When Bernard Hill died recently, I wrote about the unique feeling accompanying the real-life death of an actor when that actor has been especially associated with a dramatic death scene onscreen. That feeling is only magnified when it’s been a very long time since the actor performed the demise in question. Juanita Moore, with her character’s funeral in 1959’s “Imitation of Life” being the grandest of any in the movies, only dying in real life in 2013 is an example.
One of the most extreme of these has just occurred, a death that also represents the severing of another critical link to Old Hollywood. Darryl Hickman died this past Wednesday, May 22, at the age of 92. He was a child actor in “The Prisoner of Zenda” and John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” who, upon exiting his teenage years, decided he wanted to become a monk. He entered a...
One of the most extreme of these has just occurred, a death that also represents the severing of another critical link to Old Hollywood. Darryl Hickman died this past Wednesday, May 22, at the age of 92. He was a child actor in “The Prisoner of Zenda” and John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” who, upon exiting his teenage years, decided he wanted to become a monk. He entered a...
- 5/27/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Darryl Hickman, a child actor in Leave Her to Heaven and The Grapes of Wrath, died at 92 on Wednesday, May 22, his family said. No cause was given.
Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.
He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.
In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...
Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.
He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.
In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.
In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Darryl Hickman, who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and Leave Her to Heaven as a youngster before becoming a CBS executive in charge of daytime drama and an actor once more, has died. He was 92.
Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.
He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.
In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.
Hickman had made his first...
Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.
He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.
In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.
Hickman had made his first...
- 5/24/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
The episode of Made for TV Horror covering Gargoyles was Written and Narrated by Jessica Dwyer, Edited by Mike Conway, Produced by John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.
Monster movies are mana for horror fans. Monster movies with really great mythology added into the mix is even better. Where you don’t normally expect to find these types of films are as part of the prime-time lineup of network television. But back in the days of no cable and a time of zero CSIs and Law and Orders, network TV would be the place to find a lot of original films. The TV Movie Of The Week was appointment viewing, especially when it came to the horror flicks. In 1972 a very unique in the annals of TV history film would air on CBS. The film would be special for a few reasons and would be one that would...
Monster movies are mana for horror fans. Monster movies with really great mythology added into the mix is even better. Where you don’t normally expect to find these types of films are as part of the prime-time lineup of network television. But back in the days of no cable and a time of zero CSIs and Law and Orders, network TV would be the place to find a lot of original films. The TV Movie Of The Week was appointment viewing, especially when it came to the horror flicks. In 1972 a very unique in the annals of TV history film would air on CBS. The film would be special for a few reasons and would be one that would...
- 10/12/2023
- by Jessica Dwyer
- JoBlo.com
What was the movie Steven Spielberg saw as a child that inspired him to become one of the most successful, influential, and acclaimed filmmakers? According to his semi-autobiographical new film “The Fabelmans,” his cinematic alter-ego Sammy becomes obsessed with movies after his parents take him to the see Cecil B. DeMille’s 1952 circus epic “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
“The Greatest Show on Earth,” which not only won the Oscar for Best Picture and story, was the box office champ of the year earning 14 million domestically and 36 million worldwide. Critics were not so kind to his cotton-candy colored melodrama set under the big top at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Films in Review declared “Mr. DeMille is so accomplished a showman that one is astonished he did not just photograph a circus performance without the synthetic story he injected here. After all, the Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus is a wonder in itself.
“The Greatest Show on Earth,” which not only won the Oscar for Best Picture and story, was the box office champ of the year earning 14 million domestically and 36 million worldwide. Critics were not so kind to his cotton-candy colored melodrama set under the big top at Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Films in Review declared “Mr. DeMille is so accomplished a showman that one is astonished he did not just photograph a circus performance without the synthetic story he injected here. After all, the Ringling Brothers-Barnum and Bailey Circus is a wonder in itself.
- 1/18/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Is there a classic Hollywood actor more iconic than Humphrey Bogart? Perhaps James Cagney or John Wayne, but neither of them had the versatility of Bogart. He's a genuine star, someone whose career you can track from studio bit player to leading man. Bogart is simultaneously one of the most distinctive, easily imitable actors of the Hollywood era and one of the most natural, subtle performers of the era, whether he is playing heroes, villains, or something in between.
It's difficult to pick standout scenes from his career, as he's an actor whose most memorable moments tend to be little non-verbal flourishes, such as the look of disdain he gives his fellow convicts as they listen to music in "We're No Angels," or his amusement at Rocco's childlike fear of the storm in "Key Largo." Yet, there are a few definitive moments that are the most memorable scenes of his film career.
It's difficult to pick standout scenes from his career, as he's an actor whose most memorable moments tend to be little non-verbal flourishes, such as the look of disdain he gives his fellow convicts as they listen to music in "We're No Angels," or his amusement at Rocco's childlike fear of the storm in "Key Largo." Yet, there are a few definitive moments that are the most memorable scenes of his film career.
- 12/25/2022
- by Nick Bartlett
- Slash Film
An old favorite receives a quality restoration: Raoul Walsh, John Huston, W.R. Burnett and actress Ida Lupino launch Humphrey Bogart as an A-list star deemed strong enough to carry romantic leads. Bogart’s gangster Roy Earle is a classic anti-hero; audiences in 1941 surely thought the film’s play with wrongdoing and heroism was edgy material. Lupino’s loser-turned-lover is a dynamite asset for a man on the run, and the sentimental touches don’t mar the spectacular finale: this all-American bandit meets his end on a California peak, not a dirty urban gutter. A second disc carries the full feature Colorado Territory, a remake/transposition of the Bogie classic into an excellent western with Joel McCrea and Virginia Mayo.
High Sierra
+ Colorado Territory
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1099
1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 12, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy,
Joan Leslie,...
High Sierra
+ Colorado Territory
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1099
1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 100 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 12, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy,
Joan Leslie,...
