Questioned as a murder suspect, solid (but drunk) citizen Al Willis attacks his police questioners, is beaten, and swears vengeance against them. Next night, Lieut. Parks is murdered; Willis is the only suspect in the eyes of tough Chief Conroy, who pursues him doggedly despite lack of evidence. The obsessed Conroy is dismissed from the force, but continues to harass Willis, who flees to a sleazy town on the Mexican border. Of course, Conroy follows. But which is crazy, Conroy or Willis?
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Review :
Sterling Hayden's the whole show
Finally caught up with this on AMC. I wish Sterling Hayden had focused more on his Hollywood career, instead of returning to the sea from time-to-time. He's easily in the league of the Noir "Roberts" (Taylor, Ryan, Mitchum)...with a little John
Wayne to boot. Good picture....not *really* Film Noire....and not Gloria Grahame's best.
Jesse James' Women (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.1 Date Released : 4 September 1954 Genre : Western Stars : Don 'Red' Barry, Peggie Castle, Jack Buetel, Lita Baron Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Jesse James leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in Mississippi out of their bloomers and garters. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate and the "gotcha-again" Kate even ends up behind bars. But no film that contains a cat-fight between Peggie Castle and Lita Baron can be called a complete waste of time.
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Review :
The South falls again
A couple of southern theatre exhibitors decided they could make a western (or, in this case, a Southeastern) just as bad as the worse of those coming from Hollywood and proceeded to prove they could be not only as bad, they could be much worse. They ensured their success at obtaining this goal by hiring Don Barry as the director. Barry was the best choice, as only the egotistical-and-sad Barry could direct (or believe) a film in which he starred as a lady-killer whose charms women could not resist.(The Susan Hayward real-life swimming-pool incident not withstanding.) Jesse James (Don Barry), leaves Missouri for Mississippi, and immediately charms all the women in the cast out of their bloomers and garters, even though three of them towered over him. His first conquest is the banker's daughter who helps him loot the bank in exchange for a promise of marriage; he wanders over to the saloon and runs the crooked partner of the proprietress out of town, takes all of his-and-her money and leaves her, between kisses, hounding him for her share; the third one, the saloon singer, actually makes a mark out of him as she cons him into a boxing match against a professional fighter and he loses the fight and his money, but he holds the singer and the fighter up as they leave town and gets his money back; and then he romances and swindles Cattle Kate, a replay of what he had done somewhere before to Kate and the "gotcha-again" Kate even ends up behind bars. But no film that contains a cat-fight between Peggie Castle and Lita Baron can be called a complete waste of time
Dangerous Mission (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.7 Date Released : 6 March 1954 Genre : Action, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Victor Mature, Piper Laurie, William Bendix, Vincent Price Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Witness to a mob killing and afraid to testify, young Louise Graham flees to Montana where she hopes to disappear working in the gift shop at Glacier National Park. Staying at the park are vacationers Matt Hallett, ex-marine, and Paul Adams, amateur photographer, both obviously very interested in Louise and both vying for her attention. Louise is unaware that one is a mob hitman, hired to kill her to prevent her from testifying, and the other is a cop working for the New York D.A.'s office, sent to protect her.
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Review :
Typical 1950s Suspenser
Dangerous Mission has some great strengths and some very noticeable shortcomings.
Originally filmed and released in 3-D, to keep up with the 3-D craze in the early 50s, Dangerous Mission had some great strengths: Irwin Allen's hand as Producer, a great cast, plot twists, a rousing music score, gorgeous location Technicolor photography.
The serious flaws are the disjointed story line: episodes that have virtually nothing to do with the plot: landslide during a party, forest fire, Indian ceremony and stupid subplot of an indian falsely accused of murder. Add some silly dubbed dialogue during noisy scenes and the usually great William Bendix given some incredibly stupid lines.
All in all, great fun despite typical 1950s stereotypes--especially to see Victor Mature as a moody tough guy, Vincent Price as a somewhat effeminate photographer, and the gorgeous Piper Laurie.
La vie d'un honnête homme (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.8 Date Released : 18 February 1953 Genre : Comedy, Drama Stars : Michel Simon, Marguerite Pierry, Laurence Badie, François Guérin." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
That's the song Mouloudji sings in the film,and it comes back as a sinister leitmotiv of a bleak distraught work,one of Sacha Guitry's best ,perhaps his best ,period.
