The days are getting longer everywhere, except Palm Springs, where darkness is on the ascent each May. That’s when the city plays host to the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary May 9-12 with a program of a dozen classic films from the 1940s and ’50s. Great directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Robert Rossen, Andre de Toth and Anthony Mann and stars like Humphrey Bogart, John Garfield, Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Ryan will have desert dwellers and visitors alike eager to blot out the sun for four days, culminating in the festival’s customary Mother’s Day crime spree.
As always, the festival is curated and hosted by a face familiar to any serious modern-day noir aficionado, Alan K. Rode, one of the principals of the Film Noir Foundation and a co-host of the Noir City festival every April in Hollywood. Rode’s Noir City cohort,...
As always, the festival is curated and hosted by a face familiar to any serious modern-day noir aficionado, Alan K. Rode, one of the principals of the Film Noir Foundation and a co-host of the Noir City festival every April in Hollywood. Rode’s Noir City cohort,...
- 5/6/2024
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Movies and television have been competing for the same audience's time and money since TV was invented, but they've also formed a strange symbiosis. There have been a heck of a lot of movies based on TV shows, and a heck of a lot of TV shows based on movies.
Some of those shows based on movies have been major pop culture milestones, like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Karate Kid," and "Friday Night Lights." And of course a whole lot of been almost completely forgotten, like the sitcoms based on "Dirty Dancing," "Working Girl," and "Animal House."
But one thing these TV shows usually have in common is that they're almost always based on a hit movie. It's not surprising when a blockbuster like "M*A*S*H" or "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" gets turned into a television series. It's even common for smaller, but critically acclaimed films...
Some of those shows based on movies have been major pop culture milestones, like "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "The Karate Kid," and "Friday Night Lights." And of course a whole lot of been almost completely forgotten, like the sitcoms based on "Dirty Dancing," "Working Girl," and "Animal House."
But one thing these TV shows usually have in common is that they're almost always based on a hit movie. It's not surprising when a blockbuster like "M*A*S*H" or "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" gets turned into a television series. It's even common for smaller, but critically acclaimed films...
- 12/18/2023
- by William Bibbiani
- Slash Film
Highest honors go to this stylish, cinematically refined adaptation of a George Simenon thriller. Michel Blanc becomes a person of interest for a murder investigation mainly because he’s disliked and anti-social; Sandrine Bonnaire is the neighbor that he peeps at nightly, to stir his secret passion. Director Patrice Leconte directs with almost perfect control, turning the show into an emotional workout.
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
Monsieur Hire
Blu-ray
Cohen Film Collection
1989 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date October 25, 2022 / Available from / 29.95
Starring: Michel Blanc, Sandrine Bonnaire, Luc Thuillier, André Wilms, Eric Bérenger, Marielle Berthon, Philippe Dormoy, Marie Gaydu, Michel Morano, Nora Noël.
Cinematography: Denis Lenoir
Production Designer: Ivan Maussion
Costume designer: Elisabeth Tavernier
Film Editor: Joëlle Hache
Original Music: Michael Nyman
Scenario, adaptation and dialogue by Patrice Leconte, Patrick Dewolf from the book Les fiançailles de M. Hire by Georges Simenon
Produced by Philippe Carcassonne, René Cleitman
Directed by Patrice Leconte
We’re fond...
- 1/28/2023
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s time for a new episode of the Revisited video series, and with this one we’re looking back at a TV movie that started a franchise, 1972’s The Night Stalker ((pick up a copy Here)! The Night Stalker was followed by a sequel called The Night Strangler, and then a twenty episode season of a TV series called Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A show that served as inspiration for The X-Files and received a short-lived remake series called Night Stalker in the early 2000s. To find out all about The Night Stalker, check out the video embedded above!
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey from a teleplay by Richard Matheson, which was based on a novel by Jeff Rice, The Night Stalker has the following synopsis:
After several high-profile newspapers fire him for his difficult attitude, investigative journalist Carl Kolchak finds a job following the police beat for a small Las Vegas publication.
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey from a teleplay by Richard Matheson, which was based on a novel by Jeff Rice, The Night Stalker has the following synopsis:
After several high-profile newspapers fire him for his difficult attitude, investigative journalist Carl Kolchak finds a job following the police beat for a small Las Vegas publication.
- 12/27/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
A 4K Steelbook! Haven’t seen this show lately, and discovered that it holds up remarkably well. Mr. Qt’s sophomore outing made an indelible mark on American movies — the darling of hipster crime filmmaking dazzled viewers with showcase set-piece scenes, entertainingly profane dialogue and ultra-hip inside-out time-shuffling narrative tricks. Add to that genuine star turns, especially Uma Thurman and John Travolta’s iconic dance scene. It’s old-fashioned movie-going in an avant-garde pattern, with raw violence and even rougher language. The stars include Samuel L. Jackson, Harvy Keitel, Ving Rhames, Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer and Bruce Willis.
Pulp Fiction 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code
Paramount Home Video
1994 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 154 min. / Street Date December 6, 2022 / Available from Amazon / 30.99
Starring: Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Whaley, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, Uma Thurman, Steve Buscemi, Emil Sitka, Christopher Walken, Maria de Medeiros,...
Pulp Fiction 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code
Paramount Home Video
1994 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 154 min. / Street Date December 6, 2022 / Available from Amazon / 30.99
Starring: Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Frank Whaley, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Rosanna Arquette, Eric Stoltz, Uma Thurman, Steve Buscemi, Emil Sitka, Christopher Walken, Maria de Medeiros,...
- 12/10/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Richard Fleischer’s thriller achieves classic noir status thanks to Earl Felton’s Oscar nominated script—the dialog is so hard boiled it sizzles. The terrific Charles McGraw plays a cop protecting a gangster’s girlfriend train-bound for the grand jury—assorted assassins and gangsters have other ideas. As the unmanageable mobster’s moll, the great Marie Windsor is one of the most duplicitous dames in noir history. Rko boss Howard Hughes liked this quickie so much that he kept it on the shelf for two years while pondering whether to to remake it with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Luckily he decided against it.
The post The Narrow Margin appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
The post The Narrow Margin appeared first on Trailers From Hell.
- 9/13/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Sunshine and noir are antithetical, as probably anyone who knows even a word of French could tell you. Sunshine and film noir, nearly as much so. Yet summer’s here and the time is right for skulking in the murderously foggy streets, thanks to a three-day festival of vintage ’40s and ’50s crime dramas being presented this weekend at the newly reopened Hollywood Legion Theater by the Film Noir Foundation.
