Video games may not be as well respected as other narrative artforms, but it’s only a matter of time before mainstream media begins to regard these interactive experiences with the same prestige as film and television. Fortunately, there are some artistic pioneers from other areas that have already recognized the creative potential of gaming, and this is especially true when it comes to the horror genre.
With so many genre filmmakers choosing to support interactive digital art, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six times that masters of horror contributed to videogames. After all, from famous writers to big-name directors, there are plenty of examples of multimedia collaboration in gaming.
As usual, we’ll be abiding by a couple of rules. First, we’ll only be including masters of horror that don’t specialize in videogames (that means no Shinji Mikami!). Second, the contribution has...
With so many genre filmmakers choosing to support interactive digital art, we’ve decided to come up with a list celebrating six times that masters of horror contributed to videogames. After all, from famous writers to big-name directors, there are plenty of examples of multimedia collaboration in gaming.
As usual, we’ll be abiding by a couple of rules. First, we’ll only be including masters of horror that don’t specialize in videogames (that means no Shinji Mikami!). Second, the contribution has...
- 5/4/2023
- by Luiz H. C.
- bloody-disgusting.com
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“Double W. C. Fields”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber has been releasing the W. C. Fields catalog in high definition, upgraded from previous releases on DVD, and two more have come to the fore—You’re Telling Me! and Man on the Flying Trapeze, two titles that don’t immediately come to mind when one thinks of top tier, classic Fields pictures, but never fear—they’re hilarious and worth a look.
You’re Telling Me! preceded The Old Fashioned Way and the brilliant It’s a Gift (both previously reviewed here at Cinema Retro), all three of which appeared in 1934, while Fields (real name—William Claude Dukenfield) still had a working contract with Paramount Pictures. Man on the Flying Trapeze was released in 1935, a return to a “Fields comedy” after the actor took a sidetrack sojourn, courtesy of Paramount, into more high-brow fare.
“Double W. C. Fields”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber has been releasing the W. C. Fields catalog in high definition, upgraded from previous releases on DVD, and two more have come to the fore—You’re Telling Me! and Man on the Flying Trapeze, two titles that don’t immediately come to mind when one thinks of top tier, classic Fields pictures, but never fear—they’re hilarious and worth a look.
You’re Telling Me! preceded The Old Fashioned Way and the brilliant It’s a Gift (both previously reviewed here at Cinema Retro), all three of which appeared in 1934, while Fields (real name—William Claude Dukenfield) still had a working contract with Paramount Pictures. Man on the Flying Trapeze was released in 1935, a return to a “Fields comedy” after the actor took a sidetrack sojourn, courtesy of Paramount, into more high-brow fare.
- 4/25/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“You’LL Take It And Like It”
By Raymond Benson
The late Peter Bogdanovich called it “the first great detective movie.” That statement is possibly arguable, but there is no question that the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon was the beginning of something new. Film historians will forever debate what the first film noir might have been, but Falcon is one of the contenders. The film presented a cynical, hard boiled detective in Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), utilized German expressionism in its cinematography and design, and a pessimistic tone. Falcon also truly launched Bogart into the A-list. Prior to this, Bogart usually played villains in crime pictures, third billed or ever further down the line.
The Maltese Falcon is of course based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel, originally serialized in 1929. Warner Brothers immediately bought the film rights, and an initial adaptation was made...
“You’LL Take It And Like It”
By Raymond Benson
The late Peter Bogdanovich called it “the first great detective movie.” That statement is possibly arguable, but there is no question that the 1941 version of The Maltese Falcon was the beginning of something new. Film historians will forever debate what the first film noir might have been, but Falcon is one of the contenders. The film presented a cynical, hard boiled detective in Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart), utilized German expressionism in its cinematography and design, and a pessimistic tone. Falcon also truly launched Bogart into the A-list. Prior to this, Bogart usually played villains in crime pictures, third billed or ever further down the line.
The Maltese Falcon is of course based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1930 novel, originally serialized in 1929. Warner Brothers immediately bought the film rights, and an initial adaptation was made...
- 4/20/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Our Town With Unions”
By Raymond Benson
This is a little-known gem of a film from producer Louis de Rochemont, the man best known for introducing The March of Time documentary newsreels to cinemas that ran from the 1930s until the early 1950s. He also produced several mainstream pictures, and one of these from 1951, The Whistle at Eaton Falls, is an underdog-battles-severe-odds tale of the highest caliber.
Directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Lloyd Bridges, Whistle might be described as Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, only with unions. Yes, this is a union drama along the lines of On the Waterfront or, much later, Norma Rae.
In a tight 96 minutes, Siodmak brings us a riveting story—the kind that gets an audience riled up against the injustices thrown at a protagonist. The suspense builds to a breaking point as we wonder how it...
“Our Town With Unions”
By Raymond Benson
This is a little-known gem of a film from producer Louis de Rochemont, the man best known for introducing The March of Time documentary newsreels to cinemas that ran from the 1930s until the early 1950s. He also produced several mainstream pictures, and one of these from 1951, The Whistle at Eaton Falls, is an underdog-battles-severe-odds tale of the highest caliber.
Directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Lloyd Bridges, Whistle might be described as Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, only with unions. Yes, this is a union drama along the lines of On the Waterfront or, much later, Norma Rae.
In a tight 96 minutes, Siodmak brings us a riveting story—the kind that gets an audience riled up against the injustices thrown at a protagonist. The suspense builds to a breaking point as we wonder how it...
- 4/19/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Is You In There, Zombie?”
By Raymond Benson
There are a handful of Hollywood movies out there that successfully combined comedy with the horror genre. Surprisingly, truly good ones are few and far between. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) is perhaps the quintessential example of the genre mashup. It provided genuine thrills and some frights mixed in with hilarious comedic bits. A more recent one that comes to mind is of course the 1984 megahit, Ghostbusters. There is no question that this Bill Murray vehicle owes a great deal to the 1940 romp, The Ghost Breakers, considered one of Bob Hope’s most beloved early pictures.
Based on the 1909 stage play, The Ghost Breaker, by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard, the 1940 movie is actually a remake of previous adaptations. Both Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred E. Green made silent films of the play in 1914 and 1922, respectively,...
“Is You In There, Zombie?”
By Raymond Benson
There are a handful of Hollywood movies out there that successfully combined comedy with the horror genre. Surprisingly, truly good ones are few and far between. Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) is perhaps the quintessential example of the genre mashup. It provided genuine thrills and some frights mixed in with hilarious comedic bits. A more recent one that comes to mind is of course the 1984 megahit, Ghostbusters. There is no question that this Bill Murray vehicle owes a great deal to the 1940 romp, The Ghost Breakers, considered one of Bob Hope’s most beloved early pictures.
Based on the 1909 stage play, The Ghost Breaker, by Paul Dickey and Charles W. Goddard, the 1940 movie is actually a remake of previous adaptations. Both Cecil B. DeMille and Alfred E. Green made silent films of the play in 1914 and 1922, respectively,...
- 4/18/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Just The Driver”
By Raymond Benson
Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg has always managed to push the envelope with nearly every one of his striking pieces of work since he appeared on the scene in the mid-1970s. Known at first as primarily a director of unique “body-horror” films (The Brood, 1979, or The Fly; 1986), Cronenberg spread his wings in the 1990s and moved away from the genre to tackle more dramatic and varied subjects. His 2007 crime picture about the Russian mafia operating in London, Eastern Promises, stands as a milestone title in the director’s filmography.
Kino Lorber Classics has released a superb 2-disk (4K Ultra and Blu-ray) package of the film, and the results are impressive. The picture quality is so sharp and clear that it could be used as a demonstration product for high definition televisions.
Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) is a...
“Just The Driver”
By Raymond Benson
Canadian filmmaker David Cronenberg has always managed to push the envelope with nearly every one of his striking pieces of work since he appeared on the scene in the mid-1970s. Known at first as primarily a director of unique “body-horror” films (The Brood, 1979, or The Fly; 1986), Cronenberg spread his wings in the 1990s and moved away from the genre to tackle more dramatic and varied subjects. His 2007 crime picture about the Russian mafia operating in London, Eastern Promises, stands as a milestone title in the director’s filmography.
Kino Lorber Classics has released a superb 2-disk (4K Ultra and Blu-ray) package of the film, and the results are impressive. The picture quality is so sharp and clear that it could be used as a demonstration product for high definition televisions.
Anna Khitrova (Naomi Watts) is a...
