The messy politics of the Indo-China War didn’t confuse writer-director Samuel Fuller; as the machine gun- toting Nat King Cole snarls, hating Commies is an end unto itself! Fuller’s second outrageous Cold War combat fantasy pits a handful of French Legionnaires and mercenaries against the might of the International Communist Conspiracy, to stop the flow of Chinese and Russian weapons into Vietnam. Commander Gene Barry has an ally who could be straight from a Terry and the Pirates comic strip: Eurasian adventuress Lucky Legs. Young Angie Dickinson is the good-time-girl / wronged spouse / caring mother who also maintains cordial pillow-talk relations with the Red vermin. If those are the Good and the Bad, Lee Van Cleef’s Chinese General is the Ugly: his troops guard the China Gate, the key to Commie victory!
China Gate
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 111
1957 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date April 8, 2022 / Available from Amazon.
China Gate
Blu-ray
Viavision [Imprint] 111
1957 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date April 8, 2022 / Available from Amazon.
- 4/16/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Is this Samuel Fuller’s biggest production? He tries to convey the harrowing reality of a military campaign that tested the limits of endurance and punishment that troops could absorb. In his last movie, Jeff Chandler is the famed commander who must ask his special forces to march hundreds of miles in the unforgiving jungle, and then fight a pitched battle. Although Warners interfered with the final cut, it’s still a fine picture.
Merrill’s Marauders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Pancho Magalona.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Milton Sperling, Sam Fuller from a book by Charlton Ogburn Jr.
Produced by Milton Sperling
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Writer/producer/director Samuel Fuller must...
Merrill’s Marauders
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1962 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Pancho Magalona.
Cinematography: William Clothier
Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted
Original Music: Howard Jackson
Written by Milton Sperling, Sam Fuller from a book by Charlton Ogburn Jr.
Produced by Milton Sperling
Directed by Samuel Fuller
Writer/producer/director Samuel Fuller must...
- 7/27/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Samir Soni, who started his film career with China Gate (1998), rues the fact that his career didn?t pan out the way he intended it to. ?I could have done better but I am glad, even after 20 odd years in the industry, I am still relevant and getting some good work. I did a lot of good films, including Baghban (2003) and Fashion (2008), but I didn?t get the right opportunities back then. Perhaps, I didn?t fit into any slot back in the day, which is why my film career didn?t work out as expected,? he says. ?People saw me as a goodlooking guy but never as the hero. My looks went against me, even when I was considered for negative roles. I wasn?t the dancing star, the action star or the romantic hero so things didn?t work out. But now, characters take precedence in films and Ott platforms,...
- 5/8/2019
- GlamSham
Actor Samir Soni feels he has been pigeonholed into the role of an Nri in showbiz. He wants to ditch that image.
The actor has featured in "China Gate", "Baghban", "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin", "Vivah", "Fashion" and "I Hate Luv Storys".
"Earlier, there were not many character roles and they were not given much importance. Over the years, that has changed. When I came into films, I was an Nri and so I was offered those kinds of roles or rather some negative characters as I played in 'Fashion'," Samir said in a statement.
"As the format changed, character roles were given more importance. Now, I am trying to get rid of the Nri image," he said.
The actor added: "I want to get rid of the Nri image that initially I had since I moved to India from the Us. I am looking out for roles which stand out...
The actor has featured in "China Gate", "Baghban", "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin", "Vivah", "Fashion" and "I Hate Luv Storys".
"Earlier, there were not many character roles and they were not given much importance. Over the years, that has changed. When I came into films, I was an Nri and so I was offered those kinds of roles or rather some negative characters as I played in 'Fashion'," Samir said in a statement.
"As the format changed, character roles were given more importance. Now, I am trying to get rid of the Nri image," he said.
The actor added: "I want to get rid of the Nri image that initially I had since I moved to India from the Us. I am looking out for roles which stand out...