The screenplay is so brilliant you will have to search your memory to find such a subtle inventive story.Guitry lets his inspiration flow,delivers some of the finest lines of his career and makes a masterpiece.
Albert Ménard-Lacoste is a despicable mean tight-fisted bourgeois who lives with his missus and his offspring.In his mind ,he is an honest man (check the title) .Enter his twin,Alain ,who is the opposite of his brother:he's been away for a long time,he's a semi-hobo,he has travelled around the world .Albert was so ashamed of his sibling he told his wife he was dead. "How old was I,when you buried me?"a deadpan Alain says.Without any special effect,using shot/reverse shot,Guitry who was dismissed sometimes as a "filmed stage productions director" never puts the two brothers in the same picture.
At this stage of the story ,everybody thinks: "the prodigal brother will settle everything a la Capra;thanks to him,Albert will change , be a true honest man,and fall in love again with his spouse."
Guitry does not do what we expect,not at all.Pas du tout.I cannot tell what happens next,for writing a spoiler would be a crime,even with a warning.
Although it often takes the form of a comedy,Guitry's film is a desperate meditation on man's destiny :might it be possible that he could pick up the pieces,start a brand new life?Does the second chance really exist?Sometimes it even takes the form of a detective story,a la Georges Simenon (the testament,Dr Ogier's phone call).The last picture is as pessimistic as anything Julien Duvivier ever produced:it speaks volumes about Guitry's somber philosophy.
Michel Simon proves here,once again,once more,that he was unique and irreplaceable.He plays two extremely difficult parts -which grow even harder as the movie progresses-.I wish Cesars had existed at the time.
The supporting cast is excellent: Marguerite Pierry is effective as the submissive drab spouse;Pauline Carton remains true to form;Lana Marconi has a small part of a prostitute.
But something will interest Louis De Funès 's fans:not only he plays the part of the servant but he also teams up with Claude Gensac,his future "wife" in "The Gendarme from Saint-Tropez" saga.Of course Guitry and Jean Girault are worlds apart and it's too bad that Funes never found a true great director afterward.
By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.9 Date Released : 15 February 1954 Genre : Comedy, Family, Musical, Romance Stars : Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Leon Ames, Rosemary DeCamp. The trials and tribulations of the Winfield family in small town Indiana as Marjorie Winfield's boyfriend, William Sherman, returns from the Army after W.W.I. Bill & Marjorie's on-again, off-again provide the backdrop for other family issues, primarily brought on by little brother Wesley's overactive imagination and tall tales." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The trials and tribulations of the Winfield family in small town Indiana as Marjorie Winfield's boyfriend, William Sherman, returns from the Army after W.W.I. Bill & Marjorie's on-again, off-again provide the backdrop for other family issues, primarily brought on by little brother Wesley's overactive imagination and tall tales.
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Review :
I've just seen it again
For about the millionth time and it's right up there with The Sound of Music. I love Doris and I love Gordon. There is such a chemistry between them that shines through on the screen it is remarkable. I really can't decide which is the better of the two, By the light of the silvery moon or On moonlight bay. Sheer brilliance.
The Voice of Merrill (1952)iMDB Rating: 6.8 Date Released : 1 December 1952 Genre : Mystery Stars : Valerie Hobson, Edward Underdown, James Robertson Justice, Henry Kendall. The story of four people directly and indirectly involved with the murder of a female blackmailer. The three male suspects are the girl's publisher employer; an up-and-coming writer (Edward Undertown); a brillant established writer (James Robertson Justice) who is an intellectual snob who disdains everything and everybody; and his wife (Valarie Hobson.) The latter meets the struggling writer and,..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The story of four people directly and indirectly involved with the murder of a female blackmailer. The three male suspects are the girl's publisher employer; an up-and-coming writer (Edward Undertown); a brillant established writer (James Robertson Justice) who is an intellectual snob who disdains everything and everybody; and his wife (Valarie Hobson.) The latter meets the struggling writer and, propelled by her loveless marriage, falls in love with him and proceeds to help him with his asending career with the unwitting aid of her ailing husband. Meanwhile, the police are still investigating the murder.
