Outlaw's Daughter (1954)Date Released : 1 November 1954 Genre : Western Stars : Bill Williams, Kelly Ryan, Jim Davis, George Cleveland. 20th Century-Fox, concentrating on their own CinemaScope films and therby not making enough films to meet their release needs, went outside to independent film makers to make up for the studio's output, and the consequences was that director/producer names such as Wesley Barry and Edward L. Alperson (on this one) and the likes of Sig 'n Sam Neufeld/Newfield on others, found their names, to the ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
20th Century-Fox, concentrating on their own CinemaScope films and therby not making enough films to meet their release needs, went outside to independent film makers to make up for the studio's output, and the consequences was that director/producer names such as Wesley Barry and Edward L. Alperson (on this one) and the likes of Sig 'n Sam Neufeld/Newfield on others, found their names, to the surprise of probably themselves and certainly to the film-going public, on screen behind the 20th Century-Fox logo. No matter the reason or how it was packaged, a whole lot of B-dross, minus the production values the studio usually managed to disguise their own in-house dross with, begin to appear. This one has Jess Raidley (Bill Williams), not-ready-to-quit henchman of retired outlaw Jim Dalton (Nelson Leigh), carrying on with business as usual. When circumstances force Jess to kill Dalton, the latter's daughter, Kate (Kelly Ryan), blames sight-unseem Marshal Dan Porter (Jim Davis), whom she ...
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Review :
Whatever became of Kelly Ryan ?
I was 11 when I saw this B-western and I do not remember anything about it except that I fell deeply and as passionately as an 11 year old can for the eponymous heroine as played by Kelly Ryan.Miss Ryans place in the chronology of such things was that she replaced Francoise Arnoul ("French Can Can")in my affections and shortly after was replaced by Debbie Reynolds. I never heard of Miss Ryan again. But it says much about the impression she made on me that 50 years later her name came readily to mind.
Drum Beat (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.5 Date Released : 8 April 1955 Genre : Western, Adventure Stars : Alan Ladd, Audrey Dalton, Marisa Pavan, Robert Keith. President Grant orders Indian fighter MacKay to negotiate with the Modocs of northern California and southern Oregon. On the way he must escort Nancy Meek to the home of her aunt and uncle. After Modoc renegade Captain Jack engages in ambush and other atrocities, MacKay must fight him one-on-one with guns, knives and fists." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
President Grant orders Indian fighter MacKay to negotiate with the Modocs of northern California and southern Oregon. On the way he must escort Nancy Meek to the home of her aunt and uncle. After Modoc renegade Captain Jack engages in ambush and other atrocities, MacKay must fight him one-on-one with guns, knives and fists.
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Review :
Handsomely produced western in gorgeous WideScreen color...
While the plot of DRUM BEAT is based on a true incident during frontier days on the plains, nothing about the film suggests that it's any more than a standard Cavalry vs. Indians western seen hundreds of times since the movies were born.
However, credit director Delmer Daves for finding some gorgeous locations for his story and casting Charles Bronson and Anthony Caruso as Indians who look marvelously authentic in their make-up. Not so fortunate are Marisa Pavan and Audrey Dalton in the weak female roles that could have been played by any young ingénue on the Warner lot.
Alan Ladd is the Indian expert hired by President Grant to make peaceful overtures to the Modocs, headed by Bronson. Elisha Cook, Jr. is interesting as a corrupt Indian trader and most of the supporting roles get good results, especially in the action scenes, all of which are well-staged by director Daves. Especially good is a climactic fight between Ladd and Bronson as they tumble down a rushing stream and fall over the rocky terrain. Ladd seems to be doing most of his stunts in this action-packed scene.
But otherwise, he delivers a rather stoic performance, showing barely any expression even in his brief love scenes with Audrey Dalton. Hard to tell if he was bored or just impatient with the routine script.
All in all, worth watching for the action scenes and the handsome landscapes filmed in beautiful WideScreen Technicolor.
