Seven years after being driven out of town by a cattle baron (Robert Barrat), a cowboy (Randolph Scott) returns to get his revenge. But he's not the only one who wants revenge on the cattle baron. Based on the novel by Norman A. Fox and directed by Lesley Selander (FLIGHT TO MARS). A routine second string western that's watchable even if it pretty much contains the usual western cliches. The following year Scott would embark on a series of classic westerns partnering with Budd Boetticher that put a programmer like this in the shade. Typical of westerns, there's the "good" girl (Dorothy Malone) and the "bad" girl (Peggie Castle as a saloon singer) so we know who Scott will end up with. Unusual for a western though, the women are best friends rather than rivals. Scott's hero is flawed which makes him more interesting than the usual western cowboy. He's stubborn, unreasonable and makes mistakes. With William Ching, John Baragrey, Paul Richards and John Dehner.
Set in Shanghai prior to Pearl Harbor, an apoliticial nightclub owner (Preston Foster) with a mysterious past has no allegiance to anyone but himself. But he unwillingly becomes involved in espionage when he gains access to information that the Japanese government wants at any price including torture and murder. Enter an allied spy (Lynn Bari) to complicate matters further. Directed by Irving Pichel (THEY WON'T BELIEVE ME). Yet another WWII propaganda piece but with a difference. This one is very entertaining as it (mostly) spares the jingoism and concentrates on the action. It's a B movie but if it was an A picture, he would have starred actors like Humphrey Bogart and Ann Sheridan, it's that good. It's an invigorating above average slice of WWII propaganda with good acting and director Pichel keeps it moving forward at a rapid pace. With Janis Carter, Steven Geray and Victor Sen Yung.
A young woman (Mel Harris) witnesses the murder of a government agent. Placed under FBI protection and using a pseudonym, she boards a train heading from Los Angeles to Florida. On the train, she shares a dinner with the renowned mystery writer, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury). When she suddenly disappears, the writer is determined to solve the mystery. Directed by Anthony Shaw (MRS. ARRIS GOES TO PARIS). MURDER SHE WROTE ended 12 seasons in 1996 and its star Angela Lansbury did four movies featuring her character in the telefilm format. This one was the first. It's a decent murder mystery with a dash more paranoia and intrigue than the standard MSW episodes. Lansbury's Fletcher gets more involved in the physical action of the piece but if you're a fan of the series as I am, this is an acceptable offering. With Keith David, Elya Baskin, Harriet Sansom Harris and Ray Baker.
Set in Northwestern Morocco, five people at an airport are waiting for the same plane to arrive: a pilot (Jack Palance), an American woman (Joan Fontaine), a French woman (Corinne Calvet), a foreign agent (Robert Douglas) and an army colonel (Jeff Morrow). But when the plane arrives, it crashes and burst into flames. But there are no signs of any crew or passengers being on the plane! Directed by Charles Marquis Warren (SPRINGFIELD RIFLE). Originally shot in 3D but mostly released in a "flat" version due to the fading popularity of 3D movies. Though set in Morocco, interiors were filmed on the Paramount soundstages and exteriors shot in rural Southern California locations (and looks it). As a thriller, it's nondescript but serviceable if you go in with low (very low) expectations. Part of the narrative seems contrived but if you hang on till the very end, it's all explained satisfactorily. The kind of potboiler that serves to pass the time. With Murray Matheson and John Pickard.
Recently released from prison after serving five years in prison for a jewel heist, a criminal (Jean Servais) joins forces with three other men (Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin) in robbing an exclusive jewelry shop in Paris. Based on the novel by Auguste Le Breton and directed by Jules Dassin (TOPKAPI), who received the best director award at the Cannes film festival. Perhaps the granddaddy of heist movies, every heist movie that followed owes a bit to RIFIFI. The film is notable for its nearly thirty minute detailed heist sequence with no dialogue and no music score. Of course, as with all classic film noir, what seems like the perfect crime soon messily unravels. No stranger to noir in Hollywood (THE NAKED CITY, BRUTE FORCE) or London (NIGHT AND THE CITY), it seems fit that he would direct the ultimate French noir although he's an American. Gritty, stylish and atmospheric, a genuine classic of the genre. With Magali Noel, Marie Sabouret, Claude Sylvain and Robert Hossein.
