From his early work like the Roger Corman-produced “Hollywood Boulevard” and the found footage extravaganza “The Movie Orgy” to the deliriously self-referential “Gremlins” films and “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” Joe Dante has always been one of the most cine-literate of all directors, a filmmaker preoccupied with our relationship to the movies we watch and with cinema’s larger role in the culture. Dante’s 1993 comedy “Matinee” is possibly his greatest film in this regard, a meditation on the role horror movies play in our lives and a love letter to the people who make them. It follows a few days in the lives of kids who live on a Florida military base during the buildup to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962; as the terror of the real world increases, they take refuge in the monster movies of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), a producer who arrives in town to screen his latest horror flick,...
- 6/25/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
Sixty-six years ago, Creature from the Black Lagoon director Jack Arnold teamed up with author Richard Matheson to bring Matheson’s sci-fi novel The Shrinking Man to the screen as The Incredible Shrinking Man (watch it Here). Now Deadline reports that Picture Perfect Federation Chairman Patrick Wachsberger, who was formerly the Co-Chairman of Lionsgate, is working with La Vie En Rose producer Alain Goldman on a French remake of The Incredible Shrinking Man that is set to star Jean Dujardin, who won an Oscar for his performance in the lead role of the 2012 silent film The Artist – which also happened to be the Best Picture winner that year.
The Wachsberger-produced Coda just won Best Picture last year and La Vie En Rose earned an Oscar for star Marion Cotillard, so this remake has multiple prestigious names attached to it.
Universal Pictures released The Incredible Shrinking Man in ’57 and still holds the rights to the property,...
The Wachsberger-produced Coda just won Best Picture last year and La Vie En Rose earned an Oscar for star Marion Cotillard, so this remake has multiple prestigious names attached to it.
Universal Pictures released The Incredible Shrinking Man in ’57 and still holds the rights to the property,...
- 10/4/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Loretta Swit remembers well the night she won her first Emmy Award.
On Sept. 7, 1980, the “Mash” star sat in her agent’s living room in Beverly Hills, watching the ceremony on TV when she heard her name called out and saw her picture flash on the screen. Swit was not in the audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium that year because her union, the Screen Actors Guild, was on strike.
Swit and her fellow “Mash” troupers Alan Alda, Mike Farrell and Jamie Farr were among the most vocal and visible actors on picket lines and at press conferences when SAG initiated its first work stoppage in 20 years on July 21, 1980. The reality of her Emmy win – after seven consecutive nominations — sunk in for Swit when she suddenly got a phone call from Europe from her friend Jacqueline Bisset. “She was so excited. She said, ‘Hey, you won!’ ” Swit recalls.
Forty-three years later,...
On Sept. 7, 1980, the “Mash” star sat in her agent’s living room in Beverly Hills, watching the ceremony on TV when she heard her name called out and saw her picture flash on the screen. Swit was not in the audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium that year because her union, the Screen Actors Guild, was on strike.
Swit and her fellow “Mash” troupers Alan Alda, Mike Farrell and Jamie Farr were among the most vocal and visible actors on picket lines and at press conferences when SAG initiated its first work stoppage in 20 years on July 21, 1980. The reality of her Emmy win – after seven consecutive nominations — sunk in for Swit when she suddenly got a phone call from Europe from her friend Jacqueline Bisset. “She was so excited. She said, ‘Hey, you won!’ ” Swit recalls.
Forty-three years later,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
SAG-AFTRA has bought an office building in the San Fernando Valley for $46.6 million that will serve as its new national headquarters. Located at 12020 Chandler Blvd. in North Hollywood, the property features more than 118,000 square feet of commercial office space and includes the building on 1.22 acres and a nearby 0.71-acre vacant lot.
Up until now, SAG-AFTRA has been the only major Hollywood union that didn’t own its own headquarters. The old Screen Actors Guild – and now SAG-AFTRA – hadn’t owned their own national offices for 37 years and have been leasing at two different locations since 1986.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that “As National President, I began to investigate ways to diversify our investment portfolio and was surprised to learn we were the only entertainment industry union to not own our own headquarters versus paying large rents. After multiple sessions with my Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and CFO Arianna Ozzanto, it...
Up until now, SAG-AFTRA has been the only major Hollywood union that didn’t own its own headquarters. The old Screen Actors Guild – and now SAG-AFTRA – hadn’t owned their own national offices for 37 years and have been leasing at two different locations since 1986.
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher said that “As National President, I began to investigate ways to diversify our investment portfolio and was surprised to learn we were the only entertainment industry union to not own our own headquarters versus paying large rents. After multiple sessions with my Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and CFO Arianna Ozzanto, it...
- 4/11/2023
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
This Civil War thriller has so much truth to say about War, Patriotism and combatant-vs.-civilian terror that we can hardly believe it was released in 1954. It’s based on a true event from 1864, a daring undercover mission that hit the Union far away from the conventional fighting. Van Heflin is the vengeance-seeking advance agent, Anne Bancroft a war widow, Richard Boone a maimed Union veteran and Lee Marvin a loose cannon with a hair trigger. The anti-war message is stronger than anything from the Vietnam years! The 20th-Fox release is not on quality home video, and is in great need of restoration.
The Raid
Not on Home Video
CineSavant Revival Screening Review
1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 83 min.
Starring: Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, Tommy Rettig, Peter Graves, Douglas Spencer, Paul Cavanagh, Will Wright, James Best, John Dierkes, Helen Ford, Lee Aaker, Claude Akins, John Beradino, Robert Easton,...
The Raid
Not on Home Video
CineSavant Revival Screening Review
1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 83 min.
Starring: Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, Tommy Rettig, Peter Graves, Douglas Spencer, Paul Cavanagh, Will Wright, James Best, John Dierkes, Helen Ford, Lee Aaker, Claude Akins, John Beradino, Robert Easton,...
- 10/8/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Walter Mirisch earned his Oscar for this Sidney Poitier hit directed by Norman Jewison. The tense mystery thriller was also a significant cultural step for Civil Rights, Hollywood-style: Poitier’s Virgil Tibbs claims the right to not turn the other cheek. Stars Rod Steiger, Lee Grant, Warren Oates and Larry Gates are in top form. Kino’s new 4K release maximizes the impact of Haskell Wexler’s steamy cinematography and Quincy Jones’ rich music, and includes bonus Blu-ray encodings of the two sequels made a few years later.
In the Heat of the Night 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date April 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Peter Whitney, Matt Clark, Scott Wilson, Timothy Scott, Quentin Dean, Anthony James, Alan Oppenheimer.
Cinematography: Haskell Wexler
Art Director: Paul Groesse...
