In the new Hulu comedy-drama “Quiz Lady,” the shy Anne (Awkwafina) has found solace since childhood from her irresponsible mother, Mia father and her boring job watching a “Jeopardy”-esque game show every weeknight. And she even envisions the host (Will Ferrell) as a father figure. Though game show fans don’t usually have such high drama in their lives, most of the contestants on “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” are literally lifelong aficionados. But not every quiz or game show is a “Jeopardy!” “Wheel of Fortune” or even a “Family Feud.”
There have been a lot of quiz and game show series that were offbeat, short-lived or downright hideous, like CBS’ “You’re in the Picture,” which premiered Jan. 20, 1961, the same night as President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. The show was hosted by none other than Jackie Gleason, who was one of the biggest stars on the Tiffany...
There have been a lot of quiz and game show series that were offbeat, short-lived or downright hideous, like CBS’ “You’re in the Picture,” which premiered Jan. 20, 1961, the same night as President John F. Kennedy’s inauguration. The show was hosted by none other than Jackie Gleason, who was one of the biggest stars on the Tiffany...
- 11/14/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
We're revisiting the 1951 film year in the lead up to the next Supporting Actress Smackdown. As always Nick Taylor will suggest a few alternatives to Oscar's ballot.
Surely we all remember Jan Sterling from the excellent 1954 Smackdown, whose performance as an “anxious catfishing pioneer” in The High and the Mighty gave a misogynistic role one of the only moments of real pathos in the whole film. That disaster film was enough of a critical and box office success to justify her nomination, but much like Katy Jurado in Broken Lance and even Nina Foch in Executive Suite (who I love!) from the same lineup, the energy around Sterling’s nomination reeks more than a little of belated recognition.
In Sterling’s case, that missed opportunity came in 1951. Beford the National Board of Review introduced supporting categories to their own awards they handed her Best Actress for her supporting turn as a bored,...
Surely we all remember Jan Sterling from the excellent 1954 Smackdown, whose performance as an “anxious catfishing pioneer” in The High and the Mighty gave a misogynistic role one of the only moments of real pathos in the whole film. That disaster film was enough of a critical and box office success to justify her nomination, but much like Katy Jurado in Broken Lance and even Nina Foch in Executive Suite (who I love!) from the same lineup, the energy around Sterling’s nomination reeks more than a little of belated recognition.
In Sterling’s case, that missed opportunity came in 1951. Beford the National Board of Review introduced supporting categories to their own awards they handed her Best Actress for her supporting turn as a bored,...
- 8/20/2022
- by Nick Taylor
- FilmExperience
This grouping of Bogart’s Columbia output has one bona fide noir, a pair of exotic ‘romantic intrigue’ thrillers and three social issue pictures. It’s a good set, with films directed by John Cromwell, Nicholas Ray and Mark Robson, and with leading ladies Lizabeth Scott, Florence Marley, Marta Toren, Jody Lawrance and Jan Sterling. And the Powerhouse Indicator extras are especially well curated. Watch out — it’s Region B only.
Columbia Noir #5 Humphrey Bogart
Region B Blu-ray
Dead Reckoning, Knock on Any Door, Tokyo Joe,
Sirocco, The Family Secret, The Harder They Fall
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-1956 / B&w / 1:37 Academy & 1:85 widescreen
Street Date June 27, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring or Executive Produced by Humphrey Bogart
For an established actor who really didn’t break through as a starring leading man until age 41, Humphrey Bogart sure gave us a legacy of prominent movies. As movie stars go he...
Columbia Noir #5 Humphrey Bogart
Region B Blu-ray
Dead Reckoning, Knock on Any Door, Tokyo Joe,
Sirocco, The Family Secret, The Harder They Fall
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-1956 / B&w / 1:37 Academy & 1:85 widescreen
Street Date June 27, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring or Executive Produced by Humphrey Bogart
For an established actor who really didn’t break through as a starring leading man until age 41, Humphrey Bogart sure gave us a legacy of prominent movies. As movie stars go he...
- 6/21/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
There is a lot of negativity in the world, so it would be nice if awards journalists didn’t contribute to that.
One example: Can we get rid of the phrase “category fraud”? That prissy, finger-pointing term is sometimes used to describe the comedy-drama split in Golden Globes races, but more frequently it refers to studio “fraud” by pushing an actor for lead or supporting.
So far this season, some bloggers have speculated on “fraud” with such ensemble films as “One Night in Miami,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “The Glorias” and “Hillbilly Elegy” as well as debate over films not even seen yet, including Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Here are two things to remember.
