“ARE YOU THERE?”

By Raymond Benson

Writer/director/actor Bryan Forbes was a major force in the British film industry for several decades, having started in the 1950s at times as an actor in films and then in other instances as a screenwriter, and then he moved into directing (his astonishing directorial debut, Whistle Down the Wind, was released in 1961). Forbes made several good pictures, the most famous probably being The Stepford Wives in the 70s.

Forbes also had connections to the world of James Bond. Forbes’ first screenwriting duties were for Albert R. Broccoli’s Warwick Films in the 1950s. When Forbes began writing novels, his literary agent was none other than Peter Janson-Smith, who had been Ian Fleming’s agent. Astute Bond fans will also spot other connections in The Whisperers, such as a John Barry score, and the appearance of Robin Bailey, the actor who, in the pre-credits sequence of You Only Live Twice, plays the Foreign Secretary mediating between the Russians and the Americans (“May I ask what motive our Russian friends would have for wishing to destroy American spacecraft?”).

The Whisperers, released in 1967, was a solid art-house hit starring Dame Edith Evans, earning her a third Oscar nomination in the four years between 1963-1967, this one for lead actress, the other two for supporting (for Tom Jones and The Chalk Garden). While she didn’t win the Oscar for The Whisperers, she did win the BAFTA, the Golden Globe, the New York Film Critics Award, and the National Board of Review Award. Evans was a major star of the British stage, but she made only a few films very early in her career (mostly the 30s) and late (the 60s).

The story is rather dreary and harkens back to the “kitchen-sink dramas” of the late 50s/early 60s that came out of Britain. It’s shot in black and white and focuses on a poor, working class neighborhood in a small town in the north of England. Margaret Ross (Evans) is old, lives alone, is on her way to a case of Alzheimer’s (a term not known then), and is delusional. Every time she enters her flat, she calls out, “Are you there?” because she hears voices in the pipes and walls. The place is a dump full of junk, stacks of newspapers and rotting books, and clutter that would scare anyone away. Her scoundrel husband, Archie (Eric Portman), ran off two decades earlier, and her grown son, Charlie (Ronald Fraser), is a crook who is sent to jail shortly after hiding a stash of stolen cash in his mother’s flat. Mrs. Ross continually lies to the National Assistance agent, although she probably believes the stories she tells. Her discovery of Charlie’s money changes things, though, and before long, estranged husband Archie returns to take advantage of the woman. Things do not go well.

As a statement on the condition of poverty in England at the time, The Whisperers is a potent social problem film. Evans indeed delivers a powerful performance as a paranoid, frightened woman at the end of her rope. Tellingly, the National Assistance was revamped into the Supplementary Benefit around the time the movie was made.

Kino Lorber’s 1920x1080p high definition restoration suitably displays Gerry Turpin’s monochrome cinematography that illustrates the bleakness of Mrs. Ross’ world. There are English subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as an audio commentary by film historian Kat Ellinger. The only supplements are trailers for this and other Kino Lorber titles.

The Whisperers might be depressing, but it’s also example of fine British talent in the form of both Forbes and Evans at the top of their games.

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Cinema Retro's Todd Garbarini with Sonny Grosso at a screening of The French Connection in 2010.

BY TODD GARBARINI

Salvatore Anthony Grosso, known affectionately as Sonny Grosso, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at the age of 89. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, his work most assuredly did. Mr. Grosso was originally a New York City police detective who was the partner of Detective Eddie Egan. These two gentlemen both, on a hunch, broke up an organized crime ring which resulted in the seizure of 112 pounds of heroin. This then-unprecedented bust in 1961 provided the basis for the 1969 Robin Moore chronicle of their exploits, The French Connection, and was made into the Oscar-winning classic film of the same name two years later, resulting in a Best Picture win for producer Philip D’Antoni, Best Director for William Friedkin, Best Actor for Gene Hackman (he personified Eddie Egan’s Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle), Best Screenplay for Ernest Tidyman’s adaptation of Mr. Moore’s book, and Best Editing for Jerry Greenberg, most notably for the still hair-raising car chase through the streets of Brooklyn. He also worked on the Philip D’Antoni-directed 1973 film The Seven-Ups which boasts another terrific car chase.

