cult film freak: richard conte

Showing posts with label richard conte. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 8/01/2025 / No comments / dianne foster , fifties , film noir or melodrama , james darren , kathryn grant , lamont johnson , larry gates , mob , paul picerni , phil karlson , richard bakalyan , richard conte , rudy bond , thriller

RICHARD CONTE WITH DIANNE FOSTER IN 'THE BROTHERS RICO'

dianne foster, fifties, film noir or melodrama, james darren, kathryn grant, lamont johnson, larry gates, mob, paul picerni, phil karlson, richard bakalyan, richard conte, rudy bond, thriller

RICHARD CONTE WITH DIANNE FOSTER IN 'THE BROTHERS RICO'

Richard Conte & Dianne Foster in THE BROTHERS RICO Year: 1957 Rating: *** Classic Film Noir director Phil Karlson's late-1950's ...

FRANK SINATRA RETURNING AS TONY ROME IN 'LADY IN CEMENT'

<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/AVvXsEjsIYtJRllfexjYwxcmIhV8B8K6DY0zGtijnWCOfW8KIkueUYY7agnvU4en-oWRaG3uQEjhLbcGsMhfmxIKS4-Dwcy3iI-O2nk3fNU7V765PhetyFSDNa227Mf1kNm7UsC0Wok4vkCkjTpPWrdq93QAKXcl53fA2CDhjrfBRZ7pUwMBM4sA5a4bN7EtKyS-/s1878/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-14%20at%207.13.52%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="1878" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsIYtJRllfexjYwxcmIhV8B8K6DY0zGtijnWCOfW8KIkueUYY7agnvU4en-oWRaG3uQEjhLbcGsMhfmxIKS4-Dwcy3iI-O2nk3fNU7V765PhetyFSDNa227Mf1kNm7UsC0Wok4vkCkjTpPWrdq93QAKXcl53fA2CDhjrfBRZ7pUwMBM4sA5a4bN7EtKyS-/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-14%20at%207.13.52%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>In LADY IN CEMENT Year: 1967 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In the sequel to the neo-noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/lyon-of-rome.html">TONY ROME</a>, with legendary cool crooner Frank Sinatra in the lead role during the colorful late 1960's... while deep sea diving he literally sees the LADY IN CEMENT at the bottom of the ocean...<br><br>Her naked, otherwise model-looking corpse surrounded by a guardian shark (that would have probably stripped her to the bone) as the original film's otherwise capable director Gordon Douglas (KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE), who filmed several other of Frank's crime/heist vehicles, doesn't get a lot of tension out of what should be an extremely suspenseful situation: as Rome (actually the stunt diver) merely brushes off the killer fish as if they were nothing... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>

action, chris robinson, dan blocker, exploitation, frank sinatra, gumshoe, jazz-score, lainie kazan, mystery, neo noir, raquel welch, richard conte, shark, sixties, tony rome

FRANK SINATRA RETURNING AS TONY ROME IN 'LADY IN CEMENT'

In LADY IN CEMENT Year: 1967 Rating: *** In the sequel to the neo-noir TONY ROME , with legendary cool crooner Frank Sinatra in the lead rol...

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...

CORNEL WILDE, JEAN WALLACE & RICHARD CONTE 'THE BIG COMBO'