O scrisoare pierduta (1953)iMDB Rating: 8.3 Date Released : 19 December 2013 Genre : Comedy Stars : Marcel Anghelescu, Costache Antoniu, Nicky Atanasiu, Radu Beligan. The plot take place in 1883 in a small provincial town in Romania, where the corrupt establishment decide everything, including - of course - who will be the "elected" representative to the national Senate. A love letter from the bachelor mayor to the wife of the local party chief, gets lost and found by a drunk party supporter. The letter finds its way to the opposition party, which decide to ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The plot take place in 1883 in a small provincial town in Romania, where the corrupt establishment decide everything, including - of course - who will be the "elected" representative to the national Senate. A love letter from the bachelor mayor to the wife of the local party chief, gets lost and found by a drunk party supporter. The letter finds its way to the opposition party, which decide to use the letter by blackmailing the powerful local "camarilla", and to get his own man to represent the county. What follows is not easy to guess....
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Review :
admirable
memorable play. seductive movie.a film who explores each part of Caragiale play in a manner who give not only special sense of story but impose a new image about a period. sure, it is a political tool for a regime who desires impose its values. but the use of tool is different in the hands of admirable actors and, more important, as instrument for a great director as Sică Alexandrescu. it is Caragiale in pure essence and this remains the basic value of this delicate and subtle, convincing and seductive movie. Alexandru Giugaru creates a really memorable role with a mixture of innocence and humor.and Radu Beligan is perfect choice for Dandanache. an artistic hill, used in Romanian literature lessons and example of high science to rebirth Caragiale universe.
A Lion Is in the Streets (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.3 Date Released : 23 September 1953 Genre : Drama Stars : James Cagney, Barbara Hale, Anne Francis, Warner Anderson Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Colorful bayou peddler Hank Martin marries pretty teacher Verity, who finds that the rural poor all love Hank. Gradually, she realizes that Hank's popularity is the fruit of his expert manipulation of everyone he knows. She's further taken aback when she meets sexy swamp girl Flamingo, who considered Hank hers and is murderously jealous. Now Hank starts crusading against a crooked cotton buyer, and swiftly rises toward political power. Is there no stopping him?
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Review :
Storm warning
More like a bull in a china shop! Cagney completely unfettered here, carrying everything before him in a typical barn-storming performance of sheer bravura.
Forget all the succeeding shortcomings of the plot, they're there from the start and almost far too numerous to mention, but let's just throw some in - like Cagney's whirlwind romance with too-young-for-him school-marm Barbara Hale and even more ridiculous fling with far-too-much-younger-for-him Anne Francis as a wild-child with a crush on our hero, who in a "hath no fury" scorned moment improbably tries to feed Cagney's new bride to the crocodiles, mix in a plumb-loco trial scene where Cagney props up a dying witness to testify for his innocence even as he expires on the stand and grandstand it all with Cagney's "Kingfish" character Hank Martin getting shot at point-blank range by widow of same dying witness when Cagney's treachery in thrall of power is exposed, just at the point when he's fathered his first child and lost the election to boot!.
Only Raoul Walsh could whip all this into, I hesitate to call it shape and in under 90 minutes at that. Shot in gleaming technicolour, with hordes of well-marshaled crowd scenes and with Cagney threatening to self-combust from the off, this has to be one of the most preposterous films I've ever watched. You could argue with some justification that the great man chews more scenery than Hungry Horace, but best just to surrender yourself to the whirlwind, suspend all disbelief and see where it deposits you. It may not be Oz, but there's certainly a wizard at work here.
Stronghold (1951)iMDB Rating: 6.3 Date Released : 25 October 1951 Genre : Adventure, Drama, Romance, War Stars : Veronica Lake, Zachary Scott, Arturo de Córdova, Irene Ajay Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Mary Stevens, a young American girl, goes to Mexico with her mother, to escape the strife of the Civil War in the United States. One there, she gets caught up in love and politics as Don Migeul Navarro, a follower of Maximillian, battles Dom Pedro Alvarez, a follower of the exiled Juarez, vie for her hand. The romance parallels the success of the Juarez movement.