- 5/7/2019
- GlamSham
"Oh God, one more remix?" Karan Johar rightfully asks in the reboot version of "Aankh Marey" in Simmba. Bollywood musicians are increasingly looking back at old tracks and pepping them up with a sprinkle of dance music and serving them to Bollywood buffs -- much to some people's joy and to some people's dismay.
The onset of 2019 has brought along one song recreation after another. "Aankh Marey", "Tere bin", "Chamma chamma", "Paisa yeh paisa" and the latest "Mungda", which was launched on Tuesday.
Singer Subhro J Ganguly, who has forayed into Bollywood with "Paisa yeh paisa" and "Mungda" from the upcoming film Total Dhamaal, says recreations are like tributes to legendary composers.?
"The 1970s' and 1980s' music was so legendary that our new generation is rediscovering it in their own way and recreating it. The current generation is dancing to those tunes and paying tribute to those legendary composers and singers,...
The onset of 2019 has brought along one song recreation after another. "Aankh Marey", "Tere bin", "Chamma chamma", "Paisa yeh paisa" and the latest "Mungda", which was launched on Tuesday.
Singer Subhro J Ganguly, who has forayed into Bollywood with "Paisa yeh paisa" and "Mungda" from the upcoming film Total Dhamaal, says recreations are like tributes to legendary composers.?
"The 1970s' and 1980s' music was so legendary that our new generation is rediscovering it in their own way and recreating it. The current generation is dancing to those tunes and paying tribute to those legendary composers and singers,...
- 2/5/2019
- GlamSham
1998 – This was the year when ‘Chamma Chamma’ turned out to be a smash chartbuster all over. This was the time when digital revolution was quite some distance away. However, satellite television had gathered pace and word of mouth too had found means to travel in a much speedier fashion that before. The moment ‘Chamma Chamma’ came on air with Urmila Matondkar making a special appearance for Raj Kumar Santoshi’s China Gate, it turned out to be a huge sensation all over.
Circa 2018 and the story is repeating itself.
‘Chamma Chamma’ has been recreated, this time with Elli Avram for Prakash Jha produced Fraud Saiyaan. With technology coming into play, the song has turned out to be viral all over again. No wonder, the song has witnessed more than 50 million streams already, and is still counting.
“And to think of it, we are just talking about the online reach of the song,...
Circa 2018 and the story is repeating itself.
‘Chamma Chamma’ has been recreated, this time with Elli Avram for Prakash Jha produced Fraud Saiyaan. With technology coming into play, the song has turned out to be viral all over again. No wonder, the song has witnessed more than 50 million streams already, and is still counting.
“And to think of it, we are just talking about the online reach of the song,...
- 12/26/2018
- by Joginder Tuteja
- Bollyspice
Samuel Fuller sure knows how to turn up the geopolitical tension, especially in a rip-roaring provocative atom threat adventure, that might have caused problems if anybody cared what movies said back when the Cold War was hot. Richard Widmark skippers a leaky sub to the arctic and discovers that the Chinese communists are going to start WW3 — and blame it on Uncle Sam. It’s an insane comic-book adventure about very serious issues — and we love it.
Hell and High Water
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Richard Loo, Cameron Mitchell, Gene Evans, David Wayne.
Cinematography: Joseph MacDonald
Art Direction: Leland Fuller, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Samuel Fuller, Jesse L. Lasky Jr. story by David Hempstead
Produced by Raymond A. Klune
Directed...
Hell and High Water
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, Richard Loo, Cameron Mitchell, Gene Evans, David Wayne.
Cinematography: Joseph MacDonald
Art Direction: Leland Fuller, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor: James B. Clark
Original Music: Alfred Newman
Written by Samuel Fuller, Jesse L. Lasky Jr. story by David Hempstead
Produced by Raymond A. Klune
Directed...