In a year that hadn’t started off with a pandemic in full force, or wasn’t continuing with Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre being closed for renovations, noir fans would have already something close to their fill with the annual Noir City festival that’s usually co-sponsored by the American Cinematheque every March or April. But with the absence of that 22-year-old standby leaving a doom-shaped hole in L.A. repertory moviegoers’ hearts, the Noir Foundation has stepped in with a shorter,...
In a year that hadn’t started off with a pandemic in full force, or wasn’t continuing with Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre being closed for renovations, noir fans would have already something close to their fill with the annual Noir City festival that’s usually co-sponsored by the American Cinematheque every March or April. But with the absence of that 22-year-old standby leaving a doom-shaped hole in L.A. repertory moviegoers’ hearts, the Noir Foundation has stepped in with a shorter,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
The most glamorous movie about the Korean War experience lauds the bravery of Navy aviators while spelling out the downside of fighting an unpopular war. William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March and Mickey Rooney turn in sharp performances, and Charles McGraw gets his best character part as a no-nonsense flight commander. Paramount’s special effects department outdid themselves on this one — the illusions are beautifully matched to the live-action filmmaking. Heaven help the good civilian soldier that finds himself asking how he ended up getting shot at in a ditch in some far-off foreign country.
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 30
1954 / Color / Open Matte flat 1:37 (should be 1:85 widescreen) / 102 min. / Street Date February 24, 2021 / Available from Viavision / 34.95
Starring: William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, Robert Strauss, Charles McGraw, Keiko Awaji, Earl Holliman, Richard Shannon, Willis Bouchey, Teru Shimada, Dennis Weaver, Corey Allen, Gene Reynolds, Roger Pace.
Cinematography: Loyal Griggs...
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 30
1954 / Color / Open Matte flat 1:37 (should be 1:85 widescreen) / 102 min. / Street Date February 24, 2021 / Available from Viavision / 34.95
Starring: William Holden, Grace Kelly, Fredric March, Mickey Rooney, Robert Strauss, Charles McGraw, Keiko Awaji, Earl Holliman, Richard Shannon, Willis Bouchey, Teru Shimada, Dennis Weaver, Corey Allen, Gene Reynolds, Roger Pace.
Cinematography: Loyal Griggs...
- 3/13/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Mitchum intercedes in a range war in this ‘A’ western, and he’s got the pro team of director Robert Wise and cameraman Nicholas Musuraca on his side. All but one action scene plays out at night, which is why this is sometimes called a Noir Western. The dark visuals fit that mold but the story values are strictly traditional, starting with the hero’s laconic do-it-don’t-say-it sense of personal honor. Partly filmed in Arizona, the fine production further advanced the laid-back Mitchum persona, this time as an honest cowpoke, not a cool-dude hipster.
Blood on the Moon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, Phyllis Thaxter, Frank Faylen, Tom Tully, Charles McGraw, Clifton Young, Tom Tyler, George Cooper, Harry Carey Jr., Iron Eyes Cody, Chris-Pin Martin.
Cinematography: Nicholas...
Blood on the Moon
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 min. / Street Date April 28, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston, Walter Brennan, Phyllis Thaxter, Frank Faylen, Tom Tully, Charles McGraw, Clifton Young, Tom Tyler, George Cooper, Harry Carey Jr., Iron Eyes Cody, Chris-Pin Martin.
Cinematography: Nicholas...
- 5/16/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Once upon a time, MGM launched a big spectacle Western remake with the top star Glenn Ford and the bright import Maria Schell — and then second-guessed the whole production, cutting back on everything so severely that director Anthony Mann ankled the set for Spain and El Cid. The storytelling is a mess — after starting big, the show soon falls into pieces. But many of individual scenes and set pieces are exemplary, especially Mann’s re-run of the Oklahoma Land Rush, staged in Arizona and augmented by classy special effects. The large cast rounds up some big talent — Mercedes McCambridge, Russ Tamblyn — to tell Edna Ferber’s multi-generational story about ambition, intolerance and dreams of glory on the frontier.
Cimarron (1960)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1960 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 147 min. / Street Date January 21, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter, Arthur O’Connell, Russ Tamblyn, Mercedes McCambridge, Vic Morrow,...
Cimarron (1960)
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1960 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 147 min. / Street Date January 21, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter, Arthur O’Connell, Russ Tamblyn, Mercedes McCambridge, Vic Morrow,...
- 1/7/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Frankenstein 1970
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1958 / 2:35:1 / 83 Min. / Street Date – April 9, 2019
Starring Boris Karloff, Don Barry, Jana Lund
Written by Richard H. Landau
Cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie
Directed by Howard Koch
Color TVs, swimming pools and cars (especially cars). American culture of the 50s was fueled by desire for the newest status symbol – even the title of the latest monster movie was pitched to the upwardly mobile – get behind the wheel of the atomic powered Frankenstein 1970.
Take a look under the hood though and apart from a few modernistic bells and whistles (most notably its CinemaScope framing) director Howard Koch’s movie is doggedly retrograde. The swooning ingenues, skeptical villagers and dank dungeons – all would have fit comfortably in a Universal horror film of the 30’s.
The movie’s real attraction is a more than welcome blast from the past – Boris Karloff returns to Mary Shelley’s monsterverse...
Blu ray
Warner Archive
1958 / 2:35:1 / 83 Min. / Street Date – April 9, 2019
Starring Boris Karloff, Don Barry, Jana Lund
Written by Richard H. Landau
Cinematography by Carl E. Guthrie
Directed by Howard Koch
Color TVs, swimming pools and cars (especially cars). American culture of the 50s was fueled by desire for the newest status symbol – even the title of the latest monster movie was pitched to the upwardly mobile – get behind the wheel of the atomic powered Frankenstein 1970.
Take a look under the hood though and apart from a few modernistic bells and whistles (most notably its CinemaScope framing) director Howard Koch’s movie is doggedly retrograde. The swooning ingenues, skeptical villagers and dank dungeons – all would have fit comfortably in a Universal horror film of the 30’s.
The movie’s real attraction is a more than welcome blast from the past – Boris Karloff returns to Mary Shelley’s monsterverse...
