e3BdB6gd-c1sEHKeuMA0L-RGwVgXsdwvFB5Qpy-YMAkWUfch9Tbs9ohI6OCJ95Qlnk0NSefrKE9Dd6RjG5kjg1tZFa1N7OK8ij-1ckhW-loHzZ1jstq7A04lGJwI3cCywLyXVYh6Ng=s1732" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1732" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg_PiOvnpXYL2_iRPGNu_xmACAHUDcwbZXLOm7QqM_0lq6IEQ49e3BdB6gd-c1sEHKeuMA0L-RGwVgXsdwvFB5Qpy-YMAkWUfch9Tbs9ohI6OCJ95Qlnk0NSefrKE9Dd6RjG5kjg1tZFa1N7OK8ij-1ckhW-loHzZ1jstq7A04lGJwI3cCywLyXVYh6Ng=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: QUICKSAND Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre Year: 1950 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>An epitomizing trait of film noir is... if you take a short cut you'll get in lots more trouble than you started out with, and for that QUICKSAND completely epitomizes noir cinema when a young and cocky, girl-loving mechanic played by Mickey Rooney finds the girl of his... immediate dreams...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And quickly winds up landing a date with this sexy blonde waitress Jeanne Cagney as Vera... but back at the garage he realizes two things: not only does he have no money, but his cohorts... including both workmates and those on the phone who owe him... are all equally broke...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, barbara bates, fifties, film noir or melodrama, jack elam, jeanne cagney, mickey rooney, peter lorre

MICKEY ROONEY CAUGHT IN 'QUICKSAND' WITH JEANNE CAGNEY

Title: QUICKSAND Cast: Mickey Rooney, Jeanne Cagney, Peter Lorre Year: 1950 Rates: **** An epitomizing trait of film noir is... if you take ...

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

<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/AVvXsEiDI-9LIZoDzYgXpOaSrxeiQUwE5IF6ZCZUu-6jlIOT9SsACJRZN65AXWFnnJazRiE_EgJQbBJmjnkO2D1sE1qV8SGdSbOLn3luS3O_eMfw6og2pLGkuuUAyrkdkpQPd8zAloxb5B8EvFp-/s1600/adffce70-fcf7-0132-f422-0e18518aac2f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="476" data-original-width="703" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDI-9LIZoDzYgXpOaSrxeiQUwE5IF6ZCZUu-6jlIOT9SsACJRZN65AXWFnnJazRiE_EgJQbBJmjnkO2D1sE1qV8SGdSbOLn3luS3O_eMfw6og2pLGkuuUAyrkdkpQPd8zAloxb5B8EvFp-/s400/adffce70-fcf7-0132-f422-0e18518aac2f.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1976 Rating: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <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> <br> 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> <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/AVvXsEjTvMj6a2kXT4Qoilw_T0LhlDH7kgBp9F3JSnPz3Tk51aj45cAHrW9lFry1UGtpQ_88IKzzJBmru35K-qAzlJIvVZ2Pi5gC-funatVMciqMapzdh1l0pCpUsbBt9wKZ63XjiyHO9PjODHK-/s1600/51N7PTW482L.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="349" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTvMj6a2kXT4Qoilw_T0LhlDH7kgBp9F3JSnPz3Tk51aj45cAHrW9lFry1UGtpQ_88IKzzJBmru35K-qAzlJIvVZ2Pi5gC-funatVMciqMapzdh1l0pCpUsbBt9wKZ63XjiyHO9PjODHK-/s320/51N7PTW482L.jpg" width="223"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1978 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <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> <br> 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> <br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <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/AVvXsEgmSU5nxTHJMep86rXgAuK1pe0n0Duq6UNzKKhqJe_HmfFmXJeQRJHQiMkZkJtiGQCV18JsG7OI-9K7J96lBvWCqJujWx011E8ZC_tJYtFhgu8kQGcVtYF-KPi2ouTuNfnLhASLU8Vk5wo/s1600-h/barefoot+executive.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396993946615381298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSU5nxTHJMep86rXgAuK1pe0n0Duq6UNzKKhqJe_HmfFmXJeQRJHQiMkZkJtiGQCV18JsG7OI-9K7J96lBvWCqJujWx011E8ZC_tJYtFhgu8kQGcVtYF-KPi2ouTuNfnLhASLU8Vk5wo/s200/barefoot+executive.jpg" style="float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 200px;"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1971 Rating: *1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <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>

caper, comedy, darren mcgavin, david niven, disney, don knotts, jack elam, jim dale, kim richards, kurt russell, vic tayback, western

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

Year: 1976 Rating: ** NO DEPOSIT, NO RETURN : Disney flick with Don Knotts whose usual, more natural Tim Conway sidekick is replaced by ...