- 6/27/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Curtis Hanson--Confidentially
By
Alex Simon
Curtis Hanson was my first interview with a fellow film buff and film journalist. He was nice enough to sit down with me twice, first at the Rose Cafe in Venice, then at a lunch spot in the Marina, the name of which has been lost to time. He was then kind enough to invite me to the world premiere of "L.A. Confidential" at the Chinese Theater as his guest, my first time on the red carpet at a real-life Hollywood premiere, and called me after this piece ran to thank me personally. A nice man. Hanson, and co-writer Brian Helgeland, would go on to win Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for "L.A. Confidential."
Years later, I ran into Hanson at a book signing party for Pat York that was held in Westwood. I approached him and reminded him of our interview a decade or so earlier.
By
Alex Simon
Curtis Hanson was my first interview with a fellow film buff and film journalist. He was nice enough to sit down with me twice, first at the Rose Cafe in Venice, then at a lunch spot in the Marina, the name of which has been lost to time. He was then kind enough to invite me to the world premiere of "L.A. Confidential" at the Chinese Theater as his guest, my first time on the red carpet at a real-life Hollywood premiere, and called me after this piece ran to thank me personally. A nice man. Hanson, and co-writer Brian Helgeland, would go on to win Best Adapted Screenplay Oscars for "L.A. Confidential."
Years later, I ran into Hanson at a book signing party for Pat York that was held in Westwood. I approached him and reminded him of our interview a decade or so earlier.
- 9/21/2016
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Samuel Fuller's first picture under his Fox contract is a fine Korean War 'suicide squad' tale, filmed on a sound stage but looking quite authentic. Richard Basehart leads a fine cast. Lots of cigars get chomped, and Gene Evans is actually named Sgt. Rock. Plus an excellent commentary from Trailers from Hell's new guru Michael Schlesinger. Fixed Bayonets! Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 92 min. / Street Date September 20, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Richard Basehart, Gene Evans, Michael O'Shea, Richard Hylton, Craig Hill, Skip Homeier, Neyle Morrow, Wyott Ordung, John Doucette, George Conrad Cinematography Lucien Ballard Art Direction George Patrick, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Nick DeMaggio Original Music Roy Webb Written by Samuel Fuller from a novel by John Brophy Produced by Jules Buck Directed by Samuel Fuller
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sam Fuller's third independent film The Steel Helmet was a risky proposition...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Sam Fuller's third independent film The Steel Helmet was a risky proposition...
- 8/30/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This almost completely forgotten '50s western couldn't compete with the big productions, but it has a good cast -- James Arness, Robert J. Wilke, Emile Meyer, Harry Carey Jr. Plus early work by writer Burt Kennedy, and the debuts of actress Angie Dickinson and director Andrew V. McLaglen. Gun the Man Down Blu-ray Olive Films 1956 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 76 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring James Arness, Angie Dickinson, Emile Meyer, Robert J. Wilke, Harry Carey Jr., Don Megowan, Michael Emmet, Pedro Gonzalez Gonzalez. Cinematography William H. Clothier Film Editor A. Edward Sutherland Original Music Henry Vars Written by Burt Kennedy, Sam Freedle Produced by Robert E. Morrison Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When the 1950s rolled in John Wayne stopped being merely an actor and graduated to institution status, starting his own production company, Batjac, and promoting his own group of talent.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
When the 1950s rolled in John Wayne stopped being merely an actor and graduated to institution status, starting his own production company, Batjac, and promoting his own group of talent.
- 7/23/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Sam Fuller's superior western classic stars Rod Steiger, Brian Keith, Charles Bronson and Sarita Montiel, and takes on a tall stack of potent issues. A Reb sharpshooter denies the South's defeat, and goes west to join the Sioux nation where he can continue his war against the Yankees. This spin on 'The Man Without a Country' is one of Fuller's best thanks to a generous budget, unflinching action violence and committed performances. Run of the Arrow DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1957 / Color / 1:78 enhanced widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date July 7, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 19.49 Starring Rod Steiger, Sarita Montiel, Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker, Jay C. Flippen, Charles Bronson, Olive Carey, H.M. Wynant, Neyle Morrow, Frank DeKova, Tim McCoy, Chuck Hayward, Chuck Roberson, Roscoe Ates, Angie Dickinson, Carleton Young. Cinematography Joseph Biroc Film Editor Gene Fowler Jr. Original Music Victor Young Written, Produced and Directed by Samuel Fuller
Reviewed...
