STANLEY BAKER AND TOM BELL SNEAK THROUGH 'A PRIZE OF ARMS'

<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><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/AVvXsEgequIAUFn9nidp5sba4ZXtx5rFcST9A-zZpkmPaln4218_nLBdVsiSAPrJjkdtZdB5eE9RfmbGn_qCLNcKfC4xLGLNaywfXd9GU-EqE5gOBA6l_duqcU0401TntkAEqchszCCX_UtcTau_ePy-a_W3BKv4mOFkKHr3HytxOj7AaOJqKOaZZrwm4ZLPFg/s1859/AVvXsEiUmZSg9tcGrEsmAOXS3SLvRN_x4L1O8gH7-HQ0XlaPh9YFrPBqVfHDhtbGd_buCkZpkJW9UWB2fS74H7K9L3QKB82dne7EbXGcT3vH59syn8s_jjU3ogIYwg-DZ1-8SrciKyJ2HoVj2YJAsS20JtCKDSAi9VSwlexzS5NviAZZxUyPntU0M_Q1pWLO2Q=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1138" data-original-width="1859" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgequIAUFn9nidp5sba4ZXtx5rFcST9A-zZpkmPaln4218_nLBdVsiSAPrJjkdtZdB5eE9RfmbGn_qCLNcKfC4xLGLNaywfXd9GU-EqE5gOBA6l_duqcU0401TntkAEqchszCCX_UtcTau_ePy-a_W3BKv4mOFkKHr3HytxOj7AaOJqKOaZZrwm4ZLPFg/s16000/AVvXsEiUmZSg9tcGrEsmAOXS3SLvRN_x4L1O8gH7-HQ0XlaPh9YFrPBqVfHDhtbGd_buCkZpkJW9UWB2fS74H7K9L3QKB82dne7EbXGcT3vH59syn8s_jjU3ogIYwg-DZ1-8SrciKyJ2HoVj2YJAsS20JtCKDSAi9VSwlexzS5NviAZZxUyPntU0M_Q1pWLO2Q=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: A PRIZE OF ARMS Director: Cliff Owen Year: 1963 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The most suspenseful parts from the final act of THE GREAT ESCAPE a year after A PRIZE OF ARMS and the middle of the original decade-later STAR WARS entails hiding in plain site, behind <i>enemy </i>lines while wearing their uniforms and keeping everything in perfect surreptitious motion, without getting noticed and thus, caught and captured... </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></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which ARMS is, practically from beginning to end, epitomizing the sparse heist thriller where two British crooks with one German go undercover to politely infiltrate a British military compound before an overseas mission, since the armory will be loaded with cash... all for the taking...</p><p><span></span></p>

anthony bate, british, british new wave, caper, heist, helmut schmid, michael ripper, military, patrick magee, roddy mcmillan, sixties, stanley baker, suspense, thriller, tom bell

STANLEY BAKER AND TOM BELL SNEAK THROUGH 'A PRIZE OF ARMS'

Title: A PRIZE OF ARMS Director: Cliff Owen Year: 1963 Rating: ****1/2 The most suspenseful parts from the final act of THE GREAT ESCAPE a y...

LEX BARKER & BRENDA JOYCE IN 'TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN'

<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/a/AVvXsEiyvaxXCIJUVg3jrb16SxAV7EVVl8JHkZ57JCf2nrnjnSoSMh031mUvQ0n5eF1iWtLwxPFNIYMcVuRtYEL3RY5LYPC0Q52abhof-V0XEiE61qdCqizoL_LJDU7UNUzoDD6a5_tHQssh_qCc4OtqUyi5FLoInCQTr_JDJEnhmBSYinHlCIoHwoi5dIK1LQ=s774" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="774" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiyvaxXCIJUVg3jrb16SxAV7EVVl8JHkZ57JCf2nrnjnSoSMh031mUvQ0n5eF1iWtLwxPFNIYMcVuRtYEL3RY5LYPC0Q52abhof-V0XEiE61qdCqizoL_LJDU7UNUzoDD6a5_tHQssh_qCc4OtqUyi5FLoInCQTr_JDJEnhmBSYinHlCIoHwoi5dIK1LQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN Year: 1949 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Johnny Weissmuller's replacement was Lex Barker, and his first turn as the King of the Jungle, TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN, is a sleight-of-hand, keeping the same actress for Jane, who was a replacement for Maureen O'Sullivan in a wide-smiled Brenda Joyce, so the viewer could close their eyes and imagine Johnny's still in the role...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>However Lex was a good fit despite MAGIC FOUNTAIN dragging after the most intriguing aspects in the first half, where a female aviator turns up after having vanished for decades, and is still a beautiful twenty instead of fifty... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, albert dekker, barker tarzan, brenda joyce, charles drake, forties, franchise, lex barker, science-fiction, warner archives

LEX BARKER & BRENDA JOYCE IN 'TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN'

Title: TARZAN'S MAGIC FOUNTAIN Year: 1949 Rating: **1/2 Johnny Weissmuller's replacement was Lex Barker, and his first turn as the K...