- 10/23/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Academy Awards celebrated its 25th anniversary on March 19, 1953 by being telecast for the first time in its history. Bob Hope hosted the celebration for NBC at the Rko Pantages Theater in Hollywood while Conrad Nagel had the Mc duties at the NBC International Theatre in New York. And the show captured the largest single TV audience at the time.
The Best Picture nominees were Fred Zinnemann’s thrilling Western “High Noon,” MGM’s lavish epic “Ivanhoe,” John Huston’s dazzling biopic on Toulouse Lautrec “Moulin Rouge,” John Ford’s warm hug of an Irish romantic comedy “The Quiet Man” and Cecil B. DeMille’s penultimate film as a director, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
The surprise winner was “The Greatest Show on Earth,” which was the box office champ of the year earning $14 million domestically and $36 million worldwide. Critics were not so kind to his cotton-candy colored melodrama set...
The Best Picture nominees were Fred Zinnemann’s thrilling Western “High Noon,” MGM’s lavish epic “Ivanhoe,” John Huston’s dazzling biopic on Toulouse Lautrec “Moulin Rouge,” John Ford’s warm hug of an Irish romantic comedy “The Quiet Man” and Cecil B. DeMille’s penultimate film as a director, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”
The surprise winner was “The Greatest Show on Earth,” which was the box office champ of the year earning $14 million domestically and $36 million worldwide. Critics were not so kind to his cotton-candy colored melodrama set...
- 4/6/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
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“Big Top Soap Opera”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more controversial Best Picture Oscar winners is Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. The movie is often cited in pundits’ lists of “Worst Best Picture Oscar Winners,” mainly because many film buffs believe that there were more deserving nominees that year. The win for Greatest Show was perhaps somewhat of an overdue honor for DeMille, who had been working in Hollywood since the 1910s, was a hugely successful and popular director, and he had never won a Best Picture Academy Award. In this case, then, why didn’t he win Best Director (John Ford did for The Quiet Man)?
Controversy aside, The Greatest Show on Earth is still spectacular entertainment and worth 2-1/2 hours of a viewer’s time, especially with Paramount Present’s new Blu-ray restoration that looks absolutely gorgeous.
“Big Top Soap Opera”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more controversial Best Picture Oscar winners is Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. The movie is often cited in pundits’ lists of “Worst Best Picture Oscar Winners,” mainly because many film buffs believe that there were more deserving nominees that year. The win for Greatest Show was perhaps somewhat of an overdue honor for DeMille, who had been working in Hollywood since the 1910s, was a hugely successful and popular director, and he had never won a Best Picture Academy Award. In this case, then, why didn’t he win Best Director (John Ford did for The Quiet Man)?
Controversy aside, The Greatest Show on Earth is still spectacular entertainment and worth 2-1/2 hours of a viewer’s time, especially with Paramount Present’s new Blu-ray restoration that looks absolutely gorgeous.
- 3/22/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
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Latest Title in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts March 30, 2021
Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille’s grand spectacle The Greatest Show On Earth arrives for the first time on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line on March 30, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
A two-time Academy Award-winner*–including Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story–The Greatest Show On Earth captures the thrills, chills and exhilaration of the circus. Featuring three intertwining plotlines filled with romance and rivalry, DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. The Greatest Show On Earth also boasts a sensational cast, including Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, and James Stewart.
Newly restored from a 4K scan of the original negative, this essential movie of the Golden Age of Hollywood packs action, romance,...
Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none
Latest Title in the Paramount Presents Line Debuts March 30, 2021
Legendary director Cecil B. DeMille’s grand spectacle The Greatest Show On Earth arrives for the first time on Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line on March 30, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment.
A two-time Academy Award-winner*–including Best Picture and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story–The Greatest Show On Earth captures the thrills, chills and exhilaration of the circus. Featuring three intertwining plotlines filled with romance and rivalry, DeMille's film includes spectacular action sequences, including a show-stopping train wreck. The Greatest Show On Earth also boasts a sensational cast, including Betty Hutton, Cornel Wilde, Charlton Heston, Dorothy Lamour, Gloria Grahame, and James Stewart.
Newly restored from a 4K scan of the original negative, this essential movie of the Golden Age of Hollywood packs action, romance,...
- 2/28/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Cornel Wilde’s directorial follow-up to his superb The Naked Prey was hot stuff in its day, a war movie with an unexpected emphasis on brutality and gore. Rip Torn bears down too hard on his stock character, while Wilde’s attempts to pull off associative thought memory montages come off as amateurish. But the movie has a firm fan base among lovers of movie combat, and the new transfer bests all previous video encodings.
Beach Red
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen Academy / 105 min. / Street Date January 5, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Rip Torn, Burr DeBenning, Patrick Wolfe, Jean Wallace, Jaime Sánchez, Dale Ishimoto, Genki Koyama.
Cinematography: Cecil R. Cooney
Film Editor: Frank P. Keller
Original Music: Antonio Buenaventura
Written by Clint Johnston, Jefferson Pascal, Don Peters from the novel by Peter Bowman
Produced and Directed by Cornel Wilde
This is one movie title that connects...
Beach Red
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen Academy / 105 min. / Street Date January 5, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Rip Torn, Burr DeBenning, Patrick Wolfe, Jean Wallace, Jaime Sánchez, Dale Ishimoto, Genki Koyama.
Cinematography: Cecil R. Cooney
Film Editor: Frank P. Keller
Original Music: Antonio Buenaventura
Written by Clint Johnston, Jefferson Pascal, Don Peters from the novel by Peter Bowman
Produced and Directed by Cornel Wilde
This is one movie title that connects...
- 1/9/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Caesar Cordova, a character actor who appeared with Al Pacino in “Scarface” and “Carlito’s Way,” died of natural causes Wednesday in Atlantic City, N.J. He was 84.
