cult film freak: September 2023

Written by James M. Tate / 9/30/2023 / No comments / action , gangster , james cagney , jean harlow , joan blondell , mae clarke , melodrama , thirties

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

<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/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s1972/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1222" data-original-width="1972" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl3ruogn54WyiOHhGnSTYMrs4VMdiPAGN2hleed_MddJMiQdp3AJSOHNJchiy3-iQnpI5OQBXQLU-chkpkQbH0dyl0ESbwVBLJeDPxe858BZggI7mpcIcO9-LN6lXcY2JO2526QyY4sVkaqZXXT4_BZiXT1Iq4VxP5KVmKcvQhYogJyC1fnGcDTnVvGJo/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-30%20at%203.03.43%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tall young instigator and his much shorter sidekick breaking laws — then to grow up a tall and lanky follower of the pint-size firebrand in charge... and that's because once James Cagney was recast to lead Edward Woods, the backstory intro wasn't changed... Which hardly really matters... once Cagney appears on screen he's as mesmerizing to the audience as he was to director William A. Wellman, who saw him in another movie's walk-on, and was convinced the days of secondary-lead... like SINNER'S HOLIDAY and BACK DOOR TO HEAVEN... were long gone...

action, gangster, james cagney, jean harlow, joan blondell, mae clarke, melodrama, thirties

JAMES CAGNEY REPLACES EDWARD WOODS FOR 'THE PUBLIC ENEMY'

Title: THE PUBLIC ENEMY Year: 1931 Rating: **** It's already known but equally confusing when THE PUBLIC ENEMY prologue introduces a tal...

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

<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/AVvXsEgm3JgiBEIgCtvICYmNVFTGRcBh6ux86oJLg96TjwlOI_gSSPSkuZnlZ68L_Ndu0wXzycsIqq9Y37TSL1blrqatkkSWMWmT0XCUtm14ejdodakggACofTVwVaPXKV2xrkElqDu3Y6rsSvGnw-m2ePubJ12HArFZz70QbM0Qc4NUKg1lfz8OqkUdybD5EnIB/s1876/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1009" data-original-width="1876" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm3JgiBEIgCtvICYmNVFTGRcBh6ux86oJLg96TjwlOI_gSSPSkuZnlZ68L_Ndu0wXzycsIqq9Y37TSL1blrqatkkSWMWmT0XCUtm14ejdodakggACofTVwVaPXKV2xrkElqDu3Y6rsSvGnw-m2ePubJ12HArFZz70QbM0Qc4NUKg1lfz8OqkUdybD5EnIB/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1971 Title: SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mirroring Alfred Hitchcock has a perfectly cast Anthony Perkins as a neurosurgeon taking an amnesiac patient to his plush home in order to (supposedly) help the nameless stranger, played by an only slightly miscast Charles Bronson, pacing taut and timid like a caged beast during his pre-fame European Phase... But this is really Perkins' ride... more logical than psycho in a psychological thriller... providing another hiding-a-dark-secret creepy guy role... And from the mellow cadence, what could have been cat-and-mouse is more like mouse-and-mouse, or mouse and toothless cat, even during Bronson's sporadic tantrums in a noirish plot involving Jill Ireland as the doc's cheating wife (employing a cute Agathe Natanson as their maid, who'd have fit the ingenue role better)...

agathe natanson, anthony perkins, charles bronson, french, jill ireland, mystery, nicolas gessner, seventies, thriller

CHARLES BRONSON 'SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR' ANTHONY PERKINS

Year: 1971 Title: SOMEONE BEHIND THE DOOR Rating: ***1/2 French shot/English speaking psychological thriller mirroring François Truffaut mir...

ORSON WELLES PUTS ANTHONY PERKINS THROUGH 'THE TRIAL'

<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/AVvXsEinodC0LaLgSivYr0Y9ca32QzFuHb5eOpaMabEZUIYk_mPya_MjYKRhuS1VUjX5kjsUBWxMDsCzICiq90llv7zCN-4csoQ5uzpMdgeLKUVZDcgRWh8OhuZUtLVi7sfPDJV_QeUUL-zf2OaUgZEfZdeIq06_qsoaLyB9Zdc4idiqtHWaEurbXqfjLAl-QNZG/s1134/380840362_1806949616400873_9172979606554586118_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="664" data-original-width="1134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinodC0LaLgSivYr0Y9ca32QzFuHb5eOpaMabEZUIYk_mPya_MjYKRhuS1VUjX5kjsUBWxMDsCzICiq90llv7zCN-4csoQ5uzpMdgeLKUVZDcgRWh8OhuZUtLVi7sfPDJV_QeUUL-zf2OaUgZEfZdeIq06_qsoaLyB9Zdc4idiqtHWaEurbXqfjLAl-QNZG/s16000/380840362_1806949616400873_9172979606554586118_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anthony Perkins in Orson Welles's THE TRIAL Year: 1962 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Before his final William Shakespeare adaptation CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT aka FALSTAFF, the legendary actor/director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/orson%20welles">Orson Welles</a> said that, if he had to chose only one movie to offer for entrance into Heaven, it would be THE TRIAL — ironic since it's basically a journey into Hell...Actually, Anthony Perkins as Joseph K (for author Kafka) wakes up there already, stuck within a frustrating perdition, in his very own apartment that, next door to local floozy Jeanne Moreau, makes him a suspect by plainclothes-detectives, who begin a somewhat subtle interrogation that progresses throughout, involving several other authority figure types...

adaptation, akim tamiroff, anthony perkins, franz kafka, import, jeanne moreau, jess hahn, mystery, neo noir, orson welles, romy schneider, sixties, thriller

ORSON WELLES PUTS ANTHONY PERKINS THROUGH 'THE TRIAL'

Anthony Perkins in Orson Welles's THE TRIAL Year: 1962 Rating: ***1/2 Before his final William Shakespeare adaptation CHIMES AT MIDNIGHT...