LEX BARKER IN 'TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL' W/ RAYMOND BURR

<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/a/AVvXsEg4BeNtJKg-9EANNHu7z5XC1fLeywKPPHhd2DXVP9z3f9I4fbKF1zEWz_KiW1oC8CTanemN4ryy4ABsT408m9Dq7v8TqYm5gwb67Eca7zpKIg-bIkyX7w6sLlQofkXXQP4CTJFgpv4HKHEZ2GEiFrnYzaQ1Js5pCcCTtYTJpXCluXm7cF2ErapZ9PPZkw=s886" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="567" data-original-width="886" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4BeNtJKg-9EANNHu7z5XC1fLeywKPPHhd2DXVP9z3f9I4fbKF1zEWz_KiW1oC8CTanemN4ryy4ABsT408m9Dq7v8TqYm5gwb67Eca7zpKIg-bIkyX7w6sLlQofkXXQP4CTJFgpv4HKHEZ2GEiFrnYzaQ1Js5pCcCTtYTJpXCluXm7cF2ErapZ9PPZkw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL is both the last and best of the Lex Barker as Tarzan RKO programmers, but the title is misleading since would-be titular fatale Monique van Vooren as Lyra is actually/ultimately nice and helpful, and for only an instant gives Jane, here played by bombshell-next-door Joyce Mackenzie, some competition, after Jane strikes back by telling Tarzan that she found Lyra's employee, Vargo, attractive... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Enter Raymond Burr as an elephant-hunting ivory merchant, who, with the help thug Michael Granger and aided by Lyra's partner in classy, morally ambiguous Tom Conway, captures Tarzan while making him think Jane's dead... all for his skills for calling elephants so they don't have to hunt them...</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/a/AVvXsEhdyrrCqIMqq-L9pDR16EhI9FDDAxuO7II8F_UJ5mZ9qSYC-VOu0A0zCsTBtQSUhqfy_KqNDjXRY96HAz2waVi6J8sFm6OsQcWRtXMXSSfVNLFXqfuueMj2PR3n9IjbqQ86GdNSYtCJ-YmswF9smCv-9QofA-d4zCP9xtPbgqTTHaTAb4OHMmmdx8D5vA=s1548" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="854" data-original-width="1548" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhdyrrCqIMqq-L9pDR16EhI9FDDAxuO7II8F_UJ5mZ9qSYC-VOu0A0zCsTBtQSUhqfy_KqNDjXRY96HAz2waVi6J8sFm6OsQcWRtXMXSSfVNLFXqfuueMj2PR3n9IjbqQ86GdNSYtCJ-YmswF9smCv-9QofA-d4zCP9xtPbgqTTHaTAb4OHMmmdx8D5vA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Monique van Vooren as Lyra in Tarzan and the She-Devil with Raymond Burr</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The plot's simple and the action occurs in effective pockets in-between, with very little downtime (Cheetah, meanwhile, steals the show when traipsing alone through the jungle); which is an added bonus given that Barker Tarzan flicks can both drag and get overly complicated, plot-wise...</p><p></p><p>But what makes this one tick is how evil Burr is in jungle-occupying scenes countered by the heartbroken Tarzan... If only Brussels beauty van Vorren would only live up to the kind of seduction an actress of her type's born to do. Either way, overall, SHE-DEVIL would've been more properly named HE-POACHER. <br></p><span></span>

action, adventure, barker tarzan, fifties, franchise, lex barker, mara corday, michael granger, raymond burr, tom conway, warner archives

LEX BARKER IN 'TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL' W/ RAYMOND BURR

Year: 1953 Rating: ***1/2 TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL is both the last and best of the Lex Barker as Tarzan RKO programmers, but the title is m...

JAMES CAGNEY'S OTHER WESTERN 'TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN'

<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/a/AVvXsEiETWSZn7UJSHpRisI3XC-r4Z4pzi1zHzCeh3AaTTB25xV_tgzAIV7UeSNBRZV0Uj5XAzM6TC0FTOwXj9jPcnYW9n6Iqg8uxOopSkE1MCwXHuTFooXJ041yKBN3u9l0vtiqrqihrwgPt-n5ef6G7uMW1QC5jxDmOquhbsoSkbtJqpQXRclDiyWzc25Y0A=s1153" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="778" data-original-width="1153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiETWSZn7UJSHpRisI3XC-r4Z4pzi1zHzCeh3AaTTB25xV_tgzAIV7UeSNBRZV0Uj5XAzM6TC0FTOwXj9jPcnYW9n6Iqg8uxOopSkE1MCwXHuTFooXJ041yKBN3u9l0vtiqrqihrwgPt-n5ef6G7uMW1QC5jxDmOquhbsoSkbtJqpQXRclDiyWzc25Y0A=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>"Don't you keel over on me you Pennsylvania egg-sucker!" And if you can survive that line from an overboard James Cagney, suffering from a bullet in his backside, simply let go and enjoy the ride that includes a May/October romance. an idealistic take on killing horse thieves without a trial, and a plain old shoot 'em up Western taking place in a lush valley belonging to Cagney's Rodock, who gets personal protests about his heated "hanging fever" from ex-barroom babe turned maid/pseudo girlfriend Irene Papa: although these two have zero chemistry, she seems the perfect fit for the young buried lead played by Don Dubbins as Steve Miller... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The picture begins with Miller helping Rodock fight off horse thieves, and then it's cut in two halves: The first being the sporadic search for the outlaws, who not only stole his horses but killed one of his men (off screen)... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, don dubbins, fifties, irene pappas, james cagney, vic morrow, warner archives, western

JAMES CAGNEY'S OTHER WESTERN 'TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN'

Title: TRIBUTE TO A BAD MAN Year: 1956 Rating: **1/2 "Don't you keel over on me you Pennsylvania egg-sucker!" And if you can s...