In awards season, there are three very distinct groups: journalists, members of the Twitterverse and awards voters. The first two get outraged over “category fraud,” but voters always shrug and ignore the noise.
One example: Can we get rid of the phrase “category fraud”? That prissy, finger-pointing term is sometimes used to describe the comedy-drama split in Golden Globes races, but more frequently it refers to studio “fraud” by pushing an actor for lead or supporting.
So far this season, some bloggers have speculated on “fraud” with such ensemble films as “One Night in Miami,” “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “The Glorias” and “Hillbilly Elegy” as well as debate over films not even seen yet, including Netflix’s “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
Here are two things to remember.
In awards season, there are three very distinct groups: journalists, members of the Twitterverse and awards voters. The first two get outraged over “category fraud,” but voters always shrug and ignore the noise.
- 11/6/2020
- by Tim Gray
- Variety Film + TV
Although only one of these 1950s B&w thrillers falls within a mile of a hard definition of film noir, all give us glamorous actresses in interesting roles. Claudette Colbert takes her turn at playing a nun, Merle Oberon tries a femme fatale role on for size and Hedy Lamarr does very well for herself as a man-hungry movie star. Kino gives all three excellent transfers, and one comes with an appropriately gossipy audio commentary.
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
- 5/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The saga continues, featuring Adam Rifkin, Robert D. Krzykowski, John Sayles, Maggie Renzi, Mick Garris and Larry Wilmore with special guest star Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Key Largo (1948)
I Don’t Want to Talk About It (1993)
Camila (1984)
I, the Worst of All (1990)
The Wages of Fear (1953)
Le Corbeau (1943)
Diabolique (1955)
Red Beard (1965)
Seven Samurai (1954)
Ikiru (1952)
General Della Rovere (1959)
The Gold of Naples (1959)
Bitter Rice (1949)
Pickup On South Street (1953)
My Darling Clementine (1946)
Viva Zapata! (1952)
Panic In The Streets (1950)
Yellow Sky (1948)
Ace In The Hole (1951)
Wall Street (1987)
Women’s Prison (1955)
True Love (1989)
Mean Streets (1973)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
The Abyss (1989)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Big (1988)
Splash (1984)
The ’Burbs (1989)
Long Strange Trip (2017)
Little Women (2019)
Learning To Skateboard In A War Zone (If You’re A Girl) (2019)
The Guns of Navarone...
- 4/17/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
New Yorkers of two centuries ago surely complained loudly about rampant street crime, but in the 1960s the media really ramped up the reportage paranoia. Had a new age of senseless violence begun? A New York play about terror on the subway is the source for this nail-biter with a powerful cast, featuring an ensemble of sharp new faces and undervalued veterans.
The Incident
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1967 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date February 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Tony Musante, Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Brock Peters, Ruby Dee, Ed McMahon, Diana Van der Vlis, Mike Kellin, Jan Sterling, Gary Merrill, Robert Fields, Robert Bannard, Victor Arnold, Donna Mills.
Cinematography: Gerald Hirschfeld
Film Editor: Armond Lebowitz
Production design: Manny Gerard
Original Music: Terry Knight, Charles Fox
Written by Nicholas E. Baehr
Produced by Edward Meadow, Monroe Sachson
Directed by Larry Peerce
Various pundits...
The Incident
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1967 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date February 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Tony Musante, Martin Sheen, Beau Bridges, Jack Gilford, Thelma Ritter, Brock Peters, Ruby Dee, Ed McMahon, Diana Van der Vlis, Mike Kellin, Jan Sterling, Gary Merrill, Robert Fields, Robert Bannard, Victor Arnold, Donna Mills.
Cinematography: Gerald Hirschfeld
Film Editor: Armond Lebowitz
Production design: Manny Gerard
Original Music: Terry Knight, Charles Fox
Written by Nicholas E. Baehr
Produced by Edward Meadow, Monroe Sachson
Directed by Larry Peerce
Various pundits...
- 2/27/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Canadian-born actress Alexis Smith (born 1921) would have turned 96 years old today, June 8. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating her birthday by presenting nine of her movies, mostly during her time as a Warner Bros. contract player. In addition to Michael Curtiz's box office hit Night and Day, a highly fictionalized Cole Porter biopic starring Cary Grant as a heterosexual version of the famed gay composer. Night and Day is being shown as part of TCM's Gay Pride Month celebration. Alexis Smith died on June 9, 1993, the day after she turned 72. After her film career petered out in the 1950s, she went on to receive acclaim on the Broadway stage, making sporadic film appearances all the way to the year of her death. Smith's last film appearance was in a minor supporting role in Martin Scorsese's overly genteel period drama The Age of Innocence (1993), starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder.
