cult film freak: sean mcclory

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Written by James M. Tate / 2/06/2025 / No comments / action , adventure , booth colman , creature , edmund gwenn , FBI , fifties , gordon douglas , james arness , james whitmore , joan weldon , leonard nimoy , science-fiction , sean mcclory , thriller , william schallert

JAMES ARNESS, JAMES WHITMORE AND EDMUND GWENN IN 'THEM!'

<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/AVvXsEhSn5L2SfKtN5IGuJic2rKKzr7oJtyqEDDeodGxMzSOFBXiBMstCwfKJwq7aKUY0NbF10QsNdmPOULxEjDXsUYB298saCHrSixYx1KjcV56rgGNyviQYlDRuDVMFlMp6tJn3EQ7b2PCDGjTxzyLwYzWvnljnNCLlPU8UDpEUKfWbrjRGr0M9PFg8lXRCH4O/s2058/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-06%20at%206.41.21%20PM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1284" data-original-width="2058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSn5L2SfKtN5IGuJic2rKKzr7oJtyqEDDeodGxMzSOFBXiBMstCwfKJwq7aKUY0NbF10QsNdmPOULxEjDXsUYB298saCHrSixYx1KjcV56rgGNyviQYlDRuDVMFlMp6tJn3EQ7b2PCDGjTxzyLwYzWvnljnNCLlPU8UDpEUKfWbrjRGr0M9PFg8lXRCH4O/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-02-06%20at%206.41.21%20PM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THEM! Year: 1954 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Gordon Douglas's THEM could have had three different lead perspectives: the investigation of FBI agent James Arness, not used to working in the scorching desert; scientist father and daughter in extremely quirky Edmund Gwenn and pretty yet resolute Joan Weldon; and workaday, everyman local desert cop James Whitmore investigating random deaths, including his own partner, wherein the story begins...<br><br>Almost like a film noir (with many stylistic-auteur touches by the underrated Douglas)... then adding layers with the aforementioned characters developed from their occupation: Arness and Whitman acquire a government-agent-to-local-lawmen bond as Edmund Gwenn spouts the kind of scientific expository information that only he and his daughter (with a semi-attraction to Arness) understand, and that the law (and military) eventually have to defeat...</p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, booth colman, creature, edmund gwenn, FBI, fifties, gordon douglas, james arness, james whitmore, joan weldon, leonard nimoy, science-fiction, sean mcclory, thriller, william schallert

JAMES ARNESS, JAMES WHITMORE AND EDMUND GWENN IN 'THEM!'

Title: THEM! Year: 1954 Rating: **** Director Gordon Douglas's THEM could have had three different lead perspectives: the investigation ...

JOHN WAYNE PRESENTS 'RING OF FEAR' WITH JOHN BROMFIELD

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Pat O'Brien, Sean McClory & Mickey Spillane YEAR: 1954</u></td></tr>
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There's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, considered by some the <i>greatest</i>
 Circus Movie — unless you count the more personal, character-driven 
melodrama, TRAPEZE or maybe JUMBO, THE BIG CIRCUS or else this lesser known but more entertaining little circus thriller: a John Wayne production (that he doesn't appear in) 
titled RING OF FEAR wherein the first three credited stars include two that are exploited for their skills while being 
non-actors and playing themselves...<br>
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The
 second is real life pulp author Mickey Spillane, complimented by 
surrounding circus employees, all fans of his gritty and popular (and 
brilliant) gumshoe novels: as an example of the unapologetic exploitation element, one vendor <i>just happens</i> to be reading a Spillane potboiler as Mickey stops for a hot dog — then hands him his latest paperback potboiler...<br>

action, body count, circus, exploitation, fifties, film noir or melodrama, john bromfield, john wayne, marian carr, mickey spillane, pat o'brien, sean mcclory, thriller

JOHN WAYNE PRESENTS 'RING OF FEAR' WITH JOHN BROMFIELD

Pat O'Brien, Sean McClory & Mickey Spillane YEAR: 1954 There's THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, considered by some the greatest ...