In the Heat of the Night 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1967 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 110 min. / Street Date April 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates, Lee Grant, Larry Gates, James Patterson, William Schallert, Beah Richards, Peter Whitney, Matt Clark, Scott Wilson, Timothy Scott, Quentin Dean, Anthony James, Alan Oppenheimer.
Cinematography: Haskell Wexler
Art Director: Paul Groesse...
- 7/2/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Kino’s triple-threat Edgar Ulmer show has great commentaries plus HD debuts of his two ‘Texas’ movies, that likely have not been seen in their original widescreen aspect ratios since the 1960s. Ulmer’s first tale of a solo space invader has the pleasing look of a silent-era expressionist film. His take on a time travel paradox uses Air Force cooperation to project pilot Robert Clarke from 1959 to the far far future date of 2024 (ulp!). And Ulmer’s cut-rate invisible man is a master thief sprung from the pokey to help with a mad scheme to conquer the world — but the crook instead rushes to rob a bank! The excellent presentations will have special appeal for connoisseurs of exotic sci-fi thrillers.
Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection
The Man from Planet X, Beyond the Time Barrier, The Amazing Transparent Man
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-1960 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 204 min.
Edgar G. Ulmer Sci-Fi Collection
The Man from Planet X, Beyond the Time Barrier, The Amazing Transparent Man
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-1960 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen, 1:37 Academy / 204 min.
- 4/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“I’m filthy — period!” With an ideal cast — Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone — director Douglas Sirk tells a tale with everything the ’50s wouldn’t allow — lust, nymphomania, impotence, the works. It’s perhaps Sirk’s most accomplished, self-contained masterpiece — a glamorous soap with absorbing characters caught in a cycle of unfulfilled desires. An oil dynasty comes tumbling down because the heir is “tortured by a secret that made him lash out at all he loved!” I keep expecting bathos, but this great show makes its world come alive.
Written on the Wind
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 96
1956 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 1, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Edward Platt, Harry Shannon, John Larch, Joseph Granby, Roy Glenn, Maidie Norman, William Schallert, Kevin Corcoran, Cynthia Patrick.
Cinematography: Russell Metty
Art Directors: Robert Clatworthy,...
Written on the Wind
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 96
1956 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date February 1, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, Robert Keith, Grant Williams, Robert J. Wilke, Edward Platt, Harry Shannon, John Larch, Joseph Granby, Roy Glenn, Maidie Norman, William Schallert, Kevin Corcoran, Cynthia Patrick.
Cinematography: Russell Metty
Art Directors: Robert Clatworthy,...
- 2/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Criterion gives this classic its first exposure on Region A Blu-ray! A new 4K remaster puts the story of a guy too tiny to escape from his own cellar in its very best light — Scott Carey’s combat with the spider is still a scary delight, with a newly-fixed imperfection. Criterion’s extras lean toward fan-oriented fare: Tom Weaver tops the stack with a fine commentary and we get good input from Ben Burtt, Craig Barron, Richard Christian Matheson, Joe Dante and Dana Gould — plus thoughtful liner notes by Geoffrey O’Brien. And don’t forget those excellent movie trailers narrated by a breathless Orson Welles. Robert Scott Carey should have his own statue in Los Angeles, like Rocky Balboa in Philadelphia.
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1100
1957 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 81 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton,...
The Incredible Shrinking Man
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 1100
1957 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 81 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95
Starring: Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, April Kent, Paul Langton,...
- 10/5/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
SAG-AFTRA is the only major Hollywood union that doesn’t own its own headquarters, and that’s become a topic of heated debate between its warring factions in the union’s ongoing election of national and local officers. SAG – and now SAG-AFTRA – hasn’t owned its own national offices for 35 years, leasing at two different locations since 1986.
Both sides think they should buy one sooner or later. The opposition MembershipFirst candidates, led by Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher, want to do it sooner, and blast the current leadership for recently signing a new long term lease for the union’s headquarters on the Miracle Mile.
“For years, a staggering $6 million per year has been spent on renting our SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles,” MembershipFirst says in its campaign platform. “Many more millions of dollars are squandered annually on office rents around the country. In fact, money has even been wasted...
Both sides think they should buy one sooner or later. The opposition MembershipFirst candidates, led by Matthew Modine and Joely Fisher, want to do it sooner, and blast the current leadership for recently signing a new long term lease for the union’s headquarters on the Miracle Mile.
“For years, a staggering $6 million per year has been spent on renting our SAG-AFTRA offices in Los Angeles,” MembershipFirst says in its campaign platform. “Many more millions of dollars are squandered annually on office rents around the country. In fact, money has even been wasted...
- 8/13/2021
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
The exclusive 4K Ultra-hd club welcomes a worthy new member, Joe Dante’s evergreen horror comedy (and Christmas delight) about a cute furry critter and its 2nd-generation horde of scaly, impish demons. These aren’t Gremlins from the Kremlin, but homegrown domestic terrorist monsters, and Dante contrasts their killer antics with a sentimental parody of small town America. No CGI … You will believe that the animatronic rascals can multiply like rabbits, break dance, and run amuck!
Gremlins
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date October 1, 2019 / 41.99
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Frances Lee McCain, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Judge Reinhold, Polly Holliday, Belinda Balaski, Edward Andrews, Don Steele, Scott Brady, Corey Feldman, Harry Carey Jr., Chuck Jones, Glynn Turman, Jerry Goldsmith, William Schallert, Steven Spielberg, Kenneth Tobey.
Cinematography: John Hora
Film Editor: Tina Hirsch
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith...
Gremlins
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital Code
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
1984 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date October 1, 2019 / 41.99
Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Keye Luke, Frances Lee McCain, Dick Miller, Jackie Joseph, Judge Reinhold, Polly Holliday, Belinda Balaski, Edward Andrews, Don Steele, Scott Brady, Corey Feldman, Harry Carey Jr., Chuck Jones, Glynn Turman, Jerry Goldsmith, William Schallert, Steven Spielberg, Kenneth Tobey.
Cinematography: John Hora
Film Editor: Tina Hirsch
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith...
- 9/28/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
June 18th is shaping up to be a killer day for genre fans, as two of my favorite movies of 2019 are making their way home: Jordan Peele’s Us and Lords of Chaos (on DVD) from Jonas Åkerlund. Kino Lorber is showing Chan-wook Park some love this week with their Blu-ray release of Thirst, and Scream Factory has put together the impressive-looking Universal Horror Collection: Volume 1 set as well.
Other home entertainment releases for this Tuesday include Under the Silver Lake, The Monolith Monsters, Crypto, The Nightmare Gallery, Derangement, and Disappearance.
