An exercise in dizzy disorientation, this Cornell Woolrich crazy-house noir pulls the rug out from under us at least three times. You want delirium, you got it -- the secret words for today are "Obsessive" and "Perverse." Innocent Robert Cummings is no match for sicko psychos Peter Lorre and Steve Cochran. The Chase Blu-ray Kino Classics 1946 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date May 24, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Cummings, Michèle Morgan, Steve Cochran, Peter Lorre, Lloyd Corrigan, Jack Holt, Don Wilson, Alexis Minotis, Nina Koschetz, Yolanda Lacca, James Westerfield, Shirley O'Hara. Cinematography Frank F. Planer Film Editor Edward Mann Original Music Michel Michelet Written by Philip Yordan from the book The Black Path of Fear by Cornell Woolrich Produced by Seymour Nebenzal Directed by Arthur D. Ripley
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
As Guy Maddin says on his (recommended) commentary, the public domain copies of this show were...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
As Guy Maddin says on his (recommended) commentary, the public domain copies of this show were...
- 5/7/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Guns! Guns! Guns! John Milius' rootin' tootin' bio of the most famous of the '30s bandits has plenty of good things to its credit, especially its terrific, funny cast, topped by the unlikely star Warren Oates. The battles between Dillinger's team of all-star bank robbers and Ben Johnson's G-Man aren't neglected, as Milius savors every gun recoil and Tommy gun blast. Dillinger Blu-ray + DVD Arrow Video U.S. 1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / Street Date April 26, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Warren Oates, Ben Johnson, Michelle Phillips, Cloris Leachman, Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis, John Ryan, Richard Dreyfuss, Steve Kanaly, John Martino, Roy Jenson, Frank McRae. Cinematography Jules Brenner Special Effects A.D. Flowers, Cliff Wenger Edited by Fred R. Feitshans, Jr. Original Music Barry De Vorzon Produced by Buzz Feitshans Written and Directed by John Milius
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
There it was in the dentist's office, an article in either...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
There it was in the dentist's office, an article in either...
- 4/19/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Reel-Important People is a monthly column that highlights those individuals in or related to the movies that have left us in recent weeks. Below you'll find names big and small and from all areas of the industry, though each was significant to the movies in his or her own way. Van Alexander (1915-2015) - Composer. He is best known for turning nursey rhymes into songs, such as "A-Tisket, A-Tasket," the music for which opens The Grapes of Wrath and appears in numerous other films, including The Master. His movie scores include William Castle's Straight-Jacket, I Saw What You Did and 13 Frightened Girls!, Baby Face Nelson, Tarzan and the Valley of Gold and The Private Lives of Adam and Eve. He died of heart...
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- 8/3/2015
- by Christopher Campbell
- Movies.com
Mickey Rooney was earliest surviving Best Actor Oscar nominee (photo: Mickey Rooney and Spencer Tracy in ‘Boys Town’) (See previous post: “Mickey Rooney Dead at 93: MGM’s Andy Hardy Series’ Hero and Judy Garland Frequent Co-Star Had Longest Film Career Ever?”) Mickey Rooney was the earliest surviving Best Actor Academy Award nominee — Babes in Arms, 1939; The Human Comedy, 1943 — and the last surviving male acting Oscar nominee of the 1930s. Rooney lost the Best Actor Oscar to two considerably more “prestigious” — albeit less popular — stars: Robert Donat for Sam Wood’s Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939) and Paul Lukas for Herman Shumlin’s Watch on the Rhine (1943). Following Mickey Rooney’s death, there are only two acting Academy Award nominees from the ’30s still alive: two-time Best Actress winner Luise Rainer, 104 (for Robert Z. Leonard’s The Great Ziegfeld, 1936, and Sidney Franklin’s The Good Earth, 1937), and Best Supporting Actress nominee Olivia de Havilland,...
- 4/9/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Hollywood – He was the biggest star the world, the box office champion from 1939 to 1941. “Wow, spanning two decades,” Bart Simpson said. Mickey Rooney lived long enough to work on silent films, be the biggest star in the world and do a voiceover on “The Simpsons.” Not bad for one lifetime. Mickey Rooney died of natural causes in his North Hollywood home on April 6th. He was 93.
Rooney was a actor who worked nearly his entire life in film, television and stage. His active career as a performer spanned 92 years, and he was one of the last few in history to have worked in the silent film era. His filmography lists over 200 roles, and he also appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway and several television series. He outlived and outperformed virtually all the classic movie stars from Hollywood’s golden era of the studio system from the 1930s to the 1950s.