GENE RODDENBERRY'S BRITISH-TV SCIENCE-HORROR OF 'SPECTRE'

<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/a/AVvXsEjncDMj2GBudnneTqnuPAOq8fbEicH9TYBp6nBEDx1_vkjPsAr8kZXy3C1AGsW2RXk4C-kFwlYMYvnxPNjmv28MENBoXBznirTEJaOpskvg19poRY8_lYIWPLHFoPdgv2jX2454YHOX188X--CUI76gWzLWOZWu7G4AMv12Um0NEdRdDphZGgtvx-zD6Q=s2274" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1143" data-original-width="2274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjncDMj2GBudnneTqnuPAOq8fbEicH9TYBp6nBEDx1_vkjPsAr8kZXy3C1AGsW2RXk4C-kFwlYMYvnxPNjmv28MENBoXBznirTEJaOpskvg19poRY8_lYIWPLHFoPdgv2jX2454YHOX188X--CUI76gWzLWOZWu7G4AMv12Um0NEdRdDphZGgtvx-zD6Q=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Roddenberry's SPECTRE Year: 1977 Rating: ***<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Gene Roddenberry had a string of failed but always intriguing TV-pilots (from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/07/ohohhhThisIsPlanetEarth.html">PLANET EARTH</a> to <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2017/08/Qtapes.html">THE QUESTOR TAPES</a>) in-between the STAR TREK series and movies, and SPECTRE is the most unique and downright bizarre... so much so it's a British production instead of American but with two American actors at the helm... <br></p><p></p><p>Enter Robert Culp and Gig Young as a kind of science-fiction Holmes and Watson... The first is a renowned criminologist now so heavily into Black Magic that when his former partner in faithful yet boozing Dr. Ham Hamilton reconnects, Culp's William Sebastian is sitting on his mansion floor reading Tarot Cards like a regular guy plays Solitaire...</p><p><span></span></p>

ann bell, british, british tv, gene roddenberry, gig young, james villiers, john hurt, made-for-TV, robert culp, seventies, witch

GENE RODDENBERRY'S BRITISH-TV SCIENCE-HORROR OF 'SPECTRE'

Gene Roddenberry's SPECTRE Year: 1977 Rating: *** Gene Roddenberry had a string of failed but always intriguing TV-pilots (from PLANET E...

TED DANSON IN 'ONCE UPON A SPY' WITH MARY-LOUISE WELLER

<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/AVvXsEjmZXVqEtEHq3nR1lxg-3_f9Yr8pNPZGoM_-J7PA_ZqrfNU60q0n0vWDyVeDuaZyDcmKk7TpPi7dRdhpX5OoDLSURmWvBJs1eSUxzmqHu48Kvd2QF9gjE9jLeH48Row_7N0vK2ZfCrEdnbqomNfaYy3dc98GgyWj19EnOsDq-aRRWl_DSJaDfpc7Jw2pA/s1336/AVvXsEhXFxdAgc_0_vpJNM0W-q_57FDCFXxkIqELLHJP-4fo9hMQsGCQu5qEa-yQBYSYPGUpcPYcbGALN-8FI1iNcG_W_ETzeVsay9XB2sOT70hYOY0GT7EFV2fPf4vAoYtGZmsH3htv_UqSeNT9sPURw7_gdJ0WEVhWBClAE7b_bjDayUp2ZSg8S-VZowSEog=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="756" data-original-width="1336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZXVqEtEHq3nR1lxg-3_f9Yr8pNPZGoM_-J7PA_ZqrfNU60q0n0vWDyVeDuaZyDcmKk7TpPi7dRdhpX5OoDLSURmWvBJs1eSUxzmqHu48Kvd2QF9gjE9jLeH48Row_7N0vK2ZfCrEdnbqomNfaYy3dc98GgyWj19EnOsDq-aRRWl_DSJaDfpc7Jw2pA/s16000/AVvXsEhXFxdAgc_0_vpJNM0W-q_57FDCFXxkIqELLHJP-4fo9hMQsGCQu5qEa-yQBYSYPGUpcPYcbGALN-8FI1iNcG_W_ETzeVsay9XB2sOT70hYOY0GT7EFV2fPf4vAoYtGZmsH3htv_UqSeNT9sPURw7_gdJ0WEVhWBClAE7b_bjDayUp2ZSg8S-VZowSEog=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ONCE UPON A SPY Year: 1980 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of those failed TV-pilots that becomes a standalone TV-movie, ONCE UPON A SPY takes the James Bond aesthetic to the small screen, from formidable (and colorful) technical set pieces to a flaunting trumpet score to a former Bond villain in Christopher Lee, a brilliant computer mogul who, brain-wise, is second to none...</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>Well except for Ted Danson, turning in one of those <i>befuddled geeks who's really a handsome diamond-in-the rough/anti-leading-man </i>types... and it's no surprise, given his near-future turn in CHEERS, he has great comedic timing... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, christopher lee, eighties, espionage, lillian müller, mary-louise weller, spy, ted danson, tv movie

TED DANSON IN 'ONCE UPON A SPY' WITH MARY-LOUISE WELLER

Title: ONCE UPON A SPY Year: 1980 Rating: ***1/2 One of those failed TV-pilots that becomes a standalone TV-movie, ONCE UPON A SPY takes the...

