cult film freak: ted decorsia

Showing posts with label ted decorsia. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 5/05/2024 / No comments / coleen gray , elisha cook jr. , film noir or melodrama , heist , joe sawyer , joe turkel , marie windsor , stanley kubrick , sterling hayden , ted decorsia , timothy carey , vince edwards

STANLEY KUBRICK'S NOIR 'THE KILLING' WITH STERLING HAYDEN

<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/AVvXsEhYJ9oCKTJQYqzHTI2vpYzGijLUAWW7iQ9TwuWy0kBCREdMyv2ExusMVcm9BVXLGOUtzBfPS5fIznhAsD9NCruEIAnnY_c8EGu8Ry5-rCvLEyw4oDkS8vkmwbUGfxx63W4ur7aEqhyphenhyphenitUyJmCnTl-FYDnqvxlw_-RG7oOgKQ8T4aRHvCQoyFmvGR3uREvTn/s2008/649767142_1631825585130436_5272890901219944308_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="2008" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYJ9oCKTJQYqzHTI2vpYzGijLUAWW7iQ9TwuWy0kBCREdMyv2ExusMVcm9BVXLGOUtzBfPS5fIznhAsD9NCruEIAnnY_c8EGu8Ry5-rCvLEyw4oDkS8vkmwbUGfxx63W4ur7aEqhyphenhyphenitUyJmCnTl-FYDnqvxlw_-RG7oOgKQ8T4aRHvCQoyFmvGR3uREvTn/s16000/649767142_1631825585130436_5272890901219944308_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Timothy Carey and Sterling Hayden in THE KILLING Year: 1956 Rating: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Following what's more an art-house crime melodrama in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2018/03/KKiss.html">KILLER'S KISS</a>, young photographer turned director Stanley Kubrick created a more polished, genuine film noir that — using a then-rare, non-linear structure — is also far more complicated... so much that the studio forced one of those docudrama-style narrations throughout...Working best to map-out the ensemble of criminals who are otherwise everyday workers at the targeted racetrack along with a crooked cop, a wrestler and last but not least, a bonafide hoodlum to shoot a running horse...

coleen gray, elisha cook jr., film noir or melodrama, heist, joe sawyer, joe turkel, marie windsor, stanley kubrick, sterling hayden, ted decorsia, timothy carey, vince edwards

STANLEY KUBRICK'S NOIR 'THE KILLING' WITH STERLING HAYDEN

Timothy Carey and Sterling Hayden in THE KILLING Year: 1956 Rating: ****1/2 Following what's more an art-house crime melodrama in KILLER...

DON TAYLOR & HOWARD DUFF IN JULES DASSIN'S 'THE NAKED CITY'

<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/AVvXsEgOurvQoG2_Y6xuTU5c-k4TO8CRP9o5cSVC7SAK-_APXkcGCY-1X3_9o0UDVTlk9qrvwC6UuRhGEWZb2EQLqjYUN4t5auXNjK4Ujdq_HKi-k-rPIN8gdp7Diqa5yFIXFAPuMV9vwopix1MfpHft1etAoSuE3IViF5iZAFXYtf8cF7vdLNweX4GWgLDsAn3R/s2368/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-15%20at%205.30.40%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="2368" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOurvQoG2_Y6xuTU5c-k4TO8CRP9o5cSVC7SAK-_APXkcGCY-1X3_9o0UDVTlk9qrvwC6UuRhGEWZb2EQLqjYUN4t5auXNjK4Ujdq_HKi-k-rPIN8gdp7Diqa5yFIXFAPuMV9vwopix1MfpHft1etAoSuE3IViF5iZAFXYtf8cF7vdLNweX4GWgLDsAn3R/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-15%20at%205.30.40%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1948 Stars: Howard Duff, Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>After producer Mark Hellinger's famous opening narration, introducing the audience to THE NAKED CITY, following authentic shots of New York City exteriors, from buildings to shipyards... interiors from noisy newspaper offices to lonely radio stations... when we eventually catch a quick glimpse of Hollywood actors Howard Duff and Dorothy Hart at a fancy nightclub, there's an awkward contrast to those grainy/gritty shots in a police procedural that resembles a documentary one second and a dressed-up melodrama the next...Centered on two detectives seeking the killer of a beautiful dame drowned in a classy apartment bathtub, they couldn't be more different: the veteran, Barry Fitzgerald, is like a wise old leprechaun while tall/lanky young Don Taylor traipses around town, searching for clues — yet it's stout every-man cop Tom Pedi who compliments the grittier images, like a dockyard silhouette of a formidable criminal, eventually revealed soon enough so NAKED trades mystery for a by-the-numbers investigation...