ORSON WELLES WARTIME CRIME POTBOILER 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

<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/AVvXsEg7woYajgnwRLSr1xeg8XSci4kCJlsOxti46_S5Ieb5Zr1Pf9cqDUxc1PjgBsOqWc9X68COOHgLrLUY4ikOMfcth8f0yQVUufpha-j-ELGKKwqubOWVMMBTuoRENqos7IJG-l1scjS-czFRpBaER52jb-t8Kgh77fSQzy53uaF0sAXSys93mq_yvTevSQ/s1290/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-26%20at%209.10.32%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="723" data-original-width="1290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7woYajgnwRLSr1xeg8XSci4kCJlsOxti46_S5Ieb5Zr1Pf9cqDUxc1PjgBsOqWc9X68COOHgLrLUY4ikOMfcth8f0yQVUufpha-j-ELGKKwqubOWVMMBTuoRENqos7IJG-l1scjS-czFRpBaER52jb-t8Kgh77fSQzy53uaF0sAXSys93mq_yvTevSQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-26%20at%209.10.32%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joseph Cotten in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Director: Norman Foster Producer: Orson Welles Year 1943 rating **** </td></tr></tbody></table>An entertaining, lightweight crime yarn about a married and very 
passive arms dealer... who ironically has never fired a gun... stuck 
on a cargo ship where there lurks a clandestine Nazi out to kill him... 
 
Joseph
 Cotten stars as the hunted pawn who, having left loyal wife Ruth 
Warrick ashore, is reluctantly sent aboard with dancer Dolores Del Rio and meets 
various passengers including a Turkish tobacco dealer, a slick gambler and a German businessman. It's not hard
 figuring out who the main heavy is, but it doesn't matter...

agnes moorehead, classic, delores del rio, everette sloane, film noir or melodrama, forties, hit-man, joseph cotten, mystery, nazi, norman foster, orson welles, ruth warrick, suspense

ORSON WELLES WARTIME CRIME POTBOILER 'JOURNEY INTO FEAR'

Joseph Cotten in JOURNEY INTO FEAR Director: Norman Foster Producer: Orson Welles Year 1943 rating **** An entertaining, lightweight crime ...

BRUCE DERN TAILING RYAN O'NEAL IN WALTER HILL'S 'THE DRIVER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0AWhdGEPBJXOfLvQraq2Ok17UOIim2ecuwOU61L8nw1hs60poMjxjLuUFqe8b1kYnPZ-kK43P1WyFagTIawmVbLi0rkUlzEIXAAfCzSG5VOc-fR-8IlQpNnQE5bjUSPNTuxnlqqwcHGPaY1zJx3J8hKFaOgwqD_xaK-E3uLTwGzvbOH8iE17RGkOI3hx/s1408/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-24%20at%205.39.53%20PM.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1384" data-original-width="1408" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0AWhdGEPBJXOfLvQraq2Ok17UOIim2ecuwOU61L8nw1hs60poMjxjLuUFqe8b1kYnPZ-kK43P1WyFagTIawmVbLi0rkUlzEIXAAfCzSG5VOc-fR-8IlQpNnQE5bjUSPNTuxnlqqwcHGPaY1zJx3J8hKFaOgwqD_xaK-E3uLTwGzvbOH8iE17RGkOI3hx/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-04-24%20at%205.39.53%20PM.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE DRIVER Year: 1978 Rates: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>An action vehicle but not entirely, Walter Hill's THE DRIVER is more a meticulous, character-driven Neo Noir than rollercoaster ride: This includes a brooding Ryan O'Neal as a getaway DRIVER sought after by a determined cop played by not only scene but entire film-stealing Bruce Dern as... The Detective... 
 
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY46SBJnGRgqf_bvnPfwk4mgBLcNSSRPcCYbD6Xfx61io1_jG32JYm15edUke-9LHw-IYztR9olV2kPIYvmwmhB6HPj5CSQIzRqF3ZNnGIH8lnjx9WXuxhoQLvrv08Ne1WoiVUkUFr9vms/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-07+at+4.39.51+AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1420" data-original-width="909" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY46SBJnGRgqf_bvnPfwk4mgBLcNSSRPcCYbD6Xfx61io1_jG32JYm15edUke-9LHw-IYztR9olV2kPIYvmwmhB6HPj5CSQIzRqF3ZNnGIH8lnjx9WXuxhoQLvrv08Ne1WoiVUkUFr9vms/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-07+at+4.39.51+AM.jpeg" width="204"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Driver Mileage Rates: ****</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>As each character is sparsely named after what they are within a pulpy yet stark, slowburn template as no one means anything beyond what they're doing, who they're after or protecting, The Player in particular, Isabelle Adjani caught in-between as... speaking in monotone like everyone else except Dern... her best moments occur while listening... 
 
Scenes when Dern questions her or THE DRIVER or a more honest detective in Matt Clark are even better than the chase scenes: Which, of course, directed by future WARRIORS and SOUTHERN COMFORT icon Walter Hill, are topnotch suspenseful and easy to follow – either dodging police prowlers or one of the bad guys who winds up after the titular bad guy we're rooting for. And the most intense screeching tires occur as THE DRIVER shows his stuff inside a parking garage, with no one chasing behind: deliberate car-porn at its finest.

action, bruce dern, car, crime, edward walsh, felice orlandi, getaway driver, isabelle adjani, matt clark, neo noir, rudy ramos, ryan o'neal, seventies, suspense, thriller, twilight time, walter hill

BRUCE DERN TAILING RYAN O'NEAL IN WALTER HILL'S 'THE DRIVER'

Title: THE DRIVER Year: 1978 Rates: **** An action vehicle but not entirely, Walter Hill's THE DRIVER is more a meticulous, character-dr...

VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A 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/AVvXsEg6ElG2K6oOgXwkSk5CGOK-IeBuCEuXP1_vd9KAuB0JohktF4_FfwW0ZProsSAuAX2Zxeja94z55CD6UFaQ5e-Az_3aodXOBGTi2FGd-JqcZDailsPu2xGOciXAOmuuMgvKb8pz_y4Lam2wCNUOVFYnr-5ffcfOtV_PNsyq-QhGlLlGIHaKmahndhnVheNK/s1571/brighter.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="753" data-original-width="1571" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ElG2K6oOgXwkSk5CGOK-IeBuCEuXP1_vd9KAuB0JohktF4_FfwW0ZProsSAuAX2Zxeja94z55CD6UFaQ5e-Az_3aodXOBGTi2FGd-JqcZDailsPu2xGOciXAOmuuMgvKb8pz_y4Lam2wCNUOVFYnr-5ffcfOtV_PNsyq-QhGlLlGIHaKmahndhnVheNK/s16000/brighter.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Art of John Crawford & Lois Daine for HELL IS A CITY Year: 1960 Rates: *****</td></tr></tbody></table>The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest directing his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/03/YE.html">YESTERDAY'S ENEMY</a> leading man Stanley Baker, HELL IS A CITY is not only a Noir-like Police Procedural but an Escaped Convict Procedural as sinister John Crawford hops from various former colleagues and lovers while intense cop Baker, who'd originally put him away and is revenge-driven to nab him back, visits/questions the same people...From a bookie's cheating wife (Billie Whitelaw ignoring rich husband Donald Pleasence who employed doomed Lois Daine); a flirty waitress; a stubborn salesman with a gorgeous deaf/dumb daughter (Sarah Branch); and featuring various locales run by a shady gang with deliciously pulpy nicknames like Clogger Roach...

billie whitelaw, british neo noir, donald pleasence, geoffrey frederick, george a. cooper, hammer films, jazz score, john crawford, lois daine, sarah branch, sixties, stanley baker, val guest, vanda godsell

VAL GUEST DIRECTS STANLEY BAKER IN HAMMER'S 'HELL IS A CITY'

Poster Art of John Crawford & Lois Daine for HELL IS A CITY Year: 1960 Rates: *** * * The second and final Hammer feature with Val Guest...

OLIVER REED REBELS THROUGH HAMMER'S 'THESE ARE THE DAMNED'

<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/AVvXsEiNsb9nb0xrd_0NbRwDR-OPV7BUQWf4DgfORiYt_7z7Ynv_-3BusjDfANDB_N9HUve42rAPc_IR86r2cPyUBmjKNKTHyXgrCCCzNH69RK2l1OLXiGJKlsNiZyCkOS-12iu9rayIGpxASm5iW7MdrV7-RRWwzpvnGEcfvakPc5mukxAbzxzqS7AmHTVvZG5s/s2074/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%2011.19.46%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1342" data-original-width="2074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNsb9nb0xrd_0NbRwDR-OPV7BUQWf4DgfORiYt_7z7Ynv_-3BusjDfANDB_N9HUve42rAPc_IR86r2cPyUBmjKNKTHyXgrCCCzNH69RK2l1OLXiGJKlsNiZyCkOS-12iu9rayIGpxASm5iW7MdrV7-RRWwzpvnGEcfvakPc5mukxAbzxzqS7AmHTVvZG5s/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-02-20%20at%2011.19.46%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THESE ARE THE DAMNED aka THE DAMNED Year: 1962 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>Hammer's THESE ARE THE DAMNED has a double-edged title starting with a Teddy Boy gang (young punks from England's 1950's/1960's who dressed in Victorian-era used-clothe leftovers) led by Oliver Reed... And he's in what seems an incestuous relationship with sexy sibling Shirley Anne Field, who... while the boys whistle the tune of a corny song that'd just conducted their street-savvy march into town... picks up on older, classy American, Macdonald Carey, so he can be deliberately clobbered, robbed...

alexander knox, british new wave, david gregory, hammer films, james maxwell, joseph losey, kenneth cope, macdonald carey, oliver reed, shirley anne field, sixties, viveca lindfors, walter gotell

OLIVER REED REBELS THROUGH HAMMER'S 'THESE ARE THE DAMNED'

Title: THESE ARE THE DAMNED aka THE DAMNED Year: 1962 Rating: **** Hammer's THESE ARE THE DAMNED has a double-edged title starting with ...

WILLIAM LUCAS AND KENNETH COPE STEAL 'DATELINE DIAMONDS'

<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/AVvXsEiQt6RsLnwHxWr9iSeOYqqoP9ciZFKiXVdRNcpE_wEQ3uPC6yBEKYqU5PAn2qq1wZ9iBrVifNzMAsqUj-upz-PfMSdgM7RPU3_soooSfBCAfA1HwWVOooUHt4ZFvX5wgDELjyuQTLzZ02jb4oe0FOxjeJUflg0n8D-swrF6Rq81gU0SxKn14NjOZA0jYMjy/s952/377258740_1803669840062184_3406730178235353623_n-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="952" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQt6RsLnwHxWr9iSeOYqqoP9ciZFKiXVdRNcpE_wEQ3uPC6yBEKYqU5PAn2qq1wZ9iBrVifNzMAsqUj-upz-PfMSdgM7RPU3_soooSfBCAfA1HwWVOooUHt4ZFvX5wgDELjyuQTLzZ02jb4oe0FOxjeJUflg0n8D-swrF6Rq81gU0SxKn14NjOZA0jYMjy/s16000/377258740_1803669840062184_3406730178235353623_n-1.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: DATELINE DIAMONDS Year: 1965 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>An otherwise nifty heist caper... with an agenda to promote the British band SMALL FACES... has two fitting actors, old and young, both having starred in several crime b-pictures, beginning with William Lucas, who played every incarnation of criminal... from cold-blooded to cowardly from THE BREAK to CALCULATED RISK to PAYROLL... and the intensely vulnerable Kenneth Cope from JUNGLE STREET, THE CONVICT and THE DAMNED... Herein, Cope is the crooked manager of the band, and Lucas has his number... an intense actor never using costumes but here he resembles Inspector Clouseau if originally cast Peter Ustinov played him more straight, and his anti-chemistry with the younger Cope works surprisingly well... yet they mostly work together by remaining apart...

british film noir, british new wave, conrad phillips, george mikell, heist, kenneth cope, music, william lucas

WILLIAM LUCAS AND KENNETH COPE STEAL 'DATELINE DIAMONDS'

Title: DATELINE DIAMONDS Year: 1965 Rating: ***1/2 An otherwise nifty heist caper... with an agenda to promote the British band SMALL FACES....