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Review :
A rare gem
Set in Mexico, "Stronghold" is informed by a sense of history and an original screenplay that manages to combine the best of action movie techniques with a genuine insight into the values and mores of Mexico. Its swashbuckling sense of heroism is never dull, or preachy, yet it contains a wealth of characterization and context that make most Hollywood historical films seem dry and sterile by comparison. Perhaps it escapes cliché in part by putting a USian woman into the lead. It is her gradual education into an understanding of Mexico that is the real story beneath the guns and ambushes.
In a small Italian village, Maria De Ritis is engaged to army Lieutenant Pietro Stelluti. Stelluti's superior officer, Marshal Antonio Carotenuto, is contemplating marriage to Annarella Mirziano, but he will be forced to resign if he marries Annarella, since she has an illegitimate child and that is against regulations for army officers. When Stelluti leaves town for a few weeks, the town-gossips create an affair out of the innocent relationship between Maria and Antonio. Stelluti returns and accuses Maria of infidelity, and, she, in reprisal, runs off and joins a traveling theatrical troupe as a dancer. Antonio, after convincing Annarella that he has not betrayed her love, encounters more trouble when the father of Annarella's child shows up and asks that she and the child go away with him. Antonio tells Annarella that it is her decision to make, and she chooses the child's father and leaves with him. Maria arrives back in town, as does an earthquake that destroys her home, but she ...
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Review :
Review and summary.
BREAD, LOVE AND JEALOUSY or "FRISKY" as the American distributor re-titled it upon its initial American release, is a sequel to the tremendously successful BREAD, LOVE AND DREAMS made in 1953. They were the first two of a series of earthy comedies which Gina Lollobrigida got tired of making. She was replaced in PANE AMORE E... (SCANDAL IN SORRENTO) by Sophia Loren. At the time of their release, these amusing country comedies were seen by critics as a frivolous departure from the more serious neo-realist films of the period, but audiences loved them precisely because of their light charm and their escapist qualities. Most film historians say that BREAD, LOVE AND JEALOUSY isn't quite up to the quality of its predecessor, but the fact is that they are cut from the same cloth and seem like two parts of the same film, as pleasing and delightful today as when they came out, even better, given the sweet spice of nostalgia. Borrowing elements of Shakespearean comedy, this film is about the parallel amorous fortunes of two couples, one young, one middle-age. We encountered them both in the first film. "Maresciallo" Antonio Carotenuto (Vittorio De Sica) must resign his position in the village in order to marry the town midwife, an unwed mother. Pietro, the young policeman who is to marry "Bersagliera" or "Frisky" (Lollobrigida) is transferred to another town. Frisky is assigned to the maresciallo who takes her into his house as a servant. Gossip about the two grows. The fiancé returns and breaks off the engagement. The father of the midwife's child appears, proposes marriage, and the parish priest induces the woman to accept. The wrongly maligned Frisky makes peace with her fiancé. Another midwife arrives in town. The maresciallo can lust hopefully once more. The movie could be called "All's Well that Ends Well, Italian Style." There isn't much one can say about a movie as simple and unassuming as this, except that the performers bring it off admirably and command our attention for an hour and a half. No social moral, no essay into the alienation of modern man, no peeks at the filmmaker's navel exist here...only the ingratiating talents of Gina Lollobrigida and Vittorio De Sica under the humane direction of Luigi Comencini.
The Lawless Rider (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.5 Date Released : 1 July 1954 Genre : Action, Adventure, Romance, Western Stars : Johnny Carpenter, Rose Bascom, Frankie Darro, Douglass Dumbrille. U.S. Marshal Johnny Carpenter turns in his badge in order to return to his ranch where cattle thieves have been operating. Reno Frost is the brains behind the rustling gang, and his main target is the ranch owned by Rose Bascom, the girlfriend of the Marshal. When she discovers that her brother, Jim, is a gang member she sends for Carpenter. He shows up impersonating a gunman named Rod Tatum, his..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
U.S. Marshal Johnny Carpenter turns in his badge in order to return to his ranch where cattle thieves have been operating. Reno Frost is the brains behind the rustling gang, and his main target is the ranch owned by Rose Bascom, the girlfriend of the Marshal. When she discovers that her brother, Jim, is a gang member she sends for Carpenter. He shows up impersonating a gunman named Rod Tatum, his exact double, in order to infiltrate the gang. Then the real gunman turns up, which leads to mass confusion all around.