Diagnosed with a life threatening illness, a Wyoming ranch foreman (Robert Mitchum) makes the trek to California for treatment. On the way, he decides to visit the family he deserted 30 years earlier, his wife (Claire Bloom) and son (Christopher Mitchum, Robert's son). Directed by Noel Black (PRETTY POISON). While you know exactly where a melodrama like this is going and in spite of the cliches involved, for most of its running time it's not bad at all. This is mostly due to Black's sensitive direction and strong performances by the iconic Mitchum and Claire Bloom who brings a depth of unstated emotions not in the writing. The film's last twenty minutes or so sink into a morass of banality that undermine the good that came before. There's a third Mitchum in the cast. Robert's grandson and Christopher's son Bentley Mitchum, who's pretty bad and doesn't appear to have inherited any of the Mitchum talent. The score by Michel Legrand helps things along. With Tess Harper and Paul Mantee.
When his sister (Mary Astor) falls under the spell of her Svengali like, sadistic husband (Louis Calhern), an acclaimed stage actor (Edward G. Robinson) decides he'll do whatever it takes to save her ..... even if it takes murder. Based on the play THE DARK TOWER by George S. Kaufman and Alexander Woollcott and directed by Archie Mayo (THE PETRIFIED FOREST). Despite its illustrious theatrical roots, this is a rather static and stage bound effort for a film made some seven years after the first talking movie. Fortunately, at its center, there's a marvelous turn by the great Edward G. Robinson playing two roles. Alas, it's not a pre code film or perhaps the ending would have allowed the murderer to get away. The victim is a despicable prick and everybody in the film hates him but the ending is still ambiguous enough to encourage the idea that although the murderer is caught perhaps a jury would be on his side. With Ricardo Cortez, Mae Clarke and Margaret Dale.
Set in the summer of 1816, the poet Lord Byron (Philip Anglim) invites fellow poet Percy Shelley (Eric Stoltz), his lover Mary (Alice Krige) and her stepsister Claire (Laura Dern) to spend the summer with him at his villa in Switzerland. Based on the novel By Anne Edwards and directed Ivan Passer (BORN TO WIN). The previous year (1987), Ken Russell had taken the same story under the title of GOTHIC and being Russell, he made an over the top hallucinatory film. It wasn't a good movie at all but it was still superior to this pretentious effort. The two American actors (Dern, Stoltz) have British accents so inadequate that it took quite awhile until I figured out that they were even attempting accents! But the screenplay by Lewis John Carlino (RESURRECTION) is so inept that I can't blame any of the actors for coming across as nitwits or their inferior performances. Lousy as Russell's movie was, at least it was never dull. With Alex Winter.
Shortly after WWII, a Polish immigrant (Valentina Cortese) emigrates to San Francisco. She marries a wealthy businessman (Richard Basehart) and lives in a mansion overlooking San Francisco Bay. But she is not who she seems. She has taken on the identity of a woman (Natasha Lytess) who died in a German concentration camp. Based on the novel THE FRIGHTENED CHILD by Dana Lyon and directed by Robert Wise (THE SAND PEBBLES). An excellent thriller with film noir atmosphere. Although the movie is referred to as film noir, I found it to be more of a damsel in distress thriller. The movie benefits from its San Francisco location shooting and the stylish B&W cinematography of Lucien Ballard (THE WILD BUNCH). As the beleaguered heroine, Cortese is attractively sympathetic and quite believable going from the happy emigrant wife to the distressed spouse fearing for her life. With William Lundigan, Fay Baker (in a nice ambiguous performance) and Steven Geray.