JAMES GARNER RETURNS IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER'

<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/AVvXsEj1vAqeRTWDgljxJ3587zbGUQ8YXoKLk4fZa9jwCR1gyBg3RljOQ4kldvdffhePqOz9qF5MK3HwIxamzw80_bCTr4ySJZDegszf7FnK-J9XUj18-Sx2GZwQsQYcx5ekl2SwdLYfi-V7_oI/s1600/url.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1vAqeRTWDgljxJ3587zbGUQ8YXoKLk4fZa9jwCR1gyBg3RljOQ4kldvdffhePqOz9qF5MK3HwIxamzw80_bCTr4ySJZDegszf7FnK-J9XUj18-Sx2GZwQsQYcx5ekl2SwdLYfi-V7_oI/s1600/url.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Double BluRay </u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <u>SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER</u>: Whew, that was close... A close call... For when a great thing is ruined by trying to continue it, especially when the original, through exposition by Jack Elam, has the character's futures all mapped out till the grave, it would be tough to make a sequel to SHERIFF keeping the same leading man in James Garner but with a different woman; this time Garner plays a rambling con-man the likes of his MAVERICK persona whose name is Latigo...<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/AVvXsEikrik6IMI8RjTF2BVMTptzIoAPMAw1yQlr0OcqBXGakbhunPziiFkocqcSNKs3odwknHhVnqYiVUpg69o6NZzc_DHsj-p_2aoYbnL_ZWeipDRly7tcz9CXJTGWBVzEwZGFS_q0-7Bfn-M/s1600/13180927_10209649983228798_1322952587_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikrik6IMI8RjTF2BVMTptzIoAPMAw1yQlr0OcqBXGakbhunPziiFkocqcSNKs3odwknHhVnqYiVUpg69o6NZzc_DHsj-p_2aoYbnL_ZWeipDRly7tcz9CXJTGWBVzEwZGFS_q0-7Bfn-M/s400/13180927_10209649983228798_1322952587_n.jpg" width="230" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 197 Local Gunfighter: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> He gets off a train in the town of Purgatory, on the verge of a gold boom, or something, and Jack Elam is a sloppy fella working around horses, again, while Harry Morgan's gun-blasting daughter is tough right outta the box, played by Suzanne Pleshette as Patience, wherein the last ingenue was named Prudy, and Burt Kennedy is the writer/producer still... guess this is a RUNAWAY BRIDE type of sequel... but why mention something so awful?<br /> <br /> And yet, alas, GUNFIGHTER isn't too great a ride unlike the nearly perfect SHERIFF. Garner's character has a few more layers than the no-nonsense lucky one-tick pony, but seems to be lazily revisiting his far more likable con artist from television yesterday...<br /> <br /> And there's an overall plot to be had, somewhere, about two different groups of miners, between the town, involved in a two-year war on who gets to the gold first. And instead of being on the way to Australia, reluctantly taking the job... this time, of a Gunfighter... Garner's excuse is he's waiting three days for the local doctor to remove a tattoo of a woman's... an old woman's... name on his chest: horrible writing at its best, or worst. Not that GUNFIGHTER is the bottom of the barrel fare, but with dialogue that goes in circles before catching onto something, anything, that can provide a worthwhile little story, or even a scene worth watching, it all plays out like a TV movie that wouldn't have made it past the green-light stage if it weren't for the predecessor – the only reason why to buy the Twilight Time double-feature in the first place.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

bruce dern, comedy, double-feature, harry morgan, jack elam, james garner, seventies, sixties, western

JAMES GARNER RETURNS IN 'SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER'

Twilight Time Double BluRay SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL GUNFIGHTER : Whew, that was close... A close call... For when a great thing is ruined by ...