- 4/13/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
The Night Stalker/The Night Strangler
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1972/73 / 1.33:1 / 74/90 Min. / Street Date October 2, 2018
Starring Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland
Cinematography by Michel Hugo, Robert B. Hauser
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, Dan Curtis
In January of 1972 ABC broadcast the story of a middle-aged newsman hot on the trail of a vampire seemingly escaped from a 50’s horror comic. The man and the monster had one thing in common – by the 70’s they were both anachronisms, adrift in an era of hot pants and roller disco.
Carl Kolchak, the overbearing reporter played by crusty TV vet Darren McGavin, was not simply immune to current fashions – his steadfast belief in the supernatural ensured his outsider status throughout two films and 20 hour-long episodes broadcast between 1974 and 1975.
The first of those movies was The Night Stalker, a nocturnal thriller animated by the lurid neon of the Vegas strip where a string of showgirl...
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1972/73 / 1.33:1 / 74/90 Min. / Street Date October 2, 2018
Starring Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland
Cinematography by Michel Hugo, Robert B. Hauser
Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, Dan Curtis
In January of 1972 ABC broadcast the story of a middle-aged newsman hot on the trail of a vampire seemingly escaped from a 50’s horror comic. The man and the monster had one thing in common – by the 70’s they were both anachronisms, adrift in an era of hot pants and roller disco.
Carl Kolchak, the overbearing reporter played by crusty TV vet Darren McGavin, was not simply immune to current fashions – his steadfast belief in the supernatural ensured his outsider status throughout two films and 20 hour-long episodes broadcast between 1974 and 1975.
The first of those movies was The Night Stalker, a nocturnal thriller animated by the lurid neon of the Vegas strip where a string of showgirl...
- 10/16/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Now that October is officially underway, that means we have a big week of Blu-ray and DVD releases to get excited for, and there are some great genre-related titles coming out on Tuesday. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is unleashing both Tales from the Hood 2 and The First Purge on multiple formats, and for fans of action cinema, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy races home this week, too. Kino Lorber is giving both The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler the limited edition treatment, and for those who enjoy indie horror, Feral, Housewife,and Blood Fest are certainly all worth your time.
Other notable releases for October 2nd include Extremity, Molly, The Legend of Halloween Jack, The Evil Dead in 4K, Sleep No More, and West of Hell, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween getting a Steelbook release as well.
The First Purge
Blumhouse Productions welcomes you to the movement that began as...
Other notable releases for October 2nd include Extremity, Molly, The Legend of Halloween Jack, The Evil Dead in 4K, Sleep No More, and West of Hell, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween getting a Steelbook release as well.
The First Purge
Blumhouse Productions welcomes you to the movement that began as...
- 10/2/2018
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
A solid mainstream hit for 1947, Loretta Young and Joseph Cotten’s political fairy tale maintains its charm despite the usual populist dodges — a spirited young woman finds both romance and The American Dream when she runs for Congress. But will the political system accept her?
The Farmer’s Daughter
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Charles Bickford, Rhys Williams, Harry Davenport, Tom Powers, William Harrigan, Keith Andes, Harry Shannon, Lex Barker, Thurston Hall, Art Baker, Don Beddoe, James Arness, Anna Q. Nilsson, Charles McGraw, John Gallaudet, William B. Davidson, Cy Kendall, Frank Ferguson, William Bakewell, Charles Lane Forrest J. Ackerman, Robert Clarke.
Film Editor: Harry Marker
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Allen Rivkin, Laura Kerr, from a play by Juhani Tervapää
Produced by Dore Schary
Directed by H.C. Potter
This year...
The Farmer’s Daughter
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date September 25, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Loretta Young, Joseph Cotten, Ethel Barrymore, Charles Bickford, Rhys Williams, Harry Davenport, Tom Powers, William Harrigan, Keith Andes, Harry Shannon, Lex Barker, Thurston Hall, Art Baker, Don Beddoe, James Arness, Anna Q. Nilsson, Charles McGraw, John Gallaudet, William B. Davidson, Cy Kendall, Frank Ferguson, William Bakewell, Charles Lane Forrest J. Ackerman, Robert Clarke.
Film Editor: Harry Marker
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Allen Rivkin, Laura Kerr, from a play by Juhani Tervapää
Produced by Dore Schary
Directed by H.C. Potter
This year...
- 9/11/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Before the influential Kolchak: The Night Stalker series aired on ABC in the mid-’70s, Darren McGavin brought the titular investigative reporter to life for the first time in the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, which is getting a 4K restoration Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber this October, along with its 1973 sequel, The Night Strangler.
Announced on Facebook and Twitter, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler Blu-rays will be released on October 2nd in the Us. Each release will come with a new 4K restoration, a new audio commentary with film historian Tim Lucas, and other new special features.
Below, we have the announcements from Kino Lorber, as well as a look at the new cover art by Sean Phillips. Let us know if you'll be adding these releases to your home media collection, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's It Came From the Tube column...
Announced on Facebook and Twitter, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler Blu-rays will be released on October 2nd in the Us. Each release will come with a new 4K restoration, a new audio commentary with film historian Tim Lucas, and other new special features.
Below, we have the announcements from Kino Lorber, as well as a look at the new cover art by Sean Phillips. Let us know if you'll be adding these releases to your home media collection, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's It Came From the Tube column...
- 7/25/2018
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Louie Elias, a veteran Hollywood stuntman who is seen leaping from a blown-up guard tower during the opening credits of the 1960s ABC comedy F Troop, has died. He was 84.
Elias, the older brother of the late actor James Stacy and Emmy-nominated hairstylist Carolyn Elias, died Dec. 13, his family announced.
Elias doubled for Charles McGraw in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, getting pushed into a giant vat by Kirk Douglas in a stunt that left a scar on his chin for life. He also served as Rod Taylor's double throughout the Australian actor's career.
On television, Elias stepped...
Elias, the older brother of the late actor James Stacy and Emmy-nominated hairstylist Carolyn Elias, died Dec. 13, his family announced.
Elias doubled for Charles McGraw in Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus, getting pushed into a giant vat by Kirk Douglas in a stunt that left a scar on his chin for life. He also served as Rod Taylor's double throughout the Australian actor's career.
On television, Elias stepped...
- 1/25/2018
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cinema Retro has received the following press release from the Classicflix.com:
For one night only, fans of classic film noir will be able to watch a free streaming World Premiere of the recently restored thriller T-Men (1947) on Friday, November 24, hosted by ClassicFlix. Anthony Mann's breakout film will be part of the home video label’s “Black and White Friday,” which will be streaming the film in high definition on their YouTube channel from 5:00 Pm to 7:00 Pm Pt*.