His son, actor Panchito Gomez “American Me,” “Mi Vida Loca”), announced his death.
In Brian de Palma’s “Scarface,” Cordova played the taco cook at the El Paraiso lunch stand. Though the film was set in Miami, the scene was actually shot in downtown Los Angeles. In “Carlito’s Way,” he played the barber.
Cordova was a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. He also appeared on Broadway with Pacino in “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?”
His film credits include “Where the Buffalo Roam,” opposite Peter Boyle and Bill Murray, “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams and “Shark’s Treasure,” where he appeared opposite Cornel Wilde, who also wrote and directed the film.
On television, he had guest appearances on “Kojak,...
His son, actor Panchito Gomez “American Me,” “Mi Vida Loca”), announced his death.
In Brian de Palma’s “Scarface,” Cordova played the taco cook at the El Paraiso lunch stand. Though the film was set in Miami, the scene was actually shot in downtown Los Angeles. In “Carlito’s Way,” he played the barber.
Cordova was a lifetime member of the Actors Studio. He also appeared on Broadway with Pacino in “Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?”
His film credits include “Where the Buffalo Roam,” opposite Peter Boyle and Bill Murray, “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams and “Shark’s Treasure,” where he appeared opposite Cornel Wilde, who also wrote and directed the film.
On television, he had guest appearances on “Kojak,...
- 8/28/2020
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Our 100th Guest! Comedy icon Martin Short joins us to discuss a few of the movies that made him.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Innerspace (1987)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
On The Waterfront (1954)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Terms Of Endearment (1983)
Moby Dick (1956)
The Exorcist (1973)
King Kong (1933)
A History Of Violence (2005)
A Song To Remember (1945)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Oscar (1966)
Sleeper (1973)
Bananas (1971)
City Lights (1931)
September (1987)
The Harder They Fall (1956)
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Kiss Me Stupid (1964)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
The Bad And The Beautiful (1953)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Spartacus (1960)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The Graduate (1967)
Klute (1971)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blow Out (1981)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Burn! (1970)
Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967)
Grease 2 (1982)
The Conversation (1974)
Back To The Future (1985)
Other Notable Items
Saturday Night Live TV...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Innerspace (1987)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
On The Waterfront (1954)
To Kill A Mockingbird (1962)
Terms Of Endearment (1983)
Moby Dick (1956)
The Exorcist (1973)
King Kong (1933)
A History Of Violence (2005)
A Song To Remember (1945)
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Annie Hall (1977)
The Oscar (1966)
Sleeper (1973)
Bananas (1971)
City Lights (1931)
September (1987)
The Harder They Fall (1956)
Bad Day At Black Rock (1955)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Schindler’s List (1993)
Kiss Me Stupid (1964)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
The Bad And The Beautiful (1953)
Ben-Hur (1959)
Spartacus (1960)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
The Graduate (1967)
Klute (1971)
Blow-Up (1966)
Blow Out (1981)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
The Godfather Part III (1990)
Burn! (1970)
Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967)
Grease 2 (1982)
The Conversation (1974)
Back To The Future (1985)
Other Notable Items
Saturday Night Live TV...
- 8/25/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
“The Prey” takes the classic “The Most Dangerous Game” scenario for a spin in the Cambodian jungle. Centered on a wrongly jailed cop being stalked by cashed-up creeps who get their kicks by hunting humans, this survival thriller doesn’t bring anything significantly new to the table but the frequency and quality of its gunplay and martial arts combat should keep most action fans happy. Directed, edited and co-written by Italian expat Jimmy Henderson, whose 2017 prison smackdown “Jailbreak” marked him as a talent to watch and was snapped up by Netflix, “The Prey” debuted at the Busan Film Fetival in 2018 and will open in select North American virtual cinemas on Aug. 21. VOD streaming commences on August 25.
Trumpeted as Cambodia’s first million-dollar action movie, “The Prey” can’t match “Jailbreak” for sheer excitement but does suggest that with more original and ambitious material Henderson could become a real force in Asian genre cinema.
Trumpeted as Cambodia’s first million-dollar action movie, “The Prey” can’t match “Jailbreak” for sheer excitement but does suggest that with more original and ambitious material Henderson could become a real force in Asian genre cinema.
- 8/19/2020
- by Richard Kuipers
- 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
Vidor Retrospective is a Hot Alternate Reality at Berlin 70 — by Alex DeleonWith the pickings slim this year in the Competition section, and not much better in the other main sidebars, the nearly complete King Vidor retrospective covering some 33 films from the magnificent silent war saga ‘The Big Parade’, 1925, to ‘War and Peace’, 1956. Vidor’s career spanned some four decades and is a canny choice for a solid retrospective at Berlin 70. All films are in the category “The don’t make ’em like this anymore” and are nearly all daily sellouts.
Nota Bene: King Vidor is Not to be confused with another Vidor in Hollywood, the Hungarian born director Charles (Károly) Vidor,. Vidor is a fairly common Hungarian surname. King Vidor was the son of a 19th-century Hungarian immigrant who settled in Texas.
The King Vidor retrospective is so rich in new discoveries that it is practically a festival within the festival on its own.
Nota Bene: King Vidor is Not to be confused with another Vidor in Hollywood, the Hungarian born director Charles (Károly) Vidor,. Vidor is a fairly common Hungarian surname. King Vidor was the son of a 19th-century Hungarian immigrant who settled in Texas.
The King Vidor retrospective is so rich in new discoveries that it is practically a festival within the festival on its own.