Killer Leopard (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.1 Date Released : 22 August 1954 Genre : Adventure Stars : Johnny Sheffield, Beverly Garland, Barry Bernard, Donald Murphy Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Movie actress Linda Winters has gone into the jungle to find her lost husband Fred. Bomba the Jungle Boy helps in the rescue effort. A major obstacle facing them is a killer leopard which specializes in tearing people limb from limb.
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Review :
Garland Steals the Film
Killer Leopard (1954)
** (out of 4)
The eleventh and next to last in the series has American actress Linda Winters (Beverly Garland) traveling to Africa to locate her husband who skipped town after embezzling some money. She can't make her way through the jungle so Bomba (Johnny Sheffield) agrees to help her but he also must fight a deadly leopard that has been chewing on the locals. I guess you have to give writer-director Ford Beebe a little credit since he was able to pump out two Bomba films a year but at the same time I do wonder if he actually re-wrote each screenplay or if he just had a format that he would slightly change. In this eleventh film we get the story of the husband who is running off. We then have Bomba and the actress following them. We then have a third party following them. Throughout the 71-minute running time we bounce back and forth between the three stories, which does very little except add boring dialogue as they talk about things "they're going to do" yet the series, probably due to its low budget, was nothing but talk and very little action. This film here is at least mildly entertaining thanks to Garland who manages to turn in a good performance and her tight bathing suit isn't another plus. The funny thing is that there's this strange flirting going on between her married character and Bomba, which was certainly a first in the series and these scenes are without question the best. Garland and Sheffield actually have some nice chemistry together. The biggest problem is that everything else is deadly boring and lacks any real energy or passion. The highlight of the film is one of the funniest moments I've seen from any non-comedy. For some reason Garland decides to go swimming in a river when Bomba jumps in. He notices that on one side of the river there are some crocodiles and on the other a tiger, which means they're trapped. Then, Bomba notices a water buffalo and just the way this scene is mixed in with the stock footage is hilarious. It's too bad rest of the film didn't contain this level of camp but KILLER LEOPARD is certainly going to be just for Garland fans.
Cattle Queen of Montana (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.6 Date Released : 18 November 1954 Genre : Western Stars : Barbara Stanwyck, Ronald Reagan, Gene Evans, Lance Fuller Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
The Jones family, about to prove claim to prime Montana land, is raided by renegade Indians in league with villainous neighbor McCord, who gets most of the stolen cattle. Two survivors are helped by college-educated chief's son Colorados. Now Sierra Nevada Jones must fight for her land against legal technicalities and assorted villains. Can she gain the help of McCord's hired gun, Farrell?
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Review :
Beautifully Photographed Technicolor Western!
"Cattle Queen of Montana" was one of those "tough old broad" westerns that Barbara Stanwyck made during the 1950s.
In this one Sierra Nevada Jones (Stanwyck), her father Pop Jones (Morris Ankrum) and their foreman Nat Collins (Chubby Johnson) have driven a herd of some 1,100 cattle up from Texas to settle in Montana. On their arrival, the herd is stampeded, Pop is killed and old Nat seriously wounded. The raid is led by renegade Blackfoot Natchakoa (Anthony Carouso) who is in league with local rancher McCloud (Gene Evans) to drive off any new ranchers arriving in the area.
Into the picture comes gunfighter Farrell (Ronald Reagan) who signs on with McCloud. In the meantime "good" Blackfoot, Colorados (Lance Fuller) rescues Sierra and Nat and takes them to his village to recover. Gradually Sierra and Colorados become allies much to the chagrin of Colorado's girlfriend Starfire (Yvette Duguay) and Natchakoa.
It turns out that Farrell is an army officer working under cover to discover who has been selling guns to the renegade Blackfeet. Well you knew that the clean cut Reagan would turn out to be a good guy didn't you? Anyway, Farrell aligns himself with Sierra and Colorados against the baddies and well, you know the rest.