While still police detectives, both Mr. Grosso and Mr. Egan had small roles in The French Connection (the former as Klein and the latter as Simonson) while working in behind-the-scenes roles as technical advisers on the film. Mr. Grosso got to learn the ropes of New York filmmaking and appeared in The Godfather (1972) in the scene wherein McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) clocks Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). His gun made it into the hands of Michael Corleone in the famous Louis’s Restaurant scene when he kills McCluskey Sollozzo.

I was fortunate enough to see Don Rickles at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in March 2004 and was bowled over when it came to my attention that Mr. Grosso was in attendance. I commandeered his attention following the show, much like Doyle wrestled the 1971 Pontiac Le Mans away from the driver in The French Connection and thanked him profusely for his part in making my all-time favorite movie a reality. Six years later we met again at a New York City screening of the film also attended by director Friedkin, and he was kind, gracious and warm to speak with.

Mr. Grosso was also a fixture at Rao’s, an exclusive New York restaurant on East 114^th Street where grew up around the corner from. Here he hung out with family and friends, and the establishment was co-owned by the late Frank Pellegrino Sr. who played Johnny Dio in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) and is probably best known as FBI Chief Frank Cubitoso on HBO’s The Sopranos.

Mr. Grosso’s new book, a memoir entitled Harlem to Hollywood, My Real-to-Reel Life, will obviously be published posthumously, although I cannot locate a publication date. I look forward to this book with anticipation, as will all of us who admire his contributions as a police officer and to the film world.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

When "Billy Bathgate" went into production for Disney's Touchstone Pictures division, word-of-mouth was that filming was not going well. Today, such rumors would spread immediately but in the pre-internet age, information was largely confined to industry insiders and avid movie buffs who read the trade papers. The rumors were true. The project started out on a promising note, with noted playwright Tom Stoppard adapting E.L. Doctorow's source novel for the screen. Dustin Hoffman would star and the film would reunite him with director Robert Benton. The two men had both won Oscars for the 1979 Best Picture winner "Kramer vs. Kramer". What could go wrong? Turns out, plenty. The esteemed Doctorow let it be known that he felt Stoppard's screenplay didn't capture the essence of his novel and he distanced himself from the film even before production had wrapped. Hoffman and Benton didn't have a sentimental journey on the set, either, with the dreaded "artistic differences" emerging. Disney executives micro-managed aspects of the movie and insisted that a new ending be filmed at great expense, only to have the final cut revert to the original ending. The budget ultimately ballooned to $48 million (before marketing costs were even incurred), an extravagant amount in 1991. When the film opened, it was a major flop with both critics and audiences. There were occasional good reviews for individual contributors but in the aggregate, the movie's international grosses barely exceeded $15 million. Yet, as we've pointed out so many times in the pages of Cinema Retro, the fact that a film died at the boxoffice doesn't necessarily mean that it is an artistic failure and "Billy Bathgate" does have plenty of impressive aspects.

