Set in Quebec, Canada. After a deadly jewel heist, two robbers (Eli Wallach, Fabio Testi) split up to evade the police. Tasked with getting the stolen jewels across the border to the U.S., Testi holes up in a small border town motel. It's there he meets the sexy wife (Ursula Andress) of the motel owner (Massimo Girotti) and the trouble begins. Based on the novel by Franco Enna and directed by Maurizio Lucidi (THE DESIGNATED VICTIM). Although filmed in Canada, this is an Italian film and not a bad one at that. It's a nifty cat and mouse game with Ursula Andress especially good as the movie's ambiguous femme fatale. The film has slight echoes of THE POSTMAN ALWAS RINGS TWICE with Testi's drifter on the run drawn into a deadly web by the sexy wife of Girotti's kind hearted motel owner. There's a little twist at the end of the movie that I saw coming but unless you're a suspicious mystery addict, it might get past you. With Barbara Bach, Celine Lomez and Howard Ross.
Set in Arizona, an innocent man (John Bromfield) with a drinking problem is accused of murdering a cabaret singer (Alika Louis). A girl (Julie London) secretly in love with him provides a false alibi to keep him out of jail, if only temporarily. He uses the time to investigate and find the real killer. Based on a story by Decla Dunning and directed by Lee Sholem (TARZAN AND THE SLAVE GIRL). Bromfield's protagonist is rather unlikable and his problems are due to his excessive drinking. It's really hard to drum up much sympathy for him. He's aggressive and rude and seems to be asking for trouble. It doesn't help that Bromfield's performance is terrible, especially his "drunk" scenes. More interesting is a subplot involving an overprotective, repressive father (Joel Ashley) who suffocates his daughter (Patricia Blair) so much that she needs to escape him. With Henry Calvin, Joyce Jameson and Frances Morris.
Set during WWII, a commanding officer (James Cagney) is in charge of training a small band of operatives as spies in the leadup of the invasion of Europe but one of the trainees is actually a Nazi spy! Directed by Henry Hathaway (TRUE GRIT). Although filmed after WWII, this still comes across as a WWII propaganda movie. While the film's producer Louis De Rochemont has a reputation for realism with films like THE HOUSE ON 92ND STREET and BOOMERANG, this one starts out in a semi documentary approach before going full tilt Hollywood in the movie's final third. James Cagney is parachuted into Vichy France and passes himself off as a Frenchman but he still sounds like James Cagney while others around him are either French or using French accents. If you can buy that then perhaps you'll find the movie more tolerable than I did. With Richard Conte, Karl Malden, E.G. Marshall, Annabella, Frank Latimore, Sam Jaffe, Melville Cooper and Ann Codee.
Set during the Neo-Assyrian Empire, its Queen (Yvonne Furneaux) gives an order to build a great city that she will call Babylon. Her political ambitions are hampered by her love for a prince (John Ericson), defeated in war and now a slave. Written and directed by Primo Zeglio (MORGAN THE PIRATE). A rather tired sword and sandal epic out of Italy. Shot in CinemaScope, this slice of peplum looks lavish but its storyline although using real historical characters is hackneyed. Yvonne Furneaux makes for a formidable heroine but John Ericson doesn't impress as the rebellious prince turned slave. If you're partial to the genre, you're probably immune to the triteness of the recycled plot. With Germano Longo and Renzo Ricci.
A socialite (Kay Francis, gloriously overdressed) is married to an older wealthy gentleman (Henry Kolker) while not quite properly divorced from her sleazy ex husband (Monroe Owsley). She flees to Cuba to untangle her life but her suspicious husband hires a private detective (George Brent) to tail her. Based on the short story ADVENTURESS by Alice D.G. Miller and directed by Michael Curtiz (WHITE CHRISTMAS). This lively pre code dramedy is rather absurd in its complicated machinations that all come out well in the end but it's enjoyable in its romantic pulpiness nevertheless. There's an amusing subplot involving Glenda Farrell as a scheming scam artist bilking wealthy men out of their money who mistakes Brent's dull witted assistant (Allen Jenkins) for a rich man. With Helen Ware and George Chandler.