MARK STEVENS IN 'CRY VENGEANCE' FEATURING SKIP HOMEIER

<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/AVvXsEg6W-8T4xEExycmZJa6J2BUd3dwoxLZSjp1eznvmWmSkMJMwEC-ox3m_cYMNpFEZ5Y5uENknJeEfDbyr6Mbx49WZvFeFRnPwaC9ijq-LVsMOi4O52uKwF-KBvJ3b6Au3_UVBHQBWXfsEefUAlzJj-7knN8kcSfVTnMn8Jy9nABF8AvkJpjk8Ch3mR91W9W5/s2048/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1157" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6W-8T4xEExycmZJa6J2BUd3dwoxLZSjp1eznvmWmSkMJMwEC-ox3m_cYMNpFEZ5Y5uENknJeEfDbyr6Mbx49WZvFeFRnPwaC9ijq-LVsMOi4O52uKwF-KBvJ3b6Au3_UVBHQBWXfsEefUAlzJj-7knN8kcSfVTnMn8Jy9nABF8AvkJpjk8Ch3mR91W9W5/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: CRY VENGEANCE Year: 1954 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>With the exception of a second-act move from an American big city to rural Alaska, the film noir CRY VENGEANCE is a strange, offbeat venture... and wouldn't be if strange and offbeat Skip Homeier didn't play the primary villain... Despite there being a mob boss that director and star Mark Stevens wants to kill, befitting the revenge title since his family was murdered with half his face burned and deformed before imprisonment... but the tall and lanky Homeier's hit-man Roxey Davis, with white spiked hair that would be normal decades later, soon becomes just about everything...

action, fifties, film noir or melodrama, mark stevens, martha hyer, mort mills, revenge, richard deacon, rural, skip homeier, thriller, warren douglas

MARK STEVENS IN 'CRY VENGEANCE' FEATURING SKIP HOMEIER

Title: CRY VENGEANCE Year: 1954 Rating: ***1/2 With the exception of a second-act move from an American big city to rural Alaska, the film n...

DON SIEGEL'S THEATRICAL 'THE LINEUP' STARRING ELI WALLACH

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UBG4paAhvU9p6uHYJRUdnS7ZnxBUflZXGEfjVgNFt6X7j44pxaYjpr5paoQ4xJgfGaU0c58Pz_6CBjQ0jjRr4eYxqmjFBqSyOHrv4SEe1VvjHG09lfMhNrw4GJsD-y8F4HwWlJhznvSluTXtKKIeOTTVb-ekIcAIkwecyDuQpRyKeo8aO18i7A09XPQI/s400/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="368" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6UBG4paAhvU9p6uHYJRUdnS7ZnxBUflZXGEfjVgNFt6X7j44pxaYjpr5paoQ4xJgfGaU0c58Pz_6CBjQ0jjRr4eYxqmjFBqSyOHrv4SEe1VvjHG09lfMhNrw4GJsD-y8F4HwWlJhznvSluTXtKKIeOTTVb-ekIcAIkwecyDuQpRyKeo8aO18i7A09XPQI/s320/1.jpeg" width="294"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1958 Rating: ****1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>Brazen and bizarre crime flick beginning with a police investigation of what turns out being heroin smuggled through antiques from a cruise ship before focusing on the criminals who collect the stuff: the first fifteen minutes a police procedural based on the television series its named after, also known as SAN FRANCISCO BEAT, which was a Bay Area DRAGNET from the early part of the sparse Eisenhower decade, in which this edgy theatrical adaptation came out in the hipper/jazzier crest of.Eli Wallach, as the crazy, insecure yet sometimes charming lead thug named Dancer, shipped in from Florida with a tan intact, follows subtle "orders" and educationally-inclined etiquette lessons from elder partner Robert Keith... Making for a unique and twisted partnership that could be called MY FAIR SOCIOPATH: both (along with "dipso" getaway driver Richard Jaeckel) going from the various oblivious "mules" to either take the hidden heroin, or their lives. Often both...And director Don Siegel keeps the suspense on par with the snappy Noir dialog, and there's even some homoerotic stuff thrown in, way, way ahead of its time... THE LINEUP exceeds the very limited series it's loosely derived (there's even a Lineup scene in the beginning to attempt retrofitting the title). Thank Don for that... who fought to make this LINEUP his own way: where the cops are but a Greek Chorus for the killers.

action, body count, crime, don siegel, drugs, eli wallach, fifties, film noir or melodrama, richard jaekal, robert keith, TV adaptation

DON SIEGEL'S THEATRICAL 'THE LINEUP' STARRING ELI WALLACH

Year: 1958 Rating: ****1/2 Brazen and bizarre crime flick beginning with a police investigation of what turns out being heroin smuggled thro...

BRIAN KEITH AND KERWIN MATTHEWS IN '5 AGAINST THE HOUSE'

<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/AVvXsEgm9c7h3NYNx6OF-0JMC-MWDPBa3zRlYI3ofeWCZ35mR4C7F_RXsDgT2h3_0BLSq8eKaMmQ7X09wYiDyCBwGtOVnYvmtygg_L4TpPGa5tB4RvGWExxgXryWeQaJDPXY1SX096c6HnZaTDXJm9zJUU4GIVaPqD9jCYVYyYgAF4GBMZKsmMLpW4ifSIyYpS8d/s1096/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-29%20at%201.06.47%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="601" data-original-width="1096" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9c7h3NYNx6OF-0JMC-MWDPBa3zRlYI3ofeWCZ35mR4C7F_RXsDgT2h3_0BLSq8eKaMmQ7X09wYiDyCBwGtOVnYvmtygg_L4TpPGa5tB4RvGWExxgXryWeQaJDPXY1SX096c6HnZaTDXJm9zJUU4GIVaPqD9jCYVYyYgAF4GBMZKsmMLpW4ifSIyYpS8d/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-29%20at%201.06.47%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE Year: 1955 Rating: **</td></tr></tbody></table>There are more snags in making 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE a decent heist-noir-thriller than the student crooks have robbing a Reno Nevada casino, and, yes, they're all too old for college but this group of Korean War vets are using the GI Bill to get degrees they couldn't while in battle...And it's a pretty decent cast including Brian Keith mirroring William Bendix's shell-shocked character from another noir, THE BLUE DAHLIA (albeit a womanizing version, picking up on the pretty likes of older Jean Willes and younger Kathryn Grant)... but HOUSE is no classic...

alvy moore, brian keith, ensemble, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gambling, guy madison, heist, jean willes, kathryn grant, kerwin matthews, kim novak

BRIAN KEITH AND KERWIN MATTHEWS IN '5 AGAINST THE HOUSE'

Title: 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE Year: 1955 Rating: ** There are more snags in making 5 AGAINST THE HOUSE a decent heist-noir-thriller than the st...