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Review :
The Field Marshal of English Letters
Murder Will Out opens with, what else, a murder. Specifically of a woman who had an involvement with three men, struggling author Edward Underdown, publisher Henry Kendall, and successful author James Robertson Justice self described as the Field Marshal of English Letters. Robertson Justice is married quite unhappily to Valerie Hobson who shows quite a bit of her most famous screen character Estella from Great Expectations.
Hobson takes her character from Dickens, but Robertson Justice is a British version of Waldo Lydecker from Laura. Mix these two together and you've got the recipe of an English murder mystery with some real bite and a few clever plot twists in the end.
All three of the men and possibly Hobson have some good reason to murder the victim. None of the men have a satisfactory alibi for the time of the murder so Scotland Yard in the persons of Inspector Garry Marsh and Sergeant Sam Kydd have only to wait it out, watch and observe, and see if this resolves itself.
Like some of our B films you occasionally find a real nugget among them and Murder Will Out, a quota quickie over in the UK, definitely fills that bill.
You will particularly love what James Robertson Justice and Valerie Hobson do with their characters. If you're a fan of English murder mysteries this one is a hidden gem.
The Human Jungle (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.7 Date Released : 3 October 1954 Genre : Crime Stars : Gary Merrill, Jan Sterling, Regis Toomey, Lamont Johnson. Danforth is assigned to take over the police department in a section of a large city saddled with juvenile delinquency, petty crimes, graft and also a recent unsolved murder of a strip-tease dancer. Recognizing the laxity of the department he implements many changes and soon finds himself under fire by the newspapers, the attorney of a racket leader and the denizens of this human jungle. He calls..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Danforth is assigned to take over the police department in a section of a large city saddled with juvenile delinquency, petty crimes, graft and also a recent unsolved murder of a strip-tease dancer. Recognizing the laxity of the department he implements many changes and soon finds himself under fire by the newspapers, the attorney of a racket leader and the denizens of this human jungle. He calls this a cop's war that is the same as a soldier's war with the difference being that people hate cops. His cause isn't helped when a rookie policeman accidentally kills an innocent bystander. And he has to protect police informer Mary Abbott from Swados, a killer in the hire of the man behind the petty mobsters.
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Review :
Relevant but without moral complexity, character development or an insightful narrative it is just a standard entry in a crowded genre
When he is invited down to visit friend Police Chief Abe Rowan, Captain John Danforth finds a precinct full of lazy and unmotivated cops surrounded by a district overrun by juvenile delinquency and crime – most notably a high profile murder that has just occurred. Danforth challenges Rowan and as a result Rowan throws the job back at him and Danfoth finds himself in temporary charge and determined to turn the precinct around. Breaking the news to his wife is only the first of many challenges to confront Danforth as he tackles his own men, small crime, organised hoods and internal red tape.
As the sagely Theo has already commented, this is a film that surprisingly still has a lot of relevance in the UK at the moment, what with police over stretched, "justice" being seen as something that doesn't exist in the real world anymore and police seemingly hampered by red tape while their standing within the community drops away to nothing. So with that background this film is instantly interesting after the ten-minute set up sees Danforth facing similar challenges and taking them on. However despite this unintentional realism, the film is fairly straightforward without any great imagination but it does still do enough to be gritty and interesting on its own terms. Although not morally complex enough to really be classed as a noir, it is still gritty as a story and produce the usual hardnosed, tough-talking delivery. The story is reasonable enough although the simplistic view of one officer turning around an entire area is perhaps hard to swallow whenever the daily news here suggests that the system can defeat any enthusiastic officer. In that regard, Danforth will be seen as a rallying cry to the Right (he even dismisses the accidental shooting of a pedestrian by one of his officers as being just part of a war), but his policies will produce very little empathy from the more liberal sections of the audience.
The cast can't really do much with the material and deliver fairly average performances across the board. Merrill barks around the screen with a constant righteous indignation and hardline approach that didn't totally convince me – the film would have been more interesting if it had really delved into his character in the way that it kept suggesting it would but never really did. Sterling is unconvincing and quite unnecessary – like her emotional observations on Danforth are designed to replace the development of him as a character, and that the director just wanted us to know the man in as simple a way as possible. Waltz is OK but Meyer is fairly stiff in his scenes and is too clearly an apologetic soft touch.