The ground-breaking film recently made its Blu-ray™ debut after undergoing major restoration. The T-Men Special Edition Blu-ray is loaded with bonus features and a 24-page booklet. During the screening ClassicFlix will be hosting a giveaway of T-Men Special Edition via their Twitter page, in addition to a special low-price offering for fans who wish to buy the Blu-ray. Instructions on how to participate in the giveaway will be posted...
For one night only, fans of classic film noir will be able to watch a free streaming World Premiere of the recently restored thriller T-Men (1947) on Friday, November 24, hosted by ClassicFlix. Anthony Mann's breakout film will be part of the home video label’s “Black and White Friday,” which will be streaming the film in high definition on their YouTube channel from 5:00 Pm to 7:00 Pm Pt*.
The ground-breaking film recently made its Blu-ray™ debut after undergoing major restoration. The T-Men Special Edition Blu-ray is loaded with bonus features and a 24-page booklet. During the screening ClassicFlix will be hosting a giveaway of T-Men Special Edition via their Twitter page, in addition to a special low-price offering for fans who wish to buy the Blu-ray. Instructions on how to participate in the giveaway will be posted...
- 11/23/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Found: a must-see Film noir in all its brutal glory, restored to a level of quality not seen in years. Anthony Mann and John Alton made their reputations with ninety minutes of chiaroscuro heaven — it’s one of the best-looking noirs ever. With extras produced by Alan K. Rode.
T-Men
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / Special Edition / 92 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.99
Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, June Lockhart, Keefe Brasselle, James Seay, Tito Vuolo, John Newland, Reed Hadley.
Cinematography: John Alton
Film Editor: Fred Allen
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by John C. Higgins, story Virginia Kellogg
Produced by Aubrey Schenck, Edward Small
Directed by Anthony Mann
Wow — I’ve seen T-Men many times, but never like this. It’s always listed as a significant success, a trend-starter, a career-launcher, but only...
T-Men
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / Special Edition / 92 min. / Street Date October 10, 2017 / 39.99
Starring: Dennis O’Keefe, Alfred Ryder, Wallace Ford, Charles McGraw, Jane Randolph, Art Smith, Herbert Heyes, Jack Overman, John Wengraf, June Lockhart, Keefe Brasselle, James Seay, Tito Vuolo, John Newland, Reed Hadley.
Cinematography: John Alton
Film Editor: Fred Allen
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by John C. Higgins, story Virginia Kellogg
Produced by Aubrey Schenck, Edward Small
Directed by Anthony Mann
Wow — I’ve seen T-Men many times, but never like this. It’s always listed as a significant success, a trend-starter, a career-launcher, but only...
- 10/14/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Doug Oswald
Robert Mitchum is Martin Brady, an American hired gun living in exile in Mexico in “The Wonderful Country,” a Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. While waiting on the Rio Grande for his contact for a gun smuggling job, Brady decides to escort the wagon north to Puerto, Texas, and pick up a cache of guns on behalf of his employers, the Castro brothers. Pancho Gil (Mike Kellin), another agent of the Castros, arrives to escort the guns they’re buying from a man named Sterner, but Brady insists on picking up the guns himself. When one of Brady’s associates reminds him that he’s a wanted man in America, Brady states, “I want to see the other side of the river.”
Arriving in Puerto, a tumble-weed startles Brady’s horse and he breaks a leg in the fall. He’s aided by Dr. Herbert J. Stovall...
Robert Mitchum is Martin Brady, an American hired gun living in exile in Mexico in “The Wonderful Country,” a Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. While waiting on the Rio Grande for his contact for a gun smuggling job, Brady decides to escort the wagon north to Puerto, Texas, and pick up a cache of guns on behalf of his employers, the Castro brothers. Pancho Gil (Mike Kellin), another agent of the Castros, arrives to escort the guns they’re buying from a man named Sterner, but Brady insists on picking up the guns himself. When one of Brady’s associates reminds him that he’s a wanted man in America, Brady states, “I want to see the other side of the river.”
Arriving in Puerto, a tumble-weed startles Brady’s horse and he breaks a leg in the fall. He’s aided by Dr. Herbert J. Stovall...
- 4/26/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Fox’s first official monster movie is a terrific-looking but mostly flat mystery that tries its utmost not to be a horror film at all. It’s a head scratcher that will interest fans of the expressive John Brahm, and help completists scratch another werewolf film off their gotta-see lists.
The Undying Monster
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 62 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard, Bramwell Fletcher, Heather Thatcher, Aubrey Mather, Halliwell Hobbes, Alec Craig, Holmes Herbert, Eily Malyon, Charles McGraw.
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
<Film Editor Harry Reynolds
Original Music Emil Newman, David Raksin
Written byLillie Hayward, Michel Jacoby from a novel by Jessie Douglas Kerrruish
Produced by Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
After the heyday of Universal horror in the first half of the 1930s, horror pictures went on the decline for over twenty years.
The Undying Monster
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1942 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 62 min. / Street Date December 13, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring James Ellison, Heather Angel, John Howard, Bramwell Fletcher, Heather Thatcher, Aubrey Mather, Halliwell Hobbes, Alec Craig, Holmes Herbert, Eily Malyon, Charles McGraw.
Cinematography Lucien Ballard
<Film Editor Harry Reynolds
Original Music Emil Newman, David Raksin
Written byLillie Hayward, Michel Jacoby from a novel by Jessie Douglas Kerrruish
Produced by Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
After the heyday of Universal horror in the first half of the 1930s, horror pictures went on the decline for over twenty years.
- 11/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
I guess Howard Hughes wanted to go easy on Minnesota Nazis. William Cameron Menzies directs a Cold War thriller about an insidious germ warfare conspiracy -- it's an early paranoid suspense tale with apocalyptic consequences. But the story behind the movie's making -- and then remaking -- is even more fantastic. The Whip Hand DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 82 min. / Street Date February 16, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 18.59 Starring Elliott Reid, Raymond Burr, Carla Balenda, Edgar Barrier, Otto Waldis, Michael Steele, Lurene Tuttle, Peter Brocco, Lewis Martin, Frank Darien, Olive Carey, George Chandler, Gregory Gaye. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Film Editor Robert Golden Original Music Music by Paul Sawtell Written by George Bricker, Frank L. Moss, Ray Hamilton Produced by Louis J. Rachmil Directed by William Cameron Menzies
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Film writers Bill Warren and Tom Weaver have reported extensively on the unusual production story...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Film writers Bill Warren and Tom Weaver have reported extensively on the unusual production story...