The...
Rooney was a actor who worked nearly his entire life in film, television and stage. His active career as a performer spanned 92 years, and he was one of the last few in history to have worked in the silent film era. His filmography lists over 200 roles, and he also appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway and several television series. He outlived and outperformed virtually all the classic movie stars from Hollywood’s golden era of the studio system from the 1930s to the 1950s.
The...
- 4/7/2014
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In the wake of Mickey Rooney's death Sunday at age 93, much will be written -- and should be written -- about his glory days at MGM, his multiple co-star pairings with Judy Garland, and his lengthy run in the once-popular Andy Hardy franchise. But, truth to tell, I will continue to remember Rooney best for two of his finest achievements as a character actor: His brutally effective turn as the title character in Don Siegel's gritty gangster biopic "Baby Face Nelson" (1957), and his hilarious portrayal of a pompous retired movie star who makes the wrong people nervous when he announces plans to pen a tell-all autobiography with the help of a ghost writer (Michael Caine) in Mike Hodges' comedy-drama "Pulp" (1972). More at Moving Picture Blog. Here's Aljean Harmetz in The NY Times.
- 4/7/2014
- by Joe Leydon
- Thompson on Hollywood
The legendary Mickey Rooney died today, passing away at the age of 93.
The Brookyln-born actor was a child star who successfully transitioned into adult films. Boasting more than 300 credits to his name across eight decades, he also earned four Oscar nominations, two honorary Oscars, a Golden Globe, and Emmy, and a Tony nomination.
Amongst his most famous early works were the likes of "Blind Date," "Babies in Arms," and over a dozen film sin the Andy Hardy franchise. Other famous films included "The Black Stallion," "National Velvet, "The Bold and the Brave," "The Human Comedy," "Breakfast at Tiffanys," "Erik the Viking," "The Fox and the Hound," "Pete's Dragon," "Ace of Hearts," "Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," "Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Baby Face Nelson," "Boys Town" and "Girl Crazy". His acclaimed TV work included "Bill," "Mickey," "One of the Boys," "The Red Skelton Hour" and "The Mickey Rooney Show...
The Brookyln-born actor was a child star who successfully transitioned into adult films. Boasting more than 300 credits to his name across eight decades, he also earned four Oscar nominations, two honorary Oscars, a Golden Globe, and Emmy, and a Tony nomination.
Amongst his most famous early works were the likes of "Blind Date," "Babies in Arms," and over a dozen film sin the Andy Hardy franchise. Other famous films included "The Black Stallion," "National Velvet, "The Bold and the Brave," "The Human Comedy," "Breakfast at Tiffanys," "Erik the Viking," "The Fox and the Hound," "Pete's Dragon," "Ace of Hearts," "Its a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," "Requiem for a Heavyweight," "Baby Face Nelson," "Boys Town" and "Girl Crazy". His acclaimed TV work included "Bill," "Mickey," "One of the Boys," "The Red Skelton Hour" and "The Mickey Rooney Show...
- 4/7/2014
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
A legend is gone! An end of an era! Those kind of expressions seem to get thrown around any time a movie star passes away but it really holds true for the one and only Mickey Rooney. From a series of ‘Mickey McGuire’ shorts in the late ‘20s through A Night At The Museum, the little guy never stopped working. Rooney played Andy Hardy in 20 films and co-starred with Judy Garland in 10. He married eight times, his first wife being Ava Gardner – who was 6 inches taller than he! Rooney was nominated for five Oscars and held the distinction of being the first male teenager to be nominated (Babes In Arms – 1939). His last nomination was over 40 years later for The Black Stallion (1980). Rooney was best known for his musical and comedy skills but could get serious when he needed to. Check out his superb gangster turn in Don Siegel’s Baby Face Nelson...
- 4/7/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Director Don Siegel’s low-budget 1957 crime drama Baby Face Nelson is a fast -paced portrait of a cold-blooded, trigger-happy sociopath with a memorable mad-dog performance by Mickey Rooney in the title role and is a film that deserves to be rediscovered.
Baby Face Nelson (real name Lester Gillis) was a petty thief who gained much celebrity (and a spot on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list) when he joined John Dillinger’s gang in 1933. Baby Face Nelson opens with Nelson being approached to kill a union boss. He refuses, is framed for the murder anyway, sent to jail, escapes, and gets bloody revenge on the men who framed him. His loyal girlfriend Sue is with him when he robs a pharmacy and Nelson is shot. Sue drives him to a country hospital run by a crooked underworld doctor. It’s here that Nelson meets Dillinger and joins his crew. The...