SAMUEL FULLER'S TOKYO-BASED FILM NOIR 'HOUSE OF BAMBOO'

<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/AVvXsEisAT4lYSn5oopgBCbIFGdXoVuGBY_f8NyHcDPSYLkzkHfB3lB03ti2qDijYVwjuhloNZF3d4N65oiNuZWcviyVdHnVkjoJZGpZmA1Fq4g28fXNsDj3Ag6-47nk9FuKQG5jG3P0val4y5-vgAZ-AOAY_EeiysNd-yrYHuLEB_HhkBJtbd6wu9uq2S7vCS2x/s1437/Screen%20Shot%202021-10-08%20at%2011.51.35%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="1437" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisAT4lYSn5oopgBCbIFGdXoVuGBY_f8NyHcDPSYLkzkHfB3lB03ti2qDijYVwjuhloNZF3d4N65oiNuZWcviyVdHnVkjoJZGpZmA1Fq4g28fXNsDj3Ag6-47nk9FuKQG5jG3P0val4y5-vgAZ-AOAY_EeiysNd-yrYHuLEB_HhkBJtbd6wu9uq2S7vCS2x/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202021-10-08%20at%2011.51.35%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cameron Mitchell's the boss's thug in HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir remake set in Tokyo, and the 1948 FBI-propaganda THE STREET WITH NO NAME is the best cinematic venture J. Edgar Hoover was ever connected to and starring Mark Stevens as an agent going undercover, literally on Skid Row, first as a boxer and then joining a gang of gangsters more like crooks...In HOUSE OF BAMBOO the head baddie's Robert Ryan, slowburn and professional, the polar opposite of Richard Widmark's signature tantrum-spouting hood. More a crooked businessman, he's cold to the bone yet eventually finds trust in seemingly wayward stranger-in-town Robert Stack...

crime, deforest kelley, FBI, fifties, film noir or melodrama, heist, japanese-based, robert ryan, robert stack

SAMUEL FULLER'S TOKYO-BASED FILM NOIR 'HOUSE OF BAMBOO'

Cameron Mitchell's the boss's thug in HOUSE OF BAMBOO Year: 1955 Rating: **** One of Sam Fuller's greatest movies is a Noir rema...

ROBERT MITCHUM, WILLIAM TALMAN & ROBERT RYAN IN 'THE RACKET'

<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/AVvXsEiw9lQsYk5ktV0qMST88FxyNa-0jP9sZQ0Wk7arZ4I99NKwK_0b5x8SMEJnmrQnBlKFasVMbReRQ8216aLO4fj9jizU5kkqdU3u7KOlnaWE9USrpzyydPXnXnvl0pwsnoaSMOHZZygxl3Y9QpMqnt0j8OLuKiJGi0IdpyHoJGdZW2S40rSG4NvXuSC8iaE0/s2150/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-04%20at%208.05.05%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1526" data-original-width="2150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw9lQsYk5ktV0qMST88FxyNa-0jP9sZQ0Wk7arZ4I99NKwK_0b5x8SMEJnmrQnBlKFasVMbReRQ8216aLO4fj9jizU5kkqdU3u7KOlnaWE9USrpzyydPXnXnvl0pwsnoaSMOHZZygxl3Y9QpMqnt0j8OLuKiJGi0IdpyHoJGdZW2S40rSG4NvXuSC8iaE0/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-04%20at%208.05.05%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Title: THE RACKET 1951 Rating: ***1/2</td></tr></tbody></table>While
 primarily focusing on the two leads, Robert Mitchum as a determined 
cop, McQuigg, and Robert Ryan as criminal kingpin Nick Scanlon (in 
cahoots with crooked politician Ray Collins), it's William Talman's 
heroic yet idealistically naïve , knee-jerk newbie police officer, ready to take on 
all things villainous, that really drives things along...Bookending the 
literally explosive middle is an involving buildup, as nothing can touch
 Robert Ryan and his old-school way of running things. Then, during the 
last half, he realizes his particular kind of shady doesn't quite work 
in the world of ever-growing politics. But he's not going down easy, and
 it takes Mitchum's slowburn patience to wear him down. Throw in sexy 
Lizbeth Scott as the dame caught in the middle and you really have a pretty nifty crime-thriller.

crime, fifties, film noir or melodrama, howard hughes, lizabeth scott, robert mitchum, robert ryan, suspense, william talman

ROBERT MITCHUM, WILLIAM TALMAN & ROBERT RYAN IN 'THE RACKET'

Title: THE RACKET 1951 Rating: ***1/2 While primarily focusing on the two leads, Robert Mitchum as a determined cop, McQuigg, and Robert R...

ROBERT RYAN IN 'CITY BENEATH THE SEA' WITH ANTHONY QUINN

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWR0SPxlP7f7qJBmpDyyzMndffPtOPcW1nC7zxjpCjLHtI5X3VrLM8LAoOd2sx_0BP_ghvxiy6riIhcJuFbrP9-8x3TnhbU2WQCPX8xcI0zVrB3WgKnbhbxVkTNAMtcAsBabORp6feclpfrJqzXyG3845fpuX96ByAVi4awWXlAh8MBF2xNl6aNJ9Cnzg/s400/lf.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="313" data-original-width="400" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBWR0SPxlP7f7qJBmpDyyzMndffPtOPcW1nC7zxjpCjLHtI5X3VrLM8LAoOd2sx_0BP_ghvxiy6riIhcJuFbrP9-8x3TnhbU2WQCPX8xcI0zVrB3WgKnbhbxVkTNAMtcAsBabORp6feclpfrJqzXyG3845fpuX96ByAVi4awWXlAh8MBF2xNl6aNJ9Cnzg/s320/lf.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Year: 1953 Rating: **</td></tr></tbody></table>A letdown for those who love movies about treasure hunters. Unfortunately,
 the main character, played by a stiff Robert Ryan, is so uptight, not 
only does he NOT go along with more energetic and assertive partner 
Anthony Quinn, to find gold on a sunken ship in a literal CITY BENEATH 
THE SEA from a volcano explosion hundreds of years ago...