- 4/6/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“W. C. Fields And The Termite’S Flophouse”
By Raymond Benson
By 1939, comic superstar W. C. Fields (real name William Claude Dukenfield) had a love-hate relationship with Hollywood. While he was still something of a box office draw and enjoyed immense popularity, Fields’ relationship with the bottle was causing more problems for the actor, and he had lost his contract with Paramount, the home of his earlier talkies. After a resurgence in admiration due to radio broadcasts with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, Fields signed a new contract with Universal. The first picture out of the gate was a team-up with Fields and Bergen/McCarthy.
You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man can’t be counted among Fields’ best pictures, but it’s entertaining and funny enough. It is arguable that Bergen and McCarthy steal the show based on Bergen’s charm and good looks,...
“W. C. Fields And The Termite’S Flophouse”
By Raymond Benson
By 1939, comic superstar W. C. Fields (real name William Claude Dukenfield) had a love-hate relationship with Hollywood. While he was still something of a box office draw and enjoyed immense popularity, Fields’ relationship with the bottle was causing more problems for the actor, and he had lost his contract with Paramount, the home of his earlier talkies. After a resurgence in admiration due to radio broadcasts with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, Fields signed a new contract with Universal. The first picture out of the gate was a team-up with Fields and Bergen/McCarthy.
You Can’t Cheat an Honest Man can’t be counted among Fields’ best pictures, but it’s entertaining and funny enough. It is arguable that Bergen and McCarthy steal the show based on Bergen’s charm and good looks,...
- 4/5/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Under The Veneer”
By Raymond Benson
Finally, a high definition Blu-ray disk of Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, Ordinary People, has been released. To date, the film has existed on home video only on VHS and DVD, and the new Paramount Presents edition is most welcome.
People was Redford’s directorial debut, and at the time audiences and critics expected it to be good, but they didn’t count on it being that good. It took the Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards, along with a trophy for Redford for Direction, one for Alvin Sargent’s Adapted Screenplay (based on Judith Guest’s wonderful novel), and a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Timothy Hutton. Granted, Hutton’s character, Conrad Jarrett, is really the protagonist, i.e., the lead in the movie, so it’s one of those infuriating cases in which an...
“Under The Veneer”
By Raymond Benson
Finally, a high definition Blu-ray disk of Robert Redford’s 1980 masterpiece, Ordinary People, has been released. To date, the film has existed on home video only on VHS and DVD, and the new Paramount Presents edition is most welcome.
People was Redford’s directorial debut, and at the time audiences and critics expected it to be good, but they didn’t count on it being that good. It took the Best Picture prize at the Academy Awards, along with a trophy for Redford for Direction, one for Alvin Sargent’s Adapted Screenplay (based on Judith Guest’s wonderful novel), and a most deserved Supporting Actor Oscar for Timothy Hutton. Granted, Hutton’s character, Conrad Jarrett, is really the protagonist, i.e., the lead in the movie, so it’s one of those infuriating cases in which an...
- 3/27/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“A Rise And A Fall In Technicolor”
By Raymond Benson
A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the...
“A Rise And A Fall In Technicolor”
By Raymond Benson
A Star is Born has been made many times—as four Hollywood feature films, one television movie, and one Bollywood picture. The 1937 original, produced by David O. Selznick, directed by William A. Wellman, is often forgotten amongst the more recent versions, such as the celebrated 2018 remake starring Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper.
For this reviewer’s money, the 1937 A Star is Born is superior to them all. Granted, it is obviously dated and one must place oneself within the context of the period in which the movie was released. It is also not a musical, as all the others are. The first version also deals exclusively with the motion picture industry. The second one, released in 1954 and starring Judy Garland and James Mason, did as well… but following adaptations went more into the...
- 3/25/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“You Gotta Get A Get”
By Raymond Benson
(Note: Much of this review is repeated from an earlier Cinema Retro review of a previous Blu-ray release.)
In the world of the Jewish Conservative Orthodox community, a divorce is truly final only when the husband presents his wife with a “get”—a document in Hebrew that grants the woman her freedom to be with other men. Likewise, the wife must accept the get before the man can re-marry, too.
This is the crux of the story behind Hester Street, an independent art-house film that appeared in 1975, written and directed by Joan Micklin Silver. Starring Carol Kane, who was nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Gitl, a newly arrived immigrant to New York City in 1896, and Steven Keats as her husband Yankl, who, in an attempt to assimilate, in public goes by the name “Jake.
“You Gotta Get A Get”
By Raymond Benson
(Note: Much of this review is repeated from an earlier Cinema Retro review of a previous Blu-ray release.)
In the world of the Jewish Conservative Orthodox community, a divorce is truly final only when the husband presents his wife with a “get”—a document in Hebrew that grants the woman her freedom to be with other men. Likewise, the wife must accept the get before the man can re-marry, too.
This is the crux of the story behind Hester Street, an independent art-house film that appeared in 1975, written and directed by Joan Micklin Silver. Starring Carol Kane, who was nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Gitl, a newly arrived immigrant to New York City in 1896, and Steven Keats as her husband Yankl, who, in an attempt to assimilate, in public goes by the name “Jake.
- 3/24/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Bye-bye To The Band”
By Raymond Benson
One of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed rock concert films is Martin Scorsese’s documentary, The Last Waltz, which was unleashed in the spring of 1978. The movie documents the final concert performed by The Band, the legendary session group for Bob Dylan and others that became a recording and touring entity in their own right in the late 1960s and early 70s.
The Band, hailing from Canada, got their start as The Hawks, the backup band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. By the mid-sixties, they were working for Dylan with the name change to The Band, and also started recording on their own (Music from Big Pink was their debut in 1968). At the time of their breakup, the group consisted of Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko (bass, guitar, fiddle, vocals), Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm,...
“Bye-bye To The Band”
By Raymond Benson
One of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed rock concert films is Martin Scorsese’s documentary, The Last Waltz, which was unleashed in the spring of 1978. The movie documents the final concert performed by The Band, the legendary session group for Bob Dylan and others that became a recording and touring entity in their own right in the late 1960s and early 70s.
The Band, hailing from Canada, got their start as The Hawks, the backup band for rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins. By the mid-sixties, they were working for Dylan with the name change to The Band, and also started recording on their own (Music from Big Pink was their debut in 1968). At the time of their breakup, the group consisted of Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko (bass, guitar, fiddle, vocals), Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson, Levon Helm,...
- 3/12/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Unchanging Evolution”
By Raymond Benson
The early 1970s was a time of experimentation and risk-taking in Hollywood. Studios were more willing to allow filmmakers to take a project and run with it, just to see if something thrown at the wall would stick. After all, this was the period of “New Hollywood,” maverick young directors just out of film school, and pushing the envelope when it came to what was permissible on screen since the Production Code was gone and the relatively new movie ratings were in place.
Playboy Enterprises got into the movie making business in the early 70s. After the critical success of Roman Polanski’s Macbeth (1971), Playboy produced The Naked Ape (1973), loosely adapted from Desmond Morris’ 1967 best-selling non-fiction book.
Morris’ book was an entertaining anthropological study of man’s evolution from primates and how social norms and mating rituals, especially...
“Unchanging Evolution”
By Raymond Benson
The early 1970s was a time of experimentation and risk-taking in Hollywood. Studios were more willing to allow filmmakers to take a project and run with it, just to see if something thrown at the wall would stick. After all, this was the period of “New Hollywood,” maverick young directors just out of film school, and pushing the envelope when it came to what was permissible on screen since the Production Code was gone and the relatively new movie ratings were in place.
Playboy Enterprises got into the movie making business in the early 70s. After the critical success of Roman Polanski’s Macbeth (1971), Playboy produced The Naked Ape (1973), loosely adapted from Desmond Morris’ 1967 best-selling non-fiction book.
Morris’ book was an entertaining anthropological study of man’s evolution from primates and how social norms and mating rituals, especially...
- 2/3/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Bob The Barber”
By Raymond Benson
One of actor/comedian Bob Hope’s most cherished films is Monsieur Beaucaire, a 1946 remake of a Rudolph Valentino silent picture from 1924, both of which are based on a 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington. Hope’s version, directed by George Marshall, is certainly a loose adaptation because it turned what was a historical romantic drama into a flat-out comedy.
Woody Allen has been known to cite early Bob Hope movies as an inspiration for his onscreen persona in the director’s early “zany” comedies like Bananas and Sleeper. When one views something like Monsieur Beaucaire or My Favorite Blonde (1942), the comparison is strikingly apt. Hope creates a persona of nervous mannerisms, lack of self confidence masked by bravado, clumsy but endearing interaction with the opposite sex, and witty one-liners. Beaucaire exhibits Hope in fine form, producing a good...