The film opens during the Depression in New York City with a disturbing scenario. A gangster named Bo Weinberg (Bruce Willis) is awaiting a terrible fate. He's on a boat heading into the waters off Manhattan, his hands tied to a chair and his feet encased in cement. Turns out he is the right-hand man to notorious gangster Dutch Schultz (Hoffman), who has found evidence that Bo has double-crossed him. Schultz delights in psychologically torturing Bo before adding insult to injury by forcing his girlfriend Drew Preston (Nicole Kidman) into a bedroom with her to be forced into sex acts. The entire scene plays out before the wide-eyed Billy Bathgate (Loren Dean), an up-and-coming teenager in Schultz's organization and someone who knows and likes Bo very much. But he knows that he will suffer the same fate if he takes pity on Bo. The scene switches into flashback mode. Billy, like most of his friends, is staring into an unpromising future of backbreaking work and impoverished living conditions. Aside from being charismatic and street-wise, he boasts a modest talent for juggling and performing slight-of-hand tricks. A chance encounter with notorious gangster Dutch Schultz allows him to demonstrate his juggling skills, much to Schultz's amusement (he hands Billy a $20 tip.) Encouraged by the opportunity, Billy finds a way to gain access to Schultz's offices, masquerading as a staffer who does janitorial duties. Schultz admires his moxie and offers him a legitimate job. Billy soon recognizes that Schultz has a dual personality. He can be funny, loyal and generous with his underlings, but he is also a sociopath who on a whim can turn into a violent killer. Billy knows that the only way to stay alive is to practice unquestioning fealty to Schultz. That discipline is hard to maintain when Drew, who has stayed on as Schultz's mistress, seduces Billy, leaving him to walk a fine line between indulging in his obsession for Drew and risking having his own feet placed in cement. As Schultz's crime empire begins to collapse due to increased federal investigations and indictments, the gangster becomes even more erratic, posing a threat to Billy and every one around him.

Cinema Retro continues its tradition of helping to publicize worthy independent films. This one really caught our attention, as we imagination it will for anyone who has wasted considerable hours playing foosball without incurring a hint of guilt. Here is the official press release:

It’s one of the world’s most popular pastimes. You might know it as “table soccer” or “baby foot” or just simply “foosball.” It’s a decades-­‐old, soccer inspired tabletop game where plastic men have been fashioned to metal poles and players must score the ball in the opposing team’s goal. Simple, right? Not quite. For the compulsively obsessed who play foosball at a professional level, foosball is more like a high-­‐speed chess match set inside a boxing ring. Players are put to the test as they dial in highly mathematical moves in a battle of strength, endurance, and wit. Foosball originated in Europe around the turn of the century, and was brought to the United States in the early 60swhereit became an instant hit at game rooms and bars across the country. As its popularity soared, the game blossomed into a professional sport.By the mid-­‐70s, players could win sports cars and big purses as they traveled around the country as part of Tournament Soccer’s Million Dollar Pro Tour. But thanks to the video game craze of the early 80s, the foosball market crashed and the professional foosball scene has never been the same.

The current pro tour is a mere copy of a copy of what it used to be. The turnouts are low, and the payouts are even lower. But for those who still play the game, the stakes are higher than ever before. The players today don’t compete for money or fame. They compete for the prestige and honor of being crowned a world champion. Following the top players from around the United States, Foosballer stakes a deep dive into the underground circuit of professional foosball. Not only will audiences learn how to play the game (and finally put the ‘can you spin the rods?’ question to rest), they will get to meet the quirky and passionate players as they prepare for the sport’s biggest event: The Tornado World Championships. For the first time ever, Foosballers will finally put a human face to those tiny pieces of plastic.

"Foosballers" will open in select theaters on February 11 and will be available on iTunes on February 13. 

For more about the film, click here. 

Here's a nicely remastered Fox original trailer for 1971's Best Picture Oscar winner, "The French Connection", directed by William Friedkin. Keep an eye out for stunt driver/actor Bill Hickman, who accuses Gene Hackman's Popeye Doyle of being responsible for "a dead cop". Hickman did much of the driving in the classic car chase in "Bullitt" as the villain behind the wheel of the car pursued by Steve McQueen. The trailer also features real-life "French Connection" cop Eddie Egan as Hackman's boss, who went on to a successful acting career.  Curiously, Roy Scheider doesn't even get billing in the trailer, but the Best Supporting Actor nomination he received for the film helped launch him to stardom. We enjoyed the appropriately New YAWK accent of the narrator!