Lords of Chaos
The story of True Norwegian Black Metal and its most notorious practitioners: a group of young men with a flair for publicity, church-burning and murder: Mayhem. Oslo, 1987. Seventeen-year-old Euronymous is determined to escape his idyllic Scandinavian hometown and create "true Norwegian black metal" with his band, Mayhem. He's joined by equally fanatical youths - Dead and Varg.
Other home entertainment releases for this Tuesday include Under the Silver Lake, The Monolith Monsters, Crypto, The Nightmare Gallery, Derangement, and Disappearance.
Lords of Chaos
The story of True Norwegian Black Metal and its most notorious practitioners: a group of young men with a flair for publicity, church-burning and murder: Mayhem. Oslo, 1987. Seventeen-year-old Euronymous is determined to escape his idyllic Scandinavian hometown and create "true Norwegian black metal" with his band, Mayhem. He's joined by equally fanatical youths - Dead and Varg.
- 6/18/2019
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
One of Max Ophüls’ best American movies is this razor-sharp ‘domestic film noir’ with excellent acting and a premise that was probably too sordid-real for 1949: cheap crooks blackmail an ordinary housewife trying to protect her family. Joan Bennett confronts the crisis head-on, facing down James Mason’s unusually sympathetic ‘collector.’
The Reckless Moment
Region free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1949 / B&W / 1:37 full frame Academy / 82 min. / / Street Date April 22, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £17.00
Starring: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair, Roy Roberts, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Film Editor: Gene Havlick
Original Music: Hans Salter
Written by Henry Garson, Robert Soderberg; Mel Dinelli, Robert E. Kent, from a story by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Max Ophüls
Nobody forgets Joan Bennett’s film noir appearances — she has a dark, moody quality that even Dario Argento appreciated. In The Woman in the Window...
The Reckless Moment
Region free Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1949 / B&W / 1:37 full frame Academy / 82 min. / / Street Date April 22, 2019 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £17.00
Starring: James Mason, Joan Bennett, Geraldine Brooks, Henry O’Neill, Shepperd Strudwick, David Bair, Roy Roberts, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Burnett Guffey
Film Editor: Gene Havlick
Original Music: Hans Salter
Written by Henry Garson, Robert Soderberg; Mel Dinelli, Robert E. Kent, from a story by Elisabeth Sanxay Holding
Produced by Walter Wanger
Directed by Max Ophüls
Nobody forgets Joan Bennett’s film noir appearances — she has a dark, moody quality that even Dario Argento appreciated. In The Woman in the Window...
- 4/13/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Scream Factory is looking to give you plenty of reasons to scream for joy this summer with their latest announcements of upcoming Blu-ray releases, including the Hammer's Frankenstein Created Woman (featuring Peter Cushing), three Universal horror movies from the ’50s, and the chilling supernatural film The Entity (which will include a new interview with Barbara Hershey).
Frankenstein Created Woman Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "It’s the year of Hammer Films for us as you can already tell and we have yet another one planned for the Summer. Frankenstein Created Woman (starring legendary star Peter Cushing) is being prepped in Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release!
Here are the early details we have at present time:
• National street date for U.S. only (Region A) is June 11th.
• Release will come with a slipcover (guaranteed for three months after its original release date).
• The newly-commissioned artwork pictured comes to us from Mark Maddox...
Frankenstein Created Woman Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "It’s the year of Hammer Films for us as you can already tell and we have yet another one planned for the Summer. Frankenstein Created Woman (starring legendary star Peter Cushing) is being prepped in Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release!
Here are the early details we have at present time:
• National street date for U.S. only (Region A) is June 11th.
• Release will come with a slipcover (guaranteed for three months after its original release date).
• The newly-commissioned artwork pictured comes to us from Mark Maddox...
- 3/7/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Perhaps the best way to approach “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” the sequel to the 2015 Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure that introduced the shrinking superhero, is as a Disney movie rather than a Marvel one. And when I say “Disney movie,” I mean a very specific kind: the goofy Dexter Riley comedies.
From 1969 to 1975, Kurt Russell played affable college student Dexter, who kept running afoul of science experiments that rendered him strong, super-smart or even invisible. Substitute Paul Rudd’s amiable ex-con Scott Lang for Dexter — with Michael Douglas subbing for scientist William Schallert, and Walton Goggins taking the Keenan Wynn/Cesar Romero role of the nefarious mobster — and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is basically “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” for the 21st century.
Mind you, I mean this as a compliment; after a rough start in the previous entry, director Peyton Reed (“Down With Love”) seems much more comfortable balancing wacky antics,...
From 1969 to 1975, Kurt Russell played affable college student Dexter, who kept running afoul of science experiments that rendered him strong, super-smart or even invisible. Substitute Paul Rudd’s amiable ex-con Scott Lang for Dexter — with Michael Douglas subbing for scientist William Schallert, and Walton Goggins taking the Keenan Wynn/Cesar Romero role of the nefarious mobster — and “Ant-Man and the Wasp” is basically “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” for the 21st century.
Mind you, I mean this as a compliment; after a rough start in the previous entry, director Peyton Reed (“Down With Love”) seems much more comfortable balancing wacky antics,...
- 6/27/2018
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Let’s go back to 1959, when just implying that two teenagers might have first-hand knowledge of sex is socially unacceptable dynamite. This adapted play about an unwanted teen pregnancy is actually quite good, thanks to fine performances by Carol Lynley and Brandon De Wilde, who convince as cherubic high schoolers ‘too young to know the score.’ And hey, the teen trauma is set to the intense music of composer Bernard Herrmann.
Blue Denim
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Carol Lynley, Brandon De Wilde, Macdonald Carey, Marsha Hunt, Warren Berlinger, Vaughn Taylor, Roberta Shore, Malcolm Atterbury, Anthony J. Corso, Gregg Martell, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editors: William Reynolds, George Leggewie
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Edith Sommer, Philip Dunne from the play by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble
Produced by Charles Brackett
Directed...
Blue Denim
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Carol Lynley, Brandon De Wilde, Macdonald Carey, Marsha Hunt, Warren Berlinger, Vaughn Taylor, Roberta Shore, Malcolm Atterbury, Anthony J. Corso, Gregg Martell, William Schallert.
Cinematography: Leo Tover
Film Editors: William Reynolds, George Leggewie
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Edith Sommer, Philip Dunne from the play by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble
Produced by Charles Brackett
Directed...
- 5/5/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“It’s under the Big ‘W’!” A smart cop show goes all ‘Dragnet’ on a trio of criminal cases in the good old City of the Angels. To figure out who gunned down a top detective, rough tough FBI agent Broderick Crawford must get to the bottom of three separate dramas, each involving a beautiful woman. The producers know how to get attention for their show — the climactic shootout takes place under the Hollywood Sign.