“Bob The Barber”
By Raymond Benson
One of actor/comedian Bob Hope’s most cherished films is Monsieur Beaucaire, a 1946 remake of a Rudolph Valentino silent picture from 1924, both of which are based on a 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington. Hope’s version, directed by George Marshall, is certainly a loose adaptation because it turned what was a historical romantic drama into a flat-out comedy.
Woody Allen has been known to cite early Bob Hope movies as an inspiration for his onscreen persona in the director’s early “zany” comedies like Bananas and Sleeper. When one views something like Monsieur Beaucaire or My Favorite Blonde (1942), the comparison is strikingly apt. Hope creates a persona of nervous mannerisms, lack of self confidence masked by bravado, clumsy but endearing interaction with the opposite sex, and witty one-liners. Beaucaire exhibits Hope in fine form, producing a good...
- 1/15/2022
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Brosnan Before Bond”
By Raymond Benson
In 1986, Pierce Brosnan almost became James Bond, nearly a decade before he actually did so. He had been cast to replace Roger Moore as the iconic 007, but at the last minute, NBC waved his contract for the television series Remington Steele at him, exercising the option to make another season. Brosnan was out, and Timothy Dalton was in.
And then… Remington Steele’s new season ended up consisting of only six episodes, finishing its run in early 1987. So, Brosnan had been baited and switched. Nevertheless, in the interim years between then and his appearance in GoldenEye (1995), the actor set about establishing himself as a leading man in feature films.
One of these early starring roles was in the 1988 production, The Deceivers, a British picture made by the elite Merchant Ivory Productions, and it was produced by Ismail Merchant himself.
“Brosnan Before Bond”
By Raymond Benson
In 1986, Pierce Brosnan almost became James Bond, nearly a decade before he actually did so. He had been cast to replace Roger Moore as the iconic 007, but at the last minute, NBC waved his contract for the television series Remington Steele at him, exercising the option to make another season. Brosnan was out, and Timothy Dalton was in.
And then… Remington Steele’s new season ended up consisting of only six episodes, finishing its run in early 1987. So, Brosnan had been baited and switched. Nevertheless, in the interim years between then and his appearance in GoldenEye (1995), the actor set about establishing himself as a leading man in feature films.
One of these early starring roles was in the 1988 production, The Deceivers, a British picture made by the elite Merchant Ivory Productions, and it was produced by Ismail Merchant himself.
- 12/19/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Age Is Just A Number”
By Raymond Benson
Harold and Maude, which was directed by Hal Ashby (his second feature film) and released in 1971, is one of those initially critically stomped box-office bombs… and yet years later became a cult hit in revival houses, on television broadcasts, and home video releases. It’s one of many examples that illustrate how critics don’t always know everything and how some motion pictures are ahead of their time. Harold and Maude now resides in the top 50 of the AFI’s list of 100 greatest comedy films.
Written by Colin Higgins, who simultaneously turned his original screenplay into a novel (also published in 1971), the movie was unquestionably a counter-culture, rebellious black comedy that from the get-go had the potential to offend some folks. The main character’s fake suicide pranks aside, the theme of a May-December romance...
“Age Is Just A Number”
By Raymond Benson
Harold and Maude, which was directed by Hal Ashby (his second feature film) and released in 1971, is one of those initially critically stomped box-office bombs… and yet years later became a cult hit in revival houses, on television broadcasts, and home video releases. It’s one of many examples that illustrate how critics don’t always know everything and how some motion pictures are ahead of their time. Harold and Maude now resides in the top 50 of the AFI’s list of 100 greatest comedy films.
Written by Colin Higgins, who simultaneously turned his original screenplay into a novel (also published in 1971), the movie was unquestionably a counter-culture, rebellious black comedy that from the get-go had the potential to offend some folks. The main character’s fake suicide pranks aside, the theme of a May-December romance...
- 12/16/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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Rip Van Marlowe
By Raymond Benson
(Note: Portions of this review appeared on Cinema Retro in 2014 for an earlier Kino Lorber edition.)
Robert Altman was a very quirky director, sometimes missing the mark, but oftentimes brilliant. His 1973 take on Raymond Chandler’s 1953 novel The Long Goodbye is a case in point. It might take a second viewing to appreciate what’s really going on in the film. Updating what is essentially a 1940s film noir character to the swinging 70s was a risky and challenging prospect—and Altman and his star, Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe (!), pull it off.
It’s one of those pictures that critics hated when it was first released; and yet, by the end of the year, it was being named on several Top Ten lists. I admit that when I first saw it in 1973, I didn’t much care for it.
Rip Van Marlowe
By Raymond Benson
(Note: Portions of this review appeared on Cinema Retro in 2014 for an earlier Kino Lorber edition.)
Robert Altman was a very quirky director, sometimes missing the mark, but oftentimes brilliant. His 1973 take on Raymond Chandler’s 1953 novel The Long Goodbye is a case in point. It might take a second viewing to appreciate what’s really going on in the film. Updating what is essentially a 1940s film noir character to the swinging 70s was a risky and challenging prospect—and Altman and his star, Elliott Gould as Philip Marlowe (!), pull it off.
It’s one of those pictures that critics hated when it was first released; and yet, by the end of the year, it was being named on several Top Ten lists. I admit that when I first saw it in 1973, I didn’t much care for it.
- 12/14/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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By Raymond Benson
One of the great Alfred Hitchcock’s normally derided pictures from his early British period that the Master of Suspense made prior to gaining that moniker is the 1932 comic thriller, Number Seventeen. It is a short work, running only 63 minutes, and its brevity is one of its few strengths.
For some reason, Hitchcock’s British films, made between 1925 and 1939, have all turned up on various home video labels in the USA over the years, mostly of dubious quality ranging from bad to terrible. They often show up on bootleg “bargain collections” and such. This is despite the fact that none of these movies are in the public domain, as is commonly thought. Thankfully, certain boutique DVD/Blu-ray producers have taken the reins to correct this horrid practice. StudioCanal or the BFI have restored most of the titles and they are...
By Raymond Benson
One of the great Alfred Hitchcock’s normally derided pictures from his early British period that the Master of Suspense made prior to gaining that moniker is the 1932 comic thriller, Number Seventeen. It is a short work, running only 63 minutes, and its brevity is one of its few strengths.
For some reason, Hitchcock’s British films, made between 1925 and 1939, have all turned up on various home video labels in the USA over the years, mostly of dubious quality ranging from bad to terrible. They often show up on bootleg “bargain collections” and such. This is despite the fact that none of these movies are in the public domain, as is commonly thought. Thankfully, certain boutique DVD/Blu-ray producers have taken the reins to correct this horrid practice. StudioCanal or the BFI have restored most of the titles and they are...
- 12/2/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
“Wong Fei-hung And The Criterion Treasure”
By Raymond Benson
What character in cinematic history has appeared in the most films? Our friend the Internet says that Sherlock Holmes holds the record, followed by Dracula. However, most people outside of Asia might not realize that possibly third on the list is a Chinese martial arts practitioner and physician named Wong Fei-hung, who was a real person who lived mostly in the Canton area from 1847-1925. Wong became a cultural folk hero in his native country, spawning literature, comics, television series, and many, many films.
Wong Fei-hung has been known in fictional settings as Huang Fei-hong, Huang Fei Hong, Wong Fei Hong, and in this recent series as Wong Fei-hung. The actor most associated with the character in China is Tak-Hing Kwan, who made over 75 films between the 1940s and 1980s. Kwan is to Wong Fei-hung as Sean Connery is to James Bond.
By Raymond Benson
What character in cinematic history has appeared in the most films? Our friend the Internet says that Sherlock Holmes holds the record, followed by Dracula. However, most people outside of Asia might not realize that possibly third on the list is a Chinese martial arts practitioner and physician named Wong Fei-hung, who was a real person who lived mostly in the Canton area from 1847-1925. Wong became a cultural folk hero in his native country, spawning literature, comics, television series, and many, many films.
Wong Fei-hung has been known in fictional settings as Huang Fei-hong, Huang Fei Hong, Wong Fei Hong, and in this recent series as Wong Fei-hung. The actor most associated with the character in China is Tak-Hing Kwan, who made over 75 films between the 1940s and 1980s. Kwan is to Wong Fei-hung as Sean Connery is to James Bond.
- 11/29/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
If you haven't subscribed for Season 17 of Cinema Retro, here's what you've been missing:
Issue #49
Lee Pfeiffer goes undercover for Robert Vaughn's spy thriller "The Venetian Affair" .
Cai Ross goes to hell for "Damien- Omen II"
Ernie Magnotta continues our "Elvis on Film" series with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"..
Robert Leese scare up some memories of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls"
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer look back on the 1976 Sensurround sensation "Midway"
Remembering Sir Sean Connery
James Sherlock examines Stanley Kramer's pandemic Cold War classic "On the Beach".