- 6/8/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
on this day in history as it relates to showbiz...
1882 The titular event in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) happened on this very day in Missouri
1893 Leading man of the 1930s Leslie Howard (Gone With the Wind, Of Human Bondage) born in London
1921 Jan Sterling born in NYC. (We recently discussed her Oscar nominated performance in The High and the Mighty )
1922 After years of "which year is it?" it's finally settled... Doris Day was born on this day 1922. So happy 95th birthday to the icon, still with us, today.
1924 Another cinematic icon, Marlon Brando, born in Omaha...
1882 The titular event in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) happened on this very day in Missouri
1893 Leading man of the 1930s Leslie Howard (Gone With the Wind, Of Human Bondage) born in London
1921 Jan Sterling born in NYC. (We recently discussed her Oscar nominated performance in The High and the Mighty )
1922 After years of "which year is it?" it's finally settled... Doris Day was born on this day 1922. So happy 95th birthday to the icon, still with us, today.
1924 Another cinematic icon, Marlon Brando, born in Omaha...
- 4/3/2017
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Where do I get my Big Brother campaign pin and yard poster? Michael Radford's elaborate Orwell adaptation sticks closely to the original book, even after decades of deriviative dystopias have stolen its fire. John Hurt is excellent as Winston Smith, and Richard Burton is his inquisitor. Nineteen Eighty-Four Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Ship Date December 8, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring John Hurt, Richard Burton, Suzanna Hamilton, Cyril Cusack, Gregor Fisher, James Walker, Phyllis Logan. Cinematography Roger Deakins Production Designer Allan Cameron Art Direction Martin Hebert, Grant Hicks Film Editor Tom Priestley Original Music (2) Dominick Muldowney / Eurythmics Written by Jonathan Gems, Michael Radford from the novel by George Orwell Produced by Al Clark, Robert Devereux, Simon Perry, Marvin J. Rosenblum Directed by Michael Radford
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
George Orwell's pessimistic 1948 novel 1984 is probably the most important political book of the last century.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
George Orwell's pessimistic 1948 novel 1984 is probably the most important political book of the last century.
- 1/16/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Danièle Delorme and Jean Gabin in 'Deadlier Than the Male.' Danièle Delorme movies (See previous post: “Danièle Delorme: 'Gigi' 1949 Actress Became Rare Woman Director's Muse.”) “Every actor would like to make a movie with Charles Chaplin or René Clair,” Danièle Delorme explains in the filmed interview (ca. 1960) embedded further below, adding that oftentimes it wasn't up to them to decide with whom they would get to work. Yet, although frequently beyond her control, Delorme managed to collaborate with a number of major (mostly French) filmmakers throughout her six-decade movie career. Aside from her Jacqueline Audry films discussed in the previous Danièle Delorme article, below are a few of her most notable efforts – usually playing naive-looking young women of modest means and deceptively inconspicuous sexuality, whose inner character may or may not match their external appearance. Ouvert pour cause d'inventaire (“Open for Inventory Causes,” 1946), an unreleased, no-budget comedy notable...
- 12/18/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Top Ten Scream Queens: Barbara Steele, who both emitted screams and made others do same, is in a category of her own. Top Ten Scream Queens Halloween is over until next year, but the equally bewitching Day of the Dead is just around the corner. So, dead or alive, here's my revised and expanded list of cinema's Top Ten Scream Queens. This highly personal compilation is based on how memorable – as opposed to how loud or how frequent – were the screams. That's the key reason you won't find listed below actresses featured in gory slasher films. After all, the screams – and just about everything else in such movies – are as meaningless as their plots. You also won't find any screaming guys (i.e., Scream Kings) on the list below even though I've got absolutely nothing against guys who scream in horror, whether in movies or in life. There are...
- 11/2/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Coleen Gray in 'The Sleeping City' with Richard Conte. Coleen Gray after Fox: B Westerns and films noirs (See previous post: “Coleen Gray Actress: From Red River to Film Noir 'Good Girls'.”) Regarding the demise of her Fox career (the year after her divorce from Rod Amateau), Coleen Gray would recall for Confessions of a Scream Queen author Matt Beckoff: I thought that was the end of the world and that I was a total failure. I was a mass of insecurity and depended on agents. … Whether it was an 'A' picture or a 'B' picture didn't bother me. It could be a Western movie, a sci-fi film. A job was a job. You did the best with the script that you had. Fox had dropped Gray at a time of dramatic upheavals in the American film industry: fast-dwindling box office receipts as a result of competition from television,...