<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/AVvXsEgTpIgO3K_l-NKvyT5ZDDZpnpGOeuuvBozAAQRAGtwhhmOMUZhnK0A-nUV5VdLz4iHgN6mscddhJhdcCgL_3lxtGwrKfhw4Z7zwDUMYpy-WON5SFiY6Umcjqt167U2XndvD0XSDRylfhXAryZTm0gVAWwdbFOZ4cX-EKqQPdkL4rE2MEV6jUjrx0Yx6FbbQ/s2062/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-07%20at%2011.22.40%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1300" data-original-width="2062" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTpIgO3K_l-NKvyT5ZDDZpnpGOeuuvBozAAQRAGtwhhmOMUZhnK0A-nUV5VdLz4iHgN6mscddhJhdcCgL_3lxtGwrKfhw4Z7zwDUMYpy-WON5SFiY6Umcjqt167U2XndvD0XSDRylfhXAryZTm0gVAWwdbFOZ4cX-EKqQPdkL4rE2MEV6jUjrx0Yx6FbbQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-07%20at%2011.22.40%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Conte & Cornel Wilde in THE BIG COMBO Year: 1955 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Given a dollar for every time Richard Conte's big time gangster says he makes more money than idealist cop Cornel Wilde, you'd be richer than Conte's Mr. Brown, a kingpin with an Achilles Heel shown right off the bat: his reluctant and guilt-ridden, suicidal moll, Jean Wallace, Who becomes more of a wishbone between Wilde and Conte, and it's a gritty, sleazy, jazz-soaked time reaching a conclusion that becomes more  unpredictable with another dame in the mix... </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>And low-rent showgirl Helene Stanton has more femme fatale attitude despite being the cop's girl, "used like a glove when he's cold" and, with Wallace's Susan spitefully in love with her first love Conte, things get pretty chilly in this late Noir that, like many, recalls the sparse 1930's gangster style over the sinfully lavish programmers of the 40's...</p><span></span>

cop, cornel wilde, earl holliman, film noir or melodrama, helen walker, helene stanton, jazz score, jean wallace, lee van cleef, richard conte

CORNEL WILDE, JEAN WALLACE & RICHARD CONTE 'THE BIG COMBO'

Richard Conte & Cornel Wilde in THE BIG COMBO Year: 1955 Rates: **** Given a dollar for every time Richard Conte's big time gangster...

FRANK SINATRA WITH RICHARD CONTE & SUE LYON IN 'TONY ROME'

<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/AVvXsEiLOywmxjrBeKdPn4Ckt2WYd9tNI2H2YHD-4V8TRMIwRr5s18So2jYfOaaCQi4aUsXbOHYg8f60FyuMYCqJFIMPgDLHBi-d_YK6L1UVcMsKG3wqcooOltH2-6eRlDemaOT9IRFADIIw79yNCg9rhJk2NbfV5NkXpbAyQjP429eT1t99anBFM6GzRh1lSdnv/s1626/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-15%20at%204.24.04%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="1626" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOywmxjrBeKdPn4Ckt2WYd9tNI2H2YHD-4V8TRMIwRr5s18So2jYfOaaCQi4aUsXbOHYg8f60FyuMYCqJFIMPgDLHBi-d_YK6L1UVcMsKG3wqcooOltH2-6eRlDemaOT9IRFADIIw79yNCg9rhJk2NbfV5NkXpbAyQjP429eT1t99anBFM6GzRh1lSdnv/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-11-15%20at%204.24.04%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Frank Sinatra with Richard Conte in TONY ROME Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy's bouncy title song for TONY ROME misleadingly promises a character causing mothers to lock up their daughters — when in fact the only dame in danger is heart of gold "slut" Jill St. John, one of the most contrived femme fatale types in the history of Film Noir, or in this case, Neo Noir cinema...<br>
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Seeming like a sexy daydreamed wraith created solely to share parenthetical scenes with — and pretending to be only somewhat interested in when she's really wildly crazy about — our smug anti-hero private dick, whose gambling addiction is as idle and secondhand as the gumshoe plot with its mazy ups-and-downs while prominently featuring the gorgeous Miami, Florida in its groovy 1960's heyday...<br>
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frank sinatra, gumshoe, jeffrey lynn, jill st. john, neo noir, private eye, richard conte, sixties, sue lyon, thriller, tiffany bolling, tony rome

FRANK SINATRA WITH RICHARD CONTE & SUE LYON IN 'TONY ROME'

Frank Sinatra with Richard Conte in TONY ROME Year: 1967 Rating: ***1/2 Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy's bouncy title song for TONY...

