By Lee Pfeiffer

There were some terrific made for TV movies broadcast in the 1970s that have yet to see the light of day. Among them were the wonderful ABC-TV "Movie of the Week" broadcasts that often boasted first rate actors under the direction of up and coming talents like Steven Spielberg. For whatever reason, precious few of these shows have made their way to DVD. However, some TV movies of the era are slowly being released as burn-to-order releases. Among them is A Matter of Wife...and Death, a 1976 TV movie that can be ordered as one of Sony's new titles. Never heard of it? Don't feel bad...neither had I. Still, the film has Rod Taylor in a starring role, so that's good enough to merit any retro movie fan's attention. On the surface, the film seems to hold a good deal of promise, with Taylor playing the role of Shamus McCoy, an L.A. private eye. The role was originated by Burt Reynolds in the hit 1973 feature film Shamus. Although Taylor has the prerequisite good looks, charisma (and hairy chest), the McCoy of the TV movie bears little resemblance to the character played by Reynolds. In the theatrical feature, McCoy was a wise-cracking cynic who made jokes in the face of certain death (a la 007). Although Taylor certainly had the same ability, he is hobbled with a rather confusing script that doesn't allow him much playfulness. He lives in the standard sub-par apartment all private dicks have to reside in (the other option being to live aboard a small boat, as with Frank Sinatra' Tony Rome and John Wayne's Lon McQ). There is also a superfluous love interest (in this case, the running gag - which is straight out of Tony Rome- finds McCoy being called away on an emergency before he can satisfy his would-be lover, played by future Wonder Woman Lynda Carter). However, the very ordinary script doesn't allow enough byplay between Taylor and his co-stars, with the exception of Joe Santos, who is amusing as a local L.A. police lieutenant who engages in some on-going ball-busting humor with McCoy. Beyond that, the plot finds McCoy trying to track down the killer of a down-on-his luck character who used to act as an informant for him. McCoy is outraged when the man is blown up in an apparent gangland assassination and promises the deceased's widow (Anita Gillette) to bring the culprits to justice. The film makes good use of L.A. locations but the overall plot is fairly pedantic, as McCoy checks out one red herring after another, getting beaten, bruised and threatened in the process. 

Shamus McCoy wasn't the only big screen man of action to get sold short when brought to TV...(remember Ray Danton as Our Man Flint and Tony Franciosa as Matt Helm????)  The film does have a pretty neat twist at the end that I didn't see coming and that, plus Taylor's considerable screen presence, makes the flick worth watching...though it's strictly mid-range entertainment. The DVD contains no extras, but as with all Sony burn to order titles, it is region free so it can be played on any DVD system worldwide, a nice plus for collectors. 

Click here to order from Amazon 

By Lee Pfeiffer

Although Britain's legendary Hammer Films is almost exclusively associated with having redefined the horror movie genre, there were other genres explored by the studio ranging from film noir to crime and even Robin Hood sand pirate adventures. One of the more unusual entries is The Camp on Blood Island, a riveting WWII drama released in 1958. The black and white production was shot entirely in the UK, but, as was the norm for a Hammer production, creative locations and production design allow the viewer to believe they are watching events unfold in a Japanese POW camp in Malaya. The plot centers on the long-suffering British prisoners who are at the mercy of a brutal Japanese camp commandant and his equally brutal guards. The POWs learn through surreptitious means that the war has ended with Japan's surrender. Aware that the commandant had threatened to massacre all of the prisoners in the wake of such an occurrence, the senior officer among the prisoners, Col. Lambert (Andre Morell) concocts an audacious scheme to keep the news from the Japanese until he can organize plans for an insurrection and escape. Under the direction of the criminally underrated Val Guest, the film's scant 82 minute running time packs in a good deal of suspense, fine performances and intelligent dialogue. Barbara Shelly is thrown in as window dressing for some sex appeal as a fellow prisoner, but this is basically a male-oriented production that was aimed squarely at male audiences.  The film's treatment of Japanese characters is predictably racist (many are portrayed by British actors including Michael Ripper!) but one must look at the movie in the context of the era, only a little over a decade after the end of WWII. There were millions of people who were still harboring nightmarish memories of the atrocities committed by the Japanese army. In typical Hammer tradition, the movie boasted a marketing campaign that emphasized gore and blood even though the film is relatively restrained in these areas. It's basically an intellectual cat-and-mouse game between prisoners and their captors that leads to quite an exciting and well-staged conclusion. The movie illustrates how Hammer Films could overcome meager production budgets to produce highly watchable, very entertaining movies.

Sony has released The Camp on Blood Island as a burn-to-order DVD. The film transfer is crisp and clean and the sleeve features the original, exploitation-oriented movie poster. 

