cult film freak: leo mckern

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Written by James M. Tate / 7/16/2026 / No comments / billie whitelaw , david warner , franchise , gregory peck , holly palance , horror , lee remick , leo mckern , martin benson , patrick troughton , richard donner , seventies , thriller

GREGORY PECK FATHERS DEMONIC HARVEY STEPHENS IN 'THE OMEN'

<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/AVvXsEhsD5-liIPZmdp4k9n7vu6xhmeKg_lC6qBpKFic4zbE_Axk-jph5mISxAeGONXSakd8U4QeyhAcpLfizhvHRuG0-oy5sWDrcli1ibEGAXgtJmuZn3gbIKjXfiVsTNGQw7yLcm8zX4PjoXnTaWZxcC1jJmJHYquS4qK-qEtupJNsLZq0e9-Nk8TAOY4yLY7M/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-16%20at%2012.16.27%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsD5-liIPZmdp4k9n7vu6xhmeKg_lC6qBpKFic4zbE_Axk-jph5mISxAeGONXSakd8U4QeyhAcpLfizhvHRuG0-oy5sWDrcli1ibEGAXgtJmuZn3gbIKjXfiVsTNGQw7yLcm8zX4PjoXnTaWZxcC1jJmJHYquS4qK-qEtupJNsLZq0e9-Nk8TAOY4yLY7M/s1600/Screen%20Shot%202026-07-16%20at%2012.16.27%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE OMEN Year: 1976 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What's a b-movie in a-list clothing, with fantastic widescreen photography and a cinematic hybrid of THE EXORCIST Cursed American Gothic and Adventurous Iraq sequences, the main problem of Richard Donner's THE OMEN is that legendary actor Gregory Peck is far too important to the story, leaving that demonic son-of-Satan more of a sporadic guest star than the lead of his very own feature...<br><br>While Linda Blair was interrupted by long stretches of dialogue between Ellen Burstyn and Jason Miller, their input served (and was combined with) her own particular situation... meanwhile, devilish-looking Harvey Stephens (hardly paying dues like Linda) is absent for too long a time, particularly as the second act morphs into the third...  <br></p><p><span></span></p>

billie whitelaw, david warner, franchise, gregory peck, holly palance, horror, lee remick, leo mckern, martin benson, patrick troughton, richard donner, seventies, thriller

GREGORY PECK FATHERS DEMONIC HARVEY STEPHENS IN 'THE OMEN'

Title: THE OMEN Year: 1976 Rating: **1/2 What's a b-movie in a-list clothing, with fantastic widescreen photography and a cinematic hybr...

STEPHEN BOYD & CAMILLA SPARV IN VAL GUEST'S 'ASSIGNMENT K'

<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/AVvXsEiWncnPrmIqJQ1OJhSaBD88KoopMduGHQtP1ieklFozBps5uvCQ0lgdKu8pOetkC5QpznoJnlKYrZCXA_w21QCU3GtrUUmgsEQZhW0ZqribFhKC5kJeYxq4u5E8l18JpyDM-U8InyWAVEDifDS39ps7fgnbr8Rqivp6Q66i2eieur3wytRKD71QuA7mcvy5/s1800/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWncnPrmIqJQ1OJhSaBD88KoopMduGHQtP1ieklFozBps5uvCQ0lgdKu8pOetkC5QpznoJnlKYrZCXA_w21QCU3GtrUUmgsEQZhW0ZqribFhKC5kJeYxq4u5E8l18JpyDM-U8InyWAVEDifDS39ps7fgnbr8Rqivp6Q66i2eieur3wytRKD71QuA7mcvy5/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ASSIGNMENT K Year: 1968 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/val%20guest">Val Guest</a> and Irish actor Stephen Boyd are both underrated and only known by film buffs: Boyd the super-handsome, square-jawed, cleft-chin villain in BEN-HUR while Guest directed the more suspenseful Hammer entries including non-scary crime flicks... <br><br>Here both converging into what's basically a James Bond spy movie the same year Sean Connery replacement George Lazenby took to the snowy alps in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/04/on-her-majestys-secret-service.html">ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE</a>... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

andrea allan, british neo noir, catherine schell, espionage, jane merrow, john alderton, leo mckern, michael redgrave, robert hoffman, sixties, sport, ursula howells, val guest, vivi bach

STEPHEN BOYD & CAMILLA SPARV IN VAL GUEST'S 'ASSIGNMENT K'

Title: ASSIGNMENT K Year: 1968 Rating: ***1/2 British director Val Guest and Irish actor Stephen Boyd are both underrated and only known by...