Premiere night of "Boys Night Out"  starring Kim Novak ,James Garner and Tony Randall at the Lakeside Theatre in Oklahoma City, 1962.

“THE BUM AND THE BOSS”

By Raymond Benson

As mentioned in Cinema Retro’s recent review of Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release of Christmas in July, the fabulous Preston Sturges began his career in Hollywood as a sought-after screenwriter. In 1940, he sold his script, The Great McGinty (which had several alternate titles, including Down Went McGinty, the U.K. title of the movie when released there), for a measly $10 (some sources say it was only $1!) on the condition that he finally be allowed to direct. Paramount shrugged its collective shoulders and said, “Okay.”

Thus, The Great McGinty became the first picture directed by Sturges from his own script. The film also snagged him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, the only Academy Award Sturges ever won (although he was double nominated again for the same award in 1944 for both The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek and Hail the Conquering Hero). Between 1940 and 1945, Preston Sturges was on fire, and then, inexplicably, his flame flickered out.

McGinty is a political comedy with an edge. Strikingly, as it’s a story of corruption in government, the picture is remarkably relevant today. Daniel McGinty (Brian Donlevy) is a bum who is down on his luck during the Great Depression. One day, he accepts pay to vote several times under assumed names for a mayoral candidate. “The Boss” (Akim Tamiroff), who is never named, is the powerhouse pulling the strings behind the scenes for the mayor (who wins the election). The Boss is taken with McGinty, although they constantly argue and even get into comedic violent scuffles in public. McGinty is awarded a position in the organization, and slowly McGinty makes his way through a corrupt political atmosphere all the way to becoming alderman, then mayor, and, finally, governor of the state. Along the way, he marries his secretary, Catherine (Muriel Angelus)—a wedding of “convenience” for both parties until they really do fall in love with each other. Shenanigans continue until the legal dam breaks, so to speak, and the house of cards tumble down.

It's all great fun, of course, but there is an underlying cynicism that bites. Sturges’ satire is indeed pungent here, in what could be the writer/director’s most pessimistic movie.

The rest of the cast is filled with the folks who became members of Sturges’ “stock company”—William Demarest, Jimmy Conlin, George Anderson, Harry Hayden, Esther Howard, Arthur Hoyt, George Melford, and several others whose faces we all know but whose names we often don’t.

Kino Lorber’s new 1920x1080p high definition restoration looks quite good in its glorious black and white. There are English subtitles for the hearing impaired, and the movie comes with an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. Supplements include theatrical trailers for McGinty and other Lorber titles.

Seeing that Kino Lorber has already issued Christmas in July, here’s hoping that they continue to produce other Preston Sturges classics in the future. In the meantime, take The Great McGinty home and discover just how talented this writer/director really was.

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“LIFE IS EXTREMES”

By Raymond Benson

The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film of 1999 was Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar’s All About My Mother (Todo sobre mi madre), easily one of the now 70-year-old auteur’s most beloved and accomplished works. As actress Penélope Cruz states in one of the supplemental documentaries accompanying the film in Criterion’s magnificent new Blu-ray edition, Almodóvar makes movies about extremes and he makes movies about life. “Life is extremes,” she says, and it’s an apt description of Mother.

Almodóvar is known for his highly eccentric, colorful, and socio-political dramas and comedies that often take place in the worlds of theatre, the LBGTQ milieu, and the walks on the wild side of modern urban Spain, especially Barcelona. He can be surreal, harkening back to the style of his great fellow countryman, Luis Buñuel, but one can see the more significant influence from the likes of Italian filmmakers Federico Fellini and Lina Wertmuller. It is also evident that Almodóvar loves old Hollywood, as All About My Mother demonstrates with its echoes of Bette Davis and All About Eve.