Click here to order from Amazon 

By Lee Pfeiffer

Any retro movie lover would be forgiven for thinking there would be a multitude of pleasures in The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday, a 1976 Western comedy top-lining such considerable talents as Lee Marvin, Oliver Reed, Robert Culp, Kay Lenz, Elizabeth Ashley, Sylvia Miles and the always watchable Strother Martin. Sadly, the film is a complete misfire with nary a true guffaw to be found throughout. The movie is directed by Don Taylor, who helmed some fairly good films including Escape From the Planet of the Apes, Damien: Omen II and The Final Countdown. However, comedy is not Taylor's strong suit, as evidenced by the over-the-top elements of the movie. The quasi plot finds Marvin as Sam Longwood, an eccentric plainsman who is partnered with Indian Joe Knox (Oliver Reed) and  Billy (Strother Martin) in an attempt to track down their former partner Jack Colby (Robert Culp) who fled with the haul the gold hoarde the four men had discovered years before. Colby has used the stolen loot to establish himself as a respectable politician. Sam, Joe and Billy concoct a scheme whereby they will blackmail Colby into returning their share of the money by kidnapping his wife Nancy Sue (Elizabeth Ashley), a loud-mouthed and obnoxious woman who has had romantic ties to Sam in the past. For reasons far too labored to go into, the trio of men are also accompanied by a seventeen year-old prosititute named Thursday who is seeking to escape the clutches of her former madam (Sylvia Miles).

The film has boundless energy but the non-screenplay leads the characters to dead-ends. Taylor inserts numerous slapstick comedy bits that bring out the worst in Marvin, as he goes into his over-acting mode routinely. Most embarrassing is the bizarre casting of Reed as a Native American. Cursed by having to wear a mop-haired wig and grunting "Me Tarzan, You Jane"-style dialogue, Reed does the most harm to the image of the Indian since the massacre at Wounded Knee. The film lurches from extended fistfights to boring chase sequences, all designed to mask over the fact that the script is a bland, pasted together conconction. There is also a jaunty musical score by John Cameron that is played so incessently, you'll be tempted to keep the remote on "mute" mode. The only people to emerge relatively unscathed are Lenz, Culp and Martin, who provided whatever wit and charm the film boasts. On paper, the project probably looked promising, but in terms of any genuine laughs...well, they went that-a-way.

Click here to order from Oldies.com

By Lee Pfeiffer

Primarily remembered as a footnote in James Bond trivia (more about that later), the 1963 comedy Call Me Bwana has been released by MGM's burn-to-order program. The film stars Bob Hope as Matthew Merriwether, a con man who has built a reputation as a courageous African explorer despite the fact that he has never visited the continent. When an American space capsule accidentally lands in the African jungle, the government is frantic to recover it before a team of Soviet spies does. U.S. agents coerce Merriwether into making a heroic trek into the area where the capsule has landed to see if he can locate it and return it safely to the government. In an amusing scene, Merriwether delays leading his safari into the heart of darkness long enough to pick up some tourist-themed maps of the country, as he has no idea where he is going. Complicating matters is the fact that he is accompanied by a sexy U.S. secret agent, Frederica (Edie Adams) and a faux father daughter team, Ezra and Luba (Lionel Jeffries and Anita Ekberg), who are, in fact, Soviet agents.Predictable but amusing sexual situations occur every couple of minutes with Merriwether's near seduction of both women interrupted by extraordinary events.

Along the way, Merriwether encounters every comical cliche the jungle can provide, from close encounters with dangerous animals to barbaric tribesmen who speak perfect English. The film's primary pleasures are simplistic but plentiful, topped by Hope's inimitable machine gun-like delivery of quips. There is also an infectious score by Monty Norman and some delightfully cheesy studio shots blended in with the limited second unit footage of Africa. (It appears that the closest the cast and crew ever got to the Dark Continent is the suburbs of London, as most of the film was shot at Pinewood Studios.) Somehow it took four credited screenwriters to bring this trifle to the screen, but it is a pleasant time-killer with an inspired cast. 

As for the James Bond connection, Call Me Bwana is memorably featured on the side of a billboard advertisement that features in From Russia With Love. A SPECTRE assassin is shot and killed as he climbs through a window located in Anita Ekberg's "mouth". The film also represents the only non-Bond movie jointly produced by Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman. The 007 producers enlisted a stock company of talent from the Bond series including special effects man John Stears, editor Peter Hunt, screenwriter Johanna Harwood, cinematographer Ted Moore, associate producer Stanley Sopel and production designer Syd Cain, among others. Fortunately, the entire team was capable of far greater achievements or we wouldn't be discussing them today in relation to this sitcom-like production. Call Me Bwana generates some frequent laughs, but remains primarily a curious footnote in the history of Eon Productions.