Immediately after the end of WWII, a radio station page (Tommy Noonan) receives his draft notice. Although the war is over, he insists on fulfilling his military duty. Meanwhile, an ambitious actress (Julie Newmar) sees an opportunity for publicity by wooing the naive young man. Directed by George O'Hanlon, a screenwriter whose only feature film as a director this is. I don't think there are words in the English language to describe how woefully unfunny this is! This was an attempt to make the then comedy team of Peter Marshall and Tommy Noonan movie stars but they come across as a poor man's version of Martin and Lewis and after this, you'll appreciate the talents of Martin and Lewis even more. Marshall would later find TV fame as the host of THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES. There's a cringe inducing segment where Marshall and Noonan play Japanese sailors who don't know the war is over. With Jerry Lester, Joe Besser and Peter Leeds.
The editor (Robert Guillaume) of a sleazy tabloid has dirt files on an army general (Yaphet Kotto), a banker (Rene Enriquez), a doctor (George Grizzard) and his ex-wife (Morgan Brittany). But after he is murdered, it's a reporter (Susan Wilder) that he recently fired that is arrested for his murder. Perry Mason (Raymond Burr) comes to the rescue as her attorney. Directed by Christian Nyby II (THE CASE OF THE WICKED WIVES). The seventh entry of the thirty Perry Mason telefilms made after the end of the Perry Mason TV series (1957-1966). This one is a very middling effort that feels padded out and probably would have been served better as a one hour episode rather than a 90 minute TV movie. Not enough time is given to the suspects (or the actual murder trial) and too much time is given to the private detective (William Katt) assisting Mason. With Barbara Hale, Wings Hauser and David Ogden Stiers.
A Broadway producer (Jack Benny), who's brought his show to London, is in love with his glamorous star (Dorothy Lamour) but she won't take him seriously. To show her, he picks up an aristocratic stranger (Binnie Barnes), whose financier husband (Edward Arnold) neglects her. Directed by Mark Sandrich (SO PROUDLY WE HAIL). As a movie star, Jack Benny lacks something and for most of the film's running time, I couldn't help thinking how wonderful Bob Hope would be in the part. The film's first 45 minutes are pretty amusing but then the movie fumbles and never quite recovers. Still, many consider this the best of Benny's film efforts though I'd give that honor to GEORGE WASHINGTON SLEPT HERE. With Betty Grable, Edward Arnold, Monty Woolley, Isabel Jeans, Phil Harris and stealing the movie, Eddie Anderson as Rochester.
Set during the turn of the century, the owner (Ake Gronberg) of a traveling circus has an intense relationship with his mistress (Harriet Andersson), a horseback rider in the show. When he returns to the town where his estranged wife (Annika Tretow) resides, their relationship is put to the test. Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman (WILD STRAWBERRIES). A complex look at the darker side of the psyche of sex and love and the depths of degradation it drags us into. It's not a pleasant journey. Dismissed by Swedish critics when first released, the film found more favor with international critics. Beautifully shot in B&W, it was the first collaboration between Bergman and the cinematographer Sven Nykvist and they would go on to make over twenty films together. Not one of my favorite Bergmans but essential if you're a Bergman fan. With Hasse Ekman, Anders Ek, Gudrun Brost and Gunnar Bjornstrand.
After serving five years in prison for a payroll heist, an ex-convict (Ronald Foster) still refuses to tell law enforcement where the money is hidden. As he plots to recover the money from its hidden place, it's not only the cops who want the money but an ex-girlfriend (Merry Anders) and her new boyfriend (Robert Christopher) have plans for that money themselves. Directed by Edward L. Cahn (IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE). A moderately entertaining B programmer that's compromised by a tiresome romantic subplot between the "bad" ex-con and a "good" girl (Joan Evans) and we all know how that's going to turn out. Nothing out of the ordinary here but it's watchable enough to pass the time. With Norman Alden and James Callahan.