The story concerns single mother Manuela (Cecilia Roth), a nurse who works with transplants. Her 17-year-old son, Esteban, is hit by a car in the street after the pair had seen his favorite actress, Huma (Marisa Paredes) as Blanche in a stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Manuela then takes it upon herself to find Esteban’s father in Barcelona to tell him that they had had a son together and reveal the painful news of the accident. The father, however, is now a transgender woman named Lola who lives on the fringes of society and isn’t easily reachable. In the meantime, Manuela becomes the personal assistant to Huma; reacquaints herself with an old friend, Agrado (Antonia San Juan), who is also a transgender woman and a sex worker; and befriends a nurse, Rosa (Penélope Cruz), who happens to be pregnant with Lola’s child (and has also acquired something far more serious from Lola).

While there are plenty of comedic moments in the film, as is Almodóvar’s way, this is a drama that touches heavily on the themes of motherhood, the challenges of a transgender lifestyle, and AIDS, as well as religion and its relationship with all of these things. It’s a powerful, beautifully acted and exquisitely shot social statement that was a shocking revelation in 1999 and is just as potent twenty-one years later. It’s Almodóvar at his best.

Criterion’s new edition sports a 2K digital restoration supervised by Almodóvar and his executive producer (and brother) Agustin Almodóvar, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The all-important Almodóvar colors are appropriately vibrant—almost “day-glo.” The transfer is simply gorgeous.

There are three supplements. Part of the series A Film and Its Era, the 52-minute “Once Upon a Time—All About My Mother” (directed by Serge July and Marie Genin) is an excellent and informative 2012 documentary on the making of the film, and it contains interviews with Almodóvar and many of the cast and crew. A 48-minute Q&A from a 2019 twentieth anniversary screening of the film featuring the director, his brother, and actress Paredes, is enlightening (it also contains a preview of Almodóvar’s latest picture and Oscar nominee, Pain and Glory). The most interesting of the three supplements is the short 1999 piece on the film that focuses on Almodóvar and his mother, who definitely has strong opinions about her son’s work!

All About My Mother is a cinephile’s dream, a picture that gets under the skin and stays there. Highly recommended.

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Heineken has returned as one of the leading sponsors of a James Bond film: "No Time to Die", which will mark Daniel Craig's final appearance in the legendary franchise. Heineken has released a very clever, big budget TV commercial spoofing Craig's attempts to distance himself in real life from the image of agent 007.

When it came to playing Raymond Chandler's legendary private eye Philip Marlowe, it seemed that Humphrey Bogart came to own the part with his immortal portrayal of the private dick in Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep", but thirty years later, Robert Mitchum received some of the best reviews of his career by playing Marlowe in the stylish 1975 film "Farewell My Lovely". He would go on to play the role again in director Michael Winner's somewhat underrated remake of "The Big Sleep". Here is the original trailer for "Farewell My Lovely", directed by Dick Richards.

The DJs on the Sirius XM satellite music service are especially informative on the channel dedicated to rock songs of the 1960s. You can not only learn fascinating tidbits about the rock artists of the day but also some ancillary information about other aspects of pop culture. For example, DJ Dave Hoffel played the 1963 Four Seasons hit "Big Girls Don't Cry" and informed listeners of its interesting origins. Seems the group had been watching a 1955 Western titled "Tennessee's Partner" starring John Payne, Ronald Reagan and Rhonda Fleming. In one scene, Payne slaps Fleming in the face, expecting her to break down in tears. Instead, she remains dry-eyed and tells him "Big girls don't cry!". So there you have it: Rhonda Fleming was the inspiration for a hit song by the Four Seasons.

BY BRIAN GREENE

Tennesee Williams’s play Orpheus Descending stands out among his works for being a flop at a time when the playwright could seem to do no wrong. The seemingly unstoppable commercial and critical success Williams had enjoyed for more than a decade came to a momentary halt when Orpheus Descending tanked on Broadway in 1957. Despite the unexpected failure of the stage production of the play, however, a few years later plans were made to turn the story into a major motion picture, with up-and-coming director Sidney Lumet behind the camera, and acting luminaries Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, and Joanne Woodward playing key roles. Williams, who’d been working on various versions of the play for close to 20 years, was so thrilled by this development that he signed on to co-write the screenplay.