SECOND PETER USTINOV POIROT MYSTERY 'EVIL UNDER THE SUN'

<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/a/AVvXsEiIn9n1krgIKjrYymp7GVHNekTm4ToxzqlP3OaL8okR8OH7UDyoanQn8RlFgmfy4EkCAMtsgXaDdpuolWBiHgohEI7ituNgX2QwurXbW073l4R3bExE65LHnL_jfLIJxpvibP_hh7CAmeOHGc7Haufs9eNKFI-3zNsmOv1gt4So9wPZfMOMSkfD-uiEkQ=s1897" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="742" data-original-width="1897" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIn9n1krgIKjrYymp7GVHNekTm4ToxzqlP3OaL8okR8OH7UDyoanQn8RlFgmfy4EkCAMtsgXaDdpuolWBiHgohEI7ituNgX2QwurXbW073l4R3bExE65LHnL_jfLIJxpvibP_hh7CAmeOHGc7Haufs9eNKFI-3zNsmOv1gt4So9wPZfMOMSkfD-uiEkQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: EVIL UNDER THE SUN Director: Guy Hamilton Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Surprisingly EVIL UNDER THE SUN, the least known and least popular of the Agatha Christie Mystery films featuring Hercule Poirot beginning with MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS and sustaining with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2022/02/nile1978.html">DEATH ON THE NILE</a>, is the best adaptation simply because there's not a distracting all-star cast and every character is a worthy suspect...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which doesn't mean it's not a great cast, including Broadway-producing older couple James Mason and Sylvia Miles; polar opposite younger couple Jane Birkin and Nicholas Clay as a mousy rich girl and her playboy husband; a Clifton Webb LAURA-style flamboyantly vengeful writer in Roddy McDowall; and Denis Quilley as a millionaire father of gloomy teen (and the edgiest character) Emily Hone, paired with a gold-digging actress played with fashionably formidable zest by Diana Rigg, who everyone wants dead...</p><p><span></span></p>

agatha christie, british, colin blakely, denis quilley, diana rigg, emily hone, ensemble, guy hamilton, james mason, jane birkin, mystery, peter ustinov, roddy mcdowall, sylvia miles

SECOND PETER USTINOV POIROT MYSTERY 'EVIL UNDER THE SUN'

Title: EVIL UNDER THE SUN Director: Guy Hamilton Year: 1982 Rating: ***1/2 Surprisingly EVIL UNDER THE SUN, the least known and least popula...

DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET'S 'MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS'

<p></p><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/a/AVvXsEh2WzOmNDyK-f8MUHa5bc97Ay84EkFKQl84_BdS47IxjPMK5LVc-GIvB4ccsvrWjZEQMLylD6VHOhHfXx0u1buQkhY66UXLLgyD6YHmf-MleW_DGbaOS9E2xMz_9VJ4h-kcoaWCDY5aKML1ZxFORwVCbkNTavrwB9saSoasxM0SpM5fLZYj9PkVFHfQHA=s1814" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1814" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh2WzOmNDyK-f8MUHa5bc97Ay84EkFKQl84_BdS47IxjPMK5LVc-GIvB4ccsvrWjZEQMLylD6VHOhHfXx0u1buQkhY66UXLLgyD6YHmf-MleW_DGbaOS9E2xMz_9VJ4h-kcoaWCDY5aKML1ZxFORwVCbkNTavrwB9saSoasxM0SpM5fLZYj9PkVFHfQHA=w400-h224" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Murder on the Orient Express Year: 1974 Rating: *1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Finishing up reviews of the EMI-backed British productions of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/agatha%20christie">Agatha Christie adaptations</a> is the first, and somehow most popular, in Sidney Lumet's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS starring the otherwise splendid actor Albert Finney... </p><p>Who, as quirky/offbeat Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, looks as if Charlie Chaplin gained weight after eating pies thrown on a stiff face caked with so much distracting makeup he's hardly able to speak... and with a horribly fake-sounding accent...<br></p><p></p><p>Meanwhile the 1970's all-star-cast.. ranging from murdered enigmatic "businessman" Richard Widmark with humble aid Anthony Perkins, two veteran actresses Lauren Bacall and Ingrid Bergman, token muscular-handsome fella Sean Connery paired with beautiful young Jacqueline Bissett and Poirot's right-hand-man Martin Balsam... merely fill space within an otherwise stylishly antique setting but the plot, like the titular train, is all dressed up with nowhere to go, slowly. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

agatha christie, albert finney, anthony perkins, british, ensemble, ingrid bergman, jacqueline bisset, lauren bacall, martin balsam, mystery, sean connery, train

DIRECTOR SIDNEY LUMET'S 'MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS'

Title: Murder on the Orient Express Year: 1974 Rating: *1/2 Finishing up reviews of the EMI-backed British productions of Agatha Christie ad...

FIRST PETER USTINOV POIROT MYSTERY OF 'DEATH ON THE NILE'

<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/a/AVvXsEg0Xi2x1ZFXa5Pm1ko9Aj8OAdTnrTp2BKr6Hhwdt26C4GNhfSkfaWhV0ex11NSRoPH2_j2DuIIDRQInJShKiWarw3w-OkizSI7vbZjQ8R43vPVk_7x-NVNz8ShiFl5IA9rkb0gRzh00jb3U0Bv4JOxpWp7cETgPXvZBhwoRWbz5PpAmH2Xo9w0qste-gQ=s1875" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1010" data-original-width="1875" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0Xi2x1ZFXa5Pm1ko9Aj8OAdTnrTp2BKr6Hhwdt26C4GNhfSkfaWhV0ex11NSRoPH2_j2DuIIDRQInJShKiWarw3w-OkizSI7vbZjQ8R43vPVk_7x-NVNz8ShiFl5IA9rkb0gRzh00jb3U0Bv4JOxpWp7cETgPXvZBhwoRWbz5PpAmH2Xo9w0qste-gQ=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: DEATH ON THE NILE Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director John Guillermin's DEATH ON THE NILE with a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer adapted from Agatha Christie's most celebrated novel featuring the affable Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot is far from a perfect "whodunit" since this group of suspects, all passengers on a fancy boat down the titular Egyptian river, have very little motive/motivation to kill who's the best thing about the picture, and not just the prettiest...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Thankfully Lois Chiles as super-rich heiress Linnet Ridgeway lasts over the one-hour mark; although she returns sporadically during the most uninteresting sequences where Poirot discusses with token constable-type David Niven what could have happened, providing flashbacks that aren't flashbacks being the first time we're seeing them...</p><p><span></span></p>

adventure, agatha christie, british, ensemble, i.s. johar, jack warden, john guillermin, jon finch, lois chiles, maggie smith, mia farrow, mystery, peter ustinov, simon maccorkindale, suspense