A young exiled creature (Dimitrius Schuster Koloamatangi) of the Yautja race is exiled to a dangerous and hostile planet. In order to survive, he reluctantly joins forces with a damaged synthetic android (Elle Fanning). Directed by Dan Trachtenberg (PREY). This is the seventh entry in the PREDATOR franchise. This time around, the predator is not the bad guy but the hero. Heavily laden with its CGI effects, the film takes awhile to kick in but when it does, it becomes a thrilling sci-fi action piece. Even though she's playing an android, Elle Fanning infuses the movie with some much needed humanity, something missing in its other characters. While I'm a big fan of the original PREDATOR (1987), its subsequent spawn didn't interest me but I liked this well enough.The film's final image assures us that a sequel is on the way. With Reuben De Jong and Mike Homik.
A Los Angeles undercover cop (Theresa Russell) teeters on the thin line separating her "normal" life as a cop from the lurid and tantalizing life of neon glitz she pretends to lead. Directed by actress Sondra Locke (THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER). Russell's out of control cop living on the edge is a compelling character and Russell is excellent and while Locke's direction is assured and taut, it turns into a one woman show because Russell has no one to play against. The two male protagonists (Jeff Fahey, George Dzundza) are stereotypes played by uninteresting actors so it often seems that Russell is acting in a vacuum. Instead of focusing on her, the screenplay by Leigh Chapman features an prosaic drug deal plot that's pedestrian. Still, Locke's direction is good enough that one wishes she had continued directing (she directed only three other movies) but with better material. With Alan Rosenberg and Nicholas Mele.
A first sergeant (Joel McCrea) in the cavalry captures an Apache village. When rounding up the women and children, he discovers a white woman (Barbara Stanwyck) with an Apache son. She had been taken captive nine years before. He attempts to return her to her husband (John Dehner) but will the husband accept her son? Directed by Charles Marquis Warren (ARROWHEAD). A potentially intriguing subject matter is reduced to a routine western. The movie sets up a confrontation between the husband and wife but doesn't resolve it, instead preferring to eliminate an unsolved situation by a convenient and abrupt event. The film is fortunate to have the the aging McCrea and Stanwyck in the leads, their star presence accounts for something. With Earl Holliman, Susan Kohner, Edward Andrews, Royal Dano, Rodolfo Acosta and Celia Lovsky.
An unemployed salesgirl (Ginger Rogers) picks up a baby left at an orphanage's doors at Christmas. Everyone assumes the foundling is hers, including her playboy ex-boss (David Niven), who offers her a job if she'll live up to her maternal duties. Directed by Garson Kanin (MY FAVORITE WIFE). A remake of the Hungarian movie LITTLE MOTHER (1935), this is a delightful romantic comedy with its two stars sparkling. It's not a pre code film but there's a moderate sense of naughtiness abound as everyone assumes Rogers is an unwed mother. Yes, it's a one trick pony in that respect but Kanin doesn't run it into the ground. Remade in 1956 as BUNDLE OF JOY. With Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson, Ernest Truex and Leonard Penn.
An ex-crime reporter (Charles Bronson) is hired by a sinister millionaire (John Houseman) to recover some stolen journals. What seems like a simple job as an intermediary soon turns deadly as the bodies start piling up. Based on the novel THE PROCANE CHRONICLE by Oliver Bleeck and directed by J. Lee Thompson (GUNS OF NAVARONE). A homage to THE MALTESE FALCON with Houseman channeling Sydney Greenstreet, Jacqueline Bisset as the requisite not to be trusted femme fatale, even Elisha Cook Jr. shows up! It's entertaining enough and it's nice to see Bronson in something other than as a revenge crazed killing machine. There's lots of killing here but not by Bronson. Still, it's average at best and derivative at worst. With Maximilian Schell, Harry Guardino, Jeff Goldblum, Harris Yulin, Dana Elcar, Michael Lerner and Robert Englund.