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiShS2PrzU-B4u4oJ5o_tXlG8HwRUlPkNPu9ADa_qYsWRdvUfvIM9DHsoJ4ffUvBuFa1xRXyR4E70KPQ9VF3EE-0cUtH_04GXgOs-8_389mWevzIjq8sU9GoQnrkiMO4-hJ9ziBLDVi2N8m/s1100/Screen+Shot+2021-08-30+at+4.47.33+AM.jpeg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1100" data-original-width="490" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiShS2PrzU-B4u4oJ5o_tXlG8HwRUlPkNPu9ADa_qYsWRdvUfvIM9DHsoJ4ffUvBuFa1xRXyR4E70KPQ9VF3EE-0cUtH_04GXgOs-8_389mWevzIjq8sU9GoQnrkiMO4-hJ9ziBLDVi2N8m/w142-h320/Screen+Shot+2021-08-30+at+4.47.33+AM.jpeg" width="142"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suzan Ball</td></tr></tbody></table>But he moves in 
to snake the booty first, just to teach his partner a lesson: A lesson 
is also taught to the audience, who must weather this bland 
fine-feathered friend who's also an extremely weak central hero, keeping
 this movie from being edgy, or entertaining... And
 the two lovely ingenues are both gorgeous, and initially tough, 
independent and assertive, making their characters mean more than just 
looks and providing a built-in feeling of suspense within the 
anticipated romance...One is the captain of a small boat (Mala Powers) 
and the other a calypso singer (Suzan Ball, Lucy O'Ball's cousin, who 
would of cancer die soon after)...But without Ryan or Quinn 
having to do much at all, both ladies melt to their touch in such a 
pathetic way, without earning it beyond their looks. At one point, singer actually asks Quinn, "What are you thinking?" 
after they'd known each other ten minutes. Meanwhile, as a b-movie, the low budget is deliberate, and mostly works... including 
scenes of the boys trudging in heavy "Diver Dan" style underwater gear 
with matte painted backgrounds. The technicolor is great looking, and 
otherwise these are capable actors and actresses. But this oceanic 
thriller is devoid of thrills, and pretty much... sinks upon impact.

action, adventure, anthony quinn, fifties, pulp, robert ryan, suzan ball, treasure

ROBERT RYAN IN 'CITY BENEATH THE SEA' WITH ANTHONY QUINN

Year: 1953 Rating: ** A letdown for those who love movies about treasure hunters. Unfortunately, the main character, played by a stiff Robe...

ROBERT RYAN VS RHONDA FLEMING & WILLIAM LUNDIGAN 'INFERNO'

<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/AVvXsEiCF0o2oZvs4kDhD34nDSPZl0wT7oyh3Ws2PKgwVEgRSy6o1S3Kl51WT2RECAnUpi0ZDLMVAjvj3-hcTtxAOWsgskLrF0LXQpcErDqTEOJjk6PuVzrzBv53V2lQMrfUceU6Z1PANoFf6T7GVtyfNzXFlnKI4j7VESAO-y74GqWmFlro9O-jkq2nvqREUPzK/s1552/NEWEST.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="848" data-original-width="1552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCF0o2oZvs4kDhD34nDSPZl0wT7oyh3Ws2PKgwVEgRSy6o1S3Kl51WT2RECAnUpi0ZDLMVAjvj3-hcTtxAOWsgskLrF0LXQpcErDqTEOJjk6PuVzrzBv53V2lQMrfUceU6Z1PANoFf6T7GVtyfNzXFlnKI4j7VESAO-y74GqWmFlro9O-jkq2nvqREUPzK/s16000/NEWEST.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** </td></tr></tbody></table>Leading and character actor Robert Ryan is difficult to root for since he played contentedly bitter types who didn't want rooting for... but with INFERNO his rich-husband character gets so screwed-over by his wife and her lover, left in the scorching desert — with a broken leg — to trudge through rocky terrain before he's lunch for condors, there's no other option but to have complete sympathy, if anything else for the movie (and his dire situation) to conclude... Yet the most intriguing scenes not only alleviate the halting, awkward tension but add a touch of paperback-pulpy and best yet, film noir/melodrama to the stranded-in-peril, fight-to-survive adventure...

3D, action, adventure, desert, fifties, melodrama, rhonda fleming, robert ryan, rural, survival, thriller, william lundigan

ROBERT RYAN VS RHONDA FLEMING & WILLIAM LUNDIGAN 'INFERNO'

Poster for Ronda Fleming INFERNO Year: 1953 Rating: *** Leading and character actor Robert Ryan is difficult to root for since he played co...

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s966/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="856" data-original-width="966" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MD9vA3IWWMbuekQ405COOEA_ECZ8hh9RreOO16fe2M4kPKgTrumf8zgZhbezsoB_j9B_2ZrA_HyPkJNR05boMY3QyvrVbR7pEztSKzJxQD9RcSNx4tciHr0e5DHNcHdI-rpv4cIzCKDPb_djudQiZ1jDQU9PuvBVsbgbBNL2ULhBVRJ1qC9BRYZ23ou4/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-12-24%20at%209.28.29%20PM.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2 </td></tr></tbody></table>Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and 
starring-role biopic of composer Leonard Bernstein, he's discussing a 
possible book written about all his accomplishments, from teaching 
children on television to his best remembered work, West Side Story... And
 yet we never got to witness any of it, instead  listening to he and 
classy wife Felicia Montealegre (a put-upon Carey Mulligan) within an 
intellectually-rambling romance from picnics to parties (in-between 
sporadic bisexual trysts) and not much else about the man that Cooper 
seems to have more fun portraying as a flamboyant and sophisticated, 
British-mannered, chain-smoking proto-beatnik than celebrating the 
legendary musical genius built right into the title... And aesthetically
 Cooper's cinematic influences... from LENNY to RAGING BULL to 
CAPOTE... are on full avant-garde display but with nothing behind it, 
really, except mere window dressing... with tinted glass.