- 10/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
First-time director Richard Wilson's B&W '50s western is different. Robert Mitchum is on-task as a town tamer with believable problems, both in exterminating gunslingers Claude Akins and Leo Gordon, and with making peace with his estranged wife, Jan Sterling. That's not to mention Mitchum's attraction for pacifist Karen Sharpe, and ditzy showgirl Barbara Lawrence. And don't forget an incredibly young Angie Dickinson. Man with the Gun Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1955 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Deadly Peacemaker / Street Date September 25, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, Karen Sharpe, Henry Hull, Emile Meyer, John Lupton, Barbara Lawrence, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, James Westerfield, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Joe Barry, Norma Calderón, Angie Dickinson, Mara McAfee, Maidie Norman, Robert Osterloh, Maudie Prickett, Stafford Repp. Cinematography Lee Garmes Film Editor Gene Milford Original Music Alex North Written by N.B. Stone Jr., Richard Wilson Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr....
- 9/22/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Billy Wilder directed Sunset Blvd. with Gloria Swanson and William Holden. Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett movies Below is a list of movies on which Charles Brackett and Billy Wilder worked together as screenwriters, including efforts for which they did not receive screen credit. The Wilder-Brackett screenwriting partnership lasted from 1938 to 1949. During that time, they shared two Academy Awards for their work on The Lost Weekend (1945) and, with D.M. Marshman Jr., Sunset Blvd. (1950). More detailed information further below. Post-split years Billy Wilder would later join forces with screenwriter I.A.L. Diamond in movies such as the classic comedy Some Like It Hot (1959), the Best Picture Oscar winner The Apartment (1960), and One Two Three (1961), notable as James Cagney's last film (until a brief comeback in Milos Forman's Ragtime two decades later). Although some of these movies were quite well received, Wilder's later efforts – which also included The Seven Year Itch...
- 9/16/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, and Gary Cooper, died in Connecticut on Sept. 7, '15 – five days before his 90th birthday. So far, news reports haven't specified the cause of death. According to a 2013 Boston Phoenix article about Moore's wife, MGM musical star Jane Powell, he had been “suffering from arthritis and bouts of dementia.” Dickie Moore movies At the behest of a persistent family friend, combined with the fact that his father was out of a job, Dickie Moore (born on Sept. 12, 1925, in Los Angeles) made his film debut as an infant in Alan Crosland's 1927 costume drama The Beloved Rogue,...
- 9/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Let's hear it for the great westerns -- not the Ford and Hawks classics, but the fascinating marginal gems that see The West in a different way. Do you like Sam Peckinpah? Robert Parrish's evocation of Texas and Mexico in the 1880s will be pleasantly familiar -- a testing ground of personal codes and shifting loyalties in a treacherous land. The Wonderful Country Savant Blu-ray Review Kl Studio Classics 1959 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 29, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Pedro Armendariz, Gary Merrill, Jack Oakie, Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw, Leroy "Satchel" Paige. Cinematography Floyd Crosby Film Editor Michael Luciano Production Design Harry Horner Original Music Alex North Written by Robert Ardrey from the book by Tom Lea Produced by Chester Erskine Directed by Robert Parrish
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...
- 9/8/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robert Walker: Actor in MGM films of the '40s. Robert Walker: Actor who conveyed boy-next-door charms, psychoses At least on screen, I've always found the underrated actor Robert Walker to be everything his fellow – and more famous – MGM contract player James Stewart only pretended to be: shy, amiable, naive. The one thing that made Walker look less like an idealized “Average Joe” than Stewart was that the former did not have a vacuous look. Walker's intelligence shone clearly through his bright (in black and white) grey eyes. As part of its “Summer Under the Stars” programming, Turner Classic Movies is dedicating today, Aug. 9, '15, to Robert Walker, who was featured in 20 films between 1943 and his untimely death at age 32 in 1951. Time Warner (via Ted Turner) owns the pre-1986 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer library (and almost got to buy the studio outright in 2009), so most of Walker's movies have...
- 8/9/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
We're just 9 days away from the launch of another Smackdown Summer. Rather than announce piecemeal, we'll give you all five lineups in case you'd like more time to catch up with these films (some of them stone cold classics) over the hot months. Remember to cast your own ballots during each month for the reader-polling (your 1979 votes are due by June 4th). Your votes count toward the final Smackdown win so more of you should join in.
These Oscar years were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and desire-to-watch moods. I wish we had time to squeeze in a dozen Smackdowns each summer! As it is there will be Two Smackdowns in June, a gift to you since this first episode was delayed.
