cult film freak: kent taylor

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Written by James M. Tate / 11/07/2020 / No comments / action , floyd crosby , gene nelson , jerry summers , joanna barnes , kent taylor , maury dexter , russ bender , western

KENT TAYLOR & GENE NELSON IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'THE PURPLE HILLS'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhH12DC6AXPuxaXAq9EzHyeVk3jIyog7XQMFwLTU17kOkUbJhfwxorKkYxqpONz0LsVHaaSiaHoUOJtV2fXqvd0QulkeCFQ_UmLf8IO6ZgKW8lRGdoQr2aZW_5GCFtIU_H4aa_VSeccNL/s863/23+2.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="863" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfhH12DC6AXPuxaXAq9EzHyeVk3jIyog7XQMFwLTU17kOkUbJhfwxorKkYxqpONz0LsVHaaSiaHoUOJtV2fXqvd0QulkeCFQ_UmLf8IO6ZgKW8lRGdoQr2aZW_5GCFtIU_H4aa_VSeccNL/w400-h353/23+2.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries conniving and convincing a beautiful woman to go against the good guy, who doesn't seem all that good: in this case bounty hunter Gene Nelson, collecting on a bounty he has to fight for... </p><p></p><p>The twist is that classy lowlife Taylor also wants credit for the hefty sum but without being blamed by the bounty's younger, vengeful brother played by stuntman Jerry Summers, supposedly raised by beautiful Joanna Barnes, much too young as he's far too old for the role...</p><p>But Russ Bender as the aged sheriff is perfectly cast by Dexter, per usual, as most of the picture has four people after a dead body whilst fearing the inevitable collision of angry Apaches...</p><p>Winding up the finale on a dilapidated bridge where the "good guys" hole up against approaching Indians (fighting each other as well), and it's as good a shoot-em-up as anything John Ford could do. Plus these b-Western programmers (especially Maury Dexter's) get right to the point, yet there's still tons of pulpy dialogue, especially by Taylor, a genuine scoundrel while Gene Nelson stands around looking strong, blond, determined and, as they say... The Devil gets all the great lines. </p><p><span></span></p>

action, floyd crosby, gene nelson, jerry summers, joanna barnes, kent taylor, maury dexter, russ bender, western

KENT TAYLOR & GENE NELSON IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'THE PURPLE HILLS'

The Purple Hills Year: 1961 Rating: ***1/2 Another Maury Dexter Western following WALK TALL that Kent Taylor played a character that tries c...

MAURY DEXTER'S 'HARBOR LIGHTS' FEATURING MIRIAM COLON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><u>Director: Maury Dexter </u>Year of Release: 1963</u></td></tr>
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Director Maury Dexter's only lasting Hollywood fingerprint is having been a permanent assistant producer and sporadic director of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Miriam Colon</u></td></tr>
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But in the early 1960's he turned out a great number of little films with genres ranging from Westerns, Beach comedies, and, as in 
the case of the very obscure HARBOR LIGHTS, a "New Noir" crime flick starring Kent Taylor, the film begins with a younger man with a similar tiny-mustache that Kent usually dons in Dexter's villainous roles — for instance, the sparse cowboy picture, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/12/WalkTall.html">WALK TALL</a>...<br>
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And this is one of those waterfront thrillers in the style of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. Or any type of balmy Noir; here taking place/filmed at San Jan, Puerto Rico while not making much use of the exterior location despite the deliciously pulpy title with a dime-novel approach, most of the scenes are handed off from interior locations where guns are drawn, fists fly, last names tossed around, and in this case a treasure that Kent's intrepid pawn, Dan Crown, acts like he knows the whereabouts of despite the fact his brother (the mustached guy in the intro) is as estranged from the family as can be... being dead and all, which got the plot rolling... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Miriam Colon in Harbor Lights RATES: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
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And this is really a gambling picture despite only one quick scene involving Jeff Morrow's lead villain in a hotel casino where most of the interior running-around takes place. But our hero does have to desperately venture into the dusty streets lined with old stucco buildings; and he eventually winds up in an oceanic boat chase... <br>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Colon on Saul</u></td></tr>
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But what makes these HARBOR LIGHTS really shine is Twentieth Century Fox's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/08/makes-jack-a-dull-boy.html">THUNDER ISLAND</a> Spanish fox Miriam Colon as ingenue Gina Rosario...<br>
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Who'd later play Al Pacino's angry mother in SCARFACE and is more recently known within the BREAKING BAD universe as Tuco's soap opera addicted grandma on the first episode of BETTER CALL SAUL. And here, many decades earlier and quite a beauty, she starts out not trusting Taylor but winds up trying to keep him out of harm's way: in particular, from Jeff Morrow's character, simply referred to as Cardinal and who she had some kind of past with...<br>
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action, art bedard, crime, jeff morrow, kent taylor, maury dexter, miriam colon, neo noir, pulp

MAURY DEXTER'S 'HARBOR LIGHTS' FEATURING MIRIAM COLON

Director: Maury Dexter Year of Release: 1963 Director Maury Dexter's only lasting Hollywood fingerprint is having been a permanent a...