Down 3 Dark Streets
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, William Johnstone, Harlan Warde, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Suzanne Alexander, Joe Bassett, Michael Fox, John Indrisano, Milton Parsons, Stafford Repp, William Schallert, Charles Tannen.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Film Editor: Grant Whytock
Production Design: Edward (Ted) Haworth
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld, ‘The Gordons...
Down 3 Dark Streets
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99
Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, William Johnstone, Harlan Warde, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Suzanne Alexander, Joe Bassett, Michael Fox, John Indrisano, Milton Parsons, Stafford Repp, William Schallert, Charles Tannen.
Cinematography: Joseph Biroc
Film Editor: Grant Whytock
Production Design: Edward (Ted) Haworth
Original Music: Paul Sawtell
Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld, ‘The Gordons...
- 4/28/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This nearly forgotten Sci-fi masterpiece should have been a monster hit. For some reason Universal didn’t think that a computer menace was commercial — the year after 2001. The superior drama sells a tough concept: the government activates a defense computer programmed to keep the peace. It does exactly that, but by holding the world hostage while it makes itself a God above mankind.
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Region B Blu-ray
Medium Rare UK
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date March 27, 2017 / Available from Amazon UK £6.99
Starring: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Willard Sage, Alex Rodine, Martin Brooks, Marion Ross, Dolph Sweet, Robert Cornthwaite, James Hong, Paul Frees, Robert Quarry.
Cinematography: Gene Polito
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock, Don Record
Original Music: Michel Colombier
Written by James Bridges, from a novel by D.F. Jones
Produced by Stanley Chase
Directed by Joseph Sargent...
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Region B Blu-ray
Medium Rare UK
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date March 27, 2017 / Available from Amazon UK £6.99
Starring: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert, Leonid Rostoff, Georg Stanford Brown, Willard Sage, Alex Rodine, Martin Brooks, Marion Ross, Dolph Sweet, Robert Cornthwaite, James Hong, Paul Frees, Robert Quarry.
Cinematography: Gene Polito
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock, Don Record
Original Music: Michel Colombier
Written by James Bridges, from a novel by D.F. Jones
Produced by Stanley Chase
Directed by Joseph Sargent...
- 3/3/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s the loose-censored early 1970s, and screen bandits shootin’ up the American movie landscape are no longer suffering the once-mandated automatic moral retribution. Walter Matthau launched himself into the genre with this excellent Don Siegel on-the-run epic, about an old-fashioned independent bandit who accidentally rips off the mob for a million. It’s great, wicked fun.
Charley Varrick
Region B Blu-ray
Indicator
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Charley Varrick the Last of the Independents; Kill Charley Varrick / Street Date January 22, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £14.99
Starring: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, Felicia Farr, Sheree North, Jacqueline Scott, William Schallert, Norman Fell, Benson Fong, Woodrow Parfrey, Rudy Diaz, Charles Matthau, Tom Tully, Albert Popwell
Cinematography: Michael Butler
Film Editor: Frank Morriss
Original Music: Lalo Schifrin
Written by Dean Riesner, Howard Rodman from the novel The Looters by John Reese
Produced by Jennings Lang, Don Siegel
Directed by...
Charley Varrick
Region B Blu-ray
Indicator
1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Charley Varrick the Last of the Independents; Kill Charley Varrick / Street Date January 22, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £14.99
Starring: Walter Matthau, Joe Don Baker, Andrew Robinson, John Vernon, Felicia Farr, Sheree North, Jacqueline Scott, William Schallert, Norman Fell, Benson Fong, Woodrow Parfrey, Rudy Diaz, Charles Matthau, Tom Tully, Albert Popwell
Cinematography: Michael Butler
Film Editor: Frank Morriss
Original Music: Lalo Schifrin
Written by Dean Riesner, Howard Rodman from the novel The Looters by John Reese
Produced by Jennings Lang, Don Siegel
Directed by...
- 1/20/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A scary monster movie comes to Key West just as a nuclear crisis breaks out! Joe Dante’s incomparable paean to monster kid culture has finally arrived on Region A Blu-ray, with the great extras we expect from every Dante-involved home video offering. The picture only gets more charming and funny with time, from its great cast of teens to the perfect pitch of John Goodman and Cathy Moriarty’s bigger-than-life characters.
Matinee
Blu-ray
Shout Select
1993 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date January 16, 2018 / 34.93
Starring John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin, Jesse Lee, Lucinda Jenney, James Villemaire, Robert Picardo, Jesse White, Dick Miller, John Sayles, David Clennon, Belinda Balaski, Naomi Watts, Robert Cornthwaite, Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert.
Cinematography John Hora
Film Editor Marshall Harvey
Original Music Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Charles S. Haas, story by Haas & Jerico.
Produced by Michael Finnell
Directed by Joe Dante...
Matinee
Blu-ray
Shout Select
1993 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 99 min. / Street Date January 16, 2018 / 34.93
Starring John Goodman, Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin, Jesse Lee, Lucinda Jenney, James Villemaire, Robert Picardo, Jesse White, Dick Miller, John Sayles, David Clennon, Belinda Balaski, Naomi Watts, Robert Cornthwaite, Kevin McCarthy, William Schallert.
Cinematography John Hora
Film Editor Marshall Harvey
Original Music Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Charles S. Haas, story by Haas & Jerico.
Produced by Michael Finnell
Directed by Joe Dante...
- 1/2/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s the one saga of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral that puts Western legend into proper perspective as to the nature of money, power and the law: Edward Anhalt’s vision is of a gangland turf war with sagebrush and whiskey bottles. James Garner is a humorless Wyatt Earp, matched by Jason Robards’ excellent Doc Holliday. It’s one of John Sturges’ best movies.
Hour of the Gun
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan, Albert Salmi, Charles Aidman, Steve Ihnat, Michael Tolan, William Windom, Lonny Chapman, Larry Gates, William Schallert, Jon Voight.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Art Direction: Alfred C. Ybarra
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Edward Anhalt
Produced and Directed by John Sturges
Producer-director John Sturges’ Hour of the Gun was a dismal non-performer in...
Hour of the Gun
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1967 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date September 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: James Garner, Jason Robards, Robert Ryan, Albert Salmi, Charles Aidman, Steve Ihnat, Michael Tolan, William Windom, Lonny Chapman, Larry Gates, William Schallert, Jon Voight.