Dave Worrall goes in search of the Disco Volante hydrofoil from "Thunderball"
Raymond Benson's Cinema 101 column
Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column
Darren Allison reviews the latest soundtrack releases
Issue #50
50th anniversary celebration of "The French Connection" : Todd Garbarini interviews director William Friedkin
"Scars of Dracula": Mark Cerulli interviews stars Jenny Hanley and...
Issue #49
Lee Pfeiffer goes undercover for Robert Vaughn's spy thriller "The Venetian Affair" .
Cai Ross goes to hell for "Damien- Omen II"
Ernie Magnotta continues our "Elvis on Film" series with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"..
Robert Leese scare up some memories of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls"
Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer look back on the 1976 Sensurround sensation "Midway"
Remembering Sir Sean Connery
James Sherlock examines Stanley Kramer's pandemic Cold War classic "On the Beach".
Dave Worrall goes in search of the Disco Volante hydrofoil from "Thunderball"
Raymond Benson's Cinema 101 column
Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column
Darren Allison reviews the latest soundtrack releases
Issue #50
50th anniversary celebration of "The French Connection" : Todd Garbarini interviews director William Friedkin
"Scars of Dracula": Mark Cerulli interviews stars Jenny Hanley and...
- 11/26/2021
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“Small Town, Big Drama”
By Raymond Benson
James Jones is mostly known for his debut novel, From Here to Eternity. His second novel, published in 1958, was Some Came Running, a 1,200-page potboiler that blows the lid off small town America. It was a more adult Peyton Place, if that was possible for the time. Colorful, sometimes sordid, characters populate the book, and it didn’t do as well as that classic first publication. Nevertheless, MGM immediately scooped it up and managed to turn it into a motion picture by the end of the same year.
Frank Sinatra found the material appealing, and he saw himself as the story’s lead, Dave Hirsh, a prodigal son of sorts from fictional Parkman, Indiana. Discharged from the army, Hirsh arrives in town with a hangover and a party girl he picked up in Chicago, Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine). His brother,...
“Small Town, Big Drama”
By Raymond Benson
James Jones is mostly known for his debut novel, From Here to Eternity. His second novel, published in 1958, was Some Came Running, a 1,200-page potboiler that blows the lid off small town America. It was a more adult Peyton Place, if that was possible for the time. Colorful, sometimes sordid, characters populate the book, and it didn’t do as well as that classic first publication. Nevertheless, MGM immediately scooped it up and managed to turn it into a motion picture by the end of the same year.
Frank Sinatra found the material appealing, and he saw himself as the story’s lead, Dave Hirsh, a prodigal son of sorts from fictional Parkman, Indiana. Discharged from the army, Hirsh arrives in town with a hangover and a party girl he picked up in Chicago, Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine). His brother,...
- 11/22/2021
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“Murder Mystery Parlor Game”
By Raymond Benson
The genius of Stephen Sondheim is usually reserved for the Broadway stage as the creator or co-creator of multiple award-winning and classic musicals. The presence of Anthony Perkins is usually earmarked for screen and stage appearances as an actor. So, who would have thought that these two would team up to write a murder mystery screenplay—with no musical numbers within earshot—that would be filmed by director Herbert Ross, and then win an Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America for the script?
The Last of Sheila, released in early summer 1973, seems to be a precursor to the series of Agatha Christie all-star-cast pictures that launched in the mid-70s. It’s an original story, though, concocted by Sondheim and Perkins, allegedly inspired by real “scavenger hunt” party games that were thrown by their friends in those days.
“Murder Mystery Parlor Game”
By Raymond Benson
The genius of Stephen Sondheim is usually reserved for the Broadway stage as the creator or co-creator of multiple award-winning and classic musicals. The presence of Anthony Perkins is usually earmarked for screen and stage appearances as an actor. So, who would have thought that these two would team up to write a murder mystery screenplay—with no musical numbers within earshot—that would be filmed by director Herbert Ross, and then win an Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America for the script?
The Last of Sheila, released in early summer 1973, seems to be a precursor to the series of Agatha Christie all-star-cast pictures that launched in the mid-70s. It’s an original story, though, concocted by Sondheim and Perkins, allegedly inspired by real “scavenger hunt” party games that were thrown by their friends in those days.
- 11/20/2021
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“A Mentalist Mystery”
By Raymond Benson
Anything that originated from the mind of celebrated mystery novelist, Cornell Woolrich, is worth one’s perusal, and the 1948 film adaptation of the author’s 1945 work, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, mostly measures up.
Directed with confidence and style by John Farrow, Night is a film noir that ticks a lot of boxes that define that Hollywood cinematic movement of the late 1940s and early 50s. There’s a cynical and disturbed protagonist who is haunted by the past, cinematography (by John F. Seitz) that highly contrasts light and shadows, voiceover narration, flashbacks, and, of course, crimes. It’s short (81 minutes) and it’s intriguing. The picture’s faults might be that it can be overly melodramatic at times, and there are a couple of weak casting choices that prevent Night from being a classic. It’s good enough,...
“A Mentalist Mystery”
By Raymond Benson
Anything that originated from the mind of celebrated mystery novelist, Cornell Woolrich, is worth one’s perusal, and the 1948 film adaptation of the author’s 1945 work, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, mostly measures up.
Directed with confidence and style by John Farrow, Night is a film noir that ticks a lot of boxes that define that Hollywood cinematic movement of the late 1940s and early 50s. There’s a cynical and disturbed protagonist who is haunted by the past, cinematography (by John F. Seitz) that highly contrasts light and shadows, voiceover narration, flashbacks, and, of course, crimes. It’s short (81 minutes) and it’s intriguing. The picture’s faults might be that it can be overly melodramatic at times, and there are a couple of weak casting choices that prevent Night from being a classic. It’s good enough,...
- 11/13/2021
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Review: "The Accused" (1949) Starring Loretta Young And Robert Cummings; Kino Lorber Blu-ray Release
“Murder Or Self Defense?”
By Raymond Benson
This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it...
By Raymond Benson
This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it...
- 11/12/2021
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“Double Trouble”
By Raymond Benson
Crime stories about twins are usually compelling, despite the sameness (no pun intended) about them. Among the Living, a 1941 potboiler from Paramount, is a short (only 69 minutes!) thriller that, with a few cuts, might have been an episode of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents or similar anthology television program. It moves quickly, holds interest, and contains a reasonably dynamic performance from Albert Dekker as twins—one of them “normal,” and the other insane.
Dekker had an admirable career in Hollywood for three decades, usually working in supporting roles. He is perhaps best known as the titular character in Dr. Cyclops (1940). Landing a dual starring part in Among the Living was likely a result of his appearance in Cyclops.
The old Raden home is supposedly haunted, barely looked after by the elderly Black caretaker, Pompey (Ernest Whitman). Old man Raden,...
“Double Trouble”
By Raymond Benson
Crime stories about twins are usually compelling, despite the sameness (no pun intended) about them. Among the Living, a 1941 potboiler from Paramount, is a short (only 69 minutes!) thriller that, with a few cuts, might have been an episode of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents or similar anthology television program. It moves quickly, holds interest, and contains a reasonably dynamic performance from Albert Dekker as twins—one of them “normal,” and the other insane.
Dekker had an admirable career in Hollywood for three decades, usually working in supporting roles. He is perhaps best known as the titular character in Dr. Cyclops (1940). Landing a dual starring part in Among the Living was likely a result of his appearance in Cyclops.
The old Raden home is supposedly haunted, barely looked after by the elderly Black caretaker, Pompey (Ernest Whitman). Old man Raden,...
- 11/11/2021
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“Ever Done Any Boondoggling?”
By Raymond Benson
Continuing the examination of Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray releases of the W. C. Fields catalog of classic comedies, we now look at The Bank Dick, easily one of the actor/comedian’s greatest works.
Released in 1940 (titled The Bank Detective in the U.K.), Fields was starting to wind down, whether he knew it or not. Alcoholism was taking its toll, and it wouldn’t be long before his amazing run in cinema since the silent era would soon come to an end. He still had some surprises in his pockets, though, and The Bank Dick was one of them.
“Ever done in any boondoggling?” Fields, as Egbert Sousé, submits to another character in the film. In a way, he’s asking that of the audience, too. For The Bank Dick is nothing but a load of boondoggling,...
“Ever Done Any Boondoggling?”
By Raymond Benson
Continuing the examination of Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray releases of the W. C. Fields catalog of classic comedies, we now look at The Bank Dick, easily one of the actor/comedian’s greatest works.