FIRST PETER USTINOV POIROT MYSTERY OF 'DEATH ON THE NILE'

Title: DEATH ON THE NILE Year: 1978 Rating: ***1/2 Director John Guillermin's DEATH ON THE NILE with a screenplay by Anthony Shaffer ada...

DENNIS WATERMAN GROUNDS HAMMER'S 'SCARS OF DRACULA'

<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/a/AVvXsEi0jxk6TG22aG49W7mE4jJUlB0ZnoXjkOPAmy13BmWHH89tOKWZd_oMpk0eeEPAwH4jMJEwr2S0abFylLXWOgOT5RXu1E-HFoNxbiOqnIL4sBA-F8ZOHKE8bDJz0tqNGauNDf8gUkJcp8a30I9Flt5kIFDs_WOoRywQLyAj1Ow3x_wJR1RRxlOwdpr9LA=s2364" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi0jxk6TG22aG49W7mE4jJUlB0ZnoXjkOPAmy13BmWHH89tOKWZd_oMpk0eeEPAwH4jMJEwr2S0abFylLXWOgOT5RXu1E-HFoNxbiOqnIL4sBA-F8ZOHKE8bDJz0tqNGauNDf8gUkJcp8a30I9Flt5kIFDs_WOoRywQLyAj1Ow3x_wJR1RRxlOwdpr9LA=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SCARS OF DRACULA Pictured: </u><u><u>Christopher Matthews, Jenny Hanley, Dennis Waterman </u>Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Hammer decided why mess with a successful formula, and turned their 1970 sequel SCARS OF DRACULA into what's basically a remake of the original, HORROR OF DRACULA, with a womanizing flake in the place of a traveling solicitor, and he even rides a dark-forest coach to get there...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>This after beginning with the cheapest of fake-looking bats spitting blood on ashes and thus conveniently reanimating Christopher Lee's iconic and eternal Bram Stoker-created vampire legend... </p><p><span></span></p>

body count, british, christopher lee, dennis waterman, dracula, hammer films, horror, jenny hanley, michael ripper, seventies, vampire

DENNIS WATERMAN GROUNDS HAMMER'S 'SCARS OF DRACULA'

Title: SCARS OF DRACULA Pictured: Christopher Matthews, Jenny Hanley, Dennis Waterman Year: 1970 Rating: ***1/2 Hammer decided why mess with...

MALCOLM MCDOWELL IN 'ACES HIGH' WITH CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

<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/a/AVvXsEjycKw1Nh4QIUj66JIvuHVH6WnzvhUxamj8a22epBpJLMDnxUtaCez2Rivms_4gOJTeod81grxYR-op97UDD111E9bdHtMoo-pDRZXpDRMm8nEDHOj3UnTK9TmtOLaAK59qZqjO3P3XdbHIDqvXc-s_S5OP0vJwnylgIiEkdbiLFjnZnRFv6M51gkJxDw=s1525" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1525" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjycKw1Nh4QIUj66JIvuHVH6WnzvhUxamj8a22epBpJLMDnxUtaCez2Rivms_4gOJTeod81grxYR-op97UDD111E9bdHtMoo-pDRZXpDRMm8nEDHOj3UnTK9TmtOLaAK59qZqjO3P3XdbHIDqvXc-s_S5OP0vJwnylgIiEkdbiLFjnZnRFv6M51gkJxDw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ACES HIGH Year: 1976 Rating: **</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following the Victorian-era <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/royalflash.html">ROYAL FLASH</a>, this is the second consecutive movie that begins with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/malcolm%20mcdowell">Malcolm McDowell</a> addressing a cathedral of students, only in ACES HIGH it's World War I and his character, hot-shot flier Major Gresham, is dead serious and genuinely intrepid in battle...</p><p></p><p>Part of the Flying Corps stationed in a grassy field with makeshift barracks in France, Gresham's troop of young men sporadically take to the sky in buzzing biplanes but without any actual layout or perspective on what's to be accomplished or protected... More like practice runs, they come and go in five minutes with nothing gained or lost...<br></p><span></span>

adaptaiton, british, christopher plummer, drama, ensemble, malcolm mcdowell, peter firth, seventies, simon ward, war, world war I

MALCOLM MCDOWELL IN 'ACES HIGH' WITH CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

Title: ACES HIGH Year: 1976 Rating: ** Following the Victorian-era ROYAL FLASH , this is the second consecutive movie that begins with Malco...