Set in 1885, a young woman (Barbara Britton) sets out from Vermont by train to Wyoming where she has a job as a school teacher. It's there she meets a cowboy (Joel McCrea) known as The Virginian and eventually falls in love with him. But she discovers the ways of the West are contrary to her upbringing. Based on the novel by Owen Wister and directed by Stuart Gilmore (THE HALF BREED). The third film version of the Wister novel, previously filmed in 1914 and 1929 and would eventually be filmed again in 2000. Handsomely shot in three strip Technicolor by Harry Hallenberger (LOUISIANA PURCHASE), it's an above average western despite Gilmore's lackluster direction. The relationship between McCrea and Britton and the film's finale echo the Cooper/Kelly aspect of HIGH NOON (1952). There's a lynching scene that's disturbing even though the victims are cattle rustlers. With Brian Donlevy, Fay Bainter, Sonny Tufts and Tom Tully.
A British gangster's henchman (Terence Stamp) turned informer is trying to live in peaceful hiding in a remote Spanish village. One day two hit men (John Hurt, Tim Roth) kidnap him to bring him back for execution. Directed by Stephen Frears (DANGEROUS LIAISONS). What on the surface appears to be a traditional crime film is really a mythical contemplation of life and death. What should have been a simple "hit" turns messy when two other people (Bill Hunter, Laura Del Sol) become involved and Hurt's assurance slowly erodes. Mike Molloy's (THE SHOUT) lensing of the sparse Spanish countryside imparts a foreboding and almost imaginary aura to the movie. The performances are first rate all around. A distinctive film worth your time. With Fernando Rey and Jim Broadbent.
In a rural English village, a shepherd (Hugh Jackman) reads murder mysteries to his flock of sheep each evening. When the shepherd is murdered by persons unknown, the flock takes it upon themselves to solve the murder! Based on the novel THREE BAGS FULL by Leonie Swann and directed by Kyle Balda (MINIONS). An absolute delight! Not only a charming mixture of live action and computer generated animation but a damn good murder mystery! It's also a contemplative rumination on death, emotions and discrimination without going all preachy on us. It's amusing (though not of the belly laugh variety) and heartfelt in just the right places. The live action cast includes Emma Thompson, Hong Chau, Nicholas Braun, Nicholas Galitzine, Molly Gordon and Tosin Cole and the excellent sheep voice cast includes Julia Louis Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Patrick Stewart, Chris O'Dowd, Regina Hall, Tommy Birchall and Laraine Newman.
A divorced, no nonsense college professor (Joanne Woodward) travels to England to do some research. Her seatmate on her flight is a talkative Oklahoman (Brian Dennehy) that gets on her nerves. When the flight arrives in London, she is glad to be rid of him. Alas, it won't be that last she sees of him. Based on the Pulitzer prize winning novel by Alison Lurie and directed by Jim O'Brien (THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN). A bittersweet romance anchored by two good performances but enough changes from the book that turn it into a sentimental tearjerker. The film is saddled with a subplot involving Woodward's young colleague's (Eric Stoltz) affair with an older TV actress (Stephanie Beacham) that seems superfluous. Unmemorable but for the two lead performances. With Ian Richardson, Robert Hands and Alex Kingston.
In Bangkok, after his wife (Sophie Boudet) is mistakenly killed by a bullet intended for him, an ex-gangster (Jean Yanne) leaps back to France to exact revenge. But the mobsters who targeted him in Bangkok are waiting for him. Based on the novel by Bernard Paul Lallier and directed by Yves Boisset (LA FEMME FLIC). A taut and engaging vengeance thriller a la Francais. More complex than your routine Charles Bronson run amok revenge movie. By the movie's end, the body count is high what with characters murdered, both the guilty and the innocent, a suicide and you realize the futility of revenge. On one hand, you want Yanne to get his revenge (his wife is among several family members killed) but after all the bloodshed there are no winners. As the old adage says, an eye for an eye just ends up with everybody blind. With Sterling Hayden, Senta Berger, Raymond Pellegrin, Gordon Mitchell, Daniel Ivernel and Giancarlo Sbragia.