2023, biopic, bradley cooper, carey mulligan, homosexual, music

BRADLEY COOPER'S LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S BIOPIC 'MAESTRO'

Carey Mulligan and Bradley Cooper in MAESTRO Year: 2023 Rating: *1/2 Fifty minutes into Bradley Cooper's MAESTRO, his directorial and s...

FAITH DOMERGUE WITH DAVID JANSSEN IN 'CULT OF THE COBRA'

<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/AVvXsEheooXV1e17HiTeTzEr1AWJBJXh_JJbgCBZwTYzaM8gvj4k3OntyiQ6S3HoO7EJVoeOj22g4iz4oGRXdDAefpTIXPM9eoUpI2PmQithBmdr040SiCC0ARd24W3aGuv2HoQy9TK_-4LAlv5PC8JlqFeQagTBehyWWVqkI6HNVvyZrFhgdq-A6x2AcGWDnBxg/s1546/371811784_1796199184142583_7042591256803873630_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="994" data-original-width="1546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheooXV1e17HiTeTzEr1AWJBJXh_JJbgCBZwTYzaM8gvj4k3OntyiQ6S3HoO7EJVoeOj22g4iz4oGRXdDAefpTIXPM9eoUpI2PmQithBmdr040SiCC0ARd24W3aGuv2HoQy9TK_-4LAlv5PC8JlqFeQagTBehyWWVqkI6HNVvyZrFhgdq-A6x2AcGWDnBxg/s16000/371811784_1796199184142583_7042591256803873630_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Artwork for CULT OF THE COBRA Year: 1955 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>The kind of Horror flick epitomizing the "Body Count" aspect since, at the beginning, before a group of soldiers return from Asia to America... after breaking a no-camera rule in a cobra cult temple... that they'll all die one after one; so it's no surprise when that very thing happens and keeps happening, making CULT OF THE COBRA suspenseful despite its telegraphed predictability...Before which our creature feature's femme fatale in Faith Domergue does the sexiest of sexy dame dances wearing unique tight-fitting clothes, a surrogate special-effect actually resembling a serpent as she slithers across the floor till that flashbulb flashes... after which she winds up in New York City, in human form, with a vengeance...

body count, creature, david janssen, faith domergue, horror, kathleen hughes, marshall thompson, richard long, snake, thriller, universal monsters, william reynolds

FAITH DOMERGUE WITH DAVID JANSSEN IN 'CULT OF THE COBRA'

Poster Artwork for CULT OF THE COBRA Year: 1955 Rating: **** The kind of Horror flick epitomizing the "Body Count" aspect since, a...

MICHAEL CAINE & MIKE HODGES FOLLOW 'GET CARTER' WITH 'PULP'

<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/AVvXsEie4UxP1V-aP27RqHpg19-8ePOJk0dWIYROkzCP5rF6sYXu3vImYg4x-jGBg8u-Bh-CVpZjcEaHogGVJu_Uq37inR81ODBLCQ2znPdvLH7qUaS3xKIAH5mBbtnrsHu2R79xG9jPKePlpnLk-KyQXHmwtLvyEZtYpKyH07a2U5vOqC0pKdmAKCLuqa3h2vcC/s1954/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-14%20at%207.16.01%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4UxP1V-aP27RqHpg19-8ePOJk0dWIYROkzCP5rF6sYXu3vImYg4x-jGBg8u-Bh-CVpZjcEaHogGVJu_Uq37inR81ODBLCQ2znPdvLH7qUaS3xKIAH5mBbtnrsHu2R79xG9jPKePlpnLk-KyQXHmwtLvyEZtYpKyH07a2U5vOqC0pKdmAKCLuqa3h2vcC/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-14%20at%207.16.01%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael Caine gets fiction in PULP Year: 1972 Rates: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>Director Mike Hodges and his <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/12/getCarter.html">GET CARTER</a> anti-hero Michael Caine found the perfect antidote in PULP, a dark comedy in which a deliberately bad "gangster fiction" novelist becomes part of his own style of flimsy storytelling while narrating along in the usual Gumshoe fashion... Then landing a plot/purpose after a random and eclectic forty-minutes of anticipation for a has-been actor that Caine's slippery scribbler will ghostwrite an autobiography for...

al lettieri, amerigo tot, british neo noir, british new wave, cult, dark comedy, lionel stander, lizabeth scott, michael caine, mickey rooney, mike hodges, neo noir, seventies, thriller

MICHAEL CAINE & MIKE HODGES FOLLOW 'GET CARTER' WITH 'PULP'

Michael Caine gets fiction in PULP Year: 1972 Rates: ** * * Director Mike Hodges and his GET CARTER anti-hero Michael Caine found the perfe...

PETER O'TOOLE DIRECTING STEVE RAILSBACK AS 'THE STUNT MAN'