ROD TAYLOR IN 'HOTEL' WITH KEVIN MCCARTHY & RICHARD CONTE

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</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/AVvXsEjXmymrCekORQ-YnkqVBdMkqzcKMa_bxyXwNcnoZc69HEdCfTCzfH8s2ipcj8u9SYKT2nZ1stnLRyvNGVIbnlcs0P0hH5DBDTSEroXf59Z_W_sAAHrMxKFsgHhe61v9e7533CkTXx95L7L-O4N_06CYzwEG22OKjpXj-Uw2hzomGLCQAkcsPCm8SvGmFUJG/s2054/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.37.51%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="2054" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmymrCekORQ-YnkqVBdMkqzcKMa_bxyXwNcnoZc69HEdCfTCzfH8s2ipcj8u9SYKT2nZ1stnLRyvNGVIbnlcs0P0hH5DBDTSEroXf59Z_W_sAAHrMxKFsgHhe61v9e7533CkTXx95L7L-O4N_06CYzwEG22OKjpXj-Uw2hzomGLCQAkcsPCm8SvGmFUJG/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.37.51%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Catherine Spaak and Kevin McCarthy in HOTEL Year: 1967 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 1967 film HOTEL occurs at a strange and contradictory crossroads for women: While Catherine Spaak plays the typical young and complacent, older rich man's trophy girlfriend, she can't stand him — and even tells him so. That being Kevin McCarthy, whose Curtis O'Keefe represents two things Hollywood despises: He's supposedly a Christian, leading a bizarre prayer ritual that sounds as if God were his own personal accountant; and he's a corporate raider who's actually pretty sharp, knowledgeable and experienced: Yet we're not supposed to appreciate (or even notice) these things because no one in the movie does...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As a phony-polite, sophisticated villain, McCarthy plays the kind of boss even his closest, well-paid employees roll their eyes at. And yet he's the most interesting character — especially when opening-up to Spaak's Jeanne about how he was once young, broke, and denied a job as assistant desk clerk at the St. Gregory i.e. our titular HOTEL... <br />
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</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/AVvXsEgVsCAQeK3YRIP9BpW4UhwNFK4JwtPdfdqB-sAH9p_JU8bIbWSIBdwbZ_GvoMfElalbA33fQ94yXGcUtg_UlrtCyl8snp2cmHGpokWiwV3cM_vN-hMnZsU1QbP-fywjsr0jnfdb_gUI_KjFb8WB5B_Rgt62qnvOHloRRKOikwstFiVjPwrNP5ir8u33pFzx/s1360/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.16.14%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVsCAQeK3YRIP9BpW4UhwNFK4JwtPdfdqB-sAH9p_JU8bIbWSIBdwbZ_GvoMfElalbA33fQ94yXGcUtg_UlrtCyl8snp2cmHGpokWiwV3cM_vN-hMnZsU1QbP-fywjsr0jnfdb_gUI_KjFb8WB5B_Rgt62qnvOHloRRKOikwstFiVjPwrNP5ir8u33pFzx/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.16.14%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rod Taylor and Kevin McCarthy in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>From that story alone we learn more about McCarthy's character and motivation than the handsome, square-jawed Rod Taylor who, as the hotel manager, is more about the present time — always thinking and moving ahead: His Peter McDermott is owner Melvin Douglas's right <i>and</i> left hand man: as well as heart, soul, brain, and moral conscience... <br /></p><p></p><p></p><p>And in the role, Taylor is his usual capable, strong silent type who seems like he knows almost everything — and can eventually figure out what he doesn't. Taking interest in the gorgeous French girl from the onset, it's intentionally predictable they'd eventually hook up...<br />