anne sargent, barry fitzgerald, cop, don taylor, dorothy hart, film noir or melodrama, howard duff, john mcquade, jules dassin, kathleen freeman, ted decorsia, thriller

DON TAYLOR & HOWARD DUFF IN JULES DASSIN'S 'THE NAKED CITY'

Year: 1948 Stars: Howard Duff, Barry Fitzgerald, Don Taylor Rating: **** After producer Mark Hellinger's famous opening narration, intro...

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS AND STARS IN 'THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI'

<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/AVvXsEidiI2i60YyYtpr8XteNBGQLK27yX-SjXf7nac0_CzOGY38vC9nuWGJPlWEv3zj0ysCRslmJSzqWFCKC0-B1K0z5pZnEObbTrQeKwKU5xt5UlIeE209oRqGf_M4pSdiXIM56Px7wWv4TMfvoxO4DFpXyYkFC4G3iva0f4fU7geFa7HSK1eDNPWF0fKI6A/s1589/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-30%20at%2012.09.15%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1589" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidiI2i60YyYtpr8XteNBGQLK27yX-SjXf7nac0_CzOGY38vC9nuWGJPlWEv3zj0ysCRslmJSzqWFCKC0-B1K0z5pZnEObbTrQeKwKU5xt5UlIeE209oRqGf_M4pSdiXIM56Px7wWv4TMfvoxO4DFpXyYkFC4G3iva0f4fU7geFa7HSK1eDNPWF0fKI6A/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-30%20at%2012.09.15%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: The Lady From Shanghai Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Orson Welles's 1946 directorial noir adventure THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous for the ending, but there are some worthy middle parts of this unique thriller that Welles cast ex-wife Rita Hayworth in, cutting off her luscious GILDA hair and ticking off studio-heads right off the bat...Not that it matters... Hayworth's performance isn't that "wicked" and yet she is fitfully vulnerable: particularly in a corny horse-and-carriage scene Welles opposed, introducing both his contentedly poor Irishman, Mike "Black Irish" O'Hara to Hayworth's rich, sullen Elsa, wife of a crippled, snaky and hugely infamous lawyer played by Everette Sloane...

action, adventure, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, glenn anders, orson welles, rita hayworth, rudolph maté', ted decorsia, thriller

ORSON WELLES DIRECTS AND STARS IN 'THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI'

Title: The Lady From Shanghai Year: 1947 Rating: ***1/2 Orson Welles's 1946 directorial noir adventure THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is famous ...

GENE NELSON, STERLING HAYDEN & CHARLES BRONSON 'CRIME WAVE'

<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/AVvXsEgnK3LeWErP6mZuGVCM2G90I3U1wWfqAT_4gZhAKBeXCqOH07Aq0gpHVO3PCf1dXxL9uHldn0VnXE-mUaQhbXhesd8dpOeJwDeX0ycT4C2j6i52KSlcKRJZjIv3seTT3E5wYveTdomMnJOgpLPn6bPN-y7XKVGG6z-NoaSXHid5mM4bMNFnvXVWL2hvmaNT/s1788/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-30%20at%209.02.48%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="992" data-original-width="1788" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnK3LeWErP6mZuGVCM2G90I3U1wWfqAT_4gZhAKBeXCqOH07Aq0gpHVO3PCf1dXxL9uHldn0VnXE-mUaQhbXhesd8dpOeJwDeX0ycT4C2j6i52KSlcKRJZjIv3seTT3E5wYveTdomMnJOgpLPn6bPN-y7XKVGG6z-NoaSXHid5mM4bMNFnvXVWL2hvmaNT/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-07-30%20at%209.02.48%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charles Bronson in CRIME WAVE Year: 1953 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>The steady and stalwart yet vulnerable and manipulated buried lead in CRIME WAVE aka THE CITY IS DARK... overshadowed by rigid 
cop Sterling Hayden, a young Charles Bronson, lead thug Ted de Corsia 
and a thoroughly demented Timothy Carey... is played by Gene Nelson... Perhaps the most incredible dancer before and after, he remains cool
 and tough in his first ultra-serious role as Steve Lacey, an ex-convict
 paid a surprise visit by three of his old friends...

andre de toth, andré de toth, charles bronson, crime, dub taylor, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gene nelson, phyllis kirk, sterling hayden, ted decorsia, thriller, timothy carey

GENE NELSON, STERLING HAYDEN & CHARLES BRONSON 'CRIME WAVE'

Charles Bronson in CRIME WAVE Year: 1953 Rating: **** The steady and stalwart yet vulnerable and manipulated buried lead in CRIME WAVE aka T...