- 6/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Not funny enough, or too hip for the house? I found the Coen Bros.' send-up of old-fashioned movie madness good fun, with some great new actors. If you like droll comedy combined with spot-on recreations of old movie genres, this show can't lose. And there has to be somebody out there who wants to see George Clooney in a skirt. Hail, Caesar! Blu-ray + DVD + Digital HD Universal Pictures Home Entertainment 2016 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date June 7, 2016 / 34.98 Starring Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Ralph Fiennes, Jonah Hill, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand, Channing Tatum, Veronica Osorio, Heather Goldenhersh, Max Baker, Clancy Brown, Fisher Stevens, Patick Fischler, Robert Picardo, Christopher Lambert, Robert Trebor, Michael Gambon (voice), Dolph Lundgren. Cinematography Roger Deakins Film Editors Ethan and Joel Coen Original Music Carter Burwell Produced by Tim Bevan, Ethan and Joel Coen, Eric Fellner Written and Directed by Ethan and Joel Coen...
- 5/28/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Hardly truth in advertising as there's no million-eyed beast in Roger Corman's micro-budget sci-fi thriller. 'The Beast with a Million Eyes': Alien invasion movie predates Alfred Hitchcock classic Despite the confusing voice-over introduction, David Kramarsky's[1] The Beast with a Million Eyes a.k.a. The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes is one of my favorite 1950s alien invasion films. Set in an ugly, desolate landscape – shot “for wide screen in terror-scope” in Indio and California's Coachella Valley – the screenplay by future novelist Tom Filer (who also played Jack Nicholson's sidekick in the 1966 Western Ride in the Whirlwind) focuses on a dysfunctional family whose members become the first victims of a strange force from another galaxy after a spaceship lands nearby emitting sound vibrations that turn domestic animals into aggressive killers. Killer cow First, the lady-of-the-house is pecked by a flock of chickens and,...
- 5/12/2016
- by Danny Fortune
- Alt Film Guide
More than one feature film looks at the making of this picture, focusing on its author, Truman Capote. Criterion's disc returns the discussion to Richard Brooks, the director that dared adapt an unfilmable novel of lurid, unthinkable crime on the Kansas prairie. It's also a last gasp of artistic B&W cinematography from Hollywood, thanks to the indelible images of Conrad Hall. In Cold Blood Blu-ray The Criterion Collection 781 1967 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 20, 2015 / 39.95 Starring Robert Blake, Scott Wilson, John Forsythe, Paul Stewart, Gerald S. O'Loughlin, Jeff Corey, John Gallaudet, James Flavin, John Collins, Charles McGraw, Will Geer. Cinematography Conrad L. Hall Production Designer Robert F. Boyle Film Editor Peter Zinner Original Music Quincy Jones Written by Richard Brooks from the novel by Truman Capote Produced and Directed by Richard Brooks
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some directors just want to work. Others...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Some directors just want to work. Others...
- 11/21/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Most of us love the Trumbo-Douglas-Kubrick thinking man's leftist gladiator epic, and after several iffy disc presentations this exacting digital restoration follows through on the photochemical reconstruction done 25 years ago. It looks incredibly good, almost too good to be a Blu-ray. Kirk contributes a new featurette interview, telling us that this is the show he'll be remembered for. Spartacus Blu-ray + Digital HD Universal Studios Home Entertainment 1960 / Color / 2:20 widescreen / 197 min. / Street Date October 6, 2015 / 19.98 Starring Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Jean Simmons, Peter Ustinov, Tony Curtis, Woody Strode, John Gavin, Nina Foch, Herbert Lom, Charles McGraw, John Ireland, Nick Dennis, John Dall, Herbert Lom, Joanna Barnes, Harold J. Stone, Peter Brocco, John Hoyt, Richard Farnsworth, George Kennedy. Cinematography by Russell Metty Music by Alex North Edited by Robert Lawrence Produced by Kirk Douglas and Edward Lewis Screenplay by Dalton Trumbo Based on the novel by Howard Fast Produced by...
- 10/20/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Let's hear it for the great westerns -- not the Ford and Hawks classics, but the fascinating marginal gems that see The West in a different way. Do you like Sam Peckinpah? Robert Parrish's evocation of Texas and Mexico in the 1880s will be pleasantly familiar -- a testing ground of personal codes and shifting loyalties in a treacherous land. The Wonderful Country Savant Blu-ray Review Kl Studio Classics 1959 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 29, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Pedro Armendariz, Gary Merrill, Jack Oakie, Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw, Leroy "Satchel" Paige. Cinematography Floyd Crosby Film Editor Michael Luciano Production Design Harry Horner Original Music Alex North Written by Robert Ardrey from the book by Tom Lea Produced by Chester Erskine Directed by Robert Parrish
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cast
Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...
Captain T. G. Culpeper Spencer Tracy J. Russell Finch Milton Berle Melville Crump Sid Caesar Benjy Benjamin Buddy Hackett Mrs. Marcus Ethel Merman Ding Bell Mickey Rooney Sylvester Marcus Dick Shawn Otto Meyer Phil Silvers J. Algernon Hawthorne Terry-Thomas Lennie Pike Jonathan Winters Monica Crump Edie Adams Emeline Finch Dorothy Provine Cabdriver Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Tyler Fitzgerald Jim Backus Man driving in the desert Jack Benny Union official Joe E. Brown Biplane pilot Ben Blue Police sergeant Alan Carney Detective Chick Chandler Mrs. Halliburton Barrie Chase Mayor Lloyd Corrigan Police chief William Demarest Sheriff of Crocket County Andy Devine Ginger Culpeper (voice) Selma Diamond Cabdriver Peter Falk Detective Normal Fell Colonel Wilberforce Paul Ford Deputy sheriff Stan Freberg Billie Sue Culpeper (voice) Louise Glenn Cabdriver Leo Gorcey Fire chief Sterling Holloway Mr. Dinckler Edward Everett Horton Irwin Marvin Kaplan Jimmy the Cook Buster Keaton Nervous motorist Don Knotts Airport...