</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/AVvXsEiPI69crbw2708CSltax9GBMS4N13er9mtypovAl7-oAjPDxdQh81-I3Zs__a9Zt-eMUqF8X_AdVR5DMXNcwclp6j53W7NFZfO3Sxb2HoeioREj72PkQzjCtHheFDEqxiSUmFwPTIsWJ8jInktO7W5tw1ThOO3UTlsyUUA9IQvXMgmUn5unDCbIKJ67VR8y/s2072/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.23.29%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="2072" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPI69crbw2708CSltax9GBMS4N13er9mtypovAl7-oAjPDxdQh81-I3Zs__a9Zt-eMUqF8X_AdVR5DMXNcwclp6j53W7NFZfO3Sxb2HoeioREj72PkQzjCtHheFDEqxiSUmFwPTIsWJ8jInktO7W5tw1ThOO3UTlsyUUA9IQvXMgmUn5unDCbIKJ67VR8y/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.23.29%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Jessica Rabbit body-model Vikki Dougan in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>But there are more important stories tucked away in other rooms: Like an elegant yet paranoid and/or guilt-ridden Countess and Count played by well-dressed beauties Merle Oberon and Michael Rennie, covering up for a lethal drunk driving car accident with the help of slick and slimy Richard Conte as the hotel's crooked house detective...</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, the most fun's had with Karl Malden as a roving, room-to-room thief, who even overacts when just his eyes are shown. He'll do anything to snake other people's money, and at one point teams up with a neighboring strip joint's b-girl for a random cash-in-pocket heist (former 1950's backless dress model/starlet Vikki Dougan, who inspired the iconic cartoon sexpot "Jessica Rabbit" from the neck down)... <br />
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</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/AVvXsEhfhwdoKI2mJgUDUankxDXj7rMOfr85qdl9-qr6B5dhgW0jQect3LVlzYCEzz1PgCjpqFh7Pk45oJw9tPvVzV5wxUk5rQ_AzNv3WT3XdufF-QSwv9xv0yr3nzD83-ZfFrtHVLxvdET8Lee9rORFN5i5Vmn9ta10th2W2jUiVJpQ9L41GiafVFdkWDju5Qy4/s2190/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.28.37%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="918" data-original-width="2190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfhwdoKI2mJgUDUankxDXj7rMOfr85qdl9-qr6B5dhgW0jQect3LVlzYCEzz1PgCjpqFh7Pk45oJw9tPvVzV5wxUk5rQ_AzNv3WT3XdufF-QSwv9xv0yr3nzD83-ZfFrtHVLxvdET8Lee9rORFN5i5Vmn9ta10th2W2jUiVJpQ9L41GiafVFdkWDju5Qy4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.28.37%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rod Taylor and Kevin McCarthy in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>While it seems that actor turned director Richard Quine's pleasurable, addictive, New Orleans-jazz blaring HOTEL is the kind of all-star ensemble that'd saturate the following decade's Irwin Allen pictures, or Agatha Christie adaptations, these actors and actresses were, at the time, more distinguished than relevant except for Taylor, the star of two already established (and at that time, semi-recent) classics, THE TIME MACHINE and THE BIRDS...</p><p></p><p></p><p>He walks around with a sharp eye — figuring how to thwart McCarthy's plans to morph the turn-of-the-century hotel into a proverbial shopping mall — all the while making side-deals, trying to keep his boss modern, and avoiding a local-media scandal... <br />
</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/AVvXsEiEOkr6bfZojI9VB_LCGCDdFhWjhSGzMvfAvQH8YF0nKGhpYlsQc_gVs8IHgQsvr41aQuYSZtcQxR_AmCypBXYH-x5SFvWY3iN61y3Qm9W3Art3ZuhhY1-NsOw_OMz-MBxzqSlEHp0BMNMzJR_dBhnCuwLuIhJgWlnaJVqFror1PnMjINK91ZNYHz_4Kfi0/s2244/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.29.36%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="2244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEOkr6bfZojI9VB_LCGCDdFhWjhSGzMvfAvQH8YF0nKGhpYlsQc_gVs8IHgQsvr41aQuYSZtcQxR_AmCypBXYH-x5SFvWY3iN61y3Qm9W3Art3ZuhhY1-NsOw_OMz-MBxzqSlEHp0BMNMzJR_dBhnCuwLuIhJgWlnaJVqFror1PnMjINK91ZNYHz_4Kfi0/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.29.36%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Richard Conte in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So when not wasting time with the glorified French harlot, who <i>is</i> downright gorgeous with a good-enough screen presence for her otherwise robotic delivery to not really matter, Taylor juggles various problems in a suave, smooth manner...