DEAN JAGGER AND WILLIAM LUCAS IN HAMMER'S 'X THE UNKNOWN'

<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/AVvXsEiOFYr9YI4BhkslOH6CpAAH7SCLjfSmNcOmcuSvas8maCfYWtZZ8EoanyuJsjPcxLvYHxzN4MrfTMxrFTMwoZ3-stt2YGCuqJtfGs12D5S0xXye0EeMe9iI03fk6Au9UVabhC2m592yMgckIO740Mq5DJSTEhx-HOJAYWgq72kcjUSBAQCw5xR1gtaRpFwW/s2078/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2012.24.59%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1120" data-original-width="2078" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFYr9YI4BhkslOH6CpAAH7SCLjfSmNcOmcuSvas8maCfYWtZZ8EoanyuJsjPcxLvYHxzN4MrfTMxrFTMwoZ3-stt2YGCuqJtfGs12D5S0xXye0EeMe9iI03fk6Au9UVabhC2m592yMgckIO740Mq5DJSTEhx-HOJAYWgq72kcjUSBAQCw5xR1gtaRpFwW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-26%20at%2012.24.59%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>X THE UNKNOWN Year: 1957 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer's science-fiction/horror hybrid X THE UNKNOWN came out the same year as QUATERMASS 2, sequel to THE QUATERMASS XPERIMENT where Brian Donlevy played the inevitable creature-seeking Dr. Quatermass in both...<br><br>And this production was supposed to be yet another of that franchise, which makes sense since Dean Jagger plays central investigative scientist Dr. Adam Royston with more genuinely cerebral concentration and would have made a far superior, more effective title character... but being a standalone makes X a solidly entertaining thriller about a
 mysterious atomic substance that first kills a soldier (Kenneth Cope) and then a child in a rural wide-open field... </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><span></span></p>

british, creature, dean jagger, fifties, hammer films, horror, kenneth cope, leo mckern, michael ripper, nuclear, science-fiction, william lucas

DEAN JAGGER AND WILLIAM LUCAS IN HAMMER'S 'X THE UNKNOWN'

X THE UNKNOWN Year: 1957 Rates: **** Hammer's science-fiction/horror hybrid X THE UNKNOWN came out the same year as QUATERMASS 2, sequel...

PAUL SCOFIELD IN 'A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS' WITH ORSON WELLES

<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/AVvXsEgbWmSjpLLarm_Pf75axWeFOeqsu6qAjLh-TrU5vH9VU2HL3rmAVzviYZ_Pnnij7XHGLL5AcYYy_PhGFPZd3amj3icqFdKzwsprK3qSeNqVS8Fbz1eByQ848mAkIjD1e5C1VHjb-gdvYJYoi6D4j1sFEsrpeQcElvy9cMius32CM2C4fSD5rFMplWOVEQ/s1344/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-02%20at%204.37.01%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbWmSjpLLarm_Pf75axWeFOeqsu6qAjLh-TrU5vH9VU2HL3rmAVzviYZ_Pnnij7XHGLL5AcYYy_PhGFPZd3amj3icqFdKzwsprK3qSeNqVS8Fbz1eByQ848mAkIjD1e5C1VHjb-gdvYJYoi6D4j1sFEsrpeQcElvy9cMius32CM2C4fSD5rFMplWOVEQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-11-02%20at%204.37.01%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Year: 19566</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play 
was probably that of Joseph Cotten's Jeb Leland, a man so determined, honest, 
and stubborn, he doesn't have many rooting for him, but instead, the sympathy goes to the flawed leading man... <br>
<br>
Far from the lead, Welles makes an appearance here as a perplexed Cardinal in the Oscar Winning A MAN FOR ALL 
SEASONS, kickstarting an accusation that would lead to the death of the titular 
priest who would not bend for anyone, not even the King of England... the infamous Henry the XIII... who,
 played by Robert Shaw, has a voracious laugh as rich as fool's gold... <br>
</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

england, john hurt, leo mckern, nigel davenport, orson welles, paul scofield, religion, sixties, susannah york

PAUL SCOFIELD IN 'A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS' WITH ORSON WELLES

Orson Welles in A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS Year: 19566 Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play was probably that ...