Overall this is an OK film with gritty material but far too straightforward a plot and foundation to really make for an interesting, complex story with no easy answers. Instead it gradually falls into a standard crime thriller plot and the manipulative and hardline character of Danforth is just accepted without much thought or development. Considering how relevant it still is today it is a real shame it didn't do better but as it is it's a standard crime affair with nothing to really make it stand out from a crowded genre.
The Iron Glove (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.0 Date Released : 1 April 1954 Genre : Adventure Stars : Robert Stack, Ursula Thiess, Richard Wyler, Charles Irwin." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
This is yet another of the clunky movies Sam Katzman produced for Columbia in the period between the closing of most of Columbia's B production -- with series like 'Blondie' and Boston Blackie and westerns -- and the rise of AIP and other super-cheap producers who developed the teen and monster movie markets.
In the meantime, Katzman turned out this swashbuckler about some Irishmen supporting Bonnie Prince Charlie. It is nominally no worse than most of the Bs of this period; yet director William Castle has done something very stupid to make this at least occasionally annoying, on top of actor Robert Stack. He has entered his stolid phase and spends most of the movie uncertain as to whether his accent should be Scottish or Irish.
If these were the only issues, then I would rate this five, maybe a four for the poor acting. But Director of Photography Henry Freulich has managed to do something actively obnoxious. In cooperation with Castle's blocking, some one has decreed that people can talk, but only when no one is moving for the first fifty-five minutes of this picture. That calls particular attention to the camera movement, which is totally unremarkable. Nominally it is mostly small, classical movement to maintain composition and, were there anything else going on, like dialogue, you'd never notice it. But the artificiality of the blocking calls attention to it and makes the actors seem even stiffer, particularly Robert Stack, who had, at this point, been a competent film actor for more than a decade.
Move, then pose, move, hit your mark, speak. It is a good thing that chewing gum did not exist back then as that would have been beyond the capabilities of anyone involved.
I suppose that you can use this movie to examine camera movement for composition, since it calls attention to itself. However, as the object of such movement is to not be noticeable, what can anyone recommend save that you ignore the whole thing? Unless, of course, you yearn to see Alan Hale Jr. in drag.
Le blé en herbe (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 20 January 1954 Genre : Drama Stars : Edwige Feuillère, Nicole Berger, Pierre-Michel Beck, Robert Berri." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
I saw this film in early 1955 at the Golden Bough Theater in Carmel CA. I was a GI stationed in Monterey, studying Russian in the Army Language School. The film simply poleaxed me. It offered Edwige as the ultimate "older Continental Woman" and a deliriously gorgeous young woman in competition over a young French nerd even less knowing and commanding as anyone in my cohort. Later, in European Military Intelligence, I met a few kindred who had seen La Ble en Herbe. Their reaction was identical to mine. Yet it is impossible to see it today. Why? I hear that Autant-Lara and his star were considered politically embarrassing. And that it was not in the aesthetic line of Godard and Truffaut. Now really: who cares? When you see the garbage that is now given superb DVD immortality -- how can this film be denied even VHS recognition of its existence? I remain furious over the disappearance of this film.
Room for One More (1952)iMDB Rating: 7.2 Date Released : 10 January 1952 Genre : Comedy Stars : Cary Grant, Betsy Drake, Lurene Tuttle, Randy Stuart Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Anne and "Poppy" Rose are the average American family, with three quirky kids. Anne has a good heart and gives lost cats and dogs a home - and one day also the orphan Jane, a problem child who already tried to kill herself once. At first Poppy is worried and wants to get rid of her, but with love and patience they finally manage to integrate her into the family. Just then Anne invites another orphan, the aggressive handicapped Jimmy-John, to their summer vacation.
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Review :
This movie warms the heart!
I haven't seen this movie since I was a child. I wish I knew where and when this would be seen again - or, if I can get it on VHS or DVD. I used to watch it on local television with my sisters and this one was always a favorite. I especially loved watching movies about families and how everyone got along. Because this movie was about troubled kids, I found it very entertaining. One of my favorite scenes in this movie, and one that made me shed a tear, was the one about the Eagle Scout award for Jimmy John and when he gave the rose to his mother. It was so good! If you want to watch a feel good movie, this is a great one. It shows the closeness of family and how they can overcome obstacles.