BARK ALL 'DAY OF THE WOLVES' LITTLE DOGGIE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Screen Capture from the opening of the 1974 exploitation cult thriller DAY OF THE WOLVES</u></td></tr>
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For fans of <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/06/reservoir-dogs.html">RESERVOIR DOGS</a> or any kind of Film Noir/Neo Noir heist flick that began with the likes of THE KILLING and KANSAS CITY CONFIDENTIAL — robberies where only the group leader knows all the real names while the hoodlums are basically strangers to each other: before, during and after. A planned strategy that's supposed to remain intact but something always gets screws up, and that's where the good stuff begins...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfS2LDgS-N-rtj6NmEwj-vbmVk9Oh6Huh5zfJI5L8caNx2mPZ-wHbFTEZxnK4ZErTKd0MyUaqB2F5Al9E9Hi99gLXum58SWw-UAKsGPu8atk2pVrlGAwL1eMfIg-UkHYwhjEnLzhAqyaCw/s1600/Day-Poster1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfS2LDgS-N-rtj6NmEwj-vbmVk9Oh6Huh5zfJI5L8caNx2mPZ-wHbFTEZxnK4ZErTKd0MyUaqB2F5Al9E9Hi99gLXum58SWw-UAKsGPu8atk2pVrlGAwL1eMfIg-UkHYwhjEnLzhAqyaCw/s1600/Day-Poster1.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>WolveScore: ***</u></td></tr>
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Except in this much more obscure DOGS predecessor (intentionally skipping CITY OF FEAR since that's "another story") titled THE DAY OF THE WOLVES, that peaks earlier than late, mostly because of how instantly interesting the film's pieced-together, like a living/breathing storyboard. By the capture above you can see the similarity to Quentin Tarantula's (that's what happens when you spellcheck Tarantino) groundbreaking, career-making classic...<br>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWp6puMlFOj_ZYmLKANr_e5gjNC6J3hjsM1FHNm-7jHMAKr1o17WcQdIJs5jftepaunx8DbUIBxRhkLHalPcmqXCzxA64I-ak3RxpP2zHZaOy9kI2kyKhux_3BLY4RhT7YVZEg5AvQmoy/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="217" data-original-width="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeWp6puMlFOj_ZYmLKANr_e5gjNC6J3hjsM1FHNm-7jHMAKr1o17WcQdIJs5jftepaunx8DbUIBxRhkLHalPcmqXCzxA64I-ak3RxpP2zHZaOy9kI2kyKhux_3BLY4RhT7YVZEg5AvQmoy/s1600/download.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2011/06/reservoir-dogs.html">RDOGS Review</a></td></tr>
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But what led us to rewatch this grungy gem after many years was actor Richard Egan from the 1955 Color-Noir <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/V-sat.html">VIOLENT SATURDAY</a> as a put-upon millionaire who's wife is cheating on him. It's 1974 and he is, of course, older, gruffer, and along with "faces" like Rick Jason and even Sean McClory (a personal fav from <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/12/RingOFear.html">RING OF FEAR</a>), the "known" actors (with fake beards to cover their identity) are what slows down the pace of this super low budget curio where each moment... from a private plane's door closing to a shoe scraping across the ground to a gun firing... isn't wasted except overlong scenes of dialogue where director Ferde Grofé Jr. seems to be proving — if perhaps only to himself — that he could make a "real movie" with a former semi-popular actors. Rather it's the surreal, gritty, by-the-numbers, dot-to-dot sketch of a multi-robbery Modern Western exploitation... set in a town small enough to let it happen unless Egan's ex Sheriff stops it... that grabs the attention — and does't completely let go!<br>

crime, exploitation, independent, richard egan, rick jason, sean mcclory, seventies, thriller