He Walked By Night (1948)

Taken from actual case files, the Los Angeles police department painstakingly track down an elusive thief and cop killer (Richard Basehart) who seems to have the ability to vanish into thin air. Can they catch him before he kills again? Directed by Alfred Werker (REPEAT PERFORMANCE), this poverty row police procedural is considered a sleeper in the film noir genre and is greatly admired by noir enthusiasts. But outside of the superb B&W atmospheric cinematography (done almost entirely on the streets of Los Angeles, this was not a studio movie) of John Alton (ELMER GANTRY), I found this on the dullish side. There's a stripped down quality to the film with no room for anything that doesn't advance the plot and that includes any sort of character development. We're never given any clue as to the killer's motivations, he's just a killing machine. Fortunately, Basehart is a good enough actor to infuse his underwritten part with a suggestion of a sociopath but it's not in the writing. Reputedly it influenced Jack Webb (who plays a forensic expert) to create the TV series DRAGNET. With Scott Brady, Whit Bissell, Roy Roberts, Dorothy Adams and John Dehner.

A Very Special Favor (1965)

Afraid that his psychologist daughter (Leslie Caron) will end up a spinster, a French attorney (Charles Boyer) talks a womanizing oilman (Rock Hudson) into seducing his career driven daughter as a favor. Directed by Michael Gordon (PILLOW TALK), this is a limp romantic comedy with an emphasis on sex. Its Neanderthal attitudes are repugnant in the 21st century! Boyer's father hasn't seen his daughter in 25 years yet he takes it upon himself to interrupt his daughter's life. The film's attitude that a woman is better suited to breeding babies than a career as a psychologist is downright offensive. Rock Hudson was the King of romcoms in the 1960s but he's tired here and just goes through the motions. Caron is charming in musicals but in romcoms, she's no Doris Day or Julia Roberts though to be fair, neither Day or Roberts could have saved this one! It was movies like this which pretty much ended Hudson's reign as a top box office star. With Walter Slezak, Dick Shawn (who brings some needed comedic timing to the project), Nita Talbot, George Furth, Norma Varden and Larry Storch.

Kitty Foyle (1940)

Set in Philadelphia, a young working class girl (Ginger Rogers) falls in love with the wealthy son (Dennis Morgan) from a socially prominent Main Line family. Their class differences place an impediment in their relationship. Based on the best selling novel by Christopher Morley and directed by Sam Wood (GOODBYE MR. CHIPS). This romantic soap opera is an okay entertainment but hardly memorable although it was a big hit in its day and earned Rogers an Oscar for best actress. Rogers is fine but her winning over three superb near iconic performances from Bette Davis (THE LETTER), Katharine Hepburn (THE PHILADELPHIA STORY) and Joan Fontaine (REBECCA) is well ... mind boggling! The movie has been cleaned up considerably from the novel. In the book, Rogers' Kitty has an affair with Morgan's character and gets pregnant and an abortion. In the movie, she marries him and loses the baby after they divorce. Wood's film isn't all that different from countless other movies about poor shop girls or secretaries falling in love with rich men, some with happy endings, others not but all pretty predictable. With James Craig, Gladys Cooper, Florence Bates, Eduardo Ciannelli, Cecil Cunnigham and Kay Linaker.

House Of Gucci (2021)

An ambitious young woman (Lady Gaga) from humble beginnings marries into the fabled Gucci family. Her aspirations begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a spiral of betrayal, revenge and murder. Based on the book by Sara Gay Forden and directed by Ridley Scott (ALIEN). This is a juicy tabloid of a movie that's hard to resist. I don't know what Scott's intentions were in making the movie but it's not far from Jacqueline Susann territory. Fluctuating between lurid sensationalism and serious family drama, the movie's mood is erratic. What holds the movie together and keeps it from imploding are the performances save one. Lady Gaga is terrific here although her Italian accent can be wonky at times and it's great seeing Al Pacino as the head of the Gucci empire in full belting mode without veering into caricature. The one performance that doesn't work is an unrecognizable buried under latex Jared Leto whose buffoonish acting isn't consistent with his fellow actors. With Adam Driver, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek and Jack Huston.