A Blueprint for Murder (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.8 Date Released : 1 September 1953 Genre : Crime, Drama, Film-Noir, Mystery, Thriller Stars : Joseph Cotten, Jean Peters, Gary Merrill, Catherine McLeod Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Two orphans, Polly and Doug, live with their stepmother Lynne; Polly collapses with the same mystery symptoms that killed her father. The kids' visiting uncle, Whitney Cameron, is warned that the symptoms match strychnine poisoning, but that poisoners are seldom detected and rarely convicted. Sure enough, no case can be made against the obvious suspect; so what can Whitney do to save the next victim?
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Review :
Suspense till the very end
Rightly released on DVD in a double-bill format, for which it was clearly intended for the bigger screen, and very plainly directed by Andrew Stone, this is nevertheless a gripping thriller which keeps one guessing until the very end. Joseph Cotten had some form as a murderer in previous films and is sufficiently shifty to suggest that he might be one now. In my youth I fancied Jean Peters, a beauty with a brain, and was grieved when she succumbed to Howard Hughes. Here she is excellent as the presumed femme fatale. Gary Merrill is wasted, but Catherine McLeod is fun as his astute wife. The sets are obviously from studio stock, but this hardly matters: this is an Agatha Christie style nail-biter and it hits the spot!
Paria's der liefde (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.7 Date Released : 25 September 1953 Genre : Drama Stars : Kerima, Ettore Manni, May Britt, Mario Passante. A woman in her thirties is a single mother of a teenager daughter, and both are in love with the same young soldier. Mother sacrifices herself for Maricchia's marriage, but ultimately falls to her own passion, leading to family disruption." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A woman in her thirties is a single mother of a teenager daughter, and both are in love with the same young soldier. Mother sacrifices herself for Maricchia's marriage, but ultimately falls to her own passion, leading to family disruption.
Review :
Operatic lust, Italian style.
Director Alberto Lattuada based this movie on the classic Sicilian story and drama by Giovanni Verga, author of "Cavalleria rusticana." A middle-aged woman is named "la lupa" or "the she-wolf" because of her rather aggressive libido. She sets her heart on a young soldier on duty near the town. Her own young daughter has the same feelings and snatches the man away from her. They have a child and throw the mother out of the house. Naturally the "she-wolf" seeks revenge. The "she-wolf" is played by Kerima; her daughter is May Britt, and Ettore Manni is the object of their desire. Franco Zeffirelli created a very successful stage version of the play with actress Anna Magnani in Rome in 1965. How we in the United States all would have loved to see Anna Magnani in the stage version of LA LUPA, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, which was promised a U.S. tour in the late 1960's but which never happened.
Escuela de vagabundos (1955)iMDB Rating: 8.0 Date Released : 27 January 1955 Genre : Comedy Stars : Pedro Infante, Miroslava, Blanca de Castejón, Óscar Pulido. Alberto Medina is a very famous composer and is on a field trip when his car runs out of gas and goes downhill. While looking for help, he finds the Valverdes' house and is welcome by Emilia, the mother of the family, who is known for giving shelter to tramps. The rest of the family disagrees, because the last one disappointed her. In a story of family situations, funny moments and jealousy, ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Alberto Medina is a very famous composer and is on a field trip when his car runs out of gas and goes downhill. While looking for help, he finds the Valverdes' house and is welcome by Emilia, the mother of the family, who is known for giving shelter to tramps. The rest of the family disagrees, because the last one disappointed her. In a story of family situations, funny moments and jealousy, Alberto ends up earning everyone's respect and has a special connection with the oldest daughter, the beautiful Susana, and they fall in love.
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Review :
One of the funniest mexican films ever
This is one of the classic funny and crazy films in Mexico. With a cast full of starts of the time it was one of the smash hits of the mid 50's and one of the most remembered films of Miroslava. Just a proof that some old mexican films -not developed in a ranch or in the country- are really good.