</p><p></p><p></p><p>And, thankfully, the political/racial elements aren't dated or preachy, connected tightly within a story-line that rarely strays from providing a cozy two-hours of pleasurable, top rate, four-star entertainment.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXiubrpJY4diLiyED-3IT-gngqRCreZPdZG89piGjbZWnjn0ccAn4dXIUHbRKxH6j4L66f8y28OXjDGFKM1XEtkvUSlF_fMjSr2KKHp83mNrKOuZm6MpWr272XQYTf2d_FEj6UI0Ta0Ce/s1600/50313623_637083436720836_5163213712483418112_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSXiubrpJY4diLiyED-3IT-gngqRCreZPdZG89piGjbZWnjn0ccAn4dXIUHbRKxH6j4L66f8y28OXjDGFKM1XEtkvUSlF_fMjSr2KKHp83mNrKOuZm6MpWr272XQYTf2d_FEj6UI0Ta0Ce/s1600/50313623_637083436720836_5163213712483418112_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>More impressive than the Hotel is Rod Taylor's f-pad where he beds the glorified Frog Whore in HOTEL</u></td></tr>
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<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/AVvXsEjAYwTC_ToklNQdo36kqNrwxBc6dWNo4rdnqqq_ZvEpkqb7FDkQNEaBM-at31LOQZcaNkUHpeC6FNd7BiWt04CjAL8apd261V1Wm8xp90piSLhNKKmpiCMlFcfci1d-KZWx5zAdI9-wdvFRtAUylzVIZr_JeZxF-yY9TehniZP2WwtncL99cHAaChG9c2SN/s1332/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.32.29%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAYwTC_ToklNQdo36kqNrwxBc6dWNo4rdnqqq_ZvEpkqb7FDkQNEaBM-at31LOQZcaNkUHpeC6FNd7BiWt04CjAL8apd261V1Wm8xp90piSLhNKKmpiCMlFcfci1d-KZWx5zAdI9-wdvFRtAUylzVIZr_JeZxF-yY9TehniZP2WwtncL99cHAaChG9c2SN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.32.29%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rod Taylor and Merle Oberon in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEjnQO5g_cZQONCtp-WgpBk6HkLzBI0BCtKf-aefiL86nYWrghcgcogR4tm8SGCERwDShU02FcFd6R97agV-Irqx9yFDwAj1rN8WGRq9t1NitjRgSMrnVCXPHkubgiz1aHEuTqRUxjaEgEDagywM1Bpb_QLQo03JoAljVjAoAfY0HqnNydm6hc-V34PkggV0/s1340/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.35.04%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnQO5g_cZQONCtp-WgpBk6HkLzBI0BCtKf-aefiL86nYWrghcgcogR4tm8SGCERwDShU02FcFd6R97agV-Irqx9yFDwAj1rN8WGRq9t1NitjRgSMrnVCXPHkubgiz1aHEuTqRUxjaEgEDagywM1Bpb_QLQo03JoAljVjAoAfY0HqnNydm6hc-V34PkggV0/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-24%20at%204.35.04%20AM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Karl MaldenVikki Dougan in HOTEL</u></td></tr></tbody></table><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/AVvXsEhVnS0pqMEMyVp5Ixwey4_F90US5T-7608ga0wl7i9N0Kts9PxKnRx9Crv7M8JBr-ArNJzj8qKcOVQk9-LVqoLz1yAUyHYBrOnh2DTUgKKosIkpJ3DyfOdl2R6N95J8V5BlAxRZY6m3RvW6obl5hO_6z-KEY0jYWNrUJ0RitGyKPDCXgc2GmFDQB-9KxHvz/s929/65316955_732066530555859_4080981021607067648_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="929" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVnS0pqMEMyVp5Ixwey4_F90US5T-7608ga0wl7i9N0Kts9PxKnRx9Crv7M8JBr-ArNJzj8qKcOVQk9-LVqoLz1yAUyHYBrOnh2DTUgKKosIkpJ3DyfOdl2R6N95J8V5BlAxRZY6m3RvW6obl5hO_6z-KEY0jYWNrUJ0RitGyKPDCXgc2GmFDQB-9KxHvz/s16000/65316955_732066530555859_4080981021607067648_n.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Debbie Dean and Adele Claire as 2nd and 1st Hooker in HOTEL (1967</u></td></tr></tbody></table><br />