Imitation Of Life (1934)

A struggling widow (Claudette Colbert) with a child (Juanita Quigley, later morphing into Rochelle Hudson) takes an African American widow (Louise Beavers) and her child (Dorothy Black, later morphing into Fredi Washington) into her home to take care of her daughter. With the black woman's pancake recipe, the widow becomes a businesswoman and mogul known as "the pancake Queen". Based on the novel by Fannie Hurst (later remade in 1959) and directed by John M. Stahl (LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN). An admirable film that was daring for its day in its examination of racial identity in a society which restricted access to African Americans. But the film is not without flaws which were later corrected for the superior 1959 Douglas Sirk remake. For example, when Colbert starts her pancake empire, she gives Beavers 20% instead of 50% of the profits and it was her pancake recipe that makes the company a success. Given the financial opportunity to live her own life, Beavers chooses of her own volition to remain a servant to Colbert because she likes taking care of them ... uh-huh! The white mother/daughter relationship lacks the complexity of the Sirk version. However, as in the 1959 movie, it's the performances of the actors playing the black mother/daughter that dominates the film. With Warren William, Ned Sparks and Alan Hale.

Mamma Roma (1962)

An aging prostitute (Anna Magnani) tries to start a new life selling vegetables at an open market. The motivation behind this is her teenage son (Ettore Garofolo), who she wants to build a better life for. But he lacks ambition and hangs out with small time thieves and hooligans. Written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini (HAWKS AND SPARROWS), this is probably his most accessible film. An incisive look at unconditional mother love gone awry (she even blackmails to get her son a job) as well as a look at the struggle to survive in postwar Italy among the disenfranchised and deprived population. The film is anchored by another magnificent performance by that force of nature, the great Anna Magnani. The rest of the cast including Garofolo as her son who brings an appropriate sullenness to the part but not much else are there as a setting to her diamond. Distinctively shot in honed B&W by Tonino Delli Colli, it's an affecting piece of cinema even if one takes it purely on its surface value. With Franco Citti (wonderfully slimy), Luisa Loiano and Silvana Corsini.

Red Line 7000 (1965)

Young stock car drivers vie with each other in trying to establish themselves in the competitive world of racing. Meanwhile, romantic complications entangle three racers. Directed by Howard Hawks (ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS), this attempt by the veteran auteur Hawks to get with the "new" Hollywood is a huge misstep in his career. He must have realized it because he returned to traditional form with his last two movies, EL DORADO and RIO LOBO. The film is essentially a series of racing footage, both stock and specifically shot for the movie, interspersed with scenes focusing the love lives of the racers. Even Hawks enthusiasts have a hard time defending the movie although Robin Wood and Quentin Tarantino are huge admirers of the film. With the exception of James Caan who was on the verge of a major career, the cast is comprised of unknowns and most of them drifted off to obscurity. Some deservedly so like the awful John Robert Crawford whose only film credit this is and Gail Hire who deserved a somewhat better fate. Three performances stand out: Caan of course, Norman Alden and the undervalued Marianna Hill. But the film is a morass of cliches and the Crawford/Laura Devon story line is pathetic. Devon is essentially a doormat with Crawford walking all over her and when he dumps her, she weeps away hoping he'll return. Ugh! Even Hawks disliked the film. If you're into racing movies, stick with GRAND PRIX (1966). With Teri Garr, Charlene Holt, George Takei and Skip Ward.

It Lives Again (1978)

Racked with guilt over his complicity in the death of his mutant baby, a man (a morose John P. Ryan) attempts to help another expecting couple (Frederic Forrest, Kathleen Lloyd) escape the authorities who want to kill their mutant baby. Directed by Larry Cohen, this is a sequel to the 1974 horror movie, ITS ALIVE. A third sequel would arrive in 1987. How can I describe how truly awful this dumb movie is? Poorly written and badly acted (if you hadn't seen Forrest act before, you'd never guess he had any talent), the movie is so silly that at times it looks like it might turn into an unintentional comedy. The original film was hardly a masterpiece of horror but at least it had a semblance of intelligence and it delivered in the scare department. This sequel is just plain tacky! The movie reuses Bernard Herrmann's underscore from the first film. With Andrew Duggan, Eddie Constantine and John Marley.