- 1/22/2015
- by Sam Moffitt
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Rod Taylor dead at 84: Actor best known for 'The Time Machine' and 'The Birds' Rod Taylor, best remembered for the early 1960s movies The Time Machine and The Birds, and for his supporting role as Winston Churchill in Quentin Tarantino's international hit Inglourious Basterds, has died. Taylor suffered a heart attack at his Los Angeles home earlier this morning (January 8, 2015). Born on January 11, 1930, in Sydney, he would have turned 85 on Sunday. Based on H.G. Wells' classic 1895 sci-fi novel, The Time Machine stars Rod Taylor as a H. George Wells, an inventor who comes up with an intricate chair that allows him to travel across time. (In the novel, the Victorian protagonist is referred to simply as the "Time Traveller.") After experiencing World War I and World War II, Wells decides to fast forward to the distant future, ultimately arriving at a place where humankind has been split...
- 1/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Howard Hughes movies (photo: Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in 'The Aviator') Turner Classic Movies will be showing the Howard Hughes-produced, John Farrow-directed, Baja California-set gangster drama His Kind of Woman, starring Robert Mitchum, Hughes discovery Jane Russell, and Vincent Price, at 3 a.m. Pt / 6 a.m. Et on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Hughes produced a couple of dozen movies. (More on that below.) But what about "Howard Hughes movies"? Or rather, movies -- whether big-screen or made-for-television efforts -- featuring the visionary, eccentric, hypochondriac, compulsive-obsessive, all-American billionaire as a character? Besides Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a dashing if somewhat unbalanced Hughes in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Best Picture Academy Award-nominated The Aviator, other actors who have played Howard Hughes on film include the following: Tommy Lee Jones in William A. Graham's television movie The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977), with Lee Purcell as silent film star Billie Dove, Tovah Feldshuh as Katharine Hepburn,...
- 11/6/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
James Garner movies on TCM: ‘Grand Prix,’ ‘Victor Victoria’ among highlights (photo: James Garner ca. 1960) James Garner, whose film and television career spanned more than five decades, died of "natural causes" at age 86 on July 19, 2014, in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood. On Monday, July 28, Turner Classic Movies will present an all-day marathon of James Garner movies (see below) as a tribute to the Oscar-nominated star of Murphy’s Romance and Emmy-winning star of the television series The Rockford Files. Among the highlights in TCM’s James Garner film lineup is John Frankenheimer’s Monaco-set Grand Prix (1966), an all-star, race-car drama featuring Garner as a Formula One driver who has an affair with the wife (Jessica Walter) of his former teammate (Brian Bedford). Among the other Grand Prix drivers facing their own personal issues are Yves Montand and Antonio Sabato, while Akira Kurosawa’s (male) muse Toshiro Mifune plays a...
- 7/25/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
T-Men
Written by John C. Higgins
Directed by Anthony Mann
USA, 1947
Two Treasury Board inspectors, Dennis O’Brien and Tony Genaro (Dennis O’Keef and Alfred Ryder, respectively), are sent to Detroit for undercover duty that the Board hopes will smash a nationwide counterfeiting operation. After adopting aliases and studying the Detroit crime scene, they make their way to Motown and, under the guise of former members of a now-defunct gang, infiltrate a high-end gangster’s outfit pretending to look for jobs. Upon learning that The Schemer (Wallace Ford), next in line in the food chain, operates out of Los Angeles, the duo split up with Dennis flying off to the West Coast to pursue the investigation. Of course, the closer the undercover T-Men get to the bottom of the operation, the greater the risk to their mission as well as their very lives.
A long forgotten sub-genre of film noir,...
Written by John C. Higgins
Directed by Anthony Mann
USA, 1947
Two Treasury Board inspectors, Dennis O’Brien and Tony Genaro (Dennis O’Keef and Alfred Ryder, respectively), are sent to Detroit for undercover duty that the Board hopes will smash a nationwide counterfeiting operation. After adopting aliases and studying the Detroit crime scene, they make their way to Motown and, under the guise of former members of a now-defunct gang, infiltrate a high-end gangster’s outfit pretending to look for jobs. Upon learning that The Schemer (Wallace Ford), next in line in the food chain, operates out of Los Angeles, the duo split up with Dennis flying off to the West Coast to pursue the investigation. Of course, the closer the undercover T-Men get to the bottom of the operation, the greater the risk to their mission as well as their very lives.
A long forgotten sub-genre of film noir,...
- 4/4/2014
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
The Narrow Margin
Written by Earl Felton
Directed by Richard Fleischer
USA, 1952
Single-location films can be a tough sell for some. In some instances, the location might seem too preposterous to be the setting for an entire story, thus creating a sense that the project is based on a gimmick. It requires some considerable storytelling prowess to properly convey the reasons why characters would remain in said location if dangers lurk around every corner, and to create new, plausible threats to keep the interest level high. Trains as single-location settings present some interesting challenges. They offer its passengers the opportunity to peruse its in and outs in many ways, not all of which offer a lot of breathing room. Richard Fleischer turned out to be one such director capable of taking full advantage of the setting with 1952’s The Narrow Margin.
Detective Sergeants Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) and Gus Forbes...
Written by Earl Felton
Directed by Richard Fleischer
USA, 1952
Single-location films can be a tough sell for some. In some instances, the location might seem too preposterous to be the setting for an entire story, thus creating a sense that the project is based on a gimmick. It requires some considerable storytelling prowess to properly convey the reasons why characters would remain in said location if dangers lurk around every corner, and to create new, plausible threats to keep the interest level high. Trains as single-location settings present some interesting challenges. They offer its passengers the opportunity to peruse its in and outs in many ways, not all of which offer a lot of breathing room. Richard Fleischer turned out to be one such director capable of taking full advantage of the setting with 1952’s The Narrow Margin.
Detective Sergeants Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) and Gus Forbes...
- 12/6/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Ann Blyth movies: TCM schedule on August 16, 2013 (photo: ‘Our Very Own’ stars Ann Blyth and Farley Granger) See previous post: "Ann Blyth Today: Light Singing and Heavy Drama on TCM." 3:00 Am One Minute To Zero (1952). Director: Tay Garnett. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman. Bw-106 mins. 5:00 Am All The Brothers Were Valiant (1953). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth. C-95 mins. 6:45 Am The King’S Thief (1955). Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven. C-79 mins. Letterbox Format. 8:15 Am Rose Marie (1954). Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas. C-104 mins. Letterbox Format. 10:00 Am The Great Caruso (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, Ludwig Donath, Alan Napier, Pál Jávor, Carl Milletaire, Shepard Menken, Vincent Renno, Nestor Paiva, Peter Price, Mario Siletti, Angela Clarke,...