Cinematography: Lucien Ballard
Art Direction: Alfred C. Ybarra
Film Editor: Ferris Webster
Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith
Written by Edward Anhalt
Produced and Directed by John Sturges
Producer-director John Sturges’ Hour of the Gun was a dismal non-performer in...
- 9/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Robot roll call! This also-ran robotic fantasy from the 1950s is precisely the kind of movie one would expect from Republic, a two-fisted anti-Commie tract for juveniles. The studio comes up with an impressive robo-hero, but short-changes us when it come time for action thrills. Still, as pointed out in Richard Harland Smith’s new commentary, Tobor filled the the kiddie hunger for sci-fi matinees, at least until Robby the Robot came along.
Tobor the Great
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1954 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 77 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Drake, Karin Booth, Billy Chapin, Taylor Holmes, Steven Geray, Hal Baylor, Alan Reynolds, Peter Brocco, Robert Shayne, Lyle Talbot, William Schallert
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Production Design: Gabriel Scognamillo
Special Effects: Howard and Theodore Lydecker
Film Editor: Basil Wrangell
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Philip MacDonald, Carl Dudley
Produced by Richard Goldstone
Directed by Lee Sholem...
Tobor the Great
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1954 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 77 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Drake, Karin Booth, Billy Chapin, Taylor Holmes, Steven Geray, Hal Baylor, Alan Reynolds, Peter Brocco, Robert Shayne, Lyle Talbot, William Schallert
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Production Design: Gabriel Scognamillo
Special Effects: Howard and Theodore Lydecker
Film Editor: Basil Wrangell
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Philip MacDonald, Carl Dudley
Produced by Richard Goldstone
Directed by Lee Sholem...
- 8/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
July 11th is chock-full of some stellar cult classic releases on Blu-ray and DVD, so hopefully you guys have been saving your pennies. Scream Factory is keeping busy with a trio of titles, including The Man From Planet X, a Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for Species, and Sex Doll. Arrow Video has put together a stunning special edition set for Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Pulse that you’ll definitely want to add to your home media collections, and both The Fifth Element and Peter Jackson’s King Kong are getting a 4K release, too.
Other notable titles for July 11th include Star Crystal, Vampire Cop, The Blessed Ones, Devil’s Domain, The Magicians: Season Two and a Don’t Look in the Basement/Don’t Look in the Basement 2 double feature.
The Man From Planet X (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
From the farthest reaches of space it came … is it friend or foe?...
Other notable titles for July 11th include Star Crystal, Vampire Cop, The Blessed Ones, Devil’s Domain, The Magicians: Season Two and a Don’t Look in the Basement/Don’t Look in the Basement 2 double feature.
The Man From Planet X (Scream Factory, Blu-ray)
From the farthest reaches of space it came … is it friend or foe?...
- 7/11/2017
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Scream Factory sets their sights on the stars to bring a visitor from deep space onto Blu-ray with their July 11th home media release of The Man from Planet X, and we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies of the 1951 sci-fi film to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers.
---------
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Man from Planet X.
How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:
1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:
https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/
2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The Man from Planet X Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 17th.
---------
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Man from Planet X.
How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:
1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:
https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/
2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The Man from Planet X Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 17th.
- 7/10/2017
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The first visitor from outer space in the ’50s sci-fi boom is one very curious guy, dropping to Earth in a ship like a diving bell and scaring the bejesus out of Sally Field’s mother. Micro-budgeted space invasion fantasy gets off to a great start, thanks to the filmmaking genius of our old pal Edgar G. Ulmer.
The Man from Planet X
Blu-ray
Scream Factory / Shout! Factory
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 71 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 27.99
Starring: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel, David Ormont.
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Film Editor: Fred R. Feitshans, Jr.
Original Music: Charles Koff
Written and Produced by Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
One of the first features of the 1950s Sci-Fi boom, 1951’s The Man from Planet X set a lot of precedents, cementing the public impression of ‘little green men from Mars’ and...
The Man from Planet X
Blu-ray
Scream Factory / Shout! Factory
1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 71 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / 27.99
Starring: Robert Clarke, Margaret Field, Raymond Bond, William Schallert, Roy Engel, David Ormont.
Cinematography: John L. Russell
Film Editor: Fred R. Feitshans, Jr.
Original Music: Charles Koff
Written and Produced by Aubrey Wisberg, Jack Pollexfen
Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer
One of the first features of the 1950s Sci-Fi boom, 1951’s The Man from Planet X set a lot of precedents, cementing the public impression of ‘little green men from Mars’ and...
- 6/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Trustin Howard, a singer, actor and nightclub stalwart who served as the head writer for the 1960s late-night talk show hosted by Joey Bishop, has died. He was 93.
Howard, who often performed under the name Slick Slavin, died April 20 at West Hills (Calif.) Hospital of complications suffered from a fall, his sister, Susan Slavin, announced.
In 1963, Howard provided the voice of the cartoon character Philbert for an innovative pilot about an animator (William Schallert) whose creation comes to life. Created by Friz Freleng and directed by Richard Donner, the early attempt...
Howard, who often performed under the name Slick Slavin, died April 20 at West Hills (Calif.) Hospital of complications suffered from a fall, his sister, Susan Slavin, announced.
In 1963, Howard provided the voice of the cartoon character Philbert for an innovative pilot about an animator (William Schallert) whose creation comes to life. Created by Friz Freleng and directed by Richard Donner, the early attempt...
- 4/28/2017
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Did Republic’s serial-makers lose their marbles? This is an endurance test of a thriller, with 12 chapters that refuse to advance a story beyond the same repetitive ambushes and fistfights. It’s got monsters in the form of giant crawfish bred to… well, bred for almost no reason at all. With Phyllis Coates and Myron Healey. I tell you, watching this feels like watching an endless loop. But hey, it’s quite handsomely filmed!
Panther Girl of the Kongo
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1955 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame (originally widescreen) / 168 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95
Starring: Phyllis Coates, Myron Healey, Arthur Space, John Day, Mike Ragan, Morris Buchanan, Roy Glenn, Archie Savage, Ramsay Hill, Naaman Brown, Dan Ferniel, James Logan, Steve Calvert.
Cinematography: Bud Thackery
Film Editor: Cliff Bell
Original Music: R. Dale Butts
Written by Ronald Davidson
Produced and Directed by Franklin Adreon
Ah yes.
Panther Girl of the Kongo
Blu-ray
Olive Films
1955 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame (originally widescreen) / 168 min. / Street Date February 21, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95
Starring: Phyllis Coates, Myron Healey, Arthur Space, John Day, Mike Ragan, Morris Buchanan, Roy Glenn, Archie Savage, Ramsay Hill, Naaman Brown, Dan Ferniel, James Logan, Steve Calvert.