Released in 1940 (titled The Bank Detective in the U.K.), Fields was starting to wind down, whether he knew it or not. Alcoholism was taking its toll, and it wouldn’t be long before his amazing run in cinema since the silent era would soon come to an end. He still had some surprises in his pockets, though, and The Bank Dick was one of them.
“Ever done in any boondoggling?” Fields, as Egbert Sousé, submits to another character in the film. In a way, he’s asking that of the audience, too. For The Bank Dick is nothing but a load of boondoggling,...
- 10/25/2021
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“A Can Of Sandworms”
By Raymond Benson
In anticipation of the upcoming release of Denis Villeneuve’s remake, the excellent boutique label Arrow Video has issued a superb 2-disk Limited Edition package of David Lynch’s 1984 film, Dune. It comes in two versions—one in 4K Ultra HD, and the other in standard Blu-ray.
Filmmaker David Lynch today refuses to discuss Dune, which he made for producer Dino De Laurentiis for a whopping $40-42 million. It was a colossal flop at the time, was critically reviled, and audiences didn’t care much for it either. However, over the years, Dune has gained a cult following and it assuredly has its share of defenders, including Frank Herbert, the author of the original 1965 novel.
The history of the production has long been a topic of discussion among film historians and cinephiles. Attempts to film the complex,...
“A Can Of Sandworms”
By Raymond Benson
In anticipation of the upcoming release of Denis Villeneuve’s remake, the excellent boutique label Arrow Video has issued a superb 2-disk Limited Edition package of David Lynch’s 1984 film, Dune. It comes in two versions—one in 4K Ultra HD, and the other in standard Blu-ray.
Filmmaker David Lynch today refuses to discuss Dune, which he made for producer Dino De Laurentiis for a whopping $40-42 million. It was a colossal flop at the time, was critically reviled, and audiences didn’t care much for it either. However, over the years, Dune has gained a cult following and it assuredly has its share of defenders, including Frank Herbert, the author of the original 1965 novel.
The history of the production has long been a topic of discussion among film historians and cinephiles. Attempts to film the complex,...
- 9/5/2021
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“Spies With Scruples”
By Raymond Benson
In comparing Masquerade (1965) with a recent review of Arabesque (1966) here at Cinema Retro, this time we have yet another mid-1960s “comedy-spy thriller,” a genre that was crowding the cinemas in those days because of the success of Double-o-You-Know-Who.
In contrast to Arabesque, this one is a British production, directed by the prolific and often brilliant Basil Dearden, and it utilizes London locations as well as spots in Spain. And yet, despite the thoroughly British DNA running through 95% of the movie, it stars American Cliff Robertson as the hero, David Fraser, a sort of CIA type who seems to approach all the danger around him with misplaced naivete and amused detachment.
The script marks the first appearance of the great William Goldman in a screen credit (co-writing with Michael Relph). It’s based on Vincent Canning’s novel,...
“Spies With Scruples”
By Raymond Benson
In comparing Masquerade (1965) with a recent review of Arabesque (1966) here at Cinema Retro, this time we have yet another mid-1960s “comedy-spy thriller,” a genre that was crowding the cinemas in those days because of the success of Double-o-You-Know-Who.
In contrast to Arabesque, this one is a British production, directed by the prolific and often brilliant Basil Dearden, and it utilizes London locations as well as spots in Spain. And yet, despite the thoroughly British DNA running through 95% of the movie, it stars American Cliff Robertson as the hero, David Fraser, a sort of CIA type who seems to approach all the danger around him with misplaced naivete and amused detachment.
The script marks the first appearance of the great William Goldman in a screen credit (co-writing with Michael Relph). It’s based on Vincent Canning’s novel,...
- 9/1/2021
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“A Beautiful Mess”
By Raymond Benson
Filmmaker Stanley Donen had substantial success with his comedy-thriller, Charade (1963), which starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It was hyped and critiqued as “Hitchcockian” in tone and style, especially the light-hearted and glitzy To Catch a Thief (1955). (There are many who mistakenly believe that Charade is a Hitchcock film.)
The studio then wanted to repeat that success with a similar picture, Arabesque, also with Cary Grant in the lead role with Donen directing again. However, Grant felt that the script was “terrible” and passed. Donen allegedly wasn’t too thrilled with the script, either, and he wasn’t too keen on making the picture without Grant.
Then Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren expressed interest in the movie, so Donen acquiesced. Sounds like a fairy tale scenario for the greenlighting of a Hollywood movie, right? The two Oscar-winning stars were cast,...
“A Beautiful Mess”
By Raymond Benson
Filmmaker Stanley Donen had substantial success with his comedy-thriller, Charade (1963), which starred Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn. It was hyped and critiqued as “Hitchcockian” in tone and style, especially the light-hearted and glitzy To Catch a Thief (1955). (There are many who mistakenly believe that Charade is a Hitchcock film.)
The studio then wanted to repeat that success with a similar picture, Arabesque, also with Cary Grant in the lead role with Donen directing again. However, Grant felt that the script was “terrible” and passed. Donen allegedly wasn’t too thrilled with the script, either, and he wasn’t too keen on making the picture without Grant.
Then Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren expressed interest in the movie, so Donen acquiesced. Sounds like a fairy tale scenario for the greenlighting of a Hollywood movie, right? The two Oscar-winning stars were cast,...
- 8/29/2021
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“Burlesque Lives”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 12—the double bill of Peek-a-Boo and “B” Girl Rhapsody, two documentations of burlesque revues from the 1950s.
The delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the scandalous title as “educational.” It’s certain, however, that in this case both features in Volume 12 were not educational in any way except to provide the experience of burlesque shows to audiences who were unable to view them in person.
This reviewer, who usually welcomes and enthusiastically supports all the volumes in the “Forbidden Fruit” series,...
“Burlesque Lives”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 12—the double bill of Peek-a-Boo and “B” Girl Rhapsody, two documentations of burlesque revues from the 1950s.
The delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the scandalous title as “educational.” It’s certain, however, that in this case both features in Volume 12 were not educational in any way except to provide the experience of burlesque shows to audiences who were unable to view them in person.
This reviewer, who usually welcomes and enthusiastically supports all the volumes in the “Forbidden Fruit” series,...
- 8/9/2021
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“You Cannot Fool Everyone All The Time”
By Raymond Benson
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” That utterance is evoked in the course of Billy Wilder’s 1966 acerbic comedy, The Fortune Cookie and it certainly applies to the legal goings-on as instigated by “Whiplash Willie” Gingrich (Walter Matthau), an unscrupulous lawyer who sets out to commit fraud against an insurance company for big bucks.
While it’s arguable that the great Billy Wilder continued to make good films into the 1970s, The Fortune Cookie might be his last superb one. It’s no Some Like it Hot or The Apartment, but the picture manages to evoke many laughs and also exhibits what is perhaps the quintessential performance by Matthau.
Jack Lemmon is sports news cameraman Harry Hinkle.
By Raymond Benson
Abraham Lincoln once famously said, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.” That utterance is evoked in the course of Billy Wilder’s 1966 acerbic comedy, The Fortune Cookie and it certainly applies to the legal goings-on as instigated by “Whiplash Willie” Gingrich (Walter Matthau), an unscrupulous lawyer who sets out to commit fraud against an insurance company for big bucks.
While it’s arguable that the great Billy Wilder continued to make good films into the 1970s, The Fortune Cookie might be his last superb one. It’s no Some Like it Hot or The Apartment, but the picture manages to evoke many laughs and also exhibits what is perhaps the quintessential performance by Matthau.
Jack Lemmon is sports news cameraman Harry Hinkle.
- 8/4/2021
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“Don’T Throw Your Shoes Out The Window”
By Raymond Benson
The prolific Hollywood producer Walter Mirisch was responsible for spearheading such famed titles as Two for the Seesaw, Hawaii, In the Heat of the Night, and Dracula (’79), and served as uncredited executive producer for a number of high-profile pictures such as The Pink Panther, The Great Escape, Fiddler on the Roof, and more. Mirisch got his start, though, at the “Poverty Row” studio Monogram in the 1940s, where he churned out a few low-budget crime dramas and film noir.
Mirisch’s second feature for Monogram was a movie that has apparently been out of circulation for decades. Considering its title, one might understand why… I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes! is based on a novel of the same name by the great mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, and the screenplay is by pulp writer (e.
“Don’T Throw Your Shoes Out The Window”
By Raymond Benson
The prolific Hollywood producer Walter Mirisch was responsible for spearheading such famed titles as Two for the Seesaw, Hawaii, In the Heat of the Night, and Dracula (’79), and served as uncredited executive producer for a number of high-profile pictures such as The Pink Panther, The Great Escape, Fiddler on the Roof, and more. Mirisch got his start, though, at the “Poverty Row” studio Monogram in the 1940s, where he churned out a few low-budget crime dramas and film noir.