VAL GUEST DIRECTS DISASTER IN 'THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE'

<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/AVvXsEiCH1xeQoRZG4bWB6MnA9I7rOhKh75MFKviJwKrqVWYXtoNNOeQBuLl8o6btuj7kXOSQA5zlfUfYAqurRKmXnDmSTGEeOfQateJDQawMAtKUeXFLFdr9O5CQ22Bas0XX6hnN5JxTMkaIDGH/s1903/Screen+Shot+2021-04-13+at+5.59.47+AM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1415" data-original-width="1903" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCH1xeQoRZG4bWB6MnA9I7rOhKh75MFKviJwKrqVWYXtoNNOeQBuLl8o6btuj7kXOSQA5zlfUfYAqurRKmXnDmSTGEeOfQateJDQawMAtKUeXFLFdr9O5CQ22Bas0XX6hnN5JxTMkaIDGH/w400-h297/Screen+Shot+2021-04-13+at+5.59.47+AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE Released in 1961</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A rat-a-tat dialog hybrid of THE FRONT PAGE and the doomsday-anticipation of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, Val Guest's disaster opus THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE has ice caps melting decades before the standard trend...<br></p><p>And there's a fair amount of preaching (albeit far ahead of its time) like any cautionary science-fiction... but everything flows not only with the dire situation at hand but the hustle and bustle of a hustling/bustling newspaper office... </p><p>Where boozy yet intellectual veteran reporter Leo McKern and tattered, has-been, single father Edward Judd are in the nervy dilemma of figuring exactly what to write about — despite the fact both America <i>and</i> Russia tested nuclear weapons not only one day apart, but an entire week earlier, so, with <i>that </i>important game-changing aspect out of the way, the story begins as if the viewer arrived fifteen-minutes late as Judd's snarky, sarcastic reporter is a bit much to take so soon, all at once: Yet his obnoxious persona makes more sense the closer the slow-burn, possibly-apocalyptic future nears...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, bernard braden, british, cult, disaster, edward judd, gene anderson, geoffrey frederick, janet munro, julie samuel, leo mckern, michael caine, nuclear, sixties, val guest

VAL GUEST DIRECTS DISASTER IN 'THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE'

THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE Released in 1961 A rat-a-tat dialog hybrid of THE FRONT PAGE and the doomsday-anticipation of THE DAY THE EART...

STANLEY BAKER BATTLES THROUGH HAMMER'S 'YESTERDAY'S ENEMY'

<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/AVvXsEgUwF8tR9_JTPpGSvo80p62QcyHEXhEHb9y-jJvV1JwJrI_AHIydZgecwfp-C5mc1FAq1vjPNBAeMDETlFy72dKFsBxgBUmi6GU6GrPu4elNw3Xk9KgjdukkDJ6IN8UXUataTAaFuLB-g7v/s2048/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2044" data-original-width="2048" height="399" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUwF8tR9_JTPpGSvo80p62QcyHEXhEHb9y-jJvV1JwJrI_AHIydZgecwfp-C5mc1FAq1vjPNBAeMDETlFy72dKFsBxgBUmi6GU6GrPu4elNw3Xk9KgjdukkDJ6IN8UXUataTAaFuLB-g7v/w400-h399/lf.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Stanley Baker in Edwina Carroll Year: 1959 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This Hammer WWII b-movie was originally a stage-play, and with the contained setting and tons of dialog it's apparent.. but Stanley Baker turns in his greatest performance... a one-man show despite being surrounded by character-actors like faithful sergeant Gordon Jackson countered by idealistic reporter Leo McKern and priest Guy Rolfe, driving the central moral-quandary plot-line...<br></p><p></p><p>Beginning with their troop of disheveled British soldiers, lost and trudging through the Burmese jungle, happening upon a two-hut village where Baker's no-nonsense captain figures he MUST scare an informer by killing two elderly locals... </p><p>The best scenes occur during this first half when Baker's lethal, cold-blooded methods start becoming more clear and, because of the vital information gained, somewhat logical, and he never wavers to the ethical humanity in a village foreshadowing future Vietnam films (and their tropes) about murderous white soldiers...  </p><p>These include Brian De Palma's CASUALTIES OF WAR and Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning PLATOON, each paling to this low budget, obscure gem mostly thanks to Stanley Baker, keeping up the same stubborn, determined intensity when the Japanese — led by a philosophizing Philip Ahn — turns the tables, and the adaptation becomes even more stagey and yet with tight, edgy suspense by Val Guest, one of Hammer's best directors, YESTERDAY'S ENEMY keeps the audience as locked-in and tightly-wound as its unflappable leading man.  </p><span></span>

action, adventure, bryan forbes, burt kwouk, edwina carroll, fifties, gordon jackson, guy rolfe, hammer films, leo mckern, philip ahn, stanley baker, val guest, war

STANLEY BAKER BATTLES THROUGH HAMMER'S 'YESTERDAY'S ENEMY'

Stanley Baker in Edwina Carroll Year: 1959 Rates: **** This Hammer WWII b-movie was originally a stage-play, and with the contained setting ...