Director Alan Dwan gives us a beautifully photographed outdoor western. The VCI DVD has been digitally remastered to its original technicolor brilliance and this alone makes this a must see.
Reagan is not very convincing as a ruthless gunfighter. He just doesn't come across as being mean enough. Stanwyck would play a number of similar roles in other westerns culminating with her long run on TV's "The Big Valley". She's supposed to be a "cattle queen" here but doesn't have any cattle to speak of through most of the picture. Lance Fuller looks about as much like an Blackfoot Indian as I do.
Also in the cast are Jack Elam and Myron Healey (who has a good scene with Stanwyck) as McCloud's henchmen, Hugh Sanders as Col. Carrington and a toothless Glenn Strange as the old Blackfoot Chief.
Oddly enough most of the featured players (and Reagan) in this film would turn up in "Tennessee's Partner" the following year.
La red (1953)iMDB Rating: 6.9 Date Released : 20 May 1953 Genre : Drama Stars : Rossana Podestà, Crox Alvarado, Armando Silvestre, Guillermo Cramer." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Let's put it straight:the screenplay of "la red" is trite to a fault.So why is it so mesmerizing? It must be the form.Visually,it's a splendor: few directors can take advantage of the seaside landscapes as Emilio Fernandez did:think Lean' s "Ryan's daughter" or Jean Grémillon's "Remorques".Some will say that the symbolism -a breaker- is ponderous.The director was probably influenced by Bunuel for symbols abound.There's a big difference though:whereas Bunuel's obsessions often deal with sex cum religion,"la red" is thoroughly pagan.Rossanna Podesta epitomizes some kind of Goddess,of Eve before the fall .A Madonna's face but a sensual body and a false innocence :it was not surprising Robert Wise would cast her as Helen of Troy.
Even more disturbing than the threatening omnipresence of the sea is the script: 75% of "la red " is devoid of any dialog.Looks and smiles tell everything (the meal is a good example) Two males and a female ,that's no good,one character says.All are caught up in "the net " (the beach ) ,a dead end.The only way to get out of this world is the sea.
Lewat Djam Malam (1953)iMDB Rating: 7.1 Date Released : 28 May 2014 Stars : A.N. Alcaff, Dhalia, Netty Herawati, Bambang Hermanto Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
A hero of revolution returns to civilian life to find the new society very different from the ideals he fought for.
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Review :
A rarity well worth seeing
I saw 'After the Curfew' ('Lewat Djam Malam' in the Indonesian) at the 2012 London Film Festival, and it's a real rarity: an Indonesian film from 1953, set just after independence (granted just four years before). A former resistance fighter leaves the jungle and tries to take up the reins of his pre-revolution life, only to grow discouraged that the newly-independent country isn't the people's paradise he had been hoping for. The film is a bit preachy - even propaganda-y - at times; scenes of people enjoying a sing-song at a party go on far too long; and the continuity is a bit ropey (although the action is set over the course of just 24 hours, look carefully and you'll see the hero wears at least four different pairs of socks during it!) But for its novelty value alone this is worth seeing if you get the chance.
Een yankee uit Ierland (1952)iMDB Rating: 8.0 Date Released : 13 March 1954 Genre : Comedy, Drama, Romance Stars : John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Barry Fitzgerald, Ward Bond Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
Sean Thornton has returned from America to reclaim his homestead and escape his past. Sean's eye is caught by Mary Kate Danaher, a beautiful but poor maiden, and younger sister of ill-tempered "Red" Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will's pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the main plot, with Sean's past as the dark undercurrent.
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Review :
A Woman's Film, Aye, But I Like It Too
Maureen O'Hara in Technicolor is surely any Irishman's dream, and "The Quiet Man" would be timeless for that alone. But O'Hara's performance is all the more indelible for the great good humor she bestows on her character, Mary Kate Danaher. Let's face it; with any other actress, this could have been a disaster.
Sean Thornton (John Wayne) comes back to County Mayo, his birthplace, to find a peace he lost tragically back home in America. He immediately discovers some old friends, and a new one, too, Mary Kate, who while herding sheep stares back at him in what James Joyce might have called "a significant manner."