French Cancan (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.5 Date Released : 2 September 1955 Genre : Comedy, Musical, Drama, Romance Stars : Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul, María Félix, Anna Amendola Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Henri Danglard, proprietor of the fashionable (but bankrupt) cafe 'Le Paravent Chinois' featuring his mistress, belly dancer Lola, goes slumming in Montmarte (circa 1890) where the then-old-fashioned cancan is still danced. There, he conceives the idea of reviving the cancan as the feature of a new, more popular establishment...and meets Nini, a laundress and natural dancer, whom he hopes to star in his new show. But a tangled maze of jealousies intervenes...
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Review :
An excellent movie
"French Cancan" is one of my favorite all time movies. It's an excellent film. There's color, there's humor, there's music. It's a very good portrait of the so called Belle Époque, though Jean Renoir's priorities were always to show a creation, a fantasie. So the film isn't a historical movie. The final sequences in which the girls dance cancan are unforgettable images. It's a film you shouldn't miss.
Black Tuesday (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.8 Date Released : 6 May 1955 Genre : Film-Noir, Crime, Thriller, Drama Stars : Edward G. Robinson, Peter Graves, Jean Parker, Milburn Stone. Vicious gangster Vincent Canelli pulls off a daring prison escape just moments before going to the electric chair, taking with him Peter Manning - a bank robber and cop killer who was to die right after him. Taking several hostages along, they try to get their hands on the loot from Manning's robbery to finance their escape from the country." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Vicious gangster Vincent Canelli pulls off a daring prison escape just moments before going to the electric chair, taking with him Peter Manning - a bank robber and cop killer who was to die right after him. Taking several hostages along, they try to get their hands on the loot from Manning's robbery to finance their escape from the country.
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Review :
Ideal Late Night Noir
An interesting and surprisingly obscure prisoner-on-the-run crime drama, BLACK TUESDAY is perfectly suited for Late, Late Show viewing in the wee small hours of the morning, when much of the action takes place. Like KEY LARGO (also featuring Edward G. Robinson), THE DESPERATE HOURS and the PETRIFIED FOREST, the second half turns into a confined space stageplay. The large cast holed up in the even larger safehouse is game, however, and despite a few unintentionally funny and seemingly out of place romantic interludes, things otherwise generally remain taut. It's like old TV home week as no less than three players from the Desilu stage (Vic Perrin and William Schallert from Star Trek guest appearances, Peter Graves from Mission: Impossible right next door on the lot) get significant screen time. Also look for Russell (The Professor) Johnson in a minor part. Graves in particular has a much more emotive adult part than he customarily got (other than Stalag 17) and he goes for it with gusto, if not much panache. Still, Robinson is at his melodramatic "Where's your messiah now?" best here, blithely slapping broads, torturing gunshot victims and going out in a Little Caeseresque hail of bullets / blaze of glory.
Seasoned noir veteran Sydney (SIX BRIDGES TO CROSS, ROGUE COP, UNION STATION, THE HIGH WALL and most notably, THE BIG HEAT) Boehm's script is not brain surgery (the prison breakout is dazzlingly improbable) and is frankly a bit derivative of movies like Cagney's KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE and Bogey's HIGH SIERRA. Also, they obviously didn't spend much on production values. Still, there is no one more iconic in this kind of capo titti capi role than Edward G. Robinson and given the lack of exposure this movie has had in the last 40 years, seeing Robinson's performance is akin to unearthing buried noir treasure. Any fan of Edward G. should immediately seek out this elusive screener because his vicious performance is nothing short of breathtaking, and trumps any of the limitations of this movie.
Retreat, Hell! (1952)iMDB Rating: 6.6 Date Released : 6 October 1952 Genre : War, Drama Stars : Frank Lovejoy, Richard Carlson, Anita Louise, Russ Tamblyn. During the Korean War, a U.S. Marine battalion must fight its way out of a frozen mountain pass despite diminishing supplies, freezing temperatures and constant attacks by overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
During the Korean War, a U.S. Marine battalion must fight its way out of a frozen mountain pass despite diminishing supplies, freezing temperatures and constant attacks by overwhelming numbers of Chinese soldiers.