Mirisch’s second feature for Monogram was a movie that has apparently been out of circulation for decades. Considering its title, one might understand why… I Wouldn’t Be in Your Shoes! is based on a novel of the same name by the great mystery writer Cornell Woolrich, and the screenplay is by pulp writer (e.
- 7/30/2021
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“A Senator, Nazi Spies, And A Dog”
By Raymond Benson
Want a fast-paced action thriller, starring attractive leads and a precocious dog, that deals with Nazi spies in the political climate immediately following the war, and be done with it in only 62 minutes? This 1946 potboiler directed by Phil Rosen and starring notorious Lawrence Tierney is for you!
Step by Step is not a film noir, which was what most crime pictures ended up stylistically becoming in the period after World War II. Instead, it’s a rollicking good action drama that packs what today might be two hours’ worth of plot into a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-something single hour. The picture is not only well-written and well-shot, it has a superb cast that functions quite well in this tight little ride.
Perhaps most interesting for today’s audience is the leading man presence of Lawrence Tierney, who had burst onto the...
By Raymond Benson
Want a fast-paced action thriller, starring attractive leads and a precocious dog, that deals with Nazi spies in the political climate immediately following the war, and be done with it in only 62 minutes? This 1946 potboiler directed by Phil Rosen and starring notorious Lawrence Tierney is for you!
Step by Step is not a film noir, which was what most crime pictures ended up stylistically becoming in the period after World War II. Instead, it’s a rollicking good action drama that packs what today might be two hours’ worth of plot into a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-something single hour. The picture is not only well-written and well-shot, it has a superb cast that functions quite well in this tight little ride.
Perhaps most interesting for today’s audience is the leading man presence of Lawrence Tierney, who had burst onto the...
- 7/23/2021
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“Careful With That Knife, Lady”
By Raymond Benson
The great Richard Matheson wrote a number of fabulous works in genre fiction—novels, short stories, screenplays, and teleplays—and was one of the main writers of the original The Twilight Zone TV series. This reviewer considers the man a genius of his craft, as Matheson was responsible for some truly classic science fiction, horror, and mystery tales.
Matheson’s first published novel, Someone is Bleeding (1953), however, is not one of the author’s best-known titles. It is a psychological thriller in which the leading lady may or may not be a crazed killer. The novel was adapted and filmed in 1974 in France with the title Les seins de glace, which translates to… Icy Breasts, though the film was released in some countries under the novel's title.
Perhaps Richard Matheson ended up being happy that...
“Careful With That Knife, Lady”
By Raymond Benson
The great Richard Matheson wrote a number of fabulous works in genre fiction—novels, short stories, screenplays, and teleplays—and was one of the main writers of the original The Twilight Zone TV series. This reviewer considers the man a genius of his craft, as Matheson was responsible for some truly classic science fiction, horror, and mystery tales.
Matheson’s first published novel, Someone is Bleeding (1953), however, is not one of the author’s best-known titles. It is a psychological thriller in which the leading lady may or may not be a crazed killer. The novel was adapted and filmed in 1974 in France with the title Les seins de glace, which translates to… Icy Breasts, though the film was released in some countries under the novel's title.
Perhaps Richard Matheson ended up being happy that...
- 7/20/2021
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“Welcome To The Club”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 11—Girl Gang/Pin-Down Girl, a double bill of so-bad-they’re-funny early 1950s “crime” movies. They were marketed as such, but they were really what passed for softcore in those days. If the movie ratings had existed then, these two gems would likely have been rated “R.”
These delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the scandalous title as “educational.” It’s certain, however, that in this case both Girl Gang and Pin-Down Girl are not...
“Welcome To The Club”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 11—Girl Gang/Pin-Down Girl, a double bill of so-bad-they’re-funny early 1950s “crime” movies. They were marketed as such, but they were really what passed for softcore in those days. If the movie ratings had existed then, these two gems would likely have been rated “R.”
These delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the scandalous title as “educational.” It’s certain, however, that in this case both Girl Gang and Pin-Down Girl are not...
- 7/19/2021
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“I Can’T Give You Anything But Love, Baby”
By Raymond Benson
It boggles this reviewer’s mind that Bringing Up Baby, released in early 1938, was considered a “flop” at the time. Was it really, or is that Hollywood PR nonsense? The truth is that it did fine, but perhaps not as well as the studio, Rko, had hoped. Shortly before its release, the Independent Theater Owners of America had deemed star Katharine Hepburn (and other popular leading ladies) “box office poison.” This bit of nastiness may have had an impact on Baby’s earnings in 1938.
The movie was re-released in the early 40s after the success of The Philadelphia Story (1940) and did much better. When television began broadcasting Bringing Up Baby, the picture’s reputation shot through the roof. Today, it’s considered one of Hollywood’s greatest screwball comedies, and fans...
“I Can’T Give You Anything But Love, Baby”
By Raymond Benson
It boggles this reviewer’s mind that Bringing Up Baby, released in early 1938, was considered a “flop” at the time. Was it really, or is that Hollywood PR nonsense? The truth is that it did fine, but perhaps not as well as the studio, Rko, had hoped. Shortly before its release, the Independent Theater Owners of America had deemed star Katharine Hepburn (and other popular leading ladies) “box office poison.” This bit of nastiness may have had an impact on Baby’s earnings in 1938.
The movie was re-released in the early 40s after the success of The Philadelphia Story (1940) and did much better. When television began broadcasting Bringing Up Baby, the picture’s reputation shot through the roof. Today, it’s considered one of Hollywood’s greatest screwball comedies, and fans...
- 7/16/2021
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“The Devil Makes Him Do It”
By Raymond Benson
The actor Ray Milland always presented himself on screen with a serious intensity. His Oscar-winning turn as an alcoholic in The Lost Weekend (1945) catapulted him into the upper ranks of Hollywood stardom in those years. He didn’t always appear in A-list pictures, though. Film noir and thrillers like The Big Clock and So Evil My Love (both 1948) featured Milland in what might be perceived as moonlighting roles, but he is nonetheless effective.
Such is the case with Alias Nick Beal, directed by frequent Milland collaborator, John Farrow. This is not a film noir, per se, but rather a thriller-cum-supernatural tale that borrows heavily from the Faust myth. And while Milland is the fire that energizes Nick Beal, it is third-billing Thomas Mitchell who is the protagonist of the story.
Mitchell is Joseph Foster,...
“The Devil Makes Him Do It”
By Raymond Benson
The actor Ray Milland always presented himself on screen with a serious intensity. His Oscar-winning turn as an alcoholic in The Lost Weekend (1945) catapulted him into the upper ranks of Hollywood stardom in those years. He didn’t always appear in A-list pictures, though. Film noir and thrillers like The Big Clock and So Evil My Love (both 1948) featured Milland in what might be perceived as moonlighting roles, but he is nonetheless effective.
Such is the case with Alias Nick Beal, directed by frequent Milland collaborator, John Farrow. This is not a film noir, per se, but rather a thriller-cum-supernatural tale that borrows heavily from the Faust myth. And while Milland is the fire that energizes Nick Beal, it is third-billing Thomas Mitchell who is the protagonist of the story.
Mitchell is Joseph Foster,...
- 7/14/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
“To Grift Or Not To Grift”
By Raymond Benson
This film noir pot boiler, released in 1948 and directed by George Sherman, borders the fine line between being truly awful and stunningly good. Luckily for us, it’s the latter. Larceny surprised this reviewer with its tale—albeit a melodramatic one—of a quartet of con men who make their livings by grifting wealthy people out of investments, phony real estate scams, or whatever. Kind of like what’s happening today with e-mail phishing and robocalls, right?
The picture stars John Payne as Rick Maxon, one of the con men who might be having second thoughts about the company he keeps and the people who become his victims—especially if they’re beautiful women who easily fall for his charm and good looks. Payne was a handsome and low-key actor who worked constantly from the late 1930s through the 1950s, and...
By Raymond Benson
This film noir pot boiler, released in 1948 and directed by George Sherman, borders the fine line between being truly awful and stunningly good. Luckily for us, it’s the latter. Larceny surprised this reviewer with its tale—albeit a melodramatic one—of a quartet of con men who make their livings by grifting wealthy people out of investments, phony real estate scams, or whatever. Kind of like what’s happening today with e-mail phishing and robocalls, right?
The picture stars John Payne as Rick Maxon, one of the con men who might be having second thoughts about the company he keeps and the people who become his victims—especially if they’re beautiful women who easily fall for his charm and good looks. Payne was a handsome and low-key actor who worked constantly from the late 1930s through the 1950s, and...