- 4/13/2020
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Murder. Neglect. Jealousy. Oppression. Obsession. These themes collide in Leave Her to Heaven, the oddly sunny drama-turned-film noir directed by John M. Stahl from the book by Ben Ames Williams. I say "oddly sunny" because it's a deceptive opening: the leads, Gene Tierney as society goddess Ellen and Cornel Wilde as author Richard, meet on a train. She's reading his novel and they met there, then become more acquainted after a mutual lawyer friend introduces them at the same station --- and final ranch destination --- to which they travel. The film is a romance, until it's not. Soon after meeting, Ellen decides to break off her engagement to the very sharp attorney Russell (an excellent Vincent Price, who returns in a small but meaningful...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 3/20/2020
- Screen Anarchy
Freddie Mercury sang that Love Kills, and that’s apparently where Gene Tierney’s coming from in this bizarre domestic noir. Dream wife Tierney is cultured, rich, and drop-dead gorgeous, but hubby Cornell Wilde should have read the small print about her manic possessiveness. Beautiful people, beautiful scenery and Technicolor so bright that even Alfred Newman’s music score seems to be in color; John M. Stahl’s thriller stretches the definition of Film Noir.
Leave Her to Heaven
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1020
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 24, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Mary Philips, Ray Collins, Darryl Hickman.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Jo Swerling from the novel by Ben Ames Williams
Produced by William A. Bacher, Darryl F. Zanuck
Directed by John M. Stahl
How can a glossy...
Leave Her to Heaven
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1020
1945 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 110 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 24, 2020 / 39.95
Starring: Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, Vincent Price, Mary Philips, Ray Collins, Darryl Hickman.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Jo Swerling from the novel by Ben Ames Williams
Produced by William A. Bacher, Darryl F. Zanuck
Directed by John M. Stahl
How can a glossy...
- 3/14/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cornel Wilde is a colonialist running for his life in 1965’s The Naked Prey, a film he also produced and directed. The more one knows about the life and career of Wilde, the more unique, and therefore special, The Naked Prey becomes. Unshackled from the burden of its own true-life backstory, it is, by today’s standards, just another go-go-go action-every-few-minutes/dialogue lite spectacle, albeit an older 'n’ earlier entry of the sort. The hunter becomes the hunted, and all that. But there are indeed deeper layers of appreciation and observation available at the heart of this straight-ahead survival tale. Wilde’s trifecta of screen credits is quite significant to the story behind the story of The Naked Prey, and why it remains in the conversation, primarily thanks to The Criterion Collection....
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 12/31/2018
- Screen Anarchy
When one thinks of Cornel Wilde, a veritable Hollywood everyman who was peppered across a variety of noir and studio productions throughout the 1940s and 50s, he potentially conjures nostalgic memories from his leading man days. But the potential Olympian, who would forego a promising athletic career to pursue acting, was perhaps more a prototype for the similar trajectory of someone like a John Cassavetes, another actor who would eventually spend his later career fashioning an impressive directorial resume.…...
- 10/30/2018
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
An excellent example of a thriller that improves with age, Cornel Wilde’s survival tale is a lean ‘n’ mean exercise in first-person terror. Sent barefoot and naked on a hopeless ‘run of the arrow,’ our hero earns our admiration from his first desperate steps. Actor Wilde may never have directed anything else quite as good, but this winner cements his name in the achievement books.
The Naked Prey
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 415
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 2, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Gert Van den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Patrick Mynhardt.
Cinematography: H.A.R. Thompson
Film Editor: Roger Cherrill
Original Music: Edwin Astley, Andrew Tracey, Cornell Wilde
Written by Clint Johnson, Don Peters
Produced by Sven Persson, Cornel Wilde
Directed by Cornel Wilde
In Panavision and blazing Technicolor, this grueling survival ordeal held us spellbound in 1965 — kids forgot to eat their popcorn. Those not...
The Naked Prey
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 415
1965 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 2, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Gert Van den Bergh, Ken Gampu, Patrick Mynhardt.
Cinematography: H.A.R. Thompson
Film Editor: Roger Cherrill
Original Music: Edwin Astley, Andrew Tracey, Cornell Wilde
Written by Clint Johnson, Don Peters
Produced by Sven Persson, Cornel Wilde
Directed by Cornel Wilde
In Panavision and blazing Technicolor, this grueling survival ordeal held us spellbound in 1965 — kids forgot to eat their popcorn. Those not...
- 10/6/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Charlton Heston would’ve celebrated his 95th birthday on October 4, 2018. Born in 1923, the actor became a household name with leading roles in action adventures and biblical epics. But his credits extended past those two well-worn genres. In honor of his birthday, let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
After serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII, Heston made his professional movie acting debut with the film noir “Dark City” (1950). His big breakthrough came just two years later with Cecil B. DeMille‘s big top soap opera “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952), in which he played the circus manager. Though an audience favorite in its time, the film often ranks among the all-time worst Oscar winners for Best Picture.
Heston later reunited with DeMille to play the Old Testament prophet Moses in “The Ten Commandments” (1956), which brought him a Golden Globe nomination.
After serving in the United States Army Air Force during WWII, Heston made his professional movie acting debut with the film noir “Dark City” (1950). His big breakthrough came just two years later with Cecil B. DeMille‘s big top soap opera “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952), in which he played the circus manager. Though an audience favorite in its time, the film often ranks among the all-time worst Oscar winners for Best Picture.
Heston later reunited with DeMille to play the Old Testament prophet Moses in “The Ten Commandments” (1956), which brought him a Golden Globe nomination.
- 10/4/2018
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Among this year’s leading Oscar contenders for Best Actor is Emmy winner Rami Malek (“Mr. Robot”) for his star turn as the late Freddie Mercury, the legendary lead vocalist of the rock band Queen, in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Should Malek reap an Oscar bid, he will mark the 12th leading man to date recognized for his portrayal of a real-life musician.
First to achieve this feat was James Cagney, nominated for his lively depiction of Broadway composer and performer George M. Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942). On Oscar night, Cagney was triumphant, scoring the lone Oscar of his storied career.
