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Topaz (1969)

Topaz (1969)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Topaz (1969) A movie worse than Marnie (1964) and Torn Curtain (1966) this one has John Vernon playing a Castro-like character among a cast which includes actors and actresses most have never heard of before or hence besides John Forsythe and perhaps Roscoe Lee Browne. Not much to remember about this one either I can only barely think of parts of it myself (and I don’t feel compelled to watch it "again" either!). The theme of [...]
MOVIES ABOUT THE KU KLUX KLAN (KKK)

Movies about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)

August 29, 2014 // 1 Comment

Movies about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Ever since the release of legendary director D.W. Griffith’s controversial epic The Birth of the Nation (1915) based on Thomas F. Dixon Jr.’s (play and) novel titled The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan and featuring silent star Lillian Gish and future Oscar winner Donald Crisp (among others) classic Hollywood seems to have avoided taking on the KKK to expose its wicked acts or its [...]
RAINTREE COUNTY (1957) – FULL REVIEW!

Raintree County (1957) – full review!

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Raintree County (1957) – full review! Directed by Edward Dmytryk (Crossfire (1947)) with a screenplay by Millard Kaufman (Take the High Ground! (1953) & Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)) this average Civil War era drama received 4 Oscar nominations including Elizabeth Taylor’s first for Best Actress. The cast also includes three time Best Actor nominee Montgomery Clift Eva Marie Saint (On the Waterfront (1954)) Nigel Patrick Lee [...]
ENTERTAINER THE (1960)

Entertainer The (1960)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Entertainer The (1960) In what is SORT OF a changing of the guard for British film Laurence Olivier plays an aging bad actor Archie Rice at a seaside (locale) theater. This slightly above average character sketch drama was directed by Tony Richardson (one of his first films) and features Alan Bates and Albert Finney in their screen debuts. Opposite Olivier Bates plays the actor’s loyal son Frank (also Archie’s “partner” [...]
JAZZ SINGER THE (1927)

Jazz Singer The (1927)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Jazz Singer The (1927) Story about a Jewish Cantor’s son (played by Al Jolson) who doesn’t want to follow in the tradition of his father (Warner Oland) and his father’s father but instead wants to sing his kind of music the blasphemous jazz. It’s claim to fame as the first talkie (winning an Honorary Oscar as such) is rather dubious only the musical numbers (and one other small part) have sound. The rest of the film has [...]
Comparative Review of the three “Maltese Falcon” movies

Comparative Review of the three “Maltese Falcon” movies

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Comparative Review of the three “Maltese Falcon” movies This essay contains SPOILERS! Directed by Roy Del Ruth The Maltese Falcon (1931) (aka Dangerous Female (1931)) was the first film adapted from the Dashiell Hammett (Watch on the Rhine (1943)) novel of the same name (copyrighted in 1930 & renewed in 1957). It is a very good film with Richard Cortez in the role of detective Sam Spade Walter Long as Spade’s partner Miles [...]
LOVED ONE THE (1965)

Loved One The (1965)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Loved One The (1965) The motion picture with something to offend everyone! Directed by Tony Richardson (Tom Jones (1963)) with a screenplay co-written by Terry Southern (Dr. Strangelove (1964)) and Christopher Isherwood that was based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh this above average black comedy stars Robert Morse Jonathan Winters and Rod Steiger. Morse plays Englishman Dennis Barlow who’s a bit of a poet that ends up in Hollywood; he has [...]
Taking of the Pelham One Two Three The (1974)

Taking of the Pelham One Two Three The (1974)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Taking of the Pelham One Two Three The (1974) Though I never read the recommended book I loved this film about a gang of armed men who hijack a subway train in New York City. It stars Walter Matthau as the police lieutenant trying to battle a criminal mastermind (Robert Shaw) and his cohorts played by Martin Balsam Hector Elizondo and Earl Hindman. James Broderick is the motorman Lee Wallace is the Mayor Doris Roberts his wife Jerry Stiller is [...]
sie9301co-boxing-movies

Great Boxing Movies

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

Great Boxing Movies When I first wrote this article I hadn’t seen several “great boxing movies” which I hope to add to this essay soon. Among them are: Champion (1949) with Kirk Douglas The Set-Up (1949) with Robert Ryan and Kid Galahad (1937) with Bette Davis & Edward G. Robinson which includes a funny reference to Body and Soul (1947) (below). Plus thanks to TCM I have also now seen The Champ (1931) with Wallace Beery! [...]
The Wrong Man (1956)

The Wrong Man (1956)

August 29, 2014 // 0 Comments

The Wrong Man (1956) If you’ve read any of the biographies about Alfred Hitchcock at all you know of his fear of being locked up and his distrust of the police. This film is the perfect manifestation of those fears and ironically it’s based on a true story. In fact the movie opens with the director’s shadowed figure speaking "what you are about to hear is absolutely true" or words to that effect in lieu of his typical [...]
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