But Williams’s beloved tale just seemed to be doomed. Despite his reputation as a writer, and despite the high quality of the personnel involved in the creation of the movie, 1960’s The Fugitive Kind was a box office disaster and a feature not generally loved by film critics of the time. Why? With Criterion Collection issuing a new, deluxe version of the film, it’s an opportune moment to explore whether Williams’s tale just wasn’t right for the big screen, or if moviegoers and critical experts got things wrong in assessing The Fugitive Kind’s merits.

Like Williams’s play, the movie is set in America’s deep South, and largely in a dry goods store. Also like Orpheus Descending, The Fugitive Kind revolves around three social outsiders and how they relate to the rank and file locals, as well as to one another. Brando is Valentine “Val” Xavier, a snakeskin jacket-wearing, guitar-slinging drifter who winds up in the town by chance. Val has just turned 30 and he’s a good looking, sullen man who is irresistible to women, oftentimes to his own dismay, and who just always seems to find trouble for himself. Val has grown tired of the nightclubbing, stud for hire lifestyle he’s been leading since he was a teenager and is looking to settle down. Woodward portrays Carol Cutrere, born and bred in the small town, and from an upper crust family, but at odds with the other citizens, and her own kin, because of her hard-drinking, hard-living, freewheeling and lawless lifestyle. Magnani plays Lady Torrance, whose husband owns the dry goods and store and who is running the shop while her spouse is laid up with a potentially fatal health problem. Lady is unhappy in her marriage and has suicidal thoughts. Also, she’s a woman who’s deeply embittered about the fact that the small-minded, bigoted locals burned down her late father’s wine garden because he committed what they saw as an unforgivable sin: he served black people at his establishment. Lady suspects certain townsfolk of being responsible for the destruction of the wine garden and for the death of her father, who died while fighting the fire; and her own estranged husband is among those she believes were the culprits.

Lady hires Val to clerk at the mercantile store. She is drawn to him emotionally and physically, and they become involved with each other, despite the fact that Lady’s ailing, mean-spirited husband is generally just one floor away from them, in his sick bed in the couple’s living quarters above the shop. Carol wants Val, too, but he tells her she’s just the kind of wild child he wants to avoid getting involved with from then on, plus she is basically banned from showing her face in the town. All the locals keep a close watch on Val and, not surprisingly, the men folk aren’t overly fond of the homme fatale and the kinds of responses he tends to draw from women who encounter him. As Val begins living at the store and spending more and more time with Lady, as Lady makes plans to re-open a confectionery that she sees as the rebirth of the spirit of her late father’s wine garden, as Carol continues to show up and try to drag Val off to a life on the road with her, and as the townsfolk watch all of this happening, a climax that we’ve seen coming and that can’t be anything but destructive, is closing in all the time.

Here's a rare shot from behind the scenes of the 1975 crime thriller "The Killer Elite" showing star James Caan clowning with director Sam Peckinpah.

BY HANK REINEKE

OK, let’s start this review by stating an obvious and oft-repeated criticism. The actress Maria Montez was a skillful, if somewhat shameless, self-promoter; her primary asset wasn’t talent but beauty. In her desperate search for stardom, Montez arrived in New York City from the Dominican Republic, leaving behind an otherwise uncelebrated life as wife of a bank manager. Montez did a bit of modeling at first - even appearing in such widely-distributed magazines as LIFE - but a Hollywood career remained her primary target. She managed to secure a screen-test for RKO pictures, but was quickly scooped up by Universal in 1940 who thought her “exotic” features might prove useful to them. She mostly appeared as a supporting player in the years 1940-1941, but emerged in 1942 as a full-fledged star. She became, for a time, the “Queen of Technicolor,” an honor bestowed on her due to her appearances in a string of sumptuously photographed, escapist B-movie adventure entertainments.