Later in the decade, a pair of actors earned recognition for portraying real-life musicians, the first being Cornel Wilde, up for his performance as Polish pianist Frederic Chopin in “A Song to Remember” (1945). The following year, Larry Parks was a nominee for portraying singer and actor Al Jolson in “The Jolson Story...
First to achieve this feat was James Cagney, nominated for his lively depiction of Broadway composer and performer George M. Cohan in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” (1942). On Oscar night, Cagney was triumphant, scoring the lone Oscar of his storied career.
Later in the decade, a pair of actors earned recognition for portraying real-life musicians, the first being Cornel Wilde, up for his performance as Polish pianist Frederic Chopin in “A Song to Remember” (1945). The following year, Larry Parks was a nominee for portraying singer and actor Al Jolson in “The Jolson Story...
- 9/21/2018
- by Andrew Carden
- Gold Derby
Inconceivable! “The Princess Bride” joining the Criterion Collection this October, and it isn’t alone: Brian De Palma’s “Sisters,” Hal Ashby’s “Shampoo,” Cornel Wilde’s “The Naked Prey,” and Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s “Eight Hours Don’t Make the Day” are getting the Criterion treatment as well.
More information (and covert art) below.
“The Naked Prey”
“Glamorous leading man turned idiosyncratic auteur Cornel Wilde created in the 1960s and ’70s a handful of gritty, violent explorations of the nature of man, none more memorable than ‘The Naked Prey.’ In the early nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting safari offends a group of South African hunters, the colonialists are captured and hideously tortured. A lone marksman (Wilde) is released, without clothes or weapons, to be hunted for sport, and he begins a harrowing journey through savanna and jungle back to a primitive state. Distinguished by vivid widescreen camera work and unflinchingly ferocious action sequences,...
More information (and covert art) below.
“The Naked Prey”
“Glamorous leading man turned idiosyncratic auteur Cornel Wilde created in the 1960s and ’70s a handful of gritty, violent explorations of the nature of man, none more memorable than ‘The Naked Prey.’ In the early nineteenth century, after an ivory-hunting safari offends a group of South African hunters, the colonialists are captured and hideously tortured. A lone marksman (Wilde) is released, without clothes or weapons, to be hunted for sport, and he begins a harrowing journey through savanna and jungle back to a primitive state. Distinguished by vivid widescreen camera work and unflinchingly ferocious action sequences,...
- 7/16/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Pity the poor gargoyle, second tier (at the very least) in horror iconography, resigned to being stone portents in many a film, but never getting their creepy due. This brings us to CBS’ Gargoyles (1972), a TV movie that aimed to rectify that situation and give these mostly forgotten creatures a chance to shine through the filter of a demented Saturday morning vibe.
Originally broadcast as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Gargoyles had to contend with the ABC Movie of the Week/Marcus Welby M.D. and NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors/NBC Reports. (Please, if anyone has seen The Bold Ones, hit me up. I need to know these things.) And Gargoyles did make an impact, earning a Primetime Emmy for Makeup from some new up-and-comer named Stan Winston. (We’ll get to him in a bit.)
Let’s grab our TV Guide off...
Originally broadcast as part of The New CBS Tuesday Night Movies, Gargoyles had to contend with the ABC Movie of the Week/Marcus Welby M.D. and NBC’s The Bold Ones: The New Doctors/NBC Reports. (Please, if anyone has seen The Bold Ones, hit me up. I need to know these things.) And Gargoyles did make an impact, earning a Primetime Emmy for Makeup from some new up-and-comer named Stan Winston. (We’ll get to him in a bit.)
Let’s grab our TV Guide off...
- 1/28/2018
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Meet the lusty Amber St. Clare, a 17th century social climber determined to sleep her way to respectability. Gorgeous Linda Darnell gets her biggest role in a lavishly appointed period epic; Otto Preminger hated the assignment but his direction and Darryl Zanuck’s production are excellent. And it has one of the all-time great Hollywood movie scores, by David Raksin.
Forever Amber
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 138 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, John Russell, Jane Ball, Robert Coote, Leo G. Carroll, Natalie Draper, Margaret Wycherly, Norma Varden.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Visual Effects: Fred Sersen
Original Music: David Raksin
Written by Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Kathleen Winsor
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by Otto Preminger
Three years ago,...
Forever Amber
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 138 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, John Russell, Jane Ball, Robert Coote, Leo G. Carroll, Natalie Draper, Margaret Wycherly, Norma Varden.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler
Visual Effects: Fred Sersen
Original Music: David Raksin
Written by Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Kathleen Winsor
Produced by William Perlberg
Directed by Otto Preminger
Three years ago,...
- 12/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
In a war film, what’s the difference between nasty exploitation and just plain honest reportage? André De Toth made tough-minded action films with the best of them, and this nail-biting commando mission with Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport is simply superb, one of those great action pictures that’s not widely screened. To its credit it’s not ‘feel good’ enough to be suitable for Memorial Day TV marathons.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
Play Dirty
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife
Film Editor: Jack Slade
Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling
Original Music: Michel Legrand
Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton
Produced by Harry Saltzman
Directed by André De Toth
Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.
- 10/24/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
We’ve covered plenty of obscure films available on iTunes in previous From VHS to VOD columns but Apple’s digital service is not the only VOD service making waves into the strange and obscure – there’s plenty of odd, unseen and unreleased (well unreleased on disc formats) films available on Amazon Video.
Unlike iTunes, a lot of the more obscure titles are only available for streaming rather than purchase, though the wide variety of films you don’t, and probably won’t see elsewhere makes up for that. Like iTunes there are some truly obscure films hidden away in the depths of Amazon’s vast collection of movies. Some of which have been made available in the UK for the first time since VHS and a Lot that have been added to the service in their original uncut form!
So, with that said here’s highlight some of the best (well,...