Director John Ford elects to shoot O'Hara from an odd angle, and with an unusual overhead shadow crossing O'Hara's face, that in anyone else's hands would have totally blown the shot but here creates something, well, "Homerific." It's one of many amazing shots in a film that seems more painted than photographed, and is perhaps the most strikingly lovely film ever made.
The shot of O'Hara looking back at Wayne also clues you onto something else, that this is going to be her story as much as it is Thornton's. In fact, it's really more about her than it is about him, a film about romance and a woman's liberation at the hands of her lover. We call them "chick flicks" today. But since John Wayne is the nominal star and no one ever confused Ford with Douglas Sirk, "The Quiet Man" isn't popularly regarded this way.
It's fun to read all the comments about poor Mary Kate and how this film glamorizes the mistreatment of women. They have one thing right, it's a film about spousal domination, but it's the wife ruling the husband. Think about it: She makes her lover do just about everything he does in the film, even risk bodily injury at the hands of her brutish brother (she doesn't know about his past and thinks she married "a coward.") People complain that he drags her across a dung-covered field, while a helpful woman hands him a stick "to beat the lovely lady with." But of course it's Mary Kate who's in total control of the situation. She wants Thornton to fight for her, in every sense of the word, and won't make it easy. She wants him to adapt to her culture, rather than adapt to his. (She's not one to be "honked at," as she puts it.) It's not surprising she trips and falls at one point while Thornton pulls her across a field; probably one of those puppet strings of hers got in the way.
But there are worse things in life than being enslaved by the likes of Maureen O'Hara, like not being enslaved by the likes of Maureen O'Hara. She's not only beautiful and pure-hearted, but such a hilarious joy to be around. O'Hara plays up the comedy of her scenes very well; she could have opted for a more regal distance from the slapstick but plays it as rowdy as the rest instead. The scene when she spits in her hand before shaking with matchmaker Michaleen Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald, who gives the next-best performance after O'Hara) tells you who she is better than any of her many sexy moments on screen. It also gets back to the point of why she's so essential in this film. She is Ireland, the spirit of Erin, and you want her to win, not because she's so pretty but because you know she's good and right for Sean, too.
About the only things wrong with the film are the action sequences, the horse race and the fistfight between Sean and Mary Kate's brother. It's not because the scenes aren't terrific, but because they are so abbreviated, especially the fistfight, which feels likes its building to something even funnier and more rousing than what's come before when it just sort of stops. Ford apparently had to do some cutting to get his film in at the required length, and with his focus as much on Mary Kate as possible, probably preferred to trim the scenes that had the least to do with her. But since the focus on O'Hara is what makes the film anyway, this is a small matter. Wayne fans wanting more action will just have to content themselves with almost every other film the Duke ever made.
Seeing this film for the first time reminded me a lot of "Local Hero," the 1982 comedy. Not only is "The Quiet Man" also a fish-out-of-water story about an American in the British Isles (Scotland in "Local Hero"), both films maintain a very delicate balancing act between whimsy and pathos, with "The Quiet Man," siding on the former direction and "Local Hero" the latter. Definitely worth checking out the one if you saw and liked the other. But "Quiet Man" was there first.
Knock on Wood (1954)iMDB Rating: 7.0 Date Released : 1 July 1954 Genre : Comedy Stars : Danny Kaye, Mai Zetterling, Torin Thatcher, David Burns. Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has to see another love affair fail. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his doll Clarence becomes mean and jealous. His fiancée Audrey leaves him and Jerry smashes his two dolls, Clarence and Terrence. Morgan's doll maker Papinek is a member of a spy ring who has stolen secret plans to the top secret Lafayette ..." /> Movie Quality : HDrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
Ventriloquist Jerry Morgan has to see another love affair fail. The reason: when the relationship reaches the point when it is time to discuss marriage, his doll Clarence becomes mean and jealous. His fiancée Audrey leaves him and Jerry smashes his two dolls, Clarence and Terrence. Morgan's doll maker Papinek is a member of a spy ring who has stolen secret plans to the top secret Lafayette airplane. Since Morgan is leaving for Zurich the same night, Papinek decides to use Morgan's dolls as a mailbox and hides the secret plans in the heads of the dolls. Another secret spy ring also wants to get their hands on Jerry's luggage and they *also* follow him. Eventually, Jerry is chased by both these organizations as well as the police, who suspects him of murder.