Sunday June 7th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1979
Meryl Streep won her first of three Oscars while taking her co-star Jane Alexander along for the Oscar ride in Kramer vs. Kramer.
These Oscar years were chosen after comment reading, dvd searching, handwringing, and desire-to-watch moods. I wish we had time to squeeze in a dozen Smackdowns each summer! As it is there will be Two Smackdowns in June, a gift to you since this first episode was delayed.
Sunday June 7th
The Best Supporting Actresses of 1979
Meryl Streep won her first of three Oscars while taking her co-star Jane Alexander along for the Oscar ride in Kramer vs. Kramer.
- 5/29/2015
- by NATHANIEL R
- FilmExperience
Union Station
Written by Sydney Boehm
Directed by Rudolph Matté
U.S.A., 1950
When Joyce Williecomb (Nancy Olson), humble assistant to wealthy businessman Henry Muchison (Herbert Heyes), takes the train to Chicago, little does she know that the next few days will prove to be the greatest test of patience and nerves she has ever known. Shortly after the train departs for its destination, it is halted in order for two suspicious looking gentlemen to embark. Convinced something is amiss, Joyce, upon arriving in Chicago, immediately alerts the security at Union Station of the two mystery men, sending railroad police detective William Calhoun (William Holden) into action. Much to Joyce’s surprise and horror, it turns out that targets have in fact kidnapped her employer’s blind daughter, Lorna (Allene Roberts), to whom she had said goodbye mere hours ago. Now demanding a ransom, a game of cat and mouse...
Written by Sydney Boehm
Directed by Rudolph Matté
U.S.A., 1950
When Joyce Williecomb (Nancy Olson), humble assistant to wealthy businessman Henry Muchison (Herbert Heyes), takes the train to Chicago, little does she know that the next few days will prove to be the greatest test of patience and nerves she has ever known. Shortly after the train departs for its destination, it is halted in order for two suspicious looking gentlemen to embark. Convinced something is amiss, Joyce, upon arriving in Chicago, immediately alerts the security at Union Station of the two mystery men, sending railroad police detective William Calhoun (William Holden) into action. Much to Joyce’s surprise and horror, it turns out that targets have in fact kidnapped her employer’s blind daughter, Lorna (Allene Roberts), to whom she had said goodbye mere hours ago. Now demanding a ransom, a game of cat and mouse...
- 2/13/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
"I'm a whore. All actors are whores. We sell our bodies to the highest bidder."- William Holden
Cinema Retro columnist Dean Brierly has launched a blog dedicated to memorable quotes from hard-bitten movie actors of days past. The site provides rare insights and observations culled from interviews with the likes of William Holden, Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwyck, Jan Sterling, Fred MacMurray, Lee Van Cleef and many others. Click here to check it out. ...
Cinema Retro columnist Dean Brierly has launched a blog dedicated to memorable quotes from hard-bitten movie actors of days past. The site provides rare insights and observations culled from interviews with the likes of William Holden, Robert Ryan, Barbara Stanwyck, Jan Sterling, Fred MacMurray, Lee Van Cleef and many others. Click here to check it out. ...
- 2/13/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Moviefone's Top DVD of the Week
"Belle"
What's It About? This 18th century English romance is about Dido Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a biracial woman raised by her aristocratic great uncle and aunt, Lord and Lady Mansfield. She grows up alongside her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) as equals and best friends, but as they come of age, their differences become all too apparent -- to each other and to their would-be suitors. Meanwhile, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) is facing a trial as Lord Chief Justice of England that could change the future of slavery. Will Dido find love on her own terms?
Why We're In: It's an elegant period piece perfect for Jane Austen fans, and it's a subtle but effective examination of the intersection of class and race in 18th century England. Mbatha-Raw is fantastic, and director Amma Asante has an excellent eye for detail.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the...
"Belle"
What's It About? This 18th century English romance is about Dido Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), a biracial woman raised by her aristocratic great uncle and aunt, Lord and Lady Mansfield. She grows up alongside her cousin Elizabeth (Sarah Gadon) as equals and best friends, but as they come of age, their differences become all too apparent -- to each other and to their would-be suitors. Meanwhile, Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) is facing a trial as Lord Chief Justice of England that could change the future of slavery. Will Dido find love on her own terms?
Why We're In: It's an elegant period piece perfect for Jane Austen fans, and it's a subtle but effective examination of the intersection of class and race in 18th century England. Mbatha-Raw is fantastic, and director Amma Asante has an excellent eye for detail.
Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the...