- 8/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Reel Ink is a new, hopefully bi-monthly column in which I’ll review a wide selection of recent books about film, covering everything from more scholarly tomes to biographies, film histories and lighter, fan appreciation type publications and whatever else of interest catches my eye.
The first column will be divided into two parts, as I’ve had such a great response from book publicists I contacted about the column that it is going to take me a little longer than anticipated to get through all the books I’ve acquired (and thanks to all who contributed review copies).
Part 1 includes a look at one of the greatest British films of the ‘60s, meditations on contemporary cinema from one of America’s most incisive film writers, an examination of some of the most troubled productions in film history, a loving photographic homage to Britain’s greatest cinema icon, the biography...
The first column will be divided into two parts, as I’ve had such a great response from book publicists I contacted about the column that it is going to take me a little longer than anticipated to get through all the books I’ve acquired (and thanks to all who contributed review copies).
Part 1 includes a look at one of the greatest British films of the ‘60s, meditations on contemporary cinema from one of America’s most incisive film writers, an examination of some of the most troubled productions in film history, a loving photographic homage to Britain’s greatest cinema icon, the biography...
- 11/28/2012
- by Ian Gilchrist
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
We all love "Casablanca!" It's one of those classic movies that has become a part of our longstanding American pop culture. We all know the lines from the film ("Play it once, Sam"), the immortal song "As Time Goes By," and the undying love between Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman).
But apparently, WB is mulling a sequel to the classic. This was not the first time the studio wanted a sequel to "Casablanca." According to IndieWire, after winning Best Picture in 1943, WB wanted to create "Brazzaville" as a sequel with Rick as a secret police agent. But it never got past the treatment phase. When that failed, Rick reappeared on the TV series "Warner Bros. Presents" with Charles McGraw in the role. There was also "Passage to Marseilles" which put together Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains but the impact was not as powerful as "Casablanca.
But apparently, WB is mulling a sequel to the classic. This was not the first time the studio wanted a sequel to "Casablanca." According to IndieWire, after winning Best Picture in 1943, WB wanted to create "Brazzaville" as a sequel with Rick as a secret police agent. But it never got past the treatment phase. When that failed, Rick reappeared on the TV series "Warner Bros. Presents" with Charles McGraw in the role. There was also "Passage to Marseilles" which put together Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Claude Rains but the impact was not as powerful as "Casablanca.
- 11/5/2012
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
If there is one movie that Warner Bros. prizes and loves above all others in their catalog, it's "Casablanca." The classic movie that even people who don't like classic movies adore, it has become an American cinematic institution, and a film that WB has re-re-re-re-released countless times on home video over the years. The film endures as one of the all time greats, so of course, that means sequels and followups have been tossed around for years. After winning Best Picture in 1943, the studio got a sequel going titled "Brazzaville," following Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine as an agent of the secret police, but it never got past the treatment by Frederic Stephani. Rick reappeared on the short lived TV series "Warner Bros. Presents" played by Charles McGraw, and then there was "Passage To Marseilles" which brought together Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Claude Rains for another exotic wartime story,...
- 11/5/2012
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Armored Car Robbery
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Written by Earl Felton, Gerald Drayson Adams et al.
U.S.A., 1950
The subject of a common argument amongst film lovers pertains to a given movie’s length. Was the movie too short, too long or just the right length? The easy answer is, naturally, that it depends on the film and what story the screenwriter and director want to tell. Said easy answer is but an open door to many other directly related questions, the most crucial being ‘How well do the screenwriters and director go about telling said story during the specified running time?’ That is where the real debate lies. Movie A required more time to flesh out character arcs, to which one can reply that, on the contrary, movie A is long enough as is. The shorter the film, the more economical the creators must be, although if done right,...
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Written by Earl Felton, Gerald Drayson Adams et al.
U.S.A., 1950
The subject of a common argument amongst film lovers pertains to a given movie’s length. Was the movie too short, too long or just the right length? The easy answer is, naturally, that it depends on the film and what story the screenwriter and director want to tell. Said easy answer is but an open door to many other directly related questions, the most crucial being ‘How well do the screenwriters and director go about telling said story during the specified running time?’ That is where the real debate lies. Movie A required more time to flesh out character arcs, to which one can reply that, on the contrary, movie A is long enough as is. The shorter the film, the more economical the creators must be, although if done right,...
- 7/7/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 40 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the classic Turner Classic Movies screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds”! Oscar winner and star Tippi Hedren will be in attendance at this special screening!
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is bringing the Road to Hollywood tour to Chicago in celebration of the Classic Film Festival this April in Hollywood. Tippi Hedren and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz will conduct a Q&A prior to the start of the film. “The Birds” (1963) stars Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Charles McGraw and Ruth McDevitt from director Alfred Hitchcock and writers Daphne Du Maurier and Evan Hunter.
To win your free passes to the Chicago screening of “The Birds” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our new Hookup technology directly below. That’s it!
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is bringing the Road to Hollywood tour to Chicago in celebration of the Classic Film Festival this April in Hollywood. Tippi Hedren and TCM host Ben Mankiewicz will conduct a Q&A prior to the start of the film. “The Birds” (1963) stars Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, Jessica Tandy, Veronica Cartwright, Ethel Griffies, Charles McGraw and Ruth McDevitt from director Alfred Hitchcock and writers Daphne Du Maurier and Evan Hunter.
To win your free passes to the Chicago screening of “The Birds” courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, get interactive with our new Hookup technology directly below. That’s it!
- 3/23/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Diabolical twins, obsessed journalists and jail-breaking thugs are heading their way to the Music Box Theatre. The Film Noir Foundation’s third installment of “Noir City: Chicago” features no less than sixteen restored 35mm prints of must-see cinematic rarities. Ten of these noir classics have yet to land a DVD release, thus making this festival all the more essential for local cinephiles.
The week-long festival kicks off Friday, Aug. 12, and includes criminally overlooked performances from Hollywood legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Anne Bancroft, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and Burt Lancaster. Acclaimed noir historians Alan K. Rode (“Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy”) and Foster Hirsch (“Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir”) will be presenting the pictures while offering their wealth of historical and filmic insight.
Among this year’s most priceless treasures is “Deadline USA,” starring Bogart as...
The week-long festival kicks off Friday, Aug. 12, and includes criminally overlooked performances from Hollywood legends such as Humphrey Bogart, Anne Bancroft, Barbara Stanwyck, Olivia de Havilland, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters and Burt Lancaster. Acclaimed noir historians Alan K. Rode (“Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy”) and Foster Hirsch (“Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir”) will be presenting the pictures while offering their wealth of historical and filmic insight.