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Review :
One inspired sequence.
There is plenty of fun to be had in this uneven Danny Kaye entry, the sequence where he gives an excruciatingly complicated explanation of the espionage activities of a group of mittel-European spies with very similar names is a hoot, but it is the ballet parody of "The Polovstian Dances" that takes this film to the heights of film comedy.
I believe this sequence to be one of the three funniest sequences in cinema, along with the first half hour of Chaplin's "Modern Times" and "Daphne's", (Jack Lemmon's), engagement sequence from "Some Like It Hot". The fact that it is unavailable on DVD is as inexplicable as it is regrettable.
Jubilee Trail (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.9 Date Released : 15 May 1954 Genre : Adventure, Music, Romance, Western Stars : Vera Ralston, Joan Leslie, Forrest Tucker, John Russell Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
A wild-west trader and his New York wife head out for the California by wagon train. The trader is killed enroute, and his wife finds herself with child. She continues on hoping to find a man and a home.
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Review :
Warm & Fuzzy in the Saddle
I have a poster of Jubilee Trail on my wall and at the top it says, "The Greatest American Drama Since Gone With the Wind." Now that's a howler and yet I've always liked this unusual western. Nothing quite like Jubilee Trail on a rainy Saturday afternoon with cookies and milk. It's about the settling of California but is short on action and long on dialogue... not for the typical western watcher perhaps. It kind of reminds me of "Johnny Guitar" (made the same year by the same studio) with two women as the leads. Here they are not protagonists but great, supportive friends. Top-billed is Vera Ralston (married to the studio head) but the real star is the always-enchanting Joan Leslie and this is one of her finest moments. Forrest Tucker, John Russell, Jim Davis, Buddy Baer and others who have worked with Leslie and Ralston before make this film look like a happy working experience for all. We couch cowboys are the winners.
The Black Knight (1954)iMDB Rating: 5.2 Date Released : 26 August 1954 Genre : Adventure Stars : Alan Ladd, Patricia Medina, André Morell, Harry Andrews. As a blacksmith John can't hope to win the hand of Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeonil. Off he goes to prove himself a noble knight. He makes himself a suit of armor with a winged chicken helmet and runs around fighting for King Arthur as the Black Knight. Evil doings include plots by visiting kings and a Druid sacrificial ceremony at Stonehenge." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 700 MB
As a blacksmith John can't hope to win the hand of Linet, daughter of the Earl of Yeonil. Off he goes to prove himself a noble knight. He makes himself a suit of armor with a winged chicken helmet and runs around fighting for King Arthur as the Black Knight. Evil doings include plots by visiting kings and a Druid sacrificial ceremony at Stonehenge.
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Review :
Alan Ladd is an acrobatic knight
I liked it only because I fancy swords and medieval armor. However, you're not going to learn anything factual nor fascinating about medieval combat here unlike in Robert Taylor's Ivanhoe or Knights of the Round Table.
The character portrayed by Alan Ladd wears an abbreviated armor eschewing the greaves and other gear to protect the legs and arms. Save for the breastplate and chain mail (short sleeved at that!), there is little to suggest that he wears authentic knightly armor. Even his helmet covers only the top of his face (no doubt to display his handsome features.) Robocop is the same way. The reason for the light armor becomes apparent when Ladd performs acrobatics in combat unlikely to have been part of a knight's dueling or battle paces. Robert Wagner in Prince Valiant does similar things.
The heroic Black Knight is actually a commoner and thus barred from bearing knightly arms and so has to keep his identity secret.
The villains are a Saracen knight (Peter Cushing) allied with Cornishmen. Why the people of Cornwall who are as British as the English? Beats me.
Cushing gives a luscious performance as a baddie. His quip after humiliating the blacksmith Alan Ladd before his lady love (Patricia Medina) is memorable. After failing to egg the meek Alan Ladd into fighting him, he turns to Patricia saying: "Please pardon this shameful exhibition."