- 8/25/2014
- by Jenni Miller
- Moviefone
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Aug. 26, 2014
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Jan Sterling (ctr.), Russ Tamblyn, Mamie Van Doren, and her torpedo bra star in High School Confidential!
High School Confidential! is generally regarded as one of the most memorable and iconic B-movies of the 1950s–a real cult favorite masquerading as a crime boiled crime drama….
The film stars Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story) as Tony Baker, the new kid at Santa Bellow High, whose cocky attitude and ambitious weed-dealing enable him to infiltrate the gang of a local narcotics boss played by Jackie Coogan (TVs The Addams Family).
Directed by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man) and released in 1958, High School Confidential! deliciously swims in its exploitation of bad girls, fast cars and raunchy rock’n’roll.
Most notably, the movie features the sexy and shapely Mamie Van Doren in her most outrageous role,...
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Olive Films
Jan Sterling (ctr.), Russ Tamblyn, Mamie Van Doren, and her torpedo bra star in High School Confidential!
High School Confidential! is generally regarded as one of the most memorable and iconic B-movies of the 1950s–a real cult favorite masquerading as a crime boiled crime drama….
The film stars Russ Tamblyn (West Side Story) as Tony Baker, the new kid at Santa Bellow High, whose cocky attitude and ambitious weed-dealing enable him to infiltrate the gang of a local narcotics boss played by Jackie Coogan (TVs The Addams Family).
Directed by Jack Arnold (Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Incredible Shrinking Man) and released in 1958, High School Confidential! deliciously swims in its exploitation of bad girls, fast cars and raunchy rock’n’roll.
Most notably, the movie features the sexy and shapely Mamie Van Doren in her most outrageous role,...
- 6/26/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Jersey Show: Eastwood Plays It Safe with Broadway Adaptation
While it earns a great deal of credibility due to the retention of several notable cast members that originated their roles on Broadway, Clint Eastwood’s cinematic treatment of musical Jersey Boys plays it safe in nearly every possible regard. Hardly the musical extravaganza those unfamiliar with the source material may be expecting, it is neither a very clearly nuanced effort at relating anything in depth about Franki Valli and his Four Seasons. Instead, it’s more like a blandly realized version of what one would expect to see on stage, with a screenplay that does little to enhance anything beyond moderately digestible clichés (something quite surprising to note when one of the co-writers is Marshall Brickman, who penned Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and Manhattan).
In 1960s New Jersey, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) pals around with his younger buddy, Frankie...
While it earns a great deal of credibility due to the retention of several notable cast members that originated their roles on Broadway, Clint Eastwood’s cinematic treatment of musical Jersey Boys plays it safe in nearly every possible regard. Hardly the musical extravaganza those unfamiliar with the source material may be expecting, it is neither a very clearly nuanced effort at relating anything in depth about Franki Valli and his Four Seasons. Instead, it’s more like a blandly realized version of what one would expect to see on stage, with a screenplay that does little to enhance anything beyond moderately digestible clichés (something quite surprising to note when one of the co-writers is Marshall Brickman, who penned Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and Manhattan).
In 1960s New Jersey, Tommy DeVito (Vincent Piazza) pals around with his younger buddy, Frankie...
- 6/21/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Ace in the Hole
Written by Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, and Walter Newman
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA, 1951
Ace in the Hole is a quintessential Billy Wilder movie. Though largely ignored upon its initial release, this 1951 feature bears all the hallmarks one associates with Wilder’s best work: cynicism, humor, terrific performances, sharp dialogue, and impeccable direction. Here, to keep within the theme of the title, we get it all in spades.
The recently released Criterion Blu-ray of the film likewise boasts an abundant assortment of features. There is of course the new restoration, which looks great, as well as a commentary track with scholar Neil Sinyard, a brief afterword by Spike Lee, and interviews with Kirk Douglas and cowriter Walter Newman. The insert booklet, with essays by filmmaker Guy Maddin and critic Molly Haskell, is cleverly assembled as a foldout mock newspaper. And the documentary, Portrait of a “60% Perfect Man”: Billy Wilder,...
Written by Billy Wilder, Lesser Samuels, and Walter Newman
Directed by Billy Wilder
USA, 1951
Ace in the Hole is a quintessential Billy Wilder movie. Though largely ignored upon its initial release, this 1951 feature bears all the hallmarks one associates with Wilder’s best work: cynicism, humor, terrific performances, sharp dialogue, and impeccable direction. Here, to keep within the theme of the title, we get it all in spades.