Among this year’s most priceless treasures is “Deadline USA,” starring Bogart as...
- 8/11/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Chicago – Along with sixteen restored 35mm prints of overlooked cinematic gems, the Music Box Theatre’s third installment of “Noir City: Chicago” brings two renowned film historians to the Windy City: Alan K. Rode and Foster Hirsch. Both men serve on the board of directors of the Film Noir Foundation, a non-profit corporation aiming to restore rare noir classics for future generations.
In addition to serving as the co-programmer and co-host of the annual Noir City Hollywood film festival, Rode is also the charter director and treasurer of the Film Noir Foundation as well as the producer, programmer and host of the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California. He garnered acclaim for his book, “Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy,” which followed the titular prolific actor through the rise and fall of the studio system. His latest book, “Michael Curtiz: A Man for All Movies,...
In addition to serving as the co-programmer and co-host of the annual Noir City Hollywood film festival, Rode is also the charter director and treasurer of the Film Noir Foundation as well as the producer, programmer and host of the Arthur Lyons Film Noir Festival in Palm Springs, California. He garnered acclaim for his book, “Charles McGraw: Biography of a Film Noir Tough Guy,” which followed the titular prolific actor through the rise and fall of the studio system. His latest book, “Michael Curtiz: A Man for All Movies,...
- 8/9/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The past several years have seen a resurgence in interest in the Film Noir genre, not just in recreations via a host of films, but in the classics that started it all. That interest has spawned a series of releases on DVD, and The Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 5 is filled with treats.
You might expect that we would be reaching by the time we got to the fifth installment, a set with eight films, but in some sense the opposite may be true here.
While not the biggest names in the genre, the set gives us some true favorites, as well as some great actors.
Cornered (1945):
From England to continental Europe to Buenos Aires, ex-rcaf pilot Dick Powell stalks the Nazi collaborator who murdered his bride. But one fact constantly surfaces during his quest: no one can describe the mysterious man. Joining Powell in the film shadows are...
You might expect that we would be reaching by the time we got to the fifth installment, a set with eight films, but in some sense the opposite may be true here.
While not the biggest names in the genre, the set gives us some true favorites, as well as some great actors.
Cornered (1945):
From England to continental Europe to Buenos Aires, ex-rcaf pilot Dick Powell stalks the Nazi collaborator who murdered his bride. But one fact constantly surfaces during his quest: no one can describe the mysterious man. Joining Powell in the film shadows are...
- 7/28/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Film Noir Classic Collection: Vol. 5, has dusted off eight films of the celebrated genre and adapted them to DVD format. Collections like these, which bring older films to newer light, are godsends regardless (to a degree) of which films are selected, because as timeless as some of these stories and performances might be, the barrier of being stuck in an old format can bury them forever. And these stories deserve to be told. If you watch a few well made noir thrillers you will no doubt see the seeds that were planted in the heads of crime-thriller filmmakers the likes of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann. Though there are better films in the noir genre that this collection could have culminated, there are also a lot worse. Any fan of noir films or old mysteries and thrillers will be pleased at what this box set has to offer.
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
- 7/20/2010
- by Ryan Katona
- JustPressPlay.net
There seems to be no exhausting the raw eyeball pleasure to be had from old-fashioned handmade (or semi-handmade, or whatever) animation, and we may be well living through a pop renaissance of it.
The eruptions below the Pixar/Dreamworks budget tier have been spectacular and international, beginning perhaps with 2003's "The Triplets of Belleville," learning from Miyazaki, Oshii, Aardman and the Quays, moving on to Kim Moon-saeng's "Sky Blue," machinima, "The Corpse Bride," "A Scanner Darkly," "Persepolis," "Coraline," "Waltz with Bashir," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Mary & Max," "Sita Sings the Blues," "Fear(s) in the Dark," "The Secret of Kells," and now the Belgian nonpareil "A Town Called Panic."
The variety of toolboxes and styles at work seem limitless (the seductive but uniform look of pure 3D computer animation is getting tiresome just as other approaches proliferate), but it's the personal engagement that makes most of the films sing.
Many of...
The eruptions below the Pixar/Dreamworks budget tier have been spectacular and international, beginning perhaps with 2003's "The Triplets of Belleville," learning from Miyazaki, Oshii, Aardman and the Quays, moving on to Kim Moon-saeng's "Sky Blue," machinima, "The Corpse Bride," "A Scanner Darkly," "Persepolis," "Coraline," "Waltz with Bashir," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Mary & Max," "Sita Sings the Blues," "Fear(s) in the Dark," "The Secret of Kells," and now the Belgian nonpareil "A Town Called Panic."
The variety of toolboxes and styles at work seem limitless (the seductive but uniform look of pure 3D computer animation is getting tiresome just as other approaches proliferate), but it's the personal engagement that makes most of the films sing.
Many of...
- 7/20/2010
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Robert Siodmak’s The Killers (1946), the film noir that catapulted Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner (above) to stardom, will be screened as the next feature in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ series “Oscar Noir: 1940s Writing Nominees from Hollywood’s Dark Side.” The Killers will be shown on Monday, June 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Screenwriter Billy Ray (Shattered Glass, State of Play) will introduce the screening. (The Killers is sold out. More info below.) Screenwriter Anthony Veiller turned Ernest Hemingway’s classic short story into a classic film noir. The Killers, about a former boxer and the men out to get him, isn’t one of my favorites noirs, but it’s great to look at thanks to Ava Gardner and cinematographer Elwood Bredell. Also in the cast: Edmond O’Brien, Albert Dekker, Sam Levene, Virginia Christine,...
- 6/16/2010
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Every week, Film School Rejects presents a movie that was made before you were born and tells you why you should like it. This week, Old Ass Movies presents: The Killers (1946) Ernest Hemingway's famous short story The Killers is a cynical prelude to an unavoidable murder and has inspired two feature films since its first publication. The 1946 old ass version was directed by Robert Siodmak in typical film-noir style and was Burt Lancaster's film debut. What happens in the first twelve minutes of The Killers is, minus some details here and there and the ending dialogue, the whole Hemingway story. It's a cold winter evening in a small town and two men (William Conrad & Charles McGraw) wearing hats and overcoats walk through the central street, pass the gas station and in the lunch counter. There they bully the waiter, the cook and a young customer named Nick Adams. After...
- 4/27/2009
- by Loukas Tsouknidas
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
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