The Man Between (1953)iMDB Rating: 7.2 Date Released : 2 November 1953 Genre : Drama, Thriller Stars : James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone. In the Post-World War II, the British Susanne Mallison travels to Berlin to visit her older brother Martin Mallison, a military that has married the German Bettina Mallison. The naive Susanne snoops on Bettina and suspects that she is hiding a secret from her brother. When Susanne meets Bettina with her friend Ivo Kern, he offers to show Berlin to her and they date. But Ivo meets the strange ..." /> Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
In the Post-World War II, the British Susanne Mallison travels to Berlin to visit her older brother Martin Mallison, a military that has married the German Bettina Mallison. The naive Susanne snoops on Bettina and suspects that she is hiding a secret from her brother. When Susanne meets Bettina with her friend Ivo Kern, he offers to show Berlin to her and they date. But Ivo meets the strange Halendar from the East Germany and Susanne takes a cab and return to her home alone. Then she dates Ivo again and he meets Olaf Kastner, who is a friend of Martin and Bettina. But soon Susanne, who has fallen in love with Ivo, learns that he was a former attorney married to Bettina but with a criminal past during the war. Now he is blackmailed by Halendar to kidnap Kastner and bring him back to the other side of the border. The plan fails and Halender asks his men to abduct Bettina to get Kastner. However, Susanne is kidnapped by mistake and is imprisoned in the basement of a house in East Berlin....
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Review :
Impeccably acted and atmospheric post-war drama
James Mason gives a tour-de-force performance as a tired clerk who knows not who to trust. Hildegrade Knef is magnificent in a complex supporting role. Carol Reed has directed some great movies and this is among his best. The ending sequence is so poignant, it always brings tears to the eyes.
De koning der zuidzee (1954)iMDB Rating: 6.2 Date Released : 16 January 1954 Genre : Action, Adventure, Biography, Drama, Romance Stars : Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, André Morell, Abraham Sofaer Movie Quality : BRrip Format : MKV Size : 870 MB
In 1870, Yankee sea captain O'Keefe finds himself stranded after a mutiny on the Micronesian island of Yap, where the financial potential of copra (dried cocoanut) excites him. But a German company already has a monopoly...and very low production because hard work is alien to dwellers in paradise. On a later voyage, between affairs with island maidens, O'Keefe struggles to find the key to the wealth of Yap. But before he can carve out the empire of his dreams, he must also contend with assorted villains...
Review :
We all lose ourselves sometimes.
His Majesty O'Keefe is directed by Byron Haskin and adapted to the screen by Borden Chase & James Hill from the novel written by Lawrence Klingman & Gerald Green. It stars Burt Lancaster, Joan Rice, Andre Morell and Abraham Sofaer. Music is by Robert Farnon and Technicolor photography by Otto Heller.
Plot finds Lancaster as Captain David O'Keefe, who after a mutiny is tossed overboard in the South Pacific. Making his way to Yap Island, O'Keefe is pleased to see the money making potential by harvesting copra from the mass coconut growth on the island. However, the natives aren't exactly thrilled by his intentions and there's also some serious German businessmen interested in the island as well. Too many cooks spoil the broth and this once peaceful little island is soon to become a hotbed of greed and division.
It's all very muscular and pretty (actually filmed on location in Fiji), led by a super tanned, white toothy grinned Lancaster, film has a very decent theme at its core, but sadly this mostly get lost in the confusing mixture. Picture never quite settles into being one cohesive whole, at times a wannabe swashbuckling adventure propelled by a South Seas love story, at others an observation of capitalism corrupting the beautiful untapped paradise's of the world. The pace is stop/start, with Haskin (Treasure Island) struggling manfully to make the various strands of the screenplay work, and cast are effective enough in just about retaining viewing Interest.
Worth it for Lancaster fans, and for fans of great choreography and attractive scenery. But it remains a hit and miss affair, it takes an age to make its point but survives ignominy on account of the unusual flavours in the mix. 5/10
Outlaw's Daughter (1954)Date Released : 1 November 1954