Her first big taste of success followed her appearance in Arabian Nights (1942), but while she achieved top-bill status on the marquee, her on-screen time was unusually brief for a featured player. There was a reason for this, of course. The memories of many of the actors and filmmakers who worked with her would share similar reminiscences. Though they all agreed she photographed wonderfully, most conceded Montez simply couldn’t act or sing or dance. Her male admirers sitting in darkened theaters often felt cheated by the brevity of her screen time. But the softball roles assigned to her, to say it most politely, were purposefully undemanding as a matter of practicality. What Montez did possess, aside from her God-given beauty, was a combination of ego-centrism and moxey that was uncommon… even when measured against the copious self-regard exemplified by most of Hollywood’s most famous Divas.

With the provocative title of Cobra Woman, aficionados of Golden Age Horror might be seduced into thinking the flick is a borderline genre film.  It most certainly is not, the film having more in common with the chapter-serials of the 1940s than with the barrage of 65-minute second-feature chillers and mysteries that Universal would churn out with regularity.  The presence of Lon Chaney Jr. in the cast, not top-billed but still featured prominently in all of the film’s advertising, might also lead one into thinking this is a minor – if mostly forgotten - horror classic.  As the mysterious servant Hava, Chaney actually enjoys very little screen time and is given almost nothing to do aside from appearing menacing whenever on screen. 

Though Chaney flits in and out of the film, it is likely not a part he was particularly enamored of having been gifted; his character is little more than a hulking mute here, described as a “giant” by Sabu (Sabu Dastagir). Since he’s mute throughout Chaney is tasked to gesticulate to convey emotion and intention: it’s fair to say the actor is unable to convincingly pantomime in the style of his silent film star father, Lon Sr. This is not Lon Jr.’s fault, really, as his character is strictly one-dimensional. The actor may have been wasted in this role, but Chaney could hardly complain.  He would appear in no fewer than eight films release by Universal in 1944… with this one, arguably, being the least.

Though the dashing and handsome Jon Hall is at best dimly remembered by few others than fans of cult films of the 1940s and 1950s, his most famous roles were the ones in which he was paired (or, perhaps, saddled) with co-star Montez.  A former free-agent actor contracted by Universal, Hall was groomed to play the heroic leading man in such films as Invisible Agent (1942) and The Invisible Man’s Revenge (1944).  But his most memorable roles were played out here in the studio’s splashy Technicolor - but budget-strapped - adventure films.  He would eventually be paired with Montez in no fewer than six films.  

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Los Angeles, CA – Shout! Factory pays homage to a legend with the Shout Select release of "Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll" (Collector's Edition) on Blu-ray for the first time ever.

The unforgettable life and music of legendary rock pioneer Chuck Berry are celebrated in this landmark feature film, capturing a once-in-a-lifetime gathering of rock ‘n’ roll’s finest! In 1986, Keith Richards invited a roster of brilliant musicians to honor Chuck Berry for an evening of music to commemorate Berry’s 60th birthday, including performances by Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Linda Ronstadt, Etta James, and Julian Lennon, along with archival footage of an unforgettable duet by Chuck and John Lennon.

A must-have for aficionados, this dynamite crowd pleaser from director Taylor Hackford (Ray, Against All Odds), and Stephanie Bennett, producer of Chuck Berry: Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll and author of the new book Johnny B. Bad: Chuck Berry and the Making of Hail! Hail! Rock ‘N’ Roll, will keep your soul rocking all night long.

Customers ordering from shoutfactory.com will also receive a hardcover copy of "Johnny B. Bad: Chuck Berry and the Making of Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll," signed by author Stephanie Bennett.