PAUL SCOFIELD & ROBERT SHAW IN A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfx-jSNk5nRU0d2673zTkdYeXN1Ytb2_aNxocWD7pXQs3vnfEPHLZ4Cadwv3u7AJNB9XIIsYiIbKbWggYLEMP-UlIJYmWBW2AOivuZ8P1-fuoh4-4ybfyaiuVP9e_URRc83vWZtQbpBg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCfx-jSNk5nRU0d2673zTkdYeXN1Ytb2_aNxocWD7pXQs3vnfEPHLZ4Cadwv3u7AJNB9XIIsYiIbKbWggYLEMP-UlIJYmWBW2AOivuZ8P1-fuoh4-4ybfyaiuVP9e_URRc83vWZtQbpBg/s400/1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Orson Welles faced by Paul Scofield YEAR: 1966</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play was probably that of Joseph Cotten's Jeb, a man so determined, honest, and stubborn, he doesn't have many rooting for him, but instead, the praise goes to the flawed leading man...<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZXGRYvH6Zn_F_qlejxv81mKX0wiLZ95QfJQDO9VnVPgu3RhIQPctAO5k76D7O4fy1ECYVrgMqF3XOcjoybPK0adRaSvKtpaNByzNRlRhyphenhyphenOIMEUXz1wcqgoSfq13ie7SI60bhgFPBZ1I/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdZXGRYvH6Zn_F_qlejxv81mKX0wiLZ95QfJQDO9VnVPgu3RhIQPctAO5k76D7O4fy1ECYVrgMqF3XOcjoybPK0adRaSvKtpaNByzNRlRhyphenhyphenOIMEUXz1wcqgoSfq13ie7SI60bhgFPBZ1I/s320/2.jpg" width="144" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"God or sharkin?"</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Orson Welles makes an appearance in the Oscar Winning A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, kickstarting an accusation that would lead to the death of a priest who would not bend for anyone, not even the King of England, who, played by Robert Shaw, has a voracious laugh as rich as fool's gold. Here we see the connection of Paul Scofield's Thomas More... Without going into details, he was one of the most important priests in the Church of England, and to quickly summarize the plot-line: More was the sole person against the King divorcing his wife and marrying his dead brother's sister. Ironic that, though the King is mentioned throughout, he only (really) turns up in that one jovial scene, trying to change More's heart by simply being his friend. That's a lot what Charles Foster Kane did with Jo Cotten's Jedediah Leland...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiREPRQGLDGFrCgceMReqnBqo9tD6-8s76_jw7UXvUFXIV3mJ1fyJG70NzyA8L0DbAuhgLm4IR_LqykLTWJ0RkY1ENJUNWL2pkTCQM4pah2U3I5whe_g5hyphenhyphen-AtE_ELhJaHDlEVFCfewxB4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiREPRQGLDGFrCgceMReqnBqo9tD6-8s76_jw7UXvUFXIV3mJ1fyJG70NzyA8L0DbAuhgLm4IR_LqykLTWJ0RkY1ENJUNWL2pkTCQM4pah2U3I5whe_g5hyphenhyphen-AtE_ELhJaHDlEVFCfewxB4/s320/3.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susannah York with Paul Scolfield</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
But SEASONS is, despite an aura of Catholic propaganda, like CHARIOTS OF FIRE could be misjudged for catering to Christians (despite the main character being Jewish) – especially to those who shy away from religious-friendly cinema – more or less a poetic, and extremely ancient-set mobster film in its backstabbing and backroom dealings; a Gothic Film Noir with eerie statues and shadowy boats stealthily skimming through night lakes to darkened castle locations; or perhaps a modernized Shakespeare, but with words that are much easier to follow, and yet still delivered by British actors who seem born to speak them. Especially Scofield, whose faithfulness to God is the reason; yet for the sake of the story, and the audience, the mellow cadence he carries throughout, with only a few words raised, is what makes his performance true and natural and not what could have been a pontificating sermon, constantly reminding everyone that The King is not above God.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYXkuQItcNHIME7Z9TTae7e0coRyTH8SO40zRdRMGdxBzoMQvdj59mqNtev24wCtab5rMb7nIMvBn7ag-8yX6BP2RaHsXur3PQ6OOJ7tug1yhOJO2JGCbkjLsSVox_kmYVuOSdxGSNQw/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrYXkuQItcNHIME7Z9TTae7e0coRyTH8SO40zRdRMGdxBzoMQvdj59mqNtev24wCtab5rMb7nIMvBn7ag-8yX6BP2RaHsXur3PQ6OOJ7tug1yhOJO2JGCbkjLsSVox_kmYVuOSdxGSNQw/s320/4.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Twilight Time DVD Cover</td></tr>