annazette chase, catherine spaak, drama, ensemble, jack donner, jazz score, karl malden, melvin douglas, merle oberon, michael rennie, richard conte, rod taylor, sixties, vikki dougan

ROD TAYLOR IN 'HOTEL' WITH KEVIN MCCARTHY & RICHARD CONTE

Catherine Spaak and Kevin McCarthy in HOTEL Year: 1967 Rating: **** The 1967 film HOTEL occurs at a strange and contradictory crossroads fo...

Written by James M. Tate / 5/29/2016 / No comments / forties , james cagney , richard conte , thriller , war

WARTIME JAMES CAGNEY DOUBLE-FEATURE & BEYOND

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4CZ5jMBca2LtIkvc6Hi_HVxRFzI6PpnMOr37OHrR2k2e3Fhd22wV_u2vsC9cakbPiiXtRShpYDDFZSLtqrHU5A2bHBdk6TAvwU2cOkxMRyi1Svb4XdAgxR5Z4rXBuNUW_MpjuSxRvh0M/s1600/13268156_10209763634870018_3013971677769981086_o.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/AVvXsEg4CZ5jMBca2LtIkvc6Hi_HVxRFzI6PpnMOr37OHrR2k2e3Fhd22wV_u2vsC9cakbPiiXtRShpYDDFZSLtqrHU5A2bHBdk6TAvwU2cOkxMRyi1Svb4XdAgxR5Z4rXBuNUW_MpjuSxRvh0M/s400/13268156_10209763634870018_3013971677769981086_o.jpg" width="310" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Memorial Day Post for fans of James Cagney</u></td></tr>
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<u>BLOOD ON THE SUN</u>: Put away childish things. That's probably what James Cagney felt. World War II was still on when filming the first of two Wartime films that had our stocky, cocky hero fighting not the mob or cops or charming ladies and beating up loudmouths – but battling German Nazis in France and first, taking on pre-War propaganda in Japan...<br />
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Which makes BLOOD ON THE SUN not so genuinely a "War Picture" but more of a War-Prequel and yet, compared to his previous wheelhouse, it definitely lands in the Wartime category and yet, Cagney did several other patriotic films, whether in fun like HERE COMES THE NAVY or semi-serious like CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS: But what gives BLOOD memorable and legitimate cult status is it's (supposedly, according to several tag-lines) the first time Americans saw Kung Fu (or in this case, Judo) on the big screen: And it's no shock that the tough guy Actor struts across the room in that same no-nonsense fashion, thus the Dancer Cagney combined his two mediums for several fast-paced fight scenes, breaking out whenever the American Journalist (they're known for being blackbelts, after all), having written a scandalous piece against Tanaka, is attacked by locals who do more than review articles.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPScDu8hYtLFFP2qPTnkdkcfIUpIT5r17w946ku9RvXwyFeh1HDfnGG815242HpmheFi5s-9WsXLyuAnxf_7JbO-0fnKmy6Thf15oG0YxLo3NIlGZVfOyJxRRnd3u6trkpIw_4kyPk0hE/s1600/13335899_10209763633629987_5438579687330583940_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPScDu8hYtLFFP2qPTnkdkcfIUpIT5r17w946ku9RvXwyFeh1HDfnGG815242HpmheFi5s-9WsXLyuAnxf_7JbO-0fnKmy6Thf15oG0YxLo3NIlGZVfOyJxRRnd3u6trkpIw_4kyPk0hE/s400/13335899_10209763633629987_5438579687330583940_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney is Kung Fu Fighting... before most did on screen</u></td></tr>
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It's not shallow to admit... in a story filled with historic dialogue that, though dumbed-down, is still, given all the red herrings, difficult to follow... these brawls are the best thing going for an otherwise semi-involving, pulpy yarn, although each scene opens with beautiful Asian exteriors and really puts you in that place. And hey, what's a guy without a doll?<br />