<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/AVvXsEjM6o3dZkypjlho0RUMVh2I1_g0UPLeg9ksAVBbNr1nFwrDoUoF_Gpv2Xw-0d-3bosnPZPOlZMvU4n5olLqk1YKJUYCPsgw3ezPIEVE8hAbgtPAa03NrCiWyKYEjZQs-lyNsGBKLKHIJydb2uqblogO-H0uolCpSqZIQxsn6piTPxnToHzPIhh7-bMbYEA1/s1465/lighter.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="1465" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM6o3dZkypjlho0RUMVh2I1_g0UPLeg9ksAVBbNr1nFwrDoUoF_Gpv2Xw-0d-3bosnPZPOlZMvU4n5olLqk1YKJUYCPsgw3ezPIEVE8hAbgtPAa03NrCiWyKYEjZQs-lyNsGBKLKHIJydb2uqblogO-H0uolCpSqZIQxsn6piTPxnToHzPIhh7-bMbYEA1/s16000/lighter.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Iconic devilish imagery of Peter O'Toole from THE STUNT MAN Year: 1980 Rating: ****</td></tr></tbody></table>It's no surprise director Richard Rush took a decade to make THE STUNT MAN since it adheres to his early creatively-maneuvered camerawork — visually making every scene matter and every moment count... Only in this case, instead of 90-minute drive-in flicks, it's an epic labor-of-love Hollywood satire starring Peter O'Toole as a flamboyant, borderline psychotic director who desperately hires a Vietnam-vet criminal as his titular STUNT MAN...<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/AVvXsEgZkKNoFCgpiVgJyEgd8RqovVMIUCEg1ITHB-ZYjw_DzVqDIKhpK3y6_LlphqpbzsHi4fcGlhH6h4AeJ-ZpyJkhFVdLlE50wZo_WH6pgeH2mNFqj_Wn1W2GeS2TLoO-I8YxJg6ktwe2dDS0EUtBaXIJPW2CmWiEiqJFxC_TwQICOkUV4Frp_lNa4079TqnB/s2174/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-01%20at%201.37.01%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="2174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZkKNoFCgpiVgJyEgd8RqovVMIUCEg1ITHB-ZYjw_DzVqDIKhpK3y6_LlphqpbzsHi4fcGlhH6h4AeJ-ZpyJkhFVdLlE50wZo_WH6pgeH2mNFqj_Wn1W2GeS2TLoO-I8YxJg6ktwe2dDS0EUtBaXIJPW2CmWiEiqJFxC_TwQICOkUV4Frp_lNa4079TqnB/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-09-01%20at%201.37.01%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter O'Toole in THE STUNT MAN</td></tr></tbody></table>Herein second-billed Steve Railsback is the true lead, which is good and bad since, during the more dramatic, expository sequences mostly involving vulnerable ingenue (as a vulnerable actress) Barbara Hershey, he still bares campy residual from playing Charles Manson in HELTER SKELTER... And is far more naturally-suited to intense physical action, either by his character Cameron, initially chased by cops in a fast-paced prologue — or taking on the spontaneous fall guy gig...

action, adam roarke, allen garfield, barbara hershey, charles bail, eighties, hollywood satire, peter o'toole, richard rush, steve railsback

PETER O'TOOLE DIRECTING STEVE RAILSBACK AS 'THE STUNT MAN'

Iconic devilish imagery of Peter O'Toole from THE STUNT MAN Year: 1980 Rating: **** It's no surprise director Richard Rush took a de...

JMT

Written by James M. Tate / 9/30/2023 / No comments / action , gangster , james cagney , jean harlow , joan blondell , mae clarke , melodrama , thirties

Written by James M. Tate / 9/24/2023 / No comments / agathe natanson , anthony perkins , charles bronson , french , jill ireland , mystery , nicolas gessner , seventies , thriller

Written by James M. Tate / 9/23/2023 / No comments / adaptation , akim tamiroff , anthony perkins , franz kafka , import , jeanne moreau , jess hahn , mystery , neo noir , orson welles , romy schneider , sixties , thriller

Written by James M. Tate / 9/22/2023 / No comments / agnes moorehead , classic , delores del rio , everette sloane , film noir or melodrama , forties , hit-man , joseph cotten , mystery , nazi , norman foster , orson welles , ruth warrick , suspense

Written by James M. Tate / 9/20/2023 / No comments / action , bruce dern , car , crime , edward walsh , felice orlandi , getaway driver , isabelle adjani , matt clark , neo noir , rudy ramos , ryan o'neal , seventies , suspense , thriller , twilight time , walter hill

Written by James M. Tate / 9/17/2023 / No comments / billie whitelaw , british neo noir , donald pleasence , geoffrey frederick , george a. cooper , hammer films , jazz score , john crawford , lois daine , sarah branch , sixties , stanley baker , val guest , vanda godsell

Written by James M. Tate / 9/16/2023 / No comments / alexander knox , british new wave , david gregory , hammer films , james maxwell , joseph losey , kenneth cope , macdonald carey , oliver reed , shirley anne field , sixties , viveca lindfors , walter gotell

Written by James M. Tate / 9/14/2023 / No comments / british film noir , british new wave , conrad phillips , george mikell , heist , kenneth cope , music , william lucas

Written by James M. Tate / 9/12/2023 / No comments / action , fifties , film noir or melodrama , mark stevens , martha hyer , mort mills , revenge , richard deacon , rural , skip homeier , thriller , warren douglas

Written by James M. Tate / 9/08/2023 / No comments / action , body count , crime , don siegel , drugs , eli wallach , fifties , film noir or melodrama , richard jaekal , robert keith , TV adaptation

Written by James M. Tate / 9/07/2023 / No comments / alvy moore , brian keith , ensemble , fifties , film noir or melodrama , gambling , guy madison , heist , jean willes , kathryn grant , kerwin matthews , kim novak

Written by James M. Tate / 9/04/2023 / No comments / crime , deforest kelley , FBI , fifties , film noir or melodrama , heist , japanese-based , robert ryan , robert stack

Written by James M. Tate / 9/03/2023 / No comments / action , adventure , anthony quinn , fifties , pulp , robert ryan , suzan ball , treasure

Written by James M. Tate / 9/02/2023 / No comments / 2023 , biopic , bradley cooper , carey mulligan , homosexual , music

Written by James M. Tate / 9/01/2023 / No comments / al lettieri , amerigo tot , british neo noir , british new wave , cult , dark comedy , lionel stander , lizabeth scott , michael caine , mickey rooney , mike hodges , neo noir , seventies , thriller

All Time Popular

Featured Post

WWW.CULTFILMFREAKS.COM

RIP ACTOR KEN HUTCHISON

TOTAL HITS

Popular Trending

FOUNDED BY JAMES M. TATE

FILM NOIR & NEO NOIR CRIME

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

BRITISH NEW WAVE CINEMA

RARITIES AND EXPLOITATION

HAMMER HORROR & THRILLER

Popular This Month

CHARLES BRONSON CINEMA

CINEMA OF DANA ANDREWS

WESTERN GENRE REVIEWS

PEAKING INTO THE SIXTIES

KICKING IN THE EIGHTIES

TALES AND REFLECTIONS

REVVING THE SEVENTIES

Most Popular Last Year