Click here to order from Oldies.com

By Doug Gerbino

The Warner Archive has released four more pre-code gems as their latest entry in their FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD  series (Volume 7). These films are deliciously delightful to view. When this series was started by M-G-M/UA video in the 1990s, I collected them on laser disc. When they went out-of-print I paid some premium prices to get used copies. I was thrilled when Warner Home Video started releasing them and now that Warner Archive has continued to do so, I’m happy to know that these otherwise neglected films will continue to be available through the burn-to-order market. This being Volume 7, one can see that there is a market for this genre, and I look forward to further entries in this valuable series. The bulk of the films released thus far under the FORBIDDEN HOLLYWOOD series have been from the WARNER BROS. & FIRST NATIONAL STUDIOS and nobody did pre-code films any better. Cagney, Robinson, Blondell, et. al. sizzled in these gritty, ripped-from-the-headlines films. There are the occasional entries from M-G-M that came close, but pre-code was WARNER BROS./FIRST NATIONAL’S stock in trade. The films in this volume are wonderful examples.

THE HATCHET MAN (1932) Stars Edward G. Robinson and Loretta Young in Max Factor Asian makeup. Robinson plays Wong Low Get, a hatchet wielding hit man for a warring San Francisco Tong (clan). When the film opens, I sniffed at the bad makeup job they gave Robinson in typical 30s Hollywood fashion. I felt that the racially stereotyped taping back of the corner of Caucasian eyes must be one of the reasons these films are pre-code. But, Robinson is such a great (and underrated) actor. He brings depth to a role that would have been one-dimensional in any other actor’s hands. And what hands they are! One of my cinema gurus – Tom Dillon, The Sage of 20^th Street – once pointed out to me that Robinson is always using his hands. Not just flailing them, but utilizing these appendages as true masterstrokes of physical emoting. Robinson is always fascinating to watch. His physical movements do not distract – they draw you in. As the hatchet man for his tong crime family, he is sent to execute his oldest and most trusted friend. When he arrives to carry out the hit, his uneasiness with his assignment is made all the more difficult by the fact that his friend understands and forgives him for what he has to do. The intended victimtells him that he is leaving him his money and his young infant daughter to raise and eventually marry. Fast-forward twenty years and this little girl has grown into Loretta Young. As Sun Toya San, Young does not pull off the Asian makeup as well as Robinson. Young is married to Robinson only out of a sense of duty for she loves another, Harry En Hai played by evil Leslie Fenton. When Robinson discovers this, his initial fury turns to resignation and he allows Young to leave with her lover. Later, Robinson finds out that Fenton has sold Young into white slavery and before you know it, he’s back wielding his infamous hatchet. A run-of-the-mill San Francisco Chinatown potboiler is raised a few notches by by Robinson’s moving performance. We can all name the great pictures and roles he has been in (LITTLE CAESAR, DOUBLE INDEMNITY, ALL MY SONS), but it is little throwaways like this that demonstrate what a powerful performer he was. William Wellman directs. (First National & Vitaphone)

SKYSCRAPER SOULS (1932) This is the M-G-M entry in this volume. As I said above, M-G-M’s forays into the pre-code genres were classy in comparison with Warners/First National’s gritty, gutter-based storylines. This was the studio’s pre-code version of their recent all-star film GRAND HOTEL from the same year. Warren William stars as David Dwight, president of the Seacoast Bank, which is the main tenant in this newly opened skyscraper building. William will stop at nothing to eventually gain sole ownership of the building. The actor made for a charming, debonair leading man from the 30s who was known as the poor man’s John Barrymore, complete with pencil-thin moustache. He was adept at playing lovable, charismatic society men as well as ruthless scoundrels. In this film he blends all of these traits and crafts a character you find yourself rooting for, but don’t know why. He is a womanizing robber baron who tramples over anyone who gets in his way. e William could do this and get you to like him because his charm overcomes the natural ruthlessness of the character and almost inspires you to want to emulate him. Tapping into our hidden desire for power was part of the naughty appeal in these Depression era films. This film abounds with swindles, scandals, adultery, murders and suicides. Actress-turned-gossip-columnist Hedda Hopper plays William’s wife who doesn’t really seem to mind that her husband is sleeping with anything that moves, so long as he pays for her high maintenance life style. Maureen O’Sullivan plays the young, naïve secretary who is the latest object of William’s desires, all to the distress of William’s long suffering personal secretary, played by Verree Teasdale. And what good is a film set in a skyscraper without a jumper? Who is it? Get the set to find out. The art deco sets are as much characters in this film as are the actors. You will notice that the film opens with the first of many matte shots of the Dwight building standing out against the New York skyline towering over the neighboring Empire State Building in all its art deco glory. The interiors (by M-G-M art director Cedric Gibbons) look like Radio City on crack! You know…as I think of it…I guess watching Margaret Dumont snorting coke is more shocking then seeing Joan Blondell waking up with Jimmy Cagney…Maybe M-G-M pre-codes are dirtier… Directed by Edgar Selwyn (M-G-M)