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Review :
grim Korean War story
The Korean War doesn't have the glory that goes with WW2, although there are a few films about that war that have helped shape an image of bitter fighting carried out in even more bitter weather conditions. Retreat, Hell! should be right up there with Pork Chop Hill as the definitive Hollywood depiction of that conflict. It has that deft mix of grim authenticity, of action, and of fine characterizations. It has to be one of Russ Tamblyn's best dramatic parts. A lot of well interspersed and well done action scenes of fighting in barren snow swept hilltops and ravines, with the finale being a furious Chinese charge right into the colonel's tent. In black and white, this film has a pervasive grimness to it, that contrasts with the story of a unit of Marines trying to keep up a sunny and positive spin on a desperate situation. It's a flag-waver, but exceedingly well done.
The Band Wagon (1953)iMDB Rating: 7.6 Date Released : 7 August 1953 Genre : Comedy, Musical, Romance Stars : Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Tony Hunter, a famous singer/dancer movie star, is feeling washed up and old hat (old top hat, tie and tails to be exact). The reporters are out for Ava Gardner, not him. But his old friends Lily and Les Martin have an idea for a funny little Broadway show and he agrees to do it. But things begin to get out of hand, when bigshot "artistic" director/producer/star Jeffrey Cordova joins the production, proclaims it's a modernistic Faust and insists on hiring a prima ballerina, Gabrielle Gerard, to star opposite Tony, and it's hate at first sight. And her jealous choreographer isn't helping to ease the tension. The show is doomed by pretentiousness. But romance, a "let's put on a show" epiphany, and a triumphant opening are waiting in the wings. After all, this is a musical comedy!
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Review :
Lots of Fun and Finally on DVD!
MGM, Arthur Freed, Vincent Minelli, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Oscar Levant, Nanette Fabray, Jack Buchanan and that wonderful company behind them. Wow! The Broadway musical is one of America's great contributions to the performing arts, and the Band Wagon delightfully turns its clichés on their heads, with the story of a plucky group of troopers who put all their heart and talent into...a turkey.
Great dancing includes one of Fred Astaire's classic ballet duos, "Dancing in the Dark," with Cyd Charise. She does this spin ending in a semi-kneel, with the mid-calf hem of her dress landing mid-thigh, in order to display one of those spectacular gams of hers...'tis a wonder to behold! Also, there's a number with Astaire and Jack Buchanan, one of the great British variety stars. It's a delight to see this all-too-short exhibition of contrasting dance styles by two master hoofers.
And there's the added treat of Nanette Fabray and Oscar Levant (Levant being one those, like Robert Benchley, who entertains by playing himself) standing in for Comden and Green, who happened to write The Band Wagon (as well as Singin' in the Rain and Bells are Ringing). What I like about Comden and Green is, that while most all American musicals come out of New York, the sound of Comden and Green IS New York. They once said, "New York is the ongoing background of our lives - Brooklyn girl, Bronx boy - and whether we have been conscious of it or not, it is the background..."
Yes, there's the music - five numbers, part of the great repertory of American Standards: That's Entertainment, By Myself, You and the Night and the Music, Something to Remember You By, and of course Dancing in the Dark. My favorite dance number after DITD is Shine on My Shoes, surely an under-appreciated classic. All in all, a pretty good score (no pun intended), wouldn't you say?
The story is classified as a "backstage musical," and certainly it is. But there's a scene in Band Wagon with a truly documentary feel. After the show's premier, there's a dress-down cast party. The underpaid company singers and dancers really are in it for the love, and when they want to wind down, they go somewhere cozy, get their drinks and wind down with a lovely, subdued song, Something To Remember You By. (Of course, after Astaire joins them, the volume goes up, and it's a miracle they aren't evicted. I guess New Haven is used to it by now.) When I was a kid I was a gofer for the Metropolitan Opera when it hit my town on its spring tours, and it's why this scene in The Band Wagon rings so true: as a fly on the wall, I lived it a couple of times.
One more element of realism (or life imitating art imitating life): according to the trivia, Buchanan had to have triple root canal work and was in pain for most of the production, and Fabray gashed her knee in "Louisiana Hayride," then had to dance on her knees for the "Triplets" number. Ouch! Talk about plucky troopers!
This was smart and sophisticated musical comedy of the 50s, an era when New York adults still set pop trends and before American culture became corrupted and dumbed down by television. It's not just nostalgia to say they don't make them like they used to.
Naked Alibi (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.6