- 7/13/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Not So Tangled, It Weaves”
By Raymond Benson
The low budget 1947 film noir drama, The Web, is a fairly typical example of the type of B-picture that many Hollywood studios were churning out in the late 1940s. No one referred to these crime movies as film noir at the time; it wasn’t until the late 1950s that French critics looked back at this body of work and proclaimed, “Sacré bleu! Film Noir!”—and the term stuck.
In the case of The Web, the title is categorized as film noir for being a crime picture shot in black and white by Dp Irving Glassberg with high contrasting light and shadow, a tale that features cynical and unreliable characters, a twisty plot, and some double-crosses. That’s about it, really—there is no femme fatale, and there is a tangible grittiness to other, classic...
“Not So Tangled, It Weaves”
By Raymond Benson
The low budget 1947 film noir drama, The Web, is a fairly typical example of the type of B-picture that many Hollywood studios were churning out in the late 1940s. No one referred to these crime movies as film noir at the time; it wasn’t until the late 1950s that French critics looked back at this body of work and proclaimed, “Sacré bleu! Film Noir!”—and the term stuck.
In the case of The Web, the title is categorized as film noir for being a crime picture shot in black and white by Dp Irving Glassberg with high contrasting light and shadow, a tale that features cynical and unreliable characters, a twisty plot, and some double-crosses. That’s about it, really—there is no femme fatale, and there is a tangible grittiness to other, classic...
- 7/9/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Goin’ To Town” (1935; Directed by Alexander Hall)
“Klondike Annie” (1936; Directed by Raoul Walsh)
“Go West, Young Man” (1936; Directed by Henry Hathaway)
“Every Day’S A Holiday” (1937; Directed by A. Edward Sutherland)
“My Little Chickadee” (1940; Directed by Edward F. Cline)
(Kino Lorber)
“Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It—The Mae West Films, Part Two”
By Raymond Benson
This is the continuation of reviews of the classic 1930s (and 1940) films of Mae West, which began here.
Kino Lorber has just released in gorgeously restored, high-definition presentations every Mae West film made between 1932-1940—the Paramount years, plus one with Universal. This review will cover the last five of nine titles.
What is not commonly appreciated among Hollywood enthusiasts is that Mae West held a unique position in the history of cinema. Until the modern era, she had the extraordinary fortune—for her time—of...
“Goin’ To Town” (1935; Directed by Alexander Hall)
“Klondike Annie” (1936; Directed by Raoul Walsh)
“Go West, Young Man” (1936; Directed by Henry Hathaway)
“Every Day’S A Holiday” (1937; Directed by A. Edward Sutherland)
“My Little Chickadee” (1940; Directed by Edward F. Cline)
(Kino Lorber)
“Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It—The Mae West Films, Part Two”
By Raymond Benson
This is the continuation of reviews of the classic 1930s (and 1940) films of Mae West, which began here.
Kino Lorber has just released in gorgeously restored, high-definition presentations every Mae West film made between 1932-1940—the Paramount years, plus one with Universal. This review will cover the last five of nine titles.
What is not commonly appreciated among Hollywood enthusiasts is that Mae West held a unique position in the history of cinema. Until the modern era, she had the extraordinary fortune—for her time—of...
- 7/5/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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By Raymond Benson
The witty, controversial, and fabulous actress/comedienne Mae West displays her jewelry to the coat check girl. “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!” the girl exclaims. Mae West coolly replies in her sultry, New York-accented signature voice, “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”
The line was also the title of West’s memoir, published in 1959, and is one of her many memorable utterances, along with “Come up and see me sometime.”
Kino Lorber has just released in restored, high-definition presentations every Mae West film made between 1932-1940—the Paramount years, plus one with Universal. This review will cover the first four out of nine titles, with the remaining five to come in a later “Part Two.”
Hollywood knew that Mae West would be trouble (but a possible box office winner) before she was invited to the west coast to star in films.
By Raymond Benson
The witty, controversial, and fabulous actress/comedienne Mae West displays her jewelry to the coat check girl. “Goodness, what beautiful diamonds!” the girl exclaims. Mae West coolly replies in her sultry, New York-accented signature voice, “Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.”
The line was also the title of West’s memoir, published in 1959, and is one of her many memorable utterances, along with “Come up and see me sometime.”
Kino Lorber has just released in restored, high-definition presentations every Mae West film made between 1932-1940—the Paramount years, plus one with Universal. This review will cover the first four out of nine titles, with the remaining five to come in a later “Part Two.”
Hollywood knew that Mae West would be trouble (but a possible box office winner) before she was invited to the west coast to star in films.
- 6/13/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“The Original Money Pit”
By Raymond Benson
Remember the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? The official credits of that film do not mention the excellent writing team of Frank Panama and Melvin Frank, who adapted Eric Hodgins’ 1946 biographical comic novel Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House into the popular 1948 “disaster comedy” starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The Money Pit is, in reality, an under-the-table remake of Blandings. It’s a pity that the original was not acknowledged, for, frankly, Blandings is much more realistic (and clever).
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was indeed a popular film and yet during its initial run was deemed to have lost money—just like the hapless Mr. Blandings does while attempting to move out of New York City to Connecticut. The movie is funny enough, for sure, but perhaps in...
“The Original Money Pit”
By Raymond Benson
Remember the 1986 comedy The Money Pit, starring Tom Hanks and Shelley Long? The official credits of that film do not mention the excellent writing team of Frank Panama and Melvin Frank, who adapted Eric Hodgins’ 1946 biographical comic novel Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House into the popular 1948 “disaster comedy” starring Cary Grant and Myrna Loy. The Money Pit is, in reality, an under-the-table remake of Blandings. It’s a pity that the original was not acknowledged, for, frankly, Blandings is much more realistic (and clever).
Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was indeed a popular film and yet during its initial run was deemed to have lost money—just like the hapless Mr. Blandings does while attempting to move out of New York City to Connecticut. The movie is funny enough, for sure, but perhaps in...
- 5/7/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“A Likable Cad”
By Raymond Benson
Robert Young had a career of playing mostly trustworthy nice guys—after all, one could say he was born to play Marcus Welby, M.D. on television. But in 1947, he took the chance of portraying an all-around heel, a no-good philanderer who married for money and looks for every opportunity to score with someone new. And yet, Young’s admirable qualities are still there, making his character of Larry Ballentine in the film noir drama, They Won’t Believe Me, a likable cad. He pulls it off, too.
Audiences didn’t take to the change, though, and the picture was a box office dud. However, the lack of profits when a movie is released is never a true indication of its quality. They Won’t Believe Me is an artfully crafted, well-acted, twisty tale about lies, fate, and luck.
“A Likable Cad”
By Raymond Benson
Robert Young had a career of playing mostly trustworthy nice guys—after all, one could say he was born to play Marcus Welby, M.D. on television. But in 1947, he took the chance of portraying an all-around heel, a no-good philanderer who married for money and looks for every opportunity to score with someone new. And yet, Young’s admirable qualities are still there, making his character of Larry Ballentine in the film noir drama, They Won’t Believe Me, a likable cad. He pulls it off, too.
Audiences didn’t take to the change, though, and the picture was a box office dud. However, the lack of profits when a movie is released is never a true indication of its quality. They Won’t Believe Me is an artfully crafted, well-acted, twisty tale about lies, fate, and luck.
- 5/6/2021
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- Cinemaretro.com
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“Geek Love”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more unique entries in the film noir movement of the 1940s and 50s is the 1947 melodrama, Nightmare Alley. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the picture was made only because Tyrone Power expressed the desire to star in it after reading the grim tale of a carnival barker who rises to the top of the charlatan world, only to ultimately fall hard to rock bottom.
While classified as film noir, the picture has little of the usual trappings of the movement. There is no central crime in the story, there are no cynical detectives, and one can argue that there are no femmes fatale. It is only in the visual presentation that one can consider Nightmare Alley an item of film noir—the high contrast black and white photography, the heavy light and shadows,...
“Geek Love”
By Raymond Benson
One of the more unique entries in the film noir movement of the 1940s and 50s is the 1947 melodrama, Nightmare Alley. Based on a novel by William Lindsay Gresham, the picture was made only because Tyrone Power expressed the desire to star in it after reading the grim tale of a carnival barker who rises to the top of the charlatan world, only to ultimately fall hard to rock bottom.
While classified as film noir, the picture has little of the usual trappings of the movement. There is no central crime in the story, there are no cynical detectives, and one can argue that there are no femmes fatale. It is only in the visual presentation that one can consider Nightmare Alley an item of film noir—the high contrast black and white photography, the heavy light and shadows,...