The recently released Criterion Blu-ray of the film likewise boasts an abundant assortment of features. There is of course the new restoration, which looks great, as well as a commentary track with scholar Neil Sinyard, a brief afterword by Spike Lee, and interviews with Kirk Douglas and cowriter Walter Newman. The insert booklet, with essays by filmmaker Guy Maddin and critic Molly Haskell, is cleverly assembled as a foldout mock newspaper. And the documentary, Portrait of a “60% Perfect Man”: Billy Wilder,...
- 5/16/2014
- by Jeremy Carr
- SoundOnSight
A resounding flop upon its release, which saw it recut and rereleased as The Big Carnival without any greater success, Criterion remasters Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole for Blu-ray with a beautifully packaged presentation. A darkly prophetic nightmare concerning the carnivalesque power of the media, the 1951 feature is decades ahead of its time, and received a resoundingly sour reception upon initial release. Hot off the success from his 1950 hit, Sunset Boulevard, it would take the box office return of 1953’s Stalag 17 to recuperate Wilder’s studio graces.
Alternating between cocksure aggression and derisive self-loathing, smarmy journalist Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) struts into the office of Albuquerque’s local newspaper where he proceeds to demean a Native American employee and a ridicule the secretary fior her framed and self-embroidered mantra, “Tell the Truth.” It’s immediately clear that Tatum considers the local paper something akin to a cess...
Alternating between cocksure aggression and derisive self-loathing, smarmy journalist Chuck Tatum (Kirk Douglas) struts into the office of Albuquerque’s local newspaper where he proceeds to demean a Native American employee and a ridicule the secretary fior her framed and self-embroidered mantra, “Tell the Truth.” It’s immediately clear that Tatum considers the local paper something akin to a cess...
- 5/13/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 4, 2014
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Kirk Douglas gets the scoop in Ace in the Hole.
Billy Wilder’s (Sabrina) 1951 film noir drama Ace in the Hole is one of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker.
Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory) gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter who washes up in dead-end Albuquerque, happens upon the scoop of a lifetime, and will do anything to keep getting the lurid headlines.
Also starring Jan Sterling and Bob Arthur, Wilder’s follow-up to his ominously alluring Sunset Boulevard is an even darker vision, a no-holds-barred exposé of the American media’s appetite for sensation that has gotten only more relevant with time.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition of the movie contains the following features, the bulk of them ported over from...
Price: Blu-ray/DVD Combo $39.95
Studio: Criterion
Kirk Douglas gets the scoop in Ace in the Hole.
Billy Wilder’s (Sabrina) 1951 film noir drama Ace in the Hole is one of the most scathing indictments of American culture ever produced by a Hollywood filmmaker.
Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory) gives the fiercest performance of his career as Chuck Tatum, an amoral newspaper reporter who washes up in dead-end Albuquerque, happens upon the scoop of a lifetime, and will do anything to keep getting the lurid headlines.
Also starring Jan Sterling and Bob Arthur, Wilder’s follow-up to his ominously alluring Sunset Boulevard is an even darker vision, a no-holds-barred exposé of the American media’s appetite for sensation that has gotten only more relevant with time.
Criterion’s Blu-ray/DVD Combo edition of the movie contains the following features, the bulk of them ported over from...
- 2/25/2014
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Femme fatale Audrey Totter: Film noir actress and MGM leading lady dead at 95 (photo: Audrey Totter ca. 1947) Audrey Totter, film noir femme fatale and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player best remembered for the mystery crime drama Lady in the Lake and, at Rko, the hard-hitting boxing drama The Set-Up, died after suffering a stroke and congestive heart failure on Thursday, December 12, 2013, at West Hills Hospital in Los Angeles County. Reportedly a resident at the Motion Picture and Television Home in Woodland Hills, Audrey Totter would have turned 96 on Dec. 20. Born in Joliet, Illinois, Audrey Totter began her show business career on radio. She landed an MGM contract in the mid-’40s, playing bit roles in several of the studio’s productions, e.g., the Clark Gable-Greer Garson pairing Adventure (1945), the Hedy Lamarr-Robert Walker-June Allyson threesome Her Highness and the Bellboy (1945), and, as an adventurous hitchhiker riding with John Garfield,...
- 12/15/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Humphrey Bogart movies: ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ ‘High Sierra’ (Image: Most famous Humphrey Bogart quote: ‘The stuff that dreams are made of’ from ‘The Maltese Falcon’) (See previous post: “Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall Movies.”) Besides 1948, 1941 was another great year for Humphrey Bogart — one also featuring a movie with the word “Sierra” in the title. Indeed, that was when Bogart became a major star thanks to Raoul Walsh’s High Sierra and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. In the former, Bogart plays an ex-con who falls in love with top-billed Ida Lupino — though both are outacted by ingénue-with-a-heart-of-tin Joan Leslie. In the latter, Bogart plays Dashiel Hammett’s private detective Sam Spade, trying to discover the fate of the titular object; along the way, he is outacted by just about every other cast member, from Mary Astor’s is-she-for-real dame-in-distress to Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominee Sydney Greenstreet. John Huston...