Cinematography: Bud Thackery
Film Editor: Cliff Bell
Original Music: R. Dale Butts
Written by Ronald Davidson
Produced and Directed by Franklin Adreon
Ah yes.
- 2/25/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Mary Tyler Moore were just a few of the famous faces that were honored during the in memoriam at Sunday evening’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Hosted live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Moore — who passed away Wednesday — and the mother-daughter duo — who died one day apart in December — were some of the many late actors and actresses that were recognized on-screen at the annual awards show for their contribution to the world of film and television.
In a touching tribute, the SAG Awards honored the men — Ken Howard, William Schallert, Jack Riley,...
Hosted live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Moore — who passed away Wednesday — and the mother-daughter duo — who died one day apart in December — were some of the many late actors and actresses that were recognized on-screen at the annual awards show for their contribution to the world of film and television.
In a touching tribute, the SAG Awards honored the men — Ken Howard, William Schallert, Jack Riley,...
- 1/30/2017
- by Natalie Stone
- PEOPLE.com
Now there's something you don't see too often — an Emmy night that actually makes good television. The Emmys are usually one of those pop-culture Zen koans: Why is an award show for TV such a painful little hate-watch? But this year's model was easily the most entertaining Emmy bash since Conan O'Brien hosted in 2008, a welcome change after last year's debacle. Jimmy Kimmel kept things moving and got the whole event done and dusted in three hours — with a minute or two to spare, actually. Yes, there was still plenty...
- 9/19/2016
- Rollingstone.com
Dirty cops were a movie vogue in 1954, and Edmond O'Brien scores as a real dastard in this overachieving United Artists thriller. Dreamboat starlet Marla English is the reason O'Brien's detective kills for cash, and then keeps killing to stay ahead of his colleagues. And all to buy a crummy house in the suburbs -- this man needs career counseling. Shield for Murder Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Edmond O'Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones, Claude Akins, Herbert Butterfield, Hugh Sanders, William Schallert, Robert Bray, Richard Deacon, David Hughes, Gregg Martell, Stafford Repp, Vito Scotti. Cinematography Gordon Avil Film Editor John F. Schreyer Original Music Paul Dunlap Written by Richard Alan Simmons, John C. Higgins from the novel by William P. McGivern <Produced by Aubrey Schenck, (Howard W. Koch) Directed by Edmond O'Brien, Howard W. Koch
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)
Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com
Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...
- 6/11/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Stop me if you’ve heard this idea for a movie: Dean Martin gets miniaturized and injected into the body of Jerry Lewis.
That’s the pitch for Joe Dante’s 1987 film Innerspace, his last collaboration with producer Steven Spielberg until making Small Soldiers for DreamWorks in 1998. Made between his contributions to the outrageous 1986 anthology comedy Amazon Women on the Moon and his darkly comic 1989 movie The ’Burbs, Innerspace could be considered Joe Dante’s most commercial film. Not only did it carry the Spielberg brand, it was also cast with big stars (Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan) and boasted impressive, state-of-the-art special effects and a high concept that was sure to bring people out to the theater. And yet, for some reason, the movie was something of a box office disappointment when it was released in the summer of 1987; though the film’s final budget is difficult to pin down,...
That’s the pitch for Joe Dante’s 1987 film Innerspace, his last collaboration with producer Steven Spielberg until making Small Soldiers for DreamWorks in 1998. Made between his contributions to the outrageous 1986 anthology comedy Amazon Women on the Moon and his darkly comic 1989 movie The ’Burbs, Innerspace could be considered Joe Dante’s most commercial film. Not only did it carry the Spielberg brand, it was also cast with big stars (Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, and Meg Ryan) and boasted impressive, state-of-the-art special effects and a high concept that was sure to bring people out to the theater. And yet, for some reason, the movie was something of a box office disappointment when it was released in the summer of 1987; though the film’s final budget is difficult to pin down,...
- 5/28/2016
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
This week’s episode of our podcast We Are Movie Geeks The Show is up! Hear Wamg’s Jim Batts and Tom Stockman and special guest Lynn Venhaus discuss the weekend box office. We’ll review Money Monster, A Bigger Splash, and The Man Who Knew Infinity. Also, we’ll preview The Nice Guys, Neighbors 2 Sorority Rising, and The Lobster. Lynn will talk about her adventures at The Tennessee Williams Festival over the weekend and we’ll pay tribute to the late actor William Schallert and Jim will talk about the late comic book artist Darwyn Cooke.
Here’s this week’s show. Have a listen:
http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/Wamg-5-16-54.mp3
The post This Week’s Wamg Podcast – Money Monster, A Bigger Splash, and More! appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.
Here’s this week’s show. Have a listen:
http://www.wearemoviegeeks.com/wp-content/uploads/Wamg-5-16-54.mp3
The post This Week’s Wamg Podcast – Money Monster, A Bigger Splash, and More! appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.
- 5/16/2016
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Gene Gutowski, who produced three of Roman Polanski‘s 1960s movies and was a co-producer on the director’s 2002 Oscar winning Holocaust drama, “The Pianist,” has died. He was 90. Gutowski’s son Adam Bardach told the Associated Press that his father died of pneumonia at a hospital in Warsaw, Poland. Gutowski and Polanski collaborated on “Repulsion,” “Cul-de-Sac” and “The Fearless Vampire Killers” in the 1960s. They reunited more than three decades later on “The Pianist.” Also Read: William Schallert, Character Actor and Former SAG President, Dies at 93 The movie was “a personal catharsis” for Gutowski, who wrote that “watching crowds of terrified helpless.
- 5/11/2016
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
William Schallert and Patty Duke.
Popular character actor William Schallert has died at age 93, having been active in the acting community right up through recent years. Schallert was a familiar face to retro movie and TV fans, even if his name was not as well known. He is remembered by many for playing the harried father of teenage Patty Duke in the 1960s sitcom "The Patty Duke Show". (In a tragic coincidence, Ms. Duke also recently passed away.) Schallert was much beloved by science fiction and horror fans for his appearances in TV series such as "Commander Cody", "Space Patrol", "Men Into Space" and "The Twilight Zone".
Artist Pete Emslie's tribute to Schallert. (For more of Emslie's artistic creations, visit The Cartoon Cave.)
In feature films Schallert appeared in the cult classics "Them!", "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Colossus: The Forbin Project" as well as the 1983 feature film "Twilight Zone: The Movie...
Popular character actor William Schallert has died at age 93, having been active in the acting community right up through recent years. Schallert was a familiar face to retro movie and TV fans, even if his name was not as well known. He is remembered by many for playing the harried father of teenage Patty Duke in the 1960s sitcom "The Patty Duke Show". (In a tragic coincidence, Ms. Duke also recently passed away.) Schallert was much beloved by science fiction and horror fans for his appearances in TV series such as "Commander Cody", "Space Patrol", "Men Into Space" and "The Twilight Zone".