Reviewed...
- 11/10/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Maybe I was straitjacketing myself because even back when I was doing Tulsa or Teenage Lust, I wouldn't go see movies about teenagers. I wouldn't look at books if they were about teenagers, because I was afraid that either I would be influenced or that someone had already done something that I had done, or someone was doing it better. I was just afraid to look at anything, because I didn't want any ideas. I don't know why, but I didn't. Just frightened. Scared to death.”
—Larry Clark
“I am a complete man, having both sexes of the mind.”
—Jules Michelet
When you have nothing, the very wise Luc Moullet tells us, you should cultivate relentless artifice. These days, Larry Clark is almost there, down to one thing: Marfa, a bitty town in Texas. And Marfa has been oft blessed, first just obliquely by Edna Ferber, then harder by George Stevens,...
—Larry Clark
“I am a complete man, having both sexes of the mind.”
—Jules Michelet
When you have nothing, the very wise Luc Moullet tells us, you should cultivate relentless artifice. These days, Larry Clark is almost there, down to one thing: Marfa, a bitty town in Texas. And Marfa has been oft blessed, first just obliquely by Edna Ferber, then harder by George Stevens,...
- 2/4/2013
- by Uncas Blythe
- MUBI
Not long ago I wrote about “unsung” movie themes, as depicted on sheet music covers. The piece elicited quite a response, including a lovely note from Christa and Samantha Fuller, the widow and daughter of filmmaker Sam Fuller, whose theme to China Gate (sung by the great Nat King Cole) I’d failed to mention. Christa adds that it’s available on iTunes and is “great Nat.” Remember, too, that Fuller even gave the incomparable singer a rare acting role in that 1957 movie. Singer, entertainer, and musicologist non pareil Michael Feinstein wrote, “The theme from A Place In The Sun had a lyric by Johnny Mercer; he wrote the first one and it was...
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- 8/14/2012
- by Leonard Maltin
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Elegant star of Us TV series from the 1950s onwards
For any regular television viewer in the 1960s and 70s, the elegant actor Gene Barry, who has died aged 90, was inescapable. Most prominent was his portrayal of the Los Angeles police captain Amos Burke in 81 episodes of Burke's Law (1963-66). No ordinary cop, Burke was an immaculately dressed, jet-setting millionaire bachelor who left his Beverly Hills mansion in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce to investigate a murder. Barry as Burke, a wisecracking, sophisticated ladies' man, was the nearest thing on TV to Cary Grant.
Each episode – bursting with Hollywood guest stars, one of whom was revealed as a murderer – allowed Burke to deliver an aphorism such as "never drink martinis with beautiful suspects: Burke's Law", or "never ask a question unless you already know the answer. Burke's Law".
Before playing Burke, Barry had triumphed in the western TV series Bat Masterson (1958-...
For any regular television viewer in the 1960s and 70s, the elegant actor Gene Barry, who has died aged 90, was inescapable. Most prominent was his portrayal of the Los Angeles police captain Amos Burke in 81 episodes of Burke's Law (1963-66). No ordinary cop, Burke was an immaculately dressed, jet-setting millionaire bachelor who left his Beverly Hills mansion in a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce to investigate a murder. Barry as Burke, a wisecracking, sophisticated ladies' man, was the nearest thing on TV to Cary Grant.
Each episode – bursting with Hollywood guest stars, one of whom was revealed as a murderer – allowed Burke to deliver an aphorism such as "never drink martinis with beautiful suspects: Burke's Law", or "never ask a question unless you already know the answer. Burke's Law".
Before playing Burke, Barry had triumphed in the western TV series Bat Masterson (1958-...
- 1/21/2010
- by Ronald Bergan
- The Guardian - Film News
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