- 8/1/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
This year, the Best Animated Feature Oscar nominees were a wild bunch indeed – in addition to the big budget studio fare (things like “Puss in Boots” and eventual winner “Rango”), there were two independent, foreign language films (and nothing from powerhouse Pixar). One of those animated films was “A Cat in Paris,” originally released in France way back in 2010, and it’s a charming, darkly hued trifle that offers some truly gorgeous, wholly unique visuals and reasonably emotional storytelling.
“A Cat In Paris” (which is preceded by a fantastic, incredibly Diy animated short film called “Extinction of the Saber-Toothed House Cat”) has a really wonderful concept at its core – it’s about Dino, a lovable house cat belonging to a young girl named Zoe, who at night goes out on the prowl with a burglar named Nico (Steven Blum). In the morning, back from his night spent capering, Dino kills...
“A Cat In Paris” (which is preceded by a fantastic, incredibly Diy animated short film called “Extinction of the Saber-Toothed House Cat”) has a really wonderful concept at its core – it’s about Dino, a lovable house cat belonging to a young girl named Zoe, who at night goes out on the prowl with a burglar named Nico (Steven Blum). In the morning, back from his night spent capering, Dino kills...
- 6/1/2012
- by Drew Taylor
- The Playlist
An American consortium that includes director Ron Howard is set to make a new film of George Orwell's highly influential novel
Hollywood is planning a new version of Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell's classic dystopian science-fiction novel which warned of the dangers of totalitarian government and spawned the term Big Brother.
Set in a world where three warring superstates battle each other eternally without any hope of victory, Orwell's 1949 novel has already had two big-screen adaptations. The 1956 version, starring Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave and Jan Sterling, changed the storyline radically from the source material and is these days hard to find, as it was withdrawn from circulation by Orwell's estate following the expiry of a distribution agreement. The best-known version is Michael Radford's critically acclaimed 1984 retelling, starring John Hurt as everyman Winston Smith, the restless party worker who dares to dream of independent thought and possible romance. Richard Burton,...
Hollywood is planning a new version of Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell's classic dystopian science-fiction novel which warned of the dangers of totalitarian government and spawned the term Big Brother.
Set in a world where three warring superstates battle each other eternally without any hope of victory, Orwell's 1949 novel has already had two big-screen adaptations. The 1956 version, starring Edmond O'Brien, Michael Redgrave and Jan Sterling, changed the storyline radically from the source material and is these days hard to find, as it was withdrawn from circulation by Orwell's estate following the expiry of a distribution agreement. The best-known version is Michael Radford's critically acclaimed 1984 retelling, starring John Hurt as everyman Winston Smith, the restless party worker who dares to dream of independent thought and possible romance. Richard Burton,...
- 3/22/2012
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
Mystery Street
Directed by John Sturges
Screenplay by Richard Brooks and Sydney Boehm
USA, 1950
If one comes across a review or snippet of commentary regarding John Sturges’ Mystery Street, one aspect about the film which people argue stands out is how it works as a police procedural which makes it, in a fashion, a precursor to so many of today’s massively popular television dramas, such the various CSI series. Truth be told, the comparisons are not far off. Closer inspection should, however, unearth much more of the film’s character-driven rewards than its mere commonalities with today’s popular wave of shows.
Reportedly the first ever film to be set in Boston (it is mentioned by a critic in the brief featurette on the DVD), the story opens with very peculiar setup, demonstrating no real need to rush into the thick of things for a good ten minutes. For...
Directed by John Sturges
Screenplay by Richard Brooks and Sydney Boehm
USA, 1950
If one comes across a review or snippet of commentary regarding John Sturges’ Mystery Street, one aspect about the film which people argue stands out is how it works as a police procedural which makes it, in a fashion, a precursor to so many of today’s massively popular television dramas, such the various CSI series. Truth be told, the comparisons are not far off. Closer inspection should, however, unearth much more of the film’s character-driven rewards than its mere commonalities with today’s popular wave of shows.
Reportedly the first ever film to be set in Boston (it is mentioned by a critic in the brief featurette on the DVD), the story opens with very peculiar setup, demonstrating no real need to rush into the thick of things for a good ten minutes. For...
- 12/30/2011
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
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