Artist Pete Emslie's tribute to Schallert. (For more of Emslie's artistic creations, visit The Cartoon Cave.)
In feature films Schallert appeared in the cult classics "Them!", "The Incredible Shrinking Man", "Colossus: The Forbin Project" as well as the 1983 feature film "Twilight Zone: The Movie...
- 5/10/2016
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Mainstream television fans might know him from his days on "The Patty Duke Show," but original "Star Trek" fans are now having to say good-bye to Nilz Baris.That was the character William Schallert played in the popular "Trek" episode "The Trouble With Troubles." Schallert, who would go on to a prolific television and film career with more than 370 credits, died Sunday in Pacific Palisades, California. He was 93.Schallert's character of Baris was an undersecretary in charge of agricultural affairs along the Federation's border with the Klingon Empire, according to Memory Alpha. Baris is the one who brings Capt. Kirk and the USS Enteprise to Deep Space Station K-7 to protect the grain, which was later consumed quite quickly by Tribbles.That was enough to get Baris to threaten Kirk with a hearing ...
- 5/9/2016
- GeekNation.com
Updated with statement from SAG-aftra: William Shallert, former SAG president and co-star on The Patty Duke Show, died on May 8 in Los Angeles. He was 93. Including stints on Star Trek, the 1967 pic In the Heat of the Night, an uncredited appearance in Steve Martin's The Jerk and HBO’s True Blood among many others, the character actor’s career spanned from 1947-2014, when he appeared in an episode of 2 Broke Girls. SAG-aftra today confirmed Shallert’s passing. "Bill…...
- 5/9/2016
- Deadline TV
William Schallert, the veteran character actor and former SAG president, died Sunday at the age of 93, TheWrap has confirmed. Schallert’s prolific career — which included almost 400 screen credits — dates back to the 1940s, when he landed a series of small roles in films like “Mighty Joe Young,” “The Reckless Moment,” and “Perfect Strangers.” He would go on to work steadily for the next 60 years, including guest roles on classic TV shows like “The Lone Ranger,” “Get Smart,” and “The Wild, Wild West.” Also Read: Ian Sander, 'Ghost Whisperer' Producer, Dies at 68 One of Schallert’s most iconic roles came when he.
- 5/9/2016
- by Joe Otterson
- The Wrap
Is satire obsolete? Our appalling present political reality has surpassed some of the wildest jokes in director Joe Dante's 'exaggerated, outrageous' 1997 cable movie. An immigration squabble snowballs until a renegade state governor closes his border and threatens to secede from the Union. It's a 'political idiocy' version of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World ... and nineteen years later, we're stuck living it. The Second Civil War DVD (2005) HBO Video 1997 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 96 min. / Street Date August 30, 2005 / 14.98 Starring Beau Bridges, Joanna Cassidy, Phil Hartman, James Earl Jones, James Coburn, Dan Hedaya, Elizabeth Peña, Denis Leary, Ron Perlman, Kevin Dunn, Brian Keith, Kevin McCarthy, Dick Miller, William Schallert, Catherine Lloyd Burns, Jerry Hardin, Roger Corman, Rance Howard, Robert Picardo, Alexandra Wilson, Belinda Belaski, Jennifer Carlson, Sean Lawlor. Cinematography Mac Ahlberg Film Editor Marshall Harvey Original Music Hummie Mann Written by Martyn Burke Produced by Guy Riedel Directed by Joe Dante...
- 4/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Robert Montgomery's last is a war movie like no other, a study in leadership and command with no combat scenes. James Cagney uses none of his standard personality mannerisms; the result is something very affecting. And that music! You'll think the whole show is the memory of a soul in heaven. The Gallant Hours Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1960 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 5, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring James Cagney, Dennis Weaver, Ward Costello, Vaughn Taylor, Richard Jaeckel, Les Tremayne, Walter Sande, Karl Swenson, Leon Lontoc, Robert Burton, Carleton Young, Raymond Bailey, Harry Landers, Richard Carlyle, James Yagi, James T. Goto, Carl Benton Reid, Selmer Jackson, Frank Latimore, Nelson Leigh, Herbert Lytton, Stuart Randall, William Schallert, Arthur Tovey, John Zaremba. Cinematography Joseph MacDonald Art Director Wiard Ihnen Original Music Roger Wagner Written by Beirne Lay Jr., Frank D. Gilroy Produced and Directed by Robert Montgomery...
- 4/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hollywood tackles the big issues! This adapted play about an unwanted teen pregnancy is actually quite good, thanks to fine performances by Carol Lynley and Brandon De Wilde, who convince as cherubic high schoolers 'too young to know the score.' And hey, the teen trauma is set to an intense music score by Bernard Herrmann. Blue Denim 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives 1959 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date March 16, 2016 / available through Amazon / 19.98 Starring Carol Lynley, Brandon De Wilde, Macdonald Carey, Marsha Hunt, Warren Berlinger, Vaughn Taylor, Roberta Shore, Malcolm Atterbury, Anthony J. Corso, Gregg Martell, William Schallert. Cinematography Leo Tover Film Editor William Reynolds, George Leggewie Original Music Bernard Herrmann Written by Edith Sommer, Philip Dunne from the play by James Leo Herlihy and William Noble Produced by Charles Brackett Directed by Philip Dunne
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sex education today is erratic, with no established standard, but...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sex education today is erratic, with no established standard, but...
- 4/5/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:
It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke...
It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke...
- 3/29/2016
- by Michael A. Lipton and Liz McNeil
- People.com - TV Watch
Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke tries...
- 3/29/2016
- by Michael A. Lipton and Liz McNeil
- PEOPLE.com
Patty Duke, best known as Helen Keller in the 1962 film The Miracle Worker, has died at the age of 69. After surviving the dark side of child stardom, Duke sat down with People in 1999 to open up about her battle with manic depression and reveal how she turned her life around. Read the profile below:It's feeding time at the 40-acre northern Idaho farm that actress Patty Duke calls home. Clad in faded overalls and work boots, Duke ignores three donkeys braying for their breakfast in favor of Tommy, her pet tortoise, to whom she proffers a banana. But while Duke tries...