Unlike iTunes, a lot of the more obscure titles are only available for streaming rather than purchase, though the wide variety of films you don’t, and probably won’t see elsewhere makes up for that. Like iTunes there are some truly obscure films hidden away in the depths of Amazon’s vast collection of movies. Some of which have been made available in the UK for the first time since VHS and a Lot that have been added to the service in their original uncut form!
So, with that said here’s highlight some of the best (well,...
- 9/28/2017
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
(See previous post: Fourth of July Movies: Escapism During a Weird Year.) On the evening of the Fourth of July, besides fireworks, fire hazards, and Yankee Doodle Dandy, if you're watching TCM in the U.S. and Canada, there's the following: Peter H. Hunt's 1776 (1972), a largely forgotten film musical based on the Broadway hit with music by Sherman Edwards. William Daniels, who was recently on TCM talking about 1776 and a couple of other movies (A Thousand Clowns, Dodsworth), has one of the key roles as John Adams. Howard Da Silva, blacklisted for over a decade after being named a communist during the House Un-American Committee hearings of the early 1950s (Robert Taylor was one who mentioned him in his testimony), plays Benjamin Franklin. Ken Howard is Thomas Jefferson, a role he would reprise in John Huston's 1976 short Independence. (In the short, Pat Hingle was cast as John Adams; Eli Wallach was Benjamin Franklin.) Warner...
- 7/5/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Ace director Donald Siegel uses superior direction to transform a so-so who-dunnit into a thrilling big screen spectacle, using the Grand Canyon as a backdrop for A multiple murder set in an Arizona mining town in decline. The cameraman focusing on the scenery and the hair-raising stuntwork — everything we see is real — is the great Burnett Guffey.
Edge of Eternity
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date February 15, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan, Rian Garrick, Jack Elam, Dabbs Greer.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Original Music: Daniele Amfitheatrof
Written by Knut Swenson, Richard Collins
Produced by Kendrick Sweet
Directed by Donald Siegel
A look at Donald Siegel’s filmography shows that between his standout ‘fifties titles — Riot in Cell Block 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Crime in the Streets, The Lineup, he suffered through his share of unrewarding cheapies,...
Edge of Eternity
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date February 15, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, Mickey Shaughnessy, Edgar Buchanan, Rian Garrick, Jack Elam, Dabbs Greer.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Original Music: Daniele Amfitheatrof
Written by Knut Swenson, Richard Collins
Produced by Kendrick Sweet
Directed by Donald Siegel
A look at Donald Siegel’s filmography shows that between his standout ‘fifties titles — Riot in Cell Block 11, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Crime in the Streets, The Lineup, he suffered through his share of unrewarding cheapies,...
- 2/25/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Fans of The Exorcist TV series have rallied together to get the attention of Fox and hopefully get a second season of the show. Their latest campaign, as well as a video featuring fans from all over the world, is included in today's Horror Highlights, which also features a Q&A with the director of Parasites and Hunting Grounds VOD release details.
Details on The Exorcist TV Series's 'Fear the Feathers' Campaign: Press Release: "The Global Fandom for the Fox Television show "The Exorcist" launch[ed] their latest campaign "Fear The Feathers" on Friday, December 30, 2016, in an effort to plead with the network to renew the show for a second season.
The 10 episode series has recently ended its season one run with no news of a renewal from the Fox network. Passionate fans of the show, who have named their cohesive group the "Exorcist Congregation,” have been very vocal on social...
Details on The Exorcist TV Series's 'Fear the Feathers' Campaign: Press Release: "The Global Fandom for the Fox Television show "The Exorcist" launch[ed] their latest campaign "Fear The Feathers" on Friday, December 30, 2016, in an effort to plead with the network to renew the show for a second season.
The 10 episode series has recently ended its season one run with no news of a renewal from the Fox network. Passionate fans of the show, who have named their cohesive group the "Exorcist Congregation,” have been very vocal on social...
- 1/3/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Socially committed filmmaker Cornel Wilde (who often specialized in directing showcases for his wife, Jean Wallace) depicts a future societal breakdown brought on by global famine and pollution. In today's genetically engineered Frankenfood society it's only a matter of time before someone pounces on this one for a remake, as it features all the sensational elements that make for commercial prospects today.
- 11/18/2016
- by TFH Team
- Trailers from Hell
"I may be dead, but I'm still pretty." Whether you want to watch Buffy Summers and company battle supernatural beings for the first time or re-live all your favorite moments from the show, reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are playing now on Pop TV. Also: The Drawing short film starring Clarke Wolfe in its entirety, a trailer / acquisition news for Gehenna: Where Death Lives, an excerpt from Duncan Ralston's Woom, the lineup for Ithaca Fantastik Film Festival, and The Master Cleanse at Screamfest.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Pop TV: Reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are now playing on Pop TV.
To learn more, visit:
http://poptv.com/buffy_the_vampire_slayer/
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Watch Short Film The Drawing in its Entirety: Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA: The Drawing is coming! The Drawing is here! The Drawing is a modern monster horror short infused with 80s synth overtones.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Pop TV: Reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer are now playing on Pop TV.
To learn more, visit:
http://poptv.com/buffy_the_vampire_slayer/
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Watch Short Film The Drawing in its Entirety: Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA: The Drawing is coming! The Drawing is here! The Drawing is a modern monster horror short infused with 80s synth overtones.
- 10/25/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Relax with the latest Horror Highlights brought to you by your friends here at Daily Dead. The first of three items today is a new poster for festival darling, In a Valley of Violence. Also: GoFundMe details for the 22-episode documentary Two Minutes with Tom Holland and a look at Ithaca Fantastik Film Festival's program announcement.
Check Out The New In a Valley of Violence Poster: Focus World will release In a Valley of Violence in select theaters and on VOD and Digital HD on October 21st, 2016.
“A mysterious drifter named Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog (YouTube sensation Jumpy) make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west. In an attempt to shorten their journey, they cut through the center of a large valley — landing themselves in the forgotten town of Denton, a place now dubbed by locals as a “valley of violence.” The once-popular...