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Cut to a few years later, when British actress Sylvia Syms would take to the sea in FERRY TO HONG KONG with Orson Welles... Be sure the already legendary actor/director asked her about working with his favorite all-time performer, James Cagney, who he described as never being hammy no matter how energetic, but "focused, like a laser-beam." And although a serious subject, Cagney keeps his knowing charm intact, most of the time, and for him this is a far from perfect venture, entertaining just enough unlike the far superior journey in Europe...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiWqOkI-ogz8gbHmLUQV7KN8X7YYRQ1-owaDK3WoMwy02EgwQM9-n4L_5RcemNdAlhDofF-l99O9I9PIM7Dwh_FMLJ6TxpsT0iYEBqPDPBJoY-YOAe-FZO_eWFmoZcKRYL3umB0ilYkY/s1600/13339553_10209763633589986_4940167663651938503_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYiWqOkI-ogz8gbHmLUQV7KN8X7YYRQ1-owaDK3WoMwy02EgwQM9-n4L_5RcemNdAlhDofF-l99O9I9PIM7Dwh_FMLJ6TxpsT0iYEBqPDPBJoY-YOAe-FZO_eWFmoZcKRYL3umB0ilYkY/s320/13339553_10209763633589986_4940167663651938503_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The Cagney stance... before he kicks some Nippon ass</u></td></tr>
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<u>13 RUE MADELEINE</u>: Where, like his 1935 classic G-MEN was to the FBI, our second Cagney mission provides a kind of historic lesson with fictional characters about the Army's Central Intelligence... And in G-MEN he's an awkward young lawyer going up against the mob after, during initial training – pummeled by Lloyd Nolan while goaded by Robert Armstrong of KING KONG fame while here he's the man in-charge, training agents himself against a dictator who considered the giant ape epic his second, not first, favorite movie... LIVES OF THE BENGAL LANCER won the prize. Cagney's job is to, while keeping abreast of important information, draw-out (mainly) three young recruits through a mostly mental boot camp, seeing if they'd make the cut to sustain, and for a while we don't see much of Cagney at all...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWCV85oJtWpOG852tcFoD4aQN_xPiHB1FUcR5lMZU7y7IDzDiLYMCS1Sb6HEjnZA-KUM_3wNSk-rUYlFq1CqYPjsSCq8hCYJ7HiguS20wSPeo7Sey0QY44gCJKfiBZaKx2jgigL7nyUs/s1600/13256152_10209763634550010_9069993217012213916_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPWCV85oJtWpOG852tcFoD4aQN_xPiHB1FUcR5lMZU7y7IDzDiLYMCS1Sb6HEjnZA-KUM_3wNSk-rUYlFq1CqYPjsSCq8hCYJ7HiguS20wSPeo7Sey0QY44gCJKfiBZaKx2jgigL7nyUs/s400/13256152_10209763634550010_9069993217012213916_n.jpg" width="347" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>James Cagney & Richard Conte are an opposite pair in 13</u></td></tr>
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Instead, future GODFATHER heavy and ultra-serious Noir actor Richard Conte; French widow Annabelle; and nice as apple pie Frank Latimore take center stage, the two guys sharing a mutual bond that feels genuine and makes RUE work when it needs to. The peripheral  suspense involves the behind-the-scenes Cagney, trying to piece together what his co-lead has already figured out, which won't be hard for the audience: Who exactly is the Nazi spy, and what's he up to exactly?<br />
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The guilty party is, for a little while, kept unaware to us and the fictional characters until, like many a crime flick, he's surreptitiously followed to a bigger catch instead of getting busted outright. Therein the best scene occurs right in the middle: where a non-famous Karl Malden shouts the male duo outside a parachute plane after which the trio's broken apart, and with no one left to shadow, our man, <i>the</i> man, James Cagney as Robert Emmett 'Bob' Sharkey, travels to France to join the Resistance; that is, once he finds who's in charge in order to capture the unseen but highly mentioned and anticipated antagonist.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1Xpu6nCuYoKdHS1TPMxBz6UfsoZMoDknxl9W8s2zQddeD5ZE1Do4PFi9iyxAPJ3YjtyiEI7UPmW0OAuztuVZ9VxVfOPAP77fFBqBXdfdUtW9BMKFT4q0xUhHWkTi3cMm16X2mVGHzliQ/s1600/13267841_10209763634310004_2005763567845644061_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/AVvXsEg1Xpu6nCuYoKdHS1TPMxBz6UfsoZMoDknxl9W8s2zQddeD5ZE1Do4PFi9iyxAPJ3YjtyiEI7UPmW0OAuztuVZ9VxVfOPAP77fFBqBXdfdUtW9BMKFT4q0xUhHWkTi3cMm16X2mVGHzliQ/s400/13267841_10209763634310004_2005763567845644061_n.jpg" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster Artwork</u></td></tr>
