cult film freak: richard boone

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Written by James M. Tate / 3/04/2023 / No comments / al lettieri , hubert cornfield , jazz score , jess hahn , kidnapping , marlon brando , neo noir , pamela franklin , richard boone , rita moreno , sixties , suspense , thriller

MARLON BRANDO INVADES 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

<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/AVvXsEhYz3-V8gOl8aW_N-3G3CEI4cplBiXx1y8xNaLeI9zNefFeRttq7sBssofE_XdqW0g4PF0AbpFG9vFGwJuXrI8cjZEIxYbMV9KM-6vz5ZH8ibT_w4M2S-ADshzPtDKg2lSL0CajL7wKR_BTn8lU9GEEMMoXp1NWjH2_n-9RHMKUH8aMa2vhqSdRdavDnBHQ/s2004/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-03%20at%207.45.39%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="2004" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYz3-V8gOl8aW_N-3G3CEI4cplBiXx1y8xNaLeI9zNefFeRttq7sBssofE_XdqW0g4PF0AbpFG9vFGwJuXrI8cjZEIxYbMV9KM-6vz5ZH8ibT_w4M2S-ADshzPtDKg2lSL0CajL7wKR_BTn8lU9GEEMMoXp1NWjH2_n-9RHMKUH8aMa2vhqSdRdavDnBHQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202026-04-03%20at%207.45.39%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Marlon Brando in The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>There are two things that must be intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY: One is fortyish Marlon Brando was proving to still be fit and great looking (and he did); the other is this kidnap-thriller's not one bit thrilling, and director Hubert Cornfield deliberately made a character-driven film more about edgy criminals than the edgy situation they're involved in... And kidnapped Pamela Franklin is hardly shown, especially once inside the main location, a French beach house where even a literally fishing cop — flirting with Brando's junky girlfriend (and the passive leader's sister) Rita Moreno — doesn't  evoke suspense...

al lettieri, hubert cornfield, jazz score, jess hahn, kidnapping, marlon brando, neo noir, pamela franklin, richard boone, rita moreno, sixties, suspense, thriller

MARLON BRANDO INVADES 'THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY'

Marlon Brando in The Night of the Following Day 1969 Rating: ***1/2 There are two things that must be intentional about THE NIGHT OF THE FOL...

DON SIEGEL DIRECTS JOHN WAYNE'S FINAL FILM 'THE SHOOTIST'

<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/AVvXsEgeBZmfvcl4Ud5k2Z43gzBsfrFvI2g0fOXN2PpbQJhw1ed7lMVmb-aNIFjEhwAIcobYkvZ7uAckiPuhCH56hUuLO-pJIiDpKiVsN7R78OYsa4wYTyqoaErnMOqige4lATtRMEzVNGO-Eb5iO29L2lIhyArQgiahecjt3Fj0_HR-x1K-89WLu4JnNWg2Zg/s1945/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-20%20at%202.33.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1083" data-original-width="1945" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBZmfvcl4Ud5k2Z43gzBsfrFvI2g0fOXN2PpbQJhw1ed7lMVmb-aNIFjEhwAIcobYkvZ7uAckiPuhCH56hUuLO-pJIiDpKiVsN7R78OYsa4wYTyqoaErnMOqige4lATtRMEzVNGO-Eb5iO29L2lIhyArQgiahecjt3Fj0_HR-x1K-89WLu4JnNWg2Zg/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-06-20%20at%202.33.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE SHOOTIST Stars: John Wayne, Hugh O'Brien Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Don Siegel's THE SHOOTIST seems perfectly suited as John Wayne's final movie since it's about the final week of an infamous gunslinger dying of cancer (given the news by a doctor played by James Stewart); yet there was a string of slightly younger actors considered before a surprisingly healthy-looking Wayne took the now legendary role...Where his acting is solid, true, even mellow despite the fact he's about to die while almost getting killed at the same time, contrasting with a horribly-miscast Ron Howard as the whiny son of Lauren Bacall, running a bed-and-breakfast where Wayne's holed-up, getting sporadic THIS IS YOUR LIFE drop-ins from various character-actors...

don siegel, exploitation, harry morgan, hugh o'brian, james stewart, john wayne, lauren bacall, richard boone, ron howard, seventies, western

DON SIEGEL DIRECTS JOHN WAYNE'S FINAL FILM 'THE SHOOTIST'

Title: THE SHOOTIST Stars: John Wayne, Hugh O'Brien Year: 1976 Rating: ***1/2 Don Siegel's THE SHOOTIST seems perfectly suited as Jo...

JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'WAY OF A GAUCHO' WITH RORY CALHOUN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rory Calhoun rarely looks behind Year: 1952 Rates: ***</td></tr>
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Jacques Tourneur makes stylish Westerns, from CANYON PASSAGE before to WICHITA after, and WAY OF A GAUCHO is about the "original cowboys," the titular Argentine bandits who "Go with God" and are as patriotic as they come, and go: Making the famous "last refuge of a scoundrel" quote more pro than con: at least for one in particular who rides in the glory of the Old Days... 
 
That we never really learn about so we can only follow the intrepid horse-clopping footsteps of Rory Calhoun's "condor-eyed" Martin Penalosa as the best scenes have our anti-hero breaking the law, sent under Richard Boone's harsh military command and eventually finding his own way. This is where things slowly collapse upon an overly grandiose soundtrack and a maze of plotlines marring what should've been a more simple, honest Western that Tourneur's good at... 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gene Tierney in Way of a Gaucho RATES: ***</td></tr>
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Painted with broad strokes, the surrounding countrysides feel like another world entirely, so there's a Fantasy element underneath the deep brown saddles and painted red scarves, as if Penalosa's more a lean Barbarian than maverick horseman, and with Tourneur, a Gothic undertone lurks as well... 
 
But our man needed more of a goal, an urgency, than to ride along (with forced ingenue Gene Tierney when guitar-strumming Everette Sloane would've made a terrific sidekick) full of stubborn, woeful pride. Which doesn't mean the battle scenes with horses flowing along the sweeping camera isn't worthwhile. Above and beyond everything else, this GAUCHO looks fantastic. And "Who is the gaucho amigo?" to look anyway else.
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everette sloane, fifties, gene tierney, jacques tourneur, richard boone, rory calhoun, western

JACQUES TOURNEUR'S 'WAY OF A GAUCHO' WITH RORY CALHOUN

Rory Calhoun rarely looks behind Year: 1952 Rates: *** Jacques Tourneur makes stylish Westerns, from CANYON PASSAGE before to WICHITA af...

JOHN WAYNE IS BIG JAKE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1971 cast: John Wayne, Richard Boone, Christopher Mitchum, Maureen O'Hara rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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“It is I think going to be a very harsh and unpleasant kind of business, and will I think require an extremely harsh and unpleasant kind of man.” 
 
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These are words spoken by Maureen O’Hara’s Martha McCandles after her plush ranch was attacked, in a Sergio Leone style slaughter, by a group of ragged killers thanks to cutthroat John Fain played with a subtle villainy by veteran actor Richard Boone. 
 
The man Martha spoke of makes a better revenge-wielding hired gun than husband. That speech was the perfect segue for our title character played by John Wayne, who, during his final decade of motion pictures, looked as tough as a weathered railroad spike that could still easily plunge through cold steel. 
 
Jake’s got three sons, one severely injured in the attack, and most importantly his grandson – played by Ethan Wayne, the Duke’s real life boy – is kidnapped for a million dollar ransom. Thus begins a hunting party/journey with Jake and (among a dwindling posse) his two other grownup kids including Patrick Wayne and Robert Mitchum’s son, Christopher. 
 
These siblings have one main thing in common: both are spiteful of their dad, whose philandering ways caused the divorce when they were growing up. But now they’re learning all about “true grit” i.e. how to shoot guns the right way while surviving a trek that leads to an inevitable showdown. 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">John Wayne and Christopher Mitchum</td></tr>
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Christopher Mitchum’s energetic Michael rides one of those new fangled "motorized horses," adding a nice twist to most of Wayne’s Westerns: we’re in the turn of the century when machinery/progression was making ground. One scene where Michael zips his motorcycle behind enemy lines, wreaking havoc and leaping across mountaintops, provides a cool 70’s vibe to this otherwise old school cowboy flick. While Patrick Wayne’s James has the biggest chip on his shoulder about “daddy” and is the one who must eventually come around. 
 
Despite a prologue with an unnecessary narrator spouting names and background information on people we’ll never keep tabs on, and a few scenes further in that drag with too much dialog, along with humor that doesn’t always fit the gritty milieu – especially when Jake sporadically turns into a clumsy stooge – the eclectic group (including Bruce Cabot as a resilient Native American) always winds up in interesting perilous situations with shootouts and, in one small town celebrating an oil strike, a creatively planned scheme to hide the million dollar box from a band of rogue bad guys. 
 
The finale doesn’t live up to some of the other battles, and perhaps this is intentional. Richard Boone and John Wayne square off as two men equally tough and world-weary… Neither getting too passionate while playing a waiting game, with guns drawn, until the best man, or men, will be left standing. 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=big+jake">BUY BIG JAKE AT AMAZON</a></td></tr>
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action, bruce cabot, christopher mitchum, john wayne, maureen o'hara, patrick wayne, richard boone, seventies, western