Baby Face Nelson (real name Lester Gillis) was a petty thief who gained much celebrity (and a spot on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list) when he joined John Dillinger’s gang in 1933. Baby Face Nelson opens with Nelson being approached to kill a union boss. He refuses, is framed for the murder anyway, sent to jail, escapes, and gets bloody revenge on the men who framed him. His loyal girlfriend Sue is with him when he robs a pharmacy and Nelson is shot. Sue drives him to a country hospital run by a crooked underworld doctor. It’s here that Nelson meets Dillinger and joins his crew. The...
- 7/24/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It's not—no, it's certainly not—any kind of criticism or qualified praise, to say that Baby Face Nelson, directed by Don Siegel in 1957, was pretty much as I expected it would be. The thing is, I expected it to be excellent, terse, tense, intense, and uninflected in a way that borders on, but does not wholly migrate into, the terrain of the cold-blooded.
And it shouldn't be inferred that the film is free of surprises: surprise is practically its structuring principal, a series of revelations of character via plot, charting the criminal career of Lester M. Gillis, alias Baby Face Nelson, alias Mickey Rooney.
Don Siegel's defining trait is probably his no-nonsense approach to narrative, refusing to editorialize or indulge in special pleading on behalf of his characters, whoever they are, however good or bad. It's a policy that could cause him difficulties, when the script was a...
And it shouldn't be inferred that the film is free of surprises: surprise is practically its structuring principal, a series of revelations of character via plot, charting the criminal career of Lester M. Gillis, alias Baby Face Nelson, alias Mickey Rooney.
Don Siegel's defining trait is probably his no-nonsense approach to narrative, refusing to editorialize or indulge in special pleading on behalf of his characters, whoever they are, however good or bad. It's a policy that could cause him difficulties, when the script was a...
- 5/6/2010
- MUBI
It's the Fourth of July weekend, and what better way to celebrate America's independence than by watching a John Dillinger decide taxation with representation wasn't nearly as much fun as the patriots made it out to be. Public Enemies has gone wide this week, brandishing their tommy guns in the hopes of stealing some of Transformers' box office thunder. If anyone can do it, it might just be Johnny Depp, who does appeal to a crowd that Optimus Prime just can't reach.
Jeffrey Anderson was full of praise for Michael Mann's film, likening it to earlier crime classics such as Max Nosseck's Dillinger or Don Siegel's Baby Face Nelson. "... it equals them, capturing some of their raw energy and allure and clocking in as a longer, but equally fast-moving and adrenaline-pumping example Somehow Mann only manages to use the extra time for flash and spectacle, and hardly any for depth or detail,...
Jeffrey Anderson was full of praise for Michael Mann's film, likening it to earlier crime classics such as Max Nosseck's Dillinger or Don Siegel's Baby Face Nelson. "... it equals them, capturing some of their raw energy and allure and clocking in as a longer, but equally fast-moving and adrenaline-pumping example Somehow Mann only manages to use the extra time for flash and spectacle, and hardly any for depth or detail,...
- 7/3/2009
- by Elisabeth Rappe
- Cinematical
Essentially there are two kinds of gangster movies: those made during the time when men wore hats in real life and those made during the time when men wore hats that came from wardrobe. The first type are usually in black-and-white, punchy, nervy and full of wisecracks. The second type are usually longer and more violent, but slower-paced and nobler of purpose, as if the hats suddenly carried an extra weight, an extra sadness. What Michael Mann has achieved with the new Public Enemies is an often fascinating, striking combination of the two.
I walked into the new film, convinced that it could never top lean, mean B-movie classics like Max Nosseck's Dillinger (1945) or Don Siegel's Baby Face Nelson (1957) in which these gangsters were initially immortalized. But it equals them, capturing some of their raw energy and allure and clocking in as a longer, but equally fast-moving and adrenaline-pumping example.
I walked into the new film, convinced that it could never top lean, mean B-movie classics like Max Nosseck's Dillinger (1945) or Don Siegel's Baby Face Nelson (1957) in which these gangsters were initially immortalized. But it equals them, capturing some of their raw energy and allure and clocking in as a longer, but equally fast-moving and adrenaline-pumping example.
- 7/1/2009
- by Jeffrey M. Anderson
- Cinematical
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