One of the best yet least seen of John Sturges’ westerns couples a fine screenplay with strong star perfs and superb direction: the straightforward story builds tension throughout. Kirk Douglas is a sheriff out for both justice and revenge and Anthony Quinn is the he-bull rancher who stands in his way: the guilty party is Quinn’s son. It looks sensational in VistaVision, with a fine music score by Dimitri Tiomkin — it’s a pleasure all the way through, with strong support from Carolyn (swoon) Jones, Earl Holliman, Brian Hutton and Brad Dexter.
Last Train from Gun Hill
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 101
1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 95 min. / Street Date December 29, 2021 / Available from Imprint and Amazon / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brad Dexter, Brian G. Hutton, Ziva Rodann, Bing Russell, Val Avery, Walter Sande, John Anderson, Dabbs Greer, Ty Hardin, Glenn Strange, Julius Tannen, Sid Tomack.
Cinematography:...
Last Train from Gun Hill
Region-free Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 101
1959 / Color / 1:78 widescreen (VistaVision) / 95 min. / Street Date December 29, 2021 / Available from Imprint and Amazon / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn, Carolyn Jones, Earl Holliman, Brad Dexter, Brian G. Hutton, Ziva Rodann, Bing Russell, Val Avery, Walter Sande, John Anderson, Dabbs Greer, Ty Hardin, Glenn Strange, Julius Tannen, Sid Tomack.
Cinematography:...
- 1/22/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Witness six noir heroes, doing what noir heroes do: one crooked gambler, one psycho, another psycho with access to a gun, a dope railroaded into a prison sentence, and an even bigger dope who doesn’t realize he’s poisoning himself. That’s only five, but the sixth is a cop, and not a particularly compromised one, the way we like ’em in noir. This third Columbia Noir Collection can boast big stars and some name directors, beautiful HD transfers and some fascinating short subjects as extras.
Columbia Noir #3
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-57 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / Street Date May 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Dick Powell, Lee J Cobb, Nina Foch, William Holden, Edmond O’Brien, Dorothy Malone, Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Marie Windsor, and Vince Edwards.
Directed by Robert Rossen, Rudolph Maté, Henry Levin, Gordon Douglas, Edward Dmytryk, Irving Lerner
Powerhouse Indicator’s...
Columbia Noir #3
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-57 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / Street Date May 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Dick Powell, Lee J Cobb, Nina Foch, William Holden, Edmond O’Brien, Dorothy Malone, Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Marie Windsor, and Vince Edwards.
Directed by Robert Rossen, Rudolph Maté, Henry Levin, Gordon Douglas, Edward Dmytryk, Irving Lerner
Powerhouse Indicator’s...
- 5/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This must be an official Bette Davis month… Criterion has two vintage Davis pictures on offer, and TCM is devoted to a roundup of the actress’s work as well. This one qualifies as the all-time champion Women’s Weepie, but one that holds up as a great picture on all levels. Director Irving Rapper guided this best-ever drama, in which a put-upon Ugly Duckling throws off oppressive familial chains and blossoms into a woman of the world. She then makes choices of personal nobility and selflessness, that will challenge anybody’s notions of saint-like deportment. It’s the kind of show normally gets discussed over coffee, not by film critics, so the extras on this one are especially interesting.
Now, Voyager
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 10004
1942 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 117 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 26, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville.
Now, Voyager
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 10004
1942 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 117 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date November 26, 2019 / 39.95
Starring: Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Gladys Cooper, Bonita Granville.
- 11/23/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
It’s the formidable Bette Davis once again, in yet another superior William Wyler picture. The Somerset Maugham play is a classy vehicle for a star performance — the nagging legal ‘difficulty’ of plantation wife Leslie Crosbie is intertwined with colonial politics but remains entirely personal. Leslie isn’t exactly a poster girl for the feminist movement. Is she the victim of social pressures or just a petty, selfish monster? Screenwriter Howard Koch had to invent a twisted new ‘yellow peril’ finish to appease the Production Code … you know, the Code that some people say made Hollywood movies better.
The Letter
Blu-ray
The Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard.
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Film Editor: George Amy, Warren Low
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Howard...
The Letter
Blu-ray
The Warner Archive Collection
1940 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson, Frieda Inescort, Gale Sondergaard.
Cinematography: Tony Gaudio
Art Direction: Carl Jules Weyl
Film Editor: George Amy, Warren Low
Original Music: Max Steiner
Written by Howard...
- 10/5/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Which Bette Davis movies qualify for greatness? Her flawed character in this costume picture doesn’t conquer all, and it’s historically more sensitive than Gone With the Wind. It’s also William Wyler at the top of his form, creating in just 104 minutes a rich image of a long-gone world. Southern Belle Julie Marsden is a contrary troublemaker, a flip coquette who shoots her whole life to hell with just a couple of social gaffes. The story is ‘bigger than Bette’ – the apocalyptic finale is just a side event in a fable about the nature of chivalry and honor in a flawed social structure.
Jezebel
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1938 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 104 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Crisp, Fay Bainter, Richard Cromwell, Henry O’Neill, Spring Byington, John Litel, Theresa Harris, Irving Pichel, Eddie Anderson,...
Jezebel
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1938 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 104 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Crisp, Fay Bainter, Richard Cromwell, Henry O’Neill, Spring Byington, John Litel, Theresa Harris, Irving Pichel, Eddie Anderson,...