DANA ANDREWS AND JANE POWELL IN 'ENCHANTED ISLAND'

<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/AVvXsEjWgNdFxPP-xyRYWjY4RAxZ68SrdD_mvzzEdANqDutd5UBMz7MzpRb0br9KO5TXqKYph_OUg1B46cG_EzIzd26tGT9IrlJ0l1qcw6h8V1BADpviXHvdF7LhSPkkjs2tsfFDmz36Kx-ZV4rBZ3MOqWsnRM7v3ziQv9Lr9f6Oljq2aXFXUIWPbdYa0_STfQ/s1484/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="852" data-original-width="1484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWgNdFxPP-xyRYWjY4RAxZ68SrdD_mvzzEdANqDutd5UBMz7MzpRb0br9KO5TXqKYph_OUg1B46cG_EzIzd26tGT9IrlJ0l1qcw6h8V1BADpviXHvdF7LhSPkkjs2tsfFDmz36Kx-ZV4rBZ3MOqWsnRM7v3ziQv9Lr9f6Oljq2aXFXUIWPbdYa0_STfQ/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: ENCHANTED ISLAND Year: 1958 Rating: **</td></tr></tbody></table>In the 1940's, minimalist Dana Andrews seemed like a real person in movies surrounded by actors... but by the mid-to-late 1950's he sometimes looked like a hired stock actor completely misplaced, especially for the Hermann Melville adaptation of Typee titled ENCHANTED ISLAND...Where he and equally miscast Don Dubbins are two sailors from a late 9th Century ship (captained by a grouchy Ted de Corsia) that lands on the titular South Pacific location, and they aren't allowed to have fun with the loose native girls...

adventure, dana andrews, don dubbins, fifties, island, jane powell, ted decorsia

DANA ANDREWS AND JANE POWELL IN 'ENCHANTED ISLAND'

Title: ENCHANTED ISLAND Year: 1958 Rating: ** In the 1940's, minimalist Dana Andrews seemed like a real person in movies surrounded by a...

ORSON WELLES CINEMA PRESENTS 'THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Poster of THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI Year Released: 1947</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Another potentially great Orson Welles post-CITIZEN KANE motion picture: a flawed yet intriguing 1947 Film Noir, hacked by studio editors during post-production with a melodramatic score that Welles detested... 
 
In order to make (his then ex-wife) Rita Hayworth a nefarious femme fatalle, or to set her on another path aesthetically, he cut the iconic long hair that had sensuously draped down upon her lithe shoulders in GILDA, breaking hearts of men worldwide (which was timeless as years later, Morgan Freeman would get bedazzled in SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION). The studio didn't want their starlet to be so downright... vicious and cunning, which takes much of the bite out of this particular vehicle, named after THE LADY who learned her wily trade in one of the most cutthroat locales on Earth that both main characters had been to; and yet, while he merely visited this place, she worked and lived there... 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welles the actor's actor's actor</td></tr>
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Upon a yacht on a cruise Welles's Black Irish maverick Michael O'Hara is hired to charter, our gal sings a drowsy tune titled, "You Don't Love Me," a failed attempt for the studio to garner a number one hit, used as a "Variation of the Theme" within the overall soapy, melodramatic soundtrack. Mostly because of this, our beautiful antagonist becomes more of an ambiguous victim that perhaps Welles had intended, going far beyond her necessary act of reeling in a "Useful Idiot..." 
 
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Ted de Corsia for the set up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Orson had already chosen a patchwork of stock music to drive his sparse yet convoluted maze forward, and yet, while much of the final cut belongs to the director (billed as Production By as opposed to Directed By)... surprisingly, he actually didn't mind how SHANGHAI turned out... the score broke his heart in this pulpy adventure that takes about twenty minutes to pick up, getting past a contrived, uninspired scene the studio ordered Welles to shoot at the 11th hour: where O'Hara and Hayworth's Elsa Bannister meet on a carriage ride seeming straight out of a musical – he the intrepid hero, she the lovely lass.

everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, glenn anders, orson welles, rita hayworth, ted decorsia