RICHARD FLEISCHER DRIVES THE NOIR 'ARMORED CAR ROBBERY'

<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/AVvXsEgc-5tMIED6Fo0bg5HIW6BhRqdTANrSt4zBVeVppmx0NajRZ_7_zlFVUhJWsI1IIwL_C3hWHPHIoDLFLcg6lAmqqbD1QvQjK_IMuhl0aSRKrMVGyuZ7DcMTm3tq-XOXk30iLCpIuVDI65HPhnD3IUhmQIBCzFXGYCf5nfRGOPSCLCOThMV20nooYgGd3A/s1425/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-14%20at%2010.18.44%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="954" data-original-width="1425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc-5tMIED6Fo0bg5HIW6BhRqdTANrSt4zBVeVppmx0NajRZ_7_zlFVUhJWsI1IIwL_C3hWHPHIoDLFLcg6lAmqqbD1QvQjK_IMuhl0aSRKrMVGyuZ7DcMTm3tq-XOXk30iLCpIuVDI65HPhnD3IUhmQIBCzFXGYCf5nfRGOPSCLCOThMV20nooYgGd3A/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-14%20at%2010.18.44%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ARMORED CAR ROBBERY Year: 1950 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The same year John Huston brought us one of the greatest Film Noir offerings, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE... centering on a pivotal heist following a meticulous setup that turns into an inevitably violent aftermath... a comparably unknown director, Richard Fleischer, had his own heist to reveal, and with a title like ARMORED CAR ROBBERY, you know exactly what you're in for... somewhat...<br> <br> With a title describing the entire plot, there's plenty to go right and wrong in the process — depending what side you're on, and how and when the tables turn. Equally balancing the story between cops and robbers, the good guys are led by Charles McGraw, who would work under Fleischer in both of their most famous Noir vehicles, THE NARROW MARGIN... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

adele jergens, armored car, charles mcgraw, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gene evans, heist, james flavin, richard fleischer, steve brodie, william talman

RICHARD FLEISCHER DRIVES THE NOIR 'ARMORED CAR ROBBERY'

Title: ARMORED CAR ROBBERY Year: 1950 Rating: **** The same year John Huston brought us one of the greatest Film Noir offerings, THE ASPHAL...

CHARLES BRONSON AVENGING DANA BARRON IN 'DEATH WISH IV'

<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/AVvXsEiOpz0XVw6_BpJRswnNLjDWTFZfz0pIEBeCqIFk5GCF3vMingo8riAghsfPsWJ7OMcDABDeVf34RyXp7_GulYO2M4NWELDAc11gYtPuaLmz92qRGJ1o9Ftx2xE4JcgN_FuNj7UOHAhwDgje3slVA5XDAzck0pZ44j3yIw8L9YxoyR7kNvKDTY7CvuPf5w/s1682/AVvXsEguVVktMHBrfFXFez7l9HNl1KDW14GL_Xn0TsKWNZpyGZspTGZEhndqf52AzUq_NLel79LZDsV6aEa4aDVwbrEVVXU4ufe_J2prts1M1xhndIhTaM6ggpL1hwbtU4lOSu5YAtKB2EJGOnuVETHTw3EVjltFtHdwp_TDa3imtTMmIGcY88W75KUXpIhkvg=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1682" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOpz0XVw6_BpJRswnNLjDWTFZfz0pIEBeCqIFk5GCF3vMingo8riAghsfPsWJ7OMcDABDeVf34RyXp7_GulYO2M4NWELDAc11gYtPuaLmz92qRGJ1o9Ftx2xE4JcgN_FuNj7UOHAhwDgje3slVA5XDAzck0pZ44j3yIw8L9YxoyR7kNvKDTY7CvuPf5w/s16000/AVvXsEguVVktMHBrfFXFez7l9HNl1KDW14GL_Xn0TsKWNZpyGZspTGZEhndqf52AzUq_NLel79LZDsV6aEa4aDVwbrEVVXU4ufe_J2prts1M1xhndIhTaM6ggpL1hwbtU4lOSu5YAtKB2EJGOnuVETHTw3EVjltFtHdwp_TDa3imtTMmIGcY88W75KUXpIhkvg=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1987 cast: Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, Dana Barron, John P. Ryan rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It makes perfect bloody sense that <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson’s</a> iconic vigilante Paul Kersey, who works as an architect by day and takes care of <i>business</i> by night, would become a bonafide hit man: After three entire films he’s gotten so good at killing criminals, he's hired by a mysterious "millionaire" (John P. Ryan) to infiltrate a rival gang by any means possible...</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>For those new to the DEATH WISH franchise, Kersey’s wife was murdered in the first movie, his daughter raped – then in part two his daughter's killed and now (after protecting an entire slum building in the third) he’s up against the mafia after girlfriend Kay Lenz's teenage daughter overdoses...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, body count, cannon, charles bronson, crime, dana barron, death wish, drugs, eighties, franchise, j. lee thompson, john p. ryan, kay lenz, mob, perry lopez, revenge, sequel

CHARLES BRONSON AVENGING DANA BARRON IN 'DEATH WISH IV'

year: 1987 cast: Charles Bronson, Kay Lenz, Dana Barron, John P. Ryan rating: ***1/2 It makes perfect bloody sense that Charles Bronson’s i...