Mr. Moto In Danger Island (1939)

A Japanese detective (Peter Lorre) arrives in Puerto Rico to find the murderer of an American agent who was killed when he got too close to discovering who was flooding the world's jewel markets with contraband diamonds. Based on the novel MURDER IN TRINIDAD by John W. Vandercook (previously filmed in 1934) and directed by Herbert I. Leeds (CHARLIE CHAN IN CITY IN DARKNESS). Originally intended as part of the Charlie Chan franchise, it was switched to a vehicle for Peter Lorre's Mr. Moto character. It's one of the least effective efforts in the Mr. Moto series. The mystery isn't very engaging, the characters are dull and the comedy relief provided by Warren Hymer as a pea brained wrestler sidekick of Moto is more annoying than amusing. If you're not a fan of the Moto series, you can safely skip it. With Jean Hersholt, Leon Ames, Douglass Dumbrille, Ward Bond, Robert Lowery, Willie Best  and Amanda Duff. 

Broadway Danny Rose (1984)

A struggling show biz agent (Woody Allen) handles acts like a one legged tap dancer, stuttering ventriloquists and piano playing parrots. When one of his clients, a washed up lounge singer (Nick Apollo Forte), begins catching on again because of a nostalgia craze, things are looking up. Until the singer's mistress, a mob widow (Mia Farrow) enters the picture. Written and directed by Woody Allen. One of Allen's best films, there's a sweetness about this show biz fable that's endearing. It's one of Allen's best roles although he is, of course, still playing Woody Allen or rather the patented Allen persona. Allen's loyal and caring agent is a genuinely nice guy, perhaps too nice for the nature of the competitive business he's in. It's one of the very few characters that Allen has played that we really care about. In films like ANNIE HALL or MANHATTAN, we may find him amusing, perhaps even likable but he doesn't touch us, make us care for him. The star of the movie is Mia Farrow, no longer the fey and delicate sprite but a brassy, tough talking broad channeling Judy Holliday. Handsomely shot in B&W by the great Gordon Willis (THE GODFATHER). With Milton Berle, Sandy Baron, Corbett Monica and Sandy Richman.

His Kind Of Woman (1951)

A down on his luck gambler (Robert Mitchum) is offered $50,000 to hang out at a posh Mexican resort. He's paid $5,000 with the assurance he will get the rest of the money when the reason he's been sent there is revealed. Of course, the gangsters making the offer don't expect him to live long enough to collect. Based on the short story STAR SAPPHIRE by Gerald Drayson and directed by John Farrow (THE BIG CLOCK). After director Farrow finished the film, RKO studio boss Howard Hughes decided the film needed additional scenes, recasting (Lee Van Cleef was replaced by Raymond Burr) and Vincent Price's part built up. Enter an uncredited Richard Fleischer (VIOLENT SATURDAY) to do Hughes' bidding. What might have been a taut little film noir is pushed to the two hour mark and is a confusing mess. There are several scenes (like the honeymooning couple) that don't add anything to the movie except slow it down. The film's finale seems to go on forever and Price's character who was modestly amusing suddenly becomes the movie's comedy relief as a Shakespeare quoting ham actor. It's impossible to take the film seriously after that. On the plus side, the chemistry between Mitchum and leading lady Jane Russell is off the charts and their scenes together are pure pleasure. But this must be the screwiest film noir film since THE BIG SLEEP (1946), only not nearly half as fun. With Tim Holt, Charles McGraw, Jim Backus, Marjorie Reynolds and Anthony Caruso.

Trapped (1949)

A young hoodlum (Lloyd Bridges) is doing time in prison for counterfeiting. He agrees to cooperate with Federal authorities in exposing a counterfeiting ring and they release him but he has his own plans on making big money and it doesn't include playing stool pigeon for the Feds. Directed by Richard Fleischer (20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA), this low budget crime programmer is shot in semi-documentary style and on the streets of Los Angeles rather than studio soundstages. While it gives the movie some authenticity, I still found it rather ordinary although there's a small cult of noir enthusiasts who are trying to make a case for it as something special. It's not! Although Bridges is top billed (he disappears from the movie's last twenty minutes), the film belongs to John Hoyt. It's a rare chance to see Hoyt, who usually plays villains and/or less than stellar characters, play the closest thing to a hero that the movie has. As an undercover Secret Service agent, Hoyt is essentially playing two characters. The true blue government agent that he is and the sleazy hood persona he adapts to get the counterfeiters' trust. As for Bridges, he snarls and throws punches but he's never truly convincing as a hood. It's the kind of part that cries out for a Lawrence Tierney. With Barbara Payton, Tommy Noonan and James Todd.