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This third part, involving rural espionage, is a bit too long a process compared to the tightly-paced training section, which was really catapulted by the young leads, two of whom are now sporadic cameos, never becoming fully fleshed-out. During the first half, Cagney didn't have to say or do much. Instead he pretty much knew everything, those eyes darting to and fro with a sage wisdom compared to the hyper "kid" in those delicious programmers throughout the 1930's.<br />
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And so, taking a few steps ahead of this better than average post-war thriller, 13 RUE MADELEINE, we can thank God, or the stars, or both that Cagney did one more Gangster flick in 1949 before gliding through conventional A-List pictures during the last twelve years of his career. After the war had altered countless human lives, it also reshaped the cinematic cadence that Cagney had been building since being shifted from the second banana to the leading role in his game-changer, PUBLIC ENEMY. So if it weren't for WHITE HEAT, enveloping his entire career perfectly after a decade-long crime hiatus following ROARING TWENTIES, there'd be no closure... HEAT was the perfect bookend for ENEMIES, like it was all meant to be.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibKUpyfkAyHxqHvrprhlwQ4QMyASB5d4RQa1BGdvFY6F-nJOsIpdJz9SbQIA7nqKiLhgD8WaRst2ql0isvwteVKblAbf3DPc0tXVJpDCqj5Wu5behm2sH2zflJk13e8uZoiEZqNFma3fs/s1600/13315751_10209763635670038_2135721129988281865_n.jpg" 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/AVvXsEibKUpyfkAyHxqHvrprhlwQ4QMyASB5d4RQa1BGdvFY6F-nJOsIpdJz9SbQIA7nqKiLhgD8WaRst2ql0isvwteVKblAbf3DPc0tXVJpDCqj5Wu5behm2sH2zflJk13e8uZoiEZqNFma3fs/s1600/13315751_10209763635670038_2135721129988281865_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>More Patriot Cagney</u></td></tr>
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As mentioned earlier, in-between he did several Patriotic films for the boys, overseas, but if, perhaps, Cagney starred in a few more Gangster flicks, do you think the uniformed audience would mind? Most likely... not very much!<br />
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But the real shame is he wound up so iconic, endearing and ultimate A-list, he refused to completely return to form, that is if you don't count a one-dimensional Mobster role in a Doris Day movie... most don't and you shouldn't either...<br />
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We can only imagine if he yearned for nostalgia and hooked onto a crime melodrama b-picture that the French renamed after Cagney had quit acting following Billy Wilder's reportedly anal direction (he liked to go for it while Billy preferred many takes) on the hyperactive Cold War romp ONE, TWO, THREE. God, the thought of a James Cagney Film Noir is... too much to yearn for. Although, the gangster flicks and the fun crime ventures before the merciless Cody Jarrett went out "On Top of the World,  Ma" were, despite their occupation, good guys deep down. So that'll have to be his Noir... Cagney Noir. CagNoir. Works just fine if you let it along with this double dose of CagWar on the 2016 Memorial Day Weekend!<br />
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<u>BLOOD ON THE SUN</u>: ***<br />
<u>13 RUE MADELEINE</u>: ***1/2<br />
<a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/03/captains-of-clouds.html">CAPTAINS OF THE CLOUDS REVIEW</a>

forties, james cagney, richard conte, thriller, war