A secret agent (Anthony Eisley) goes after a madman (Folco Lulli) who plots world domination from his underwater city. The villain deflects moon rockets launched from Cape Kennedy by blasting them out of the sky with laser beams. Directed by Antonio Margharetti (LONG HAIR OF DEATH) under the pseudonym of Anthony Dawson. The success of the James Bond franchise (starting in 1962) spawned parodies, both domestic (Matt Helm, the Flint movies) and international like this entry. This one is a dud! The stock footage and rear projection shots reveal its low budget limitations and the sexless Eisley (best known from the HAWAIIAN EYE television series) makes for a stiff leading man. Other than the American Eisley, the actors are Italian all dubbed into English. It steals bits and pieces from DR. NO and GOLDFINGER and the poster quipped, "It strikes like a ball of thunder", a nod to THUNDERBALL. It never manages to rise above tediousness. With Diana Lorys, Wandisa Guida and Francisco Sanz.
In order to make ends meet and to support her daughter (Debbie Lytton), a divorcee (Susan Anspach) moonlights at a professional dating service. She finds herself falling in love with a struggling actor (Tony Bill) who has a few secrets of his own. Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern (MORNING GLORY). A rather sleazy telefilm that whips up a faux thriller subplot to hold our waning interest. Since there's only one logical suspect to be her stalker, it's pretty obvious to guess and its revelation is a yawn. To the movie's credit, it doesn't wrap it up neatly and give us a "live happily ever after" ending but leaves us with a sensible ending. The supporting cast is good though. With Cyd Charisse, Kevin McCarthy, Edie Adams, Gretchen Wyler, Biff Elliot, Mary Frann and Todd Susman.
Set in 1844 Sweden, a farmer (Max Von Sydow) and his wife (Liv Ullmann in an Oscar nominated performance) struggle to make a go of the farm. Poor weather, bad harvests and a rock filled landscape work against them. Thus their decision to emigrate to America. Based on the novel by Vilhelm Moberg and directed by Jan Troell (ZANDY'S BRIDE). A genuine epic (over three hours plus intermission), it received five Oscar nominations. It avoids the sentimentality that English language films often indulge in when telling stories of immigrants. Their life in Sweden is brutal and their sea voyage is brutal although the film's last shot is one of optimism. Overall, it's an evocative and surging movie that slowly but surely pulls you in until you're committed to these characters' story. The second half of the tale (A NEW LAND) came the following year. With Eddie Axberg, Allan Edwall, Ake Fridell and Monica Zetterlund.
On the run after shooting one of the men who murdered his partner, a man (Rod Cameron) stops in a remote saloon and meets the vivacious entertainer (Yvonne De Carlo) who owns the saloon. Tempers and passions immediately flare up. Directed by Charles Lamont (MA AND PA KETTLE). Yvonne De Carlo in Technicolor is always a treat but boy, is this one a dog! We're treated to De Carlo constantly being humiliated by Rod Cameron's gunslinger (including the "happy" ending where he spanks her!). Rod Cameron never moved beyond being a B movie leading man and it's easy to see why. He recites his lines with all the emotion of an oak tree, he's a real stiff. De Carlo was cast after Maria Montez wisely refused to do the movie. With Sheldon Leonard, Andy Devine and Fuzzy Knight.
Set in Spain, during a terrible thunderstorm, a married couple (Melina Mercouri, Peter Finch) traveling with their friend (Romy Schneider), take refuge in a small hotel. During their stay, the wife becomes obsessed with a man (Julian Mateos) on the run from the police for killing his wife and her lover. Based on the novel 10:30 ON A SUMMER NIGHT by Marguerite Duras (who co-wrote the screenplay) and directed by Jules Dassin (NIGHT AND THE CITY). An odd film! There's only the thinnest (very thin) of plots as an enigmatically moody Mercouri obsesses (in equal measure) over the affair that's going on under her very nose between her spouse and her best friend and the crime of passion killer on the run from the law. I'm sure it's about something but I'll be damned if I could figure it out. I wouldn't call it pretentious as it was compelling enough for me to become engaged with it but I'm not sure Dassin figured out what it was about either.