EMPLOYEES’ ENTRANCE (1933) This is one of my all-time favorites and I had secured a copy back in the VHS era. Thus, the film’s release on DVD delighted me. I believe it best represents the freedoms of the the pre-code genre. Warren William andLoretta Young are again teamed in the leading roles. William plays Kurt Anderson, the General Manager of Monroe’s Department Store in Manhattan. His motto is: “Smash, or be smashed!” He is basically the same character he played in SKYSCAPER SOULS, but in a cheaper suit, on a lower floor and in a lower-paying job. He’s also even more ruthless. He tells both employees and the store’s pompous board of directors to go to hell whenever his heavy-handed business methods are questioned. In one of the most memorable scenes he summarily fires a thirty-year employee on the spot because the employee questions one of his new innovations. The employee later jumps to his death from a 9^th story window out of shame. When told of the ex-employee’s suicide William answers: “When a man outlives his usefulness he ought to jump out a window!” This kind of writing reminded me of Rod Serling’s PATTERNS from 1955 written for KRAFT TELEVISION THEATER. I am sure Serling must have seen this film and was inspired by it. William is training an employee who he feels has the fire in his belly to make it in this “smash, or be smashed” world. The young protégé is shocked at his view, but William shows him that softness has no place in the cutthroat world of business. This film puts forth complex questions that must be rationalized and manages to do it in a concise 75 minutes without a wasted frame. That is the beauty and wonder of the WARNER/FIRST NATIONAL films. They are tight, taught and intense. Directed by Roy Del Ruth (First National & Vitaphone)

EX-LADY (1933) This film stars a young Bette Davis as a free living fashion illustrator who is “living” with an up-and-coming business executive, Gene Raymond. He wants to marry her, but she feels that marriage is unnecessary and that matrimony kills romance. Eventually she gives in and all her premonitions turn out to be true. Even at this early point in her career, Davis is portraying a character who wants to stand on equal footing with men. In this film she is a successful businesswoman who basically does not need a man in the traditional sense, something that broke with the social mores of the era. This story was a remake of a film from two years prior; ILLICIT that starred Barbara Stanwyck (another pre-code sex symbol). WARNERS/FIRST NATIONAL was not above remaking films within a short period of time. WARNERS filmed THE MALTEST FALCON in 1931 with Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels. Five years later they remade it as SATAN MET A LADY with Warren William and Bette Davis. Then, five years after that, they filmed the classic version directed by John Huston with Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor. In this film, Davis shows the strength of character that would come to be the earmark of her career. The film is filled with great pre-code dialog: (Raymond): "I'm just about fed up with sneaking in...Let’s get married so I'll have the right to be with you." (Davis): "What do you mean 'right'? I don't like the word 'right'." (Raymond): "Let's not quibble about words." (Davis): "No, I'm not quibbling, 'right' means something. No one has any 'rights' about me, except me." As in most of the WARNER/FIRST NATIONAL films, a lot of juicy stuff happens in a taught 67 minutes. Once married, Raymond tires (as Davis predicted) and begins to philander. In order to even the score, Davis starts her own affair with Raymond’s business rival, played by lovable WARNER stock player, Frank McHugh. By the end of the story, Davis and Raymond reconcile…for the moment. Directed by Robert Florey (First National & Vitaphone)

The 4 films are presented on a disc a piece. THE HATCHET MAN, EMPLOYEES’ ENTRANCE & EX-LADY include their original theatrical trailers, which are a lot of fun. It is a study in itself to see how the spicy little numbers were sold to the public. Image quality is quite good – about the same as you would see on TCM. Even without digital re-mastering, these films jump out at you and drag you into an era before purity ran amuck.

Click here to order from Amazon

In perfect timing for Father's Day, Warner Brothers has the perfect gift for your dad...(or "Godfather")...two superb Blu-ray collections of classic gangster movies.

The "Classics" collection features Blu-ray editions of Little Caesar, The Public Enemy, The Petrified Forest and White Heat. A superb way to enjoy legends such as Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney.

The "Contemporary" collection unsurprisingly showcases Martin Scorsese with The Departed, Mean Streets and Goodfellas...plus there is also Heat and The Untouchables. 

The sets are jam-packed with exciting documentaries and an abundance of bonus extras. Each set is also packaged in lavishly illustrated hardcover book format. 

So forget that cashmere bowling ball bag you were gonna get dad, and concentrate on these gems...It's an offer he won't be able to refuse.

Click here to order the "Classics" collection from Amazon and save $10

Click here to order the "Contemporary" collection from Amazon and save $10