WILLARD PARKER & KENT TAYLOR IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'WALK TALL'

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A minimalist, low budget and intentionally sparse version of a John Ford style of scenery-driven Western adventure, WALK TALL is directed by the man whose eclectic filmography includes bikini beach babes, marauding bikers and determined cops after sneaky robbers and declining robbers thwarting dogged, determined cops: And following the aforementioned exterior shot, the wonderful aesthetic does <i>not </i>sustain inside a tent where a one-color backdrop conveniently frames three men: The film's star, experienced Calvary veteran Willard Parker (who the Indians say "Walks Tall") flanked by Maury Dexter regular-everyman Russ Bender as Parker's affable superior, and, last but not least, a wise old Indian Chief dead set on finding the one man everyone knows killed the tribe that included an Indian warrior's young wife.<br>
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<table align="center" 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/AVvXsEiMS0D7BVe49sX-mfPVy2t-__q25sFm6aH0X_7QK50q4b4lArzZy3Q2yJArhiSyqHadOy0Te24CLj7304hoICBX8AwqpVGdaHlsL2YEe8rwHsj1AAY3Kt5NjCFR7ybgK-KdH16YPJnLBiTscSgC9Z8LHQkdwwMqEzrOognGkW6NGuUjjrXHxhgS3El4OA/s750/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-05%20at%204.28.28%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="573" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMS0D7BVe49sX-mfPVy2t-__q25sFm6aH0X_7QK50q4b4lArzZy3Q2yJArhiSyqHadOy0Te24CLj7304hoICBX8AwqpVGdaHlsL2YEe8rwHsj1AAY3Kt5NjCFR7ybgK-KdH16YPJnLBiTscSgC9Z8LHQkdwwMqEzrOognGkW6NGuUjjrXHxhgS3El4OA/w305-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-05%20at%204.28.28%20AM.jpeg" width="305"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brawling Quiet Man style in WALK TALL</u></td></tr></tbody></table>The mellow, contented pace of the lone Parker setting out on his mission... which will keep the Indians from waging war if the guilty party is captured and punished on time... heightens during the bridge of the first and second act as his character, Captain Ed Trask, finds and captures Kent Taylor as Frank Carter...<br>
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While the arrest was extremely simple — an oblivious Carter relaxing on the store steps of a ghost town where, once forced out of an idyllic malaise, he quickly hides the loot received for scalping the (what turns out being the wrong) Indians. From this point on, Trask's biggest obstacle is the most entertaining aspect of WALK TALL. Taylor is the main actor (like Hitchcock's James Stewart/Preminger's Dana Andrews/Wood's Bela Lugosi) in Maury Dexter's early-60's troupe and, with a pencil-thin mustache no matter what side of the law he resides, here he's got the charm of a resilient snake, coolly playing down the "Gentleman Heavy" with sly humor and meticulous goading that intensifies once Joyce Meadows as Sally, whose family was attacked and slain by Indians a stone's throw from the duo's morning campout, gets easily brainwashed by the proud Indian Killer: after what she's been through, all Indians are better off dead. The sneaky chemistry between the Indian haters and sole protector make up for the most moments, overall...<br>
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In fact, both lead roles, the good and the bad, relies on pushing each other's buttons while the surrounding landscape makes you forget this is a very low-budget venture with a good cast and a familiar "Cowboy Picture" script, rushing towards an inevitable and utterly predictable conclusion — ending way too soon since the trio's chemistry makes wordplay trump gunplay. When being reunited with his dimwitted three-man gang to collect the loot, Kent Taylor's  just another cerebral leader of vapid, one-dimensional brutes while our main man is back to the typical hero we started out with before the combined synergy provided more than we (or they) paid for. Thankfully, b-pictures usually have a short, to-the-point runtime, and for the sixty-one minutes, most of WALK TALL is a three-person show.<br>

adventure, floyd crosby, indians, joyce meadows, kent taylor, maury dexter, ron soble, russ bender, sixties, western, willard parker

WILLARD PARKER & KENT TAYLOR IN MAURY DEXTER'S 'WALK TALL'

WALK TALL Year: 1960 Score: ** * * In Maury Dexter's b-Western, WALK TALL (not to be mistaken with the WALKING TALL series over a decad...

MAURY DEXTER'S 'THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH' W/ KENT TAYLOR

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Art for the Maury Dexter soft invasion Martian flick YEAR: 1963</u></td></tr>
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A location scout's job is to discover places to shoot that fits within a script's description  — what the movie needs, they'll find. But in particular super-low budget drive-in flicks like THE DAY MARS INVADED EARTH, as director Maury Dexter took a break from jazzy crime and bikini flicks, it seems like the other way around...<br>
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The Beverly Hills mansion where Dr. David Fielding, played by Dexter's WALK TALL villain and HARBOR LIGHTS hero Kent Taylor, and his family are holed-up after he discovering a way to connect or receive messages with the planet Mars, is like a character in itself  — and a starring role since much of Dexter's camera glides us through the endlessly elegant locale as if he'd found something amazing enough to write an entire motion picture around...<br>

betty beall, horror, jazz score, kent taylor, marie windsor, maury dexter, science-fiction, sixties