- 5/4/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Whipping Out A Story”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 9—The Lash of the Penitentes. Like the other exploitation titles that have appeared over the last two years, Lash is another piece of American celluloid that will surely elicit jaw-dropping, eye-rolling, and headshaking. How did these things ever get made and distributed? Who went to see them? How corrupted was one after a viewing?
These delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the salacious title as “educational.” For adults only, mind you, but exhibited all...
“Whipping Out A Story”
By Raymond Benson
Kino Lorber and Something Weird Video continue their collaboration to present “Forbidden Fruit: The Golden Age of the Exploitation Picture” with Volume 9—The Lash of the Penitentes. Like the other exploitation titles that have appeared over the last two years, Lash is another piece of American celluloid that will surely elicit jaw-dropping, eye-rolling, and headshaking. How did these things ever get made and distributed? Who went to see them? How corrupted was one after a viewing?
These delicious and suitably sleazy pictures in the “Forbidden Fruit” series were made cheaply and outside the Hollywood system. They were distributed independently in the manner of a circus sideshow, often by renting a movie theater for a few nights, advertising in the local papers, and promoting the salacious title as “educational.” For adults only, mind you, but exhibited all...
- 4/7/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“A Biography Of A Film”
By Raymond Benson
Lately there has been a new trend in film books that are more like biographies than simply non-fiction treatises on the making of a movie. A “biography of a film,” as critic Molly Haskell calls it, treats a particular motion picture in the same way a researcher would examine a person’s life—from the inception to its lasting influence and impact today, meticulously illustrating each step and examining the personnel involved along the way. The recent Space Odyssey by Michael Benson (a “biography” of 2001: A Space Odyssey) is a fine example.
Glenn Frankel’s Shooting Midnight Cowboy—Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic is one such biography of a film, and it is a magnificent tome. Besides dissecting the all-important sociological milieu that was in the background while Cowboy was being made,...
“A Biography Of A Film”
By Raymond Benson
Lately there has been a new trend in film books that are more like biographies than simply non-fiction treatises on the making of a movie. A “biography of a film,” as critic Molly Haskell calls it, treats a particular motion picture in the same way a researcher would examine a person’s life—from the inception to its lasting influence and impact today, meticulously illustrating each step and examining the personnel involved along the way. The recent Space Odyssey by Michael Benson (a “biography” of 2001: A Space Odyssey) is a fine example.
Glenn Frankel’s Shooting Midnight Cowboy—Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic is one such biography of a film, and it is a magnificent tome. Besides dissecting the all-important sociological milieu that was in the background while Cowboy was being made,...
- 4/1/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Retro-active: The Best From The Cinema Retro Archives
“The Lady Vanishes One More Time”
By Raymond Benson
The Criterion Collection has issued a Blu-ray upgrade to a previous winning DVD release—Carol Reed’s World War II suspense adventure, Night Train to Munich. It’s a terrific example of the fine cinema Britain was managing to produce even while at war. Released there in August of 1940, the country was already in the conflict, although the Blitz had not yet occurred.
What’s more striking is its resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938) in tone, setting, and even characters. Marketing pushes at the time suggested that Night Train to Munich was a “sequel” to Vanishes, which was an extremely popular movie on both sides of the Atlantic. Night Train is not a sequel, though—it’s more of a remake.
Somebody at the studio must have thought they needed...
“The Lady Vanishes One More Time”
By Raymond Benson
The Criterion Collection has issued a Blu-ray upgrade to a previous winning DVD release—Carol Reed’s World War II suspense adventure, Night Train to Munich. It’s a terrific example of the fine cinema Britain was managing to produce even while at war. Released there in August of 1940, the country was already in the conflict, although the Blitz had not yet occurred.
What’s more striking is its resemblance to Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938) in tone, setting, and even characters. Marketing pushes at the time suggested that Night Train to Munich was a “sequel” to Vanishes, which was an extremely popular movie on both sides of the Atlantic. Night Train is not a sequel, though—it’s more of a remake.
Somebody at the studio must have thought they needed...
- 3/27/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“Hate Is A Loaded Gun”
By Raymond Benson
The years of the 1940s following World War II exhibited a striking change in Hollywood movies. The moods and world outlooks of post-war GIs and the people they had left behind and to whom they returned were more reflective and serious. Awareness of societal ills that had always been with us were now at the forefront… and Hollywood stepped up to address this new American angst in the form of a) what film historians call “social problem films” that tackled issues such as alcoholism, drug addiction, anti-Semitism, racism, government corruption, and other hitherto taboos of motion pictures, and b) film noir, the gritty crime dramas that never sugar-coated anything and portrayed both men and women—the femmes fatale—as hard-boiled, cynical, and paranoid.
Two pictures were released in 1947 that tackled anti-Semitism with frank, hard-hitting realism.
“Hate Is A Loaded Gun”
By Raymond Benson
The years of the 1940s following World War II exhibited a striking change in Hollywood movies. The moods and world outlooks of post-war GIs and the people they had left behind and to whom they returned were more reflective and serious. Awareness of societal ills that had always been with us were now at the forefront… and Hollywood stepped up to address this new American angst in the form of a) what film historians call “social problem films” that tackled issues such as alcoholism, drug addiction, anti-Semitism, racism, government corruption, and other hitherto taboos of motion pictures, and b) film noir, the gritty crime dramas that never sugar-coated anything and portrayed both men and women—the femmes fatale—as hard-boiled, cynical, and paranoid.
Two pictures were released in 1947 that tackled anti-Semitism with frank, hard-hitting realism.
- 3/23/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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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
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- Cinemaretro.com
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The Flop That Wasn't
By Raymond Benson
Most folks today may be familiar with The Producers, the Broadway musical comedy that ran for years, toured around the globe, and elicited laughter and joy for audiences of all ages. There are likely less people today who have experienced the original 1967 film upon which the successful musical is based. For decades, though, the movie was all we had.
In the mid-sixties, Mel Brooks was a successful television writer, having worked on hilarious comedies with Sid Caesar, among other works, and later the co-creator of Get Smart. Brooks then came up with what was first intended to be a novel, then a play, and finally a screenplay called Springtime for Hitler—an outrageous satire lampooning the Nazis. The Hollywood producers to whom Brooks pitched the piece were appalled. No audience would accept a “comedyâ€. about Hitler.
The Flop That Wasn't
By Raymond Benson
Most folks today may be familiar with The Producers, the Broadway musical comedy that ran for years, toured around the globe, and elicited laughter and joy for audiences of all ages. There are likely less people today who have experienced the original 1967 film upon which the successful musical is based. For decades, though, the movie was all we had.
In the mid-sixties, Mel Brooks was a successful television writer, having worked on hilarious comedies with Sid Caesar, among other works, and later the co-creator of Get Smart. Brooks then came up with what was first intended to be a novel, then a play, and finally a screenplay called Springtime for Hitler—an outrageous satire lampooning the Nazis. The Hollywood producers to whom Brooks pitched the piece were appalled. No audience would accept a “comedyâ€. about Hitler.
- 3/10/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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“You Either Care Or You Don’T Care”
By Raymond Benson
[Much of this review is culled from a Cinema Retro 2018 review by the author of the Kino Lorber DVD release.]
Tony Zierra’s fascinating documentary that premiered at Cannes in 2017 (and was released theatrically in 2018) is about an unsung hero in the lore of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick—Leon Vitali, who describes himself not as an “assistant,” but as a “filmworker.”
Vitali, now in his seventies, began his career as an actor in the 1960s, appearing in various British films and television programs. After being impressed with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, Vitali told a friend, “I want to work for that guy.” He managed to get an audition for Kubrick’s next picture, Barry Lyndon, and landed the key role of Lord Bullingdon, the main antagonist of the film. Vitali received much praise for his performance, but instead of continuing an acting career,...
“You Either Care Or You Don’T Care”
By Raymond Benson
[Much of this review is culled from a Cinema Retro 2018 review by the author of the Kino Lorber DVD release.]
Tony Zierra’s fascinating documentary that premiered at Cannes in 2017 (and was released theatrically in 2018) is about an unsung hero in the lore of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick—Leon Vitali, who describes himself not as an “assistant,” but as a “filmworker.”
Vitali, now in his seventies, began his career as an actor in the 1960s, appearing in various British films and television programs. After being impressed with Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, Vitali told a friend, “I want to work for that guy.” He managed to get an audition for Kubrick’s next picture, Barry Lyndon, and landed the key role of Lord Bullingdon, the main antagonist of the film. Vitali received much praise for his performance, but instead of continuing an acting career,...
- 3/1/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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