- 3/29/2016
- by Michael A. Lipton and Liz McNeil
- PEOPLE.com
Happy March, everyone! This month’s home entertainment offerings are starting off with the proverbial bang as there seems to be a little something for every genre fan arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this Tuesday. Scream Factory is releasing both The Boy and Narcopolis on both formats this week, and Kino Lorber is resurrecting a pair of cult classics in HD as well: Gog (3D) and Transformations. Grindhouse Releasing has assembled an incredible Blu set for their release of Pieces, and the recent home invasion thriller, Intruders, makes its way onto DVD on March 1st.
For those of you who have made the leap to 4K, both The Last Witch Hunter and Mad Max: Fury Road are getting a special 4K release on Tuesday and other notable titles making their way home this first week of March include Zoombies, The Sinful Dwarf, The Fear of Darkness, Scream at the Devil,...
For those of you who have made the leap to 4K, both The Last Witch Hunter and Mad Max: Fury Road are getting a special 4K release on Tuesday and other notable titles making their way home this first week of March include Zoombies, The Sinful Dwarf, The Fear of Darkness, Scream at the Devil,...
- 3/1/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Now, after 62 years, viewable again in beautiful 3-D! Scientists are being murdered in a secret underground laboratory overseen by a super-computer and two robots, Gog and Magog. The restoration is a stunning achievement, covered thoroughly on the disc extras. The year is young, but this is an early favorite. Gog 3-D 3-D Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 85 min. / Street Date March 1, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95 Starring Richard Egan, Constance Dowling, Herbert Marshall, John Wengraf, Philip Van Zandt, Michael Fox, William Schallert. Cinematography Lothrop B. Worth Film Editor Herbert L. Strock Original Music Harry Sukman Written by Tom Taggart, Richard G. Taylor, Ivan Tors Produced by Ivan Tors Directed by Herbert L. Strock
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Once viewable only at isolated special film festivals, vintage films on 3-D are enjoying a comeback thanks to a busy independent company. The 3-D Film Archive has done work for various studios and disc distributors,...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Once viewable only at isolated special film festivals, vintage films on 3-D are enjoying a comeback thanks to a busy independent company. The 3-D Film Archive has done work for various studios and disc distributors,...
- 2/10/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon (1947-1988) was one of the most celebrated adventure comic strips of the 1950s. The blond, square-jawed hero was on the cutting edge of action as he took to the skies and had adventures around the world. Caniff populated the strip with memorable supporting characters and adversaries so it was a rich reading experience.
The strip was so popular that when Captain Action was introduced in 1966, Canyon was one of the first heroes he could turn into. Somewhat earlier, Canyon also served as inspiration for an NBC prime time series that, sadly, bore little resemblance to the strip (a common problem back then).
In 2008, John R. Ellis brought us this forgotten gem with The Complete Steve Canyon on TV Volume 1 and followed up a year later with Volume 2. The silence until late last year when the anticipated Volume 3 finally arrived, completing the run. Thankfully it came...
The strip was so popular that when Captain Action was introduced in 1966, Canyon was one of the first heroes he could turn into. Somewhat earlier, Canyon also served as inspiration for an NBC prime time series that, sadly, bore little resemblance to the strip (a common problem back then).
In 2008, John R. Ellis brought us this forgotten gem with The Complete Steve Canyon on TV Volume 1 and followed up a year later with Volume 2. The silence until late last year when the anticipated Volume 3 finally arrived, completing the run. Thankfully it came...
- 1/25/2016
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
If Santa didn't deliver you one pair of matching bookends, different as night and day, MeTV is here to help. Starting Monday, January 4, 2016, The Patty Duke Show will rerun on MeTV, weekdays at 6:00am Et/Pt.
In advance of the identical cousins' sitcom MeTV debut, the cable outlet has released a Patty Duke Show reunion promo, starring Patty Duke as Patty Lane, William Schallert as Martin Lane, and Patty Duke again, as Cathy Lane. Watch it, below.
Read More…...
In advance of the identical cousins' sitcom MeTV debut, the cable outlet has released a Patty Duke Show reunion promo, starring Patty Duke as Patty Lane, William Schallert as Martin Lane, and Patty Duke again, as Cathy Lane. Watch it, below.
Read More…...
- 12/29/2015
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
In the 1980s, bored film critics sometimes claimed to see homoerotic themes in any 'buddy picture' about guys being friends with guys. Only one bold comedy dared to confront this notion directly -- in this show, Dennis Quaid spends a full two hours inside Martin Short, yet the finished picture is still perfectly suitable for all audiences and age groups! Savant Blu-ray Review Warner Home Video 1987 / Color /1.78:1 / 116 min. / Street Date August 4, 2015/ available through Warner Bros. / 13.09 Starring Dennis Quaid, Martin Short, Meg Ryan, Kevin McCarthy, Fiona Lewis, Vernon Wells, Robert Picardo Cinematography Andrew Laszlo Visual Effects Supervisor Dennis Muren Art Direction James H. Spencer Film Editor Kent Beyda Original Music Jerry Goldsmith Written by Jeffrey Boam, Chip Proser, story by Chip Proser Produced by Michael Finnell, Peter Guber, Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Jon Peters, Chip Proser, Steven Spielberg Directed by Joe Dante
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Warner Home Video shows...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Warner Home Video shows...
- 8/31/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Lee Pfeiffer
Warner Home Entertainment has recently released their special edition DVD of director Joe Dante’s “Innerspace” on Blu-ray. The 1987 film is a sci-fi comedy that afforded Martin Short and Meg Ryan early career leading roles in a tale of inspired lunacy. The premise of the script centers on a narcissistic former military test pilot Tuck Pendelton (Dennis Quaid) who volunteers for an unprecedented scientific experiment. Doctors have the technology to shrink him and inject him into the body of a rabbit. They also obviously have the ability to bring him back into the outside world where he can resume his normal activities at his normal size. The purpose of the experiment is to allow medical technicians to eventually inject operatives into human beings so that they can perform miracle surgeries. However, there are some bad guys who are looking to benefit from the amazing technology by selling it to the highest bidder.
Warner Home Entertainment has recently released their special edition DVD of director Joe Dante’s “Innerspace” on Blu-ray. The 1987 film is a sci-fi comedy that afforded Martin Short and Meg Ryan early career leading roles in a tale of inspired lunacy. The premise of the script centers on a narcissistic former military test pilot Tuck Pendelton (Dennis Quaid) who volunteers for an unprecedented scientific experiment. Doctors have the technology to shrink him and inject him into the body of a rabbit. They also obviously have the ability to bring him back into the outside world where he can resume his normal activities at his normal size. The purpose of the experiment is to allow medical technicians to eventually inject operatives into human beings so that they can perform miracle surgeries. However, there are some bad guys who are looking to benefit from the amazing technology by selling it to the highest bidder.
- 8/29/2015
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...
- 8/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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