Special Features Include:

Introduction by director Taylor Hackford

54 minutes of rehearsal footage

The Reluctant Movie Star making-of documentary

Trailer

Witnesses to History documentary Parts 1 & 2

"Chuckisms" - a collection of classic Chuck Berry remarks

"The Burnt Scrapbook" - Chuck Berry reminisces over his musical memories with The Band’s Robbie Robertson

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Director William Friedkin recently Tweeted a link to an article that examines the hysteria that accompanied the initial release of "The Exorcist". In today's world, we've been numbed by so many imitations that it may be hard for younger readers to believe the initial impact the film had on movie-goers in 1973/74, but it's all true! Click here to read.

Photo: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.

"Joker" has amassed 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture, making it the second superhero-themed film to score in this pivotal category. ("Black Panther" was the other.) Other films that fulfilled expectations in terms of nabbing major nominations include "The Irishman", "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and "1917". Click here for more coverage of the nominations. Click here for complete list of nominations.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

I admit to having a weakness for the "dirty cop" movies that were all the rage beginning with Bullitt in 1968 and extending through the mid to late 70s. Seemingly every major star wanted to be part of the genre, just as the spy film rage of the mid-1960s had everyone and their grandmother portraying a secret agent. The Super Cops, a 1974 MGM production, came at the end of the era in which stars such as Clint Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Steve McQueen and John Wayne had portrayed anti-establishment law enforcement officers. The Super Cops has the key ingredients common to all these films: wisecracking hero(es), tone-deaf police brass who are either resistant to using innovative methods or are flat-out corrupt and gritty urban backdrops.  The Super Cops had the pedigree of being based on fact and a bestselling book by the titular heroes, New York City detectives David Greenberg and Robert Hantz whose daring and unconventional exploits earned them the nicknames of Batman and Robin. (The Batman connection extends into the marketing campaign of the feature film with a one sheet poster that emulated the Pow! Zap! graphics of the 1960s TV series.)  The pair became among the most decorated detectives in New York City Police Department history, but if you believe the script, these accolades were given reluctantly from police brass that despised their headline-grabbing antics.

The film benefits from the having been directed by Gordon Parks (Shaft). Parks, a former Life magazine photographer, was the first African-American to direct films for major studios. He was no auteur but Parks did have a true knack for conveying life in troubled urban communities. The film opens with Greenberg (Ron Liebman) meeting Hantz (David Selby) at police cadet school where their wiseguy ways of upstaging superiors alienates them from the powers-that-be and even fellow cops. Nevertheless, their unconventional methods result in high profile arrests- even if the niceties of due process are often ignored. The film rambles from one unrelated incident to another and this lack of a central antagonist or plot device results in a meandering feeling to the story line. Liebman and Selby are no Butch and Sundance but acquit themselves adequately. (Liebman has all the scene-stealing opportunities and Selby is presented primarily as straight-man). Much of the film has the feel of a TV movie, though it could just be that cheesy aspects of the production are simply a product of the time: ugly fashions, ugly haircuts, ugly, boxy cars, etc, all set to an equally cheesy score by the usually impressive Jerry Fielding. In the movie's most creative action sequence, Greenberg and Hantz pursue suspects through a condemned tenement high rise that is being destroyed at that very moment by a wrecking ball. As the film progresses, it takes on a slightly more serious tone that makes for a some more moderately compelling scenes, such as when Greenberg's attempt to infiltrate a drug mob goes awry. The main problem is that there is absolutely no background given to the two heroes. We learn nothing about their motivations or personal lives outside of the police force, which leaves them as opaque and superficial characters. The film does benefit from an inspired supporting cast that includes the always-watchable Pat Hingle, Dan Frazer as an opportunistic police lieutenant who supports Greenberg and Hantz for his own career purposes and Joe Sirola in a fine performance as an arrogant police sergeant. Sheila E. Frazier supplied the only sex appeal as a hooker with a weakness for Greenberg.

The