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There are flaws that can be blamed on the time it was made, the mid-sixties... From the decade's beginning up until around 1967, when the Renaissance Era began and would continue throughout the 70's, the FADE OUT button was overused by editors, ultimately deleting the overall importance and intensity of certain scenes... almost like they never existed... and you're never quite sure how much time before the new scene began: could be a minute or a year, making the actors have to start all over again. And while John Hurt's terrific role as a young, selfish Richard Rich, falling in step with Leo McKern's shifty middleman instigator, begins to get edgy and intriguing, the film quickly turns from a sort of Roman Catholic espionage into a downer where... well... our MAN is imprisoned for a very long time, viewed through montage, and then executed. Not only a sad thing within the story, but way too much time's spent on the decline right when things were moving...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvr_XnxbICP1npv45m9JP0SvAn4O_Efb3nLystkuXCDeRs-X360Jnf9tKDd7m151TX8qvh8uOS27h3sbjMr9quAF4qlyOvXN7IILUxiIxsSyMBb1bDyC-JnrpNJvxSRtoN1DcdLBY1gJg/s1600/Screen+shot+2016-05-15+at+1.35.40+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvr_XnxbICP1npv45m9JP0SvAn4O_Efb3nLystkuXCDeRs-X360Jnf9tKDd7m151TX8qvh8uOS27h3sbjMr9quAF4qlyOvXN7IILUxiIxsSyMBb1bDyC-JnrpNJvxSRtoN1DcdLBY1gJg/s1600/Screen+shot+2016-05-15+at+1.35.40+AM.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>SeasonScore: ****</u></td></tr>
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Words are spoken, and must be paid attention to, making this a movie to experience more than once to fully grasp the entirety. And while the superb acting exceeds the direction, which is also good, along with the fade-outs, SEASONS can be encumbered with deliberate angles striving to equal the greatness of the man it represents, or the celebrated stage play in which it's based. But overall, everything does connect. And Scofield is a MAN who, truthfully, is hard to root for completely... Like Welles had stated, anyone playing a character so "right" isn't quite relatable to we common folk with a penchant for anti-heroes, and along with his suffering family, including a gorgeous Susannah York, who understand putting God above the King but not above his life, while basically shoving his family aside. But that gives more power to Scolfield's performance. He's completely on his own. His face rarely changes. And yet, not only by words, he speaks volumes. For such a saint, he wields an often devilish expression. Making this one of those roles no one else could have played. And in the old days, the Oscars were magnetized in that direction.

john hurt, leo mckern, orson welles, paul scofield, sixties

PAUL SCOFIELD & ROBERT SHAW IN A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS

Orson Welles faced by Paul Scofield YEAR: 1966 Orson Welles, years after CITIZEN KANE, said the hardest role to play was probably that o...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/17/2011 / 1 Comment / brooke shields , christopher atkins , deserted island , eighties , leo mckern , romance

THE BLUE LAGOON

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1980 **</td></tr>
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Semi-decent till the two children, shipwreckled on an island with old fat cook Leo McKern, grow up as Brooke Shields and Christopher Atkins... Both deliver lines like porn stars with a similar plot line: yet there's an overlong build-up to the enviable consummation, and not enough adventure to the other side of the island, which McKern, who died when they were children, warned about.<br />
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Then, when our Swiss Family Adam and Eve have a baby, things really wane. But despite the flaws and cornball dialogue, you'll be drawn in, somehow: if not for curiosity's sake.

brooke shields, christopher atkins, deserted island, eighties, leo mckern, romance