sasheegm-1 Reviews

Badge of Honor (1934)

For "Buster" Fans Only

[2/10 · 21 December 2004]

For this Cheapie from Poverty Row Mayfair Pictures, Buster Crabbe was acquired on Loan-Out from Paramount where he was under contract.............The film itself is a lesson of how 68 minutes can be wasted on a very boring story-line, with some of the worst acting ever seen in a Poverty Row B-Film......The only saving grace of this Turkey was the presence of Crabbe...........Why Paramount did not utilize Crabbe's exceptional enthusiasm, and a fairly good screen appearance is questioned.......Crabbe himself said once in an Interview, that Henry Hathaway and he, did not get along after a confrontation on the set of Hathaway's last Paramount Zane Grey film "To The Last Man"-1933.......Whatever the reason, many of Crabbe's fans, including yours truly, had wished he had made more & better films then this one......Watch it if you must; but only if you are a fan of Buster Crabbe......Sasheegm-1

Cry of the City (1948)

Film Noir.....At It's Best

[10/10 · 7 March 2004]

From the opening strains of Alfred Newman's "Street Scene" Theme Music, which accompanies the Credits to the End title, "Cry of the City" invokes a tale of good and evil in the persons of Victor Mature & Richard Conte........Boyhood pals from the lower East Side of N.Y......One a Cop, the other a Gangster................But make no bones about it, this film is Conte's showcase and he makes the most out of it in a chilling performance as Martin Rome(Roma), a savage killer with no remorse at all.........He is persued throughout the film by Victor Mature as Leut. Candella, Chief of the Homicide Beaureau......and Mature gives a fine performance in the role...........Supporting players are highlighted by Hope Emerson in a performance of a lifetime, as a Female version of Conte.....their scenes together are cat & mouse......but which is which?.......For a special treat on the film noir craze of the 1940s; and a pure New York City feeling; do not miss "Robert Siodmack's"...."Cry of the City"-1948---20th. Century Fox........Respectfully submitted, sasheegm at the movies

Winterset (1936)

Dark Drama....At It's Finest

[10/10 · 7 March 2004]

Maxwell Anderson's Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway play was brought to the screen by RKO in 1936 with the original cast members, and Anderson himself adapting the Screen-Play.........The results were a hard-hitting expose' of injustice in the Judicial system of the 1920s........Based loosely on the Sacco-Vancetti trial of the 1920s, Anderson wrote a powerful adaptation of his Stage hit...........Burgess Meredith, along with Eduardo Ciannelli reprised their Stage roles as Mio, and Troc Estrella respectively in their first screen appearences......Both would go on to do scores of films and stage work for decades to come after Critic's raved about their work in "Winterset"......Set under the Brooklyn Bridge for most of the film, the characters involved in the injustice, assemble seeking the truth & to avoid it becoming public knowledge.........Ciannelli's "Troc Estrella" is one of the screens most dastardly bad guys of all time......and Stanley Ridges is a standout as "Shadow' his henchman...............The Musical score by Nathaniel Shilkret & Max Steiner(un-credited) was nominated for an Oscar.......It was so compelling in this Dark-Drama, that Orson Welles used portions of it in his film "Journey Into Fear'-1942....also released by RKO.......If you are a fan of fine Dramatic Acting, superb musical scoring, and very early film noir(1936)....you should see "Winterset.......Tense, Poetic, and spell-binding....It is available on Video and DVD at Amazon.com, for a very low price.......Respectively submitted, sasheegm at the movies

Black Bandit (1938)

Great Example Of A Lost Genre The-(B-Western)-

[8/10 · 2 October 2003]

Bob Baker was never a huge B-Western Star....but his easy going style endeared him to legions of B-Western Fans over the decades........His Dual role in "The Black Bandit"1938, was done by many Western Stars over the years.....What makes this B-Western stand out from all the rest, was a sensable script, and above all, one of the most Pleasant Musical Scores in B-Western History, by Frank Sanucci......Baker's Musical interludes were most enjoyable, and Sanucci used to them to great advantage in scoring the film.....An added plus, was the presence of Veteran Actor Hal Talliaferro, aka: Wally Wales, Floyd Alderson(his real name)....Add Old Pros, Jack Rockwell, Glenn Strange, Carleton Young, and Tom London, and you had the whos who of B-Westerns.......Romance was supplied by the fair Marjorie Reynolds in this above par Universal B-Western.......If you are ever looking for a pleasant and enjoyable Old Time B-Western, you cannot go wrong with the very enjoyable "Black Bandit"---If only it were more available on Video and dvd....With Respect For the Genre----sasheegm-1