- 9/21/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The murky crimes of sordid characters come to the fore in the wide-open Nevada spaces… producer Hal Wallis’ Technicolor noir concentrates on the possessive and perverse competition for Lizabeth Scott’s luscious blonde — the mother that wants to corral her, the gangster who thinks she’s an escape and the local hunk who wears a badge. Robert Rossen’s edgy screenplay depicts its violent action on a psychological level.
Desert Fury
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Street Date Feb 26, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor, Kristine Miller, William Harrigan, James Flavin, Anna Camargo, Ray Teal.
Cinematography: Edward Cronjager, Charles Lang
Film Editor: Warren Low
Original Music: Miklos Rosza
Written by Robert Rossen from the novel by Ramona Stewart
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Directed by Lewis Allen
As he was under contract to Hal Wallis, Burt Lancaster...
Desert Fury
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Street Date Feb 26, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor, Kristine Miller, William Harrigan, James Flavin, Anna Camargo, Ray Teal.
Cinematography: Edward Cronjager, Charles Lang
Film Editor: Warren Low
Original Music: Miklos Rosza
Written by Robert Rossen from the novel by Ramona Stewart
Produced by Hal B. Wallis
Directed by Lewis Allen
As he was under contract to Hal Wallis, Burt Lancaster...
- 1/22/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Guest Reviewer Lee Broughton is back, with a rodent roundup of horror, or more accurately, psychological suspense interrupted by a few salacious slayings. What would Mickey say?
The brief synopses of Daniel Mann’s Willard and Phil Karlson’s Ben that appeared in the horror movie books and magazines that kids in the UK loved to pore over during the late 1970s always gave the impression that this pair of killer rat films were hardcore horror shows.
In truth, the actual horror content of both films is relatively mild and infrequent. In spite of this, Willard and Ben still tend to be discussed in terms of their relation to the often more extreme movies that appeared in the “animals attack” cycle of horror films that flourished during the 1970s.
That particular subgenre represents something of a niche interest area that is governed by a pretty tight set of boundaries. The...
The brief synopses of Daniel Mann’s Willard and Phil Karlson’s Ben that appeared in the horror movie books and magazines that kids in the UK loved to pore over during the late 1970s always gave the impression that this pair of killer rat films were hardcore horror shows.
In truth, the actual horror content of both films is relatively mild and infrequent. In spite of this, Willard and Ben still tend to be discussed in terms of their relation to the often more extreme movies that appeared in the “animals attack” cycle of horror films that flourished during the 1970s.
That particular subgenre represents something of a niche interest area that is governed by a pretty tight set of boundaries. The...
- 11/11/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
‘Things Blowing Up Good’ has been surefire entertainment since the beginning of cinema, but this ill-fated Cinerama extravaganza about the biggest explosion in recorded human history limps along despite some pretty darned impressive volcanic effects. It’s quite an entertaining spectacle, with various good performers in three soap opera plots, either overacting or loitering about with nothing to do. And don’t forget the from-left-field musical striptease.
Krakatoa East of Java
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, John Leyton, J.D. Cannon, Jacqueline (Jacqui) Chan, Victoria Young, Marc Lawrence, Geoffrey Holder, Niall MacGinnis, Sumi Haru.
Cinematography: Manuel Berenguer
Film Editors: Walter Hannemann, Warren Low, Maurice Rootes
Production Design: Eugèné Lourié
Costumes: Laure Lourié
Special Effects: Eugèné Lourié, Alex Weldon, Francisco Prósper
Original Music: Frank De Vol
Written by Clifford Newton Gould,...
Krakatoa East of Java
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1969 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date September 12, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Maximilian Schell, Diane Baker, Brian Keith, Barbara Werle, Sal Mineo, Rossano Brazzi, John Leyton, J.D. Cannon, Jacqueline (Jacqui) Chan, Victoria Young, Marc Lawrence, Geoffrey Holder, Niall MacGinnis, Sumi Haru.
Cinematography: Manuel Berenguer
Film Editors: Walter Hannemann, Warren Low, Maurice Rootes
Production Design: Eugèné Lourié
Costumes: Laure Lourié
Special Effects: Eugèné Lourié, Alex Weldon, Francisco Prósper
Original Music: Frank De Vol
Written by Clifford Newton Gould,...
- 9/2/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
'The Letter' 1940, with Bette Davis 'The Letter' 1940 movie: Bette Davis superb in masterful studio era production Directed by William Wyler and adapted by Howard Koch from W. Somerset Maugham's 1927 play, The Letter is one of the very best films made during the Golden Age of the Hollywood studios. Wyler's unsparing, tough-as-nails handling of the potentially melodramatic proceedings; Bette Davis' complex portrayal of a passionate woman who also happens to be a self-absorbed, calculating murderess; and Tony Gaudio's atmospheric black-and-white cinematography are only a few of the flawless elements found in this classic tale of deceit. 'The Letter': 'U' for 'Unfaithful' The Letter begins in the dark of night, as a series of gunshots are heard in a Malayan rubber plantation. Leslie Crosbie (Bette Davis) walks out the door of her house firing shots at (barely seen on camera) local playboy Jeff Hammond, who falls dead on the ground.
- 5/8/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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