Check Out The New In a Valley of Violence Poster: Focus World will release In a Valley of Violence in select theaters and on VOD and Digital HD on October 21st, 2016.
“A mysterious drifter named Paul (Ethan Hawke) and his dog (YouTube sensation Jumpy) make their way towards Mexico through the barren desert of the old west. In an attempt to shorten their journey, they cut through the center of a large valley — landing themselves in the forgotten town of Denton, a place now dubbed by locals as a “valley of violence.” The once-popular...
- 9/10/2016
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
The character setup in this classy noir potboiler couldn't be better, with Ida Lupino a sensation as the mountain lodge chanteuse who knows her way around men. For its first two acts the show is all but perfect. Road House Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, O.Z. Whitehead, Robert Karnes, George Beranger, Ian MacDonald, Ray Teal. Cinematography Joseph Lashelle Film Editor James B. Clark Original Music Cyril J. Mokridge Written by Edward Chodorov, Margaret Gruen, Oscar Saul Produced by Edward Chodorov Directed by Jean Negulesco
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
For the first two-thirds of Jean Negulesco's Road House I thought I was seeing one of the best films noirs of the late 1940s, and even when it sagged at the end it came up with a pretty good score.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
For the first two-thirds of Jean Negulesco's Road House I thought I was seeing one of the best films noirs of the late 1940s, and even when it sagged at the end it came up with a pretty good score.
- 8/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Rita Gam, a glamorous actress who starred in such exotic films as Saadia with Cornel Wilde, Sign of the Pagan with Jack Palance as Attila the Hun and Nicholas Ray's biblical King of Kings, died Tuesday. She was 88. Gam, who was director Sidney Lumet's first wife and a bridesmaid at Grace Kelly's 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier, died of respiratory failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, publicist Nancy Willen said. Gam also appeared opposite Gregory Peck in Night People (1954) and Shoot Out (1971), in William Dieterle's Magic Fire (1955), with Victor Mature in Hannibal (1959) and with
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- 3/22/2016
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Merle Oberon movies: Mysterious star of British and American cinema. Merle Oberon on TCM: Donning men's clothes in 'A Song to Remember,' fighting hiccups in 'That Uncertain Feeling' Merle Oberon is Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month of March 2016. The good news: the exquisite (and mysterious) Oberon, whose ancestry has been a matter of conjecture for decades, makes any movie worth a look. The bad news: TCM isn't offering any Oberon premieres despite the fact that a number of the actress' films – e.g., Temptation, Night in Paradise, Pardon My French, Interval – can be tough to find. This evening, March 18, TCM will be showing six Merle Oberon movies released during the first half of the 1940s. Never a top box office draw in the United States, Oberon was an important international star all the same, having worked with many of the top actors and filmmakers of the studio era.
- 3/19/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Maureen O'Hara: Queen of Technicolor. Maureen O'Hara movies: TCM tribute Veteran actress and Honorary Oscar recipient Maureen O'Hara, who died at age 95 on Oct. 24, '15, in Boise, Idaho, will be remembered by Turner Classic Movies with a 24-hour film tribute on Friday, Nov. 20. At one point known as “The Queen of Technicolor” – alongside “Eastern” star Maria Montez – the red-headed O'Hara (born Maureen FitzSimons on Aug. 17, 1920, in Ranelagh, County Dublin) was featured in more than 50 movies from 1938 to 1971 – in addition to one brief 1991 comeback (Chris Columbus' Only the Lonely). Maureen O'Hara and John Wayne Setting any hint of modesty aside, Maureen O'Hara wrote in her 2004 autobiography (with John Nicoletti), 'Tis Herself, that “I was the only leading lady big enough and tough enough for John Wayne.” Wayne, for his part, once said (as quoted in 'Tis Herself): There's only one woman who has been my friend over the...
- 10/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, The Naked Prey remains the only film directed by Cornel Wilde to be widely available, a situation that based on this example, is a lamentable state of affairs indeed. An incredibly physical actor, who was at least as proficient an athlete, Wilde found himself regularly typecast in classically heroic roles after moving to Hollywood. He had been offered a place on the Us Olympic fencing team in 1936, but turned it down to pursue his acting career. In 1940, Wilde played Tybalt in Laurence Olivier's New York stage production of Romeo & Juliet, for which he also choreographed the sword fights. Then in 1945 he was cast as composer Frederic Chopin opposite his acting hero Paul Muni in Charles Vidor's A...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 10/26/2015
- Screen Anarchy
"The music seemed extraordinarily fresh and genuine still. It might grow old-fashioned, he told himself, but never old, surely, while there was any youth left in men. It was an expression of youth–that, and no more; with sweetness and foolishness, the lingering accent, the heavy stresses–the delicacy, too–belonging to that time."—"The Professor's House," Willa CatherHis last words, in a hospital four months later, are said to have been 'Mind your own business!' addressed to an enquirer after the state of his bowels. Friends got to the studio just before the wreckers' ball. Pictures, a profusion, piles of them, littered the floor: of 'a world that will never be seen except in pictures'"—"The Pound Era," Hugh Kenner***Heart Of FIREOften when I go to a movie, usually one made before 1960, I think about the opening scene of The Red Shoes, of Marius Goring and his...
- 10/2/2015
- by gina telaroli
- MUBI
Robert De Niro stars with Jerry Lewis in Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bob Fosse's All That Jazz starring Roy Scheider with Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen; John Ford's Drums Along The Mohawk starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert; John M. Stahl's Leave Her To Heaven with Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde; Stanley Donen's Two For The Road with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn; Elia Kazan's Wild River starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick; and Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis are the six free New York Film Festival Opening Day screenings.
Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in John M. Stahl's Leave Her To Heaven "shot in vibrantly beautiful Technicolor."
Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk in 3D, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit with Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon and Ben Schwartz,...
Bob Fosse's All That Jazz starring Roy Scheider with Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen; John Ford's Drums Along The Mohawk starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert; John M. Stahl's Leave Her To Heaven with Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde; Stanley Donen's Two For The Road with Albert Finney and Audrey Hepburn; Elia Kazan's Wild River starring Montgomery Clift and Lee Remick; and Martin Scorsese's The King Of Comedy with Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis are the six free New York Film Festival Opening Day screenings.
Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde in John M. Stahl's Leave Her To Heaven "shot in vibrantly beautiful Technicolor."
Robert Zemeckis’s The Walk in 3D, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit with Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon and Ben Schwartz,...
- 9/20/2015
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
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
Rex Ingram in 'The Thief of Bagdad' 1940 with tiny Sabu. Actor Rex Ingram movies on TCM: Early black film performer in 'Cabin in the Sky,' 'Anna Lucasta' It's somewhat unusual for two well-known film celebrities, whether past or present, to share the same name.* One such rarity is – or rather, are – the two movie people known as Rex Ingram;† one an Irish-born white director, the other an Illinois-born black actor. Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” continues today, Aug. 11, '15, with a day dedicated to the latter. Right now, TCM is showing Cabin in the Sky (1943), an all-black musical adaptation of the Faust tale that is notable as the first full-fledged feature film directed by another Illinois-born movie person, Vincente Minnelli. Also worth mentioning, the movie marked Lena Horne's first important appearance in a mainstream motion picture.§ A financial disappointment on the...
- 8/12/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joan Crawford Movie Star Joan Crawford movies on TCM: Underrated actress, top star in several of her greatest roles If there was ever a professional who was utterly, completely, wholeheartedly dedicated to her work, Joan Crawford was it. Ambitious, driven, talented, smart, obsessive, calculating, she had whatever it took – and more – to reach the top and stay there. Nearly four decades after her death, Crawford, the star to end all stars, remains one of the iconic performers of the 20th century. Deservedly so, once you choose to bypass the Mommie Dearest inanity and focus on her film work. From the get-go, she was a capable actress; look for the hard-to-find silents The Understanding Heart (1927) and The Taxi Dancer (1927), and check her out in the more easily accessible The Unknown (1927) and Our Dancing Daughters (1928). By the early '30s, Joan Crawford had become a first-rate film actress, far more naturalistic than...
- 8/10/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright ca. 1945. Teresa Wright movies on TCM: 'The Little Foxes,' 'The Pride of the Yankees' Pretty, talented Teresa Wright made a relatively small number of movies: 28 in all, over the course of more than half a century. Most of her films have already been shown on Turner Classic Movies, so it's more than a little disappointing that TCM will not be presenting Teresa Wright rarities such as The Imperfect Lady and The Trouble with Women – two 1947 releases co-starring Ray Milland – on Aug. 4, '15, a "Summer Under the Stars" day dedicated to the only performer to date to have been shortlisted for Academy Awards for their first three film roles. TCM's Teresa Wright day would also have benefited from a presentation of The Search for Bridey Murphy (1956), an unusual entry – parapsychology, reincarnation – in the Wright movie canon and/or Roseland (1977), a little-remembered entry in James Ivory's canon.
- 8/4/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright: Later years (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon.") Teresa Wright and Robert Anderson were divorced in 1978. They would remain friends in the ensuing years.[1] Wright spent most of the last decade of her life in Connecticut, making only sporadic public appearances. In 1998, she could be seen with her grandson, film producer Jonah Smith, at New York's Yankee Stadium, where she threw the ceremonial first pitch.[2] Wright also became involved in the Greater New York chapter of the Als Association. (The Pride of the Yankees subject, Lou Gehrig, died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1941.) The week she turned 82 in October 2000, Wright attended the 20th anniversary celebration of Somewhere in Time, where she posed for pictures with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. In March 2003, she was a guest at the 75th Academy Awards, in the segment showcasing Oscar-winning actors of the past. Two years later,...
- 3/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.
- 3/11/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt': Alfred Hitchcock heroine (image: Joseph Cotten about to strangle Teresa Wright in 'Shadow of a Doubt') (See preceding article: "Teresa Wright Movies: Actress Made Oscar History.") After scoring with The Little Foxes, Mrs. Miniver, and The Pride of the Yankees, Teresa Wright was loaned to Universal – once initial choices Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland became unavailable – to play the small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt. (Check out video below: Teresa Wright reminiscing about the making of Shadow of a Doubt.) Co-written by Thornton Wilder, whose Our Town had provided Wright with her first chance on Broadway and who had suggested her to Hitchcock; Meet Me in St. Louis and Junior Miss author Sally Benson; and Hitchcock's wife, Alma Reville, Shadow of a Doubt was based on "Uncle Charlie," a story outline by Gordon McDonell – itself based on actual events.
- 3/7/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Teresa Wright movies: Actress made Oscar history Teresa Wright, best remembered for her Oscar-winning performance in the World War II melodrama Mrs. Miniver and for her deceptively fragile, small-town heroine in Alfred Hitchcock's mystery-drama Shadow of a Doubt, died at age 86 ten years ago – on March 6, 2005. Throughout her nearly six-decade show business career, Wright was featured in nearly 30 films, dozens of television series and made-for-tv movies, and a whole array of stage productions. On the big screen, she played opposite some of the most important stars of the '40s and '50s. It's a long list, including Bette Davis, Greer Garson, Gary Cooper, Myrna Loy, Ray Milland, Fredric March, Jean Simmons, Marlon Brando, Dana Andrews, Lew Ayres, Cornel Wilde, Robert Mitchum, Spencer Tracy, Joseph Cotten, and David Niven. Also of note, Teresa Wright made Oscar history in the early '40s, when she was nominated for each of her first three movie roles.
- 3/5/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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