SCOTT THOMSON'S FAST TIMES SPEEDING THROUGH 'TAXI DRIVER'

<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/a/AVvXsEiHCfJUU4yYkKWrWLY3oHKpW74urBUWmiWhVw7J5Tm_JA-zfZW1xQVEQbDTwSqy-1Sqmrkok3pSqmH0iwLEWMtSTxR9rQFwYyJC7UIfni3yYG6Aayz49pZj-Lafzvt6hyEPGUI0Lav7j5yJzRW-KuIG5IVrEf8mxVwpg5OTbURVIj4eaxbkwGllLpvkTw=s1451" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="631" data-original-width="1451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHCfJUU4yYkKWrWLY3oHKpW74urBUWmiWhVw7J5Tm_JA-zfZW1xQVEQbDTwSqy-1Sqmrkok3pSqmH0iwLEWMtSTxR9rQFwYyJC7UIfni3yYG6Aayz49pZj-Lafzvt6hyEPGUI0Lav7j5yJzRW-KuIG5IVrEf8mxVwpg5OTbURVIj4eaxbkwGllLpvkTw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Scott Thomson with Robert Romanus from Fast Times at Ridgemont High</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In one of those bizarre and random pop culture occurrences, the actor who'd play the nerdy high school student Arnold in FAST TIMES AT RIDEMONT HIGH from 1982 was an extra in one of the greatest exploitation films ever, Martin Scorsese's gritty 1976 cult classic TAXI DRIVER...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But he was a very important extra being one of two young "Johns" picking up (or being picked up by) Jodie Foster's Iris, the extremely under-aged hooker that Robert De Niro's titular cabbie Travis Bickle winds up stalking, then saving... And here's what character-actor Scott Thomson recalls from that time-grueling night shoot... </p><p><span></span></p>

amy heckerling, eighties, exploitation, interview, jodie foster, martin scorsese, nicolas cage, robert deniro, robert romanus, scott thomson, seventies

SCOTT THOMSON'S FAST TIMES SPEEDING THROUGH 'TAXI DRIVER'

Scott Thomson with Robert Romanus from Fast Times at Ridgemont High In one of those bizarre and random pop culture occurrences, the actor wh...

YOUNG OLIVER STONE DIRECTS MICHAEL CAINE IN 'THE HAND'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/a/AVvXsEjlIUeij78x6tIGlswsx_7rPQbcaTJQp24fHXcCFw-3Uf-KTe6tiotNz6_HaIBQ5ZzMULkE02N2XLsoy6PrZVBHkwE9trJ2n0LRB2ZjGjcNb8AvN4DccVEdMC6SVumYFoGMDUOwDey8s-jM7eq08AqxfhJzWzlaKAmJSPlI3DfObtLlK9e2xtYeo3g2zQ=s1479" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="1479" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlIUeij78x6tIGlswsx_7rPQbcaTJQp24fHXcCFw-3Uf-KTe6tiotNz6_HaIBQ5ZzMULkE02N2XLsoy6PrZVBHkwE9trJ2n0LRB2ZjGjcNb8AvN4DccVEdMC6SVumYFoGMDUOwDey8s-jM7eq08AqxfhJzWzlaKAmJSPlI3DfObtLlK9e2xtYeo3g2zQ=w400-h299" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HAND Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Michael Caine is good in this otherwise mediocre thriller by first-time director (of a genuine studio film) Oliver Stone that centers on Michael Caine as a comic book artist/writer who loses his hand in an automobile accident, which is technically the most riveting scene, after which he rehabilitates while the severed limb is, or seems to be, crawling around doing his dirty work for him...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Stone’s best direction occurs during taut conversations between Caine and the people around him, providing a suspenseful base liken to stage-influenced British horror films, building character development in lue of cheap shocks...</p><p>However, scenes involving The Hand itself look a bit cheesy, dated, and sporadic cuts to black and white seem misplaced, contrasting from our protagonist turned antagonist and revolving side-characters Annie McEnroe as a tempestuous college student, Bruce McGill as a temperamental shrink, and Caine’s cheating wife Andrea Marovicci: his ultimate target in a horror thriller that has moments but somewhat loses its grip halfway through. Although, witnessing Michael Caine slowly going mad... a role that, according to Stone, took a toll on the actor’s real life... is worth the ninety minutes.</p><p><span></span></p>

andrea marcovicci, annie mcenroe, body count, bruce mcgill, cult, eighties, horror, michael caine, oliver stone, thriller

YOUNG OLIVER STONE DIRECTS MICHAEL CAINE IN 'THE HAND'

Title: THE HAND Year: 1981 Rating: ***1/2 Michael Caine is good in this otherwise mediocre thriller by first-time director (of a genuine st...

JEANNE MOREAU AND STANLEY BAKER IN JOSEPH LOSEY'S 'EVA'

<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/a/AVvXsEiAre4w29LtzJzQHB5qBi-qveXaHJljDxsnt5QCvkzGM6BQQkp3q1mHx_ICMHIrUGFc2QqHfiHEWy3KPOJm5uui8IeKyUhYAUnjIYFVHr9U4BAKkBGVpz3lItC0VYR7EiynlpwF33YlcIGpWd2LcG_Lhfrcxc_l0gbktMgBD4R2B-Jv7Q97NmQ0lYG5Pw=s1158" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="676" data-original-width="1158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiAre4w29LtzJzQHB5qBi-qveXaHJljDxsnt5QCvkzGM6BQQkp3q1mHx_ICMHIrUGFc2QqHfiHEWy3KPOJm5uui8IeKyUhYAUnjIYFVHr9U4BAKkBGVpz3lItC0VYR7EiynlpwF33YlcIGpWd2LcG_Lhfrcxc_l0gbktMgBD4R2B-Jv7Q97NmQ0lYG5Pw=s16000"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: EVA Director: Joseph Losey Year: 1962 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The only person more entranced by the spontaneous beauty of Jeanne Moreau's titular EVA than a smitten Stanley Baker is director Joseph Losey, who created a Moreau Valentine set in Venice on the outskirts of the Cannes Film Festival as Baker's newly-famous, working-class writer Tyvian Jones can't get enough from the very minute she crashes his rented villa... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>He's a boisterous, womanizing fluke of an author and she's a visually artistic muse, captured by Losey's camera-creative style (following Baker perpetually following Moreau) inspired by the French New Wave yet also coinciding with his own same-year's British thriller <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/12/TATDamned.html">THESE ARE THE DAMNED</a>... <br></p><p><span></span></p>

arthouse, british, jeanne moreau, joseph losey, stanley baker, virna lisi

JEANNE MOREAU AND STANLEY BAKER IN JOSEPH LOSEY'S 'EVA'

Title: EVA Director: Joseph Losey Year: 1962 Rating: *** The only person more entranced by the spontaneous beauty of Jeanne Moreau's ti...

WILLIAM FRIEDKIN'S UNDERRATED THIRD MASTERPIECE 'SORCERER'

<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/AVvXsEgW8m81FKUXVwIl4iNbZFupyLWopyP0TKeBJFf9ZPYWt73IOoZySp4EISM18w1249tNmyImuwlgqp_40pbr14H5KmpnaGkPtVHJSs6RjCNpEJESWhQh9_fomUv12Ms49u1_YJmvDJToaUy-8qWwP6rCEVnlY1QlAZPOMfl9zqUiXdb1nNJO3BUkhwt1SIpQ/s2208/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%204.16.09%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1180" data-original-width="2208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW8m81FKUXVwIl4iNbZFupyLWopyP0TKeBJFf9ZPYWt73IOoZySp4EISM18w1249tNmyImuwlgqp_40pbr14H5KmpnaGkPtVHJSs6RjCNpEJESWhQh9_fomUv12Ms49u1_YJmvDJToaUy-8qWwP6rCEVnlY1QlAZPOMfl9zqUiXdb1nNJO3BUkhwt1SIpQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-08-13%20at%204.16.09%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Roy Scheider in SORCERER Year: 1977 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In THE EXORCIST, director William Friedkin literally brought us to the gates of Hell, making him the perfect director for SORCERER... only here taking us deep <i>inside</i> a jungle purgatory where four flawed and extremely hopeless characters from different parts of the world... with nowhere else to go and not a dime to get there, even if there was a possible way out... </p><p>A kind of death sentence where the inhabitants are unlucky enough to still be around... A living for dying jungle village that's no cliche and isn't symbolic or artsy: looking like a gritty hybrid of sadistic voyeurism and third world documentary b-roll... </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>

action, adventure, bruno cremer, frank pesce, roy scheider, seventies, suspense, tangerine dream, william friedkin

WILLIAM FRIEDKIN'S UNDERRATED THIRD MASTERPIECE 'SORCERER'

Roy Scheider in SORCERER Year: 1977 Rating: ****1/2 In THE EXORCIST, director William Friedkin literally brought us to the gates of Hell, m...

FLORINDA BOLKAN 'A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN' STANLEY BAKER

<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/AVvXsEhryZEwIbOIBinC_dQ2AOYZnQYr__s4KYWeDN6hzZJPGwVM0qPU4yS3wIjN-f-IYYuFTzNv07nBk35UAMX1QHdiblIB8mJX4D-erykx62dgCVBLBi_nzNaQ5bJ1-aOxiZ9S8DGWRZ3C_1SBEKixLGdfKguGVahHBEZEAtZxGhlkeoW_BeSWCUv5neuAIg/s1033/AVvXsEih9iA1hUI3E3jlni9F3mBHYJNmC8Evbmf-Dd81uKw3BbqUdD3g7T3c3B0EP4YiwTBkby6CpW_Bp3MOvtinANr2zh1NbzBYdeHOA6MvlOCNlsa_gLLR27M7qKbsH0IL_2gCfGS7mEraJIHj0wZtxfWm9yIsujY1ftB_aN1Arrooa5-vdizKA4wUivgQ6Q=s16000.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="1033" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhryZEwIbOIBinC_dQ2AOYZnQYr__s4KYWeDN6hzZJPGwVM0qPU4yS3wIjN-f-IYYuFTzNv07nBk35UAMX1QHdiblIB8mJX4D-erykx62dgCVBLBi_nzNaQ5bJ1-aOxiZ9S8DGWRZ3C_1SBEKixLGdfKguGVahHBEZEAtZxGhlkeoW_BeSWCUv5neuAIg/s16000/AVvXsEih9iA1hUI3E3jlni9F3mBHYJNmC8Evbmf-Dd81uKw3BbqUdD3g7T3c3B0EP4YiwTBkby6CpW_Bp3MOvtinANr2zh1NbzBYdeHOA6MvlOCNlsa_gLLR27M7qKbsH0IL_2gCfGS7mEraJIHj0wZtxfWm9yIsujY1ftB_aN1Arrooa5-vdizKA4wUivgQ6Q=s16000.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN Year: 1971 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Most <i>giallos</i>... offbeat Italian-made b-horror/thrillers.. look great with creative camera angles backed by crisp cinematography where blood is thicker and redder than ever... but the acting, even when filled with terrific actors, can often be lacking, perhaps because all the dialogue is so badly/noticeably dubbed... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But in the case of Lucio Fulci's A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN... where <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/stanley%20baker">Stanley Baker</a> plays the token snoopy cop... it's a whistle, <i>his </i>whistle, that awkwardly coincides with the Ennio Morricone score as if Baker's Inspector Corvin got the actual movie's soundtrack stuck in his head...</p><p><span></span></p>

anita strindberg, ely galleani, exploitation, florinda bolkan, giallo, horror, italian, mystery, seventies, stanley baker, thriller

FLORINDA BOLKAN 'A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN' STANLEY BAKER

Title: A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN Year: 1971 Rating: *** Most giallos ... offbeat Italian-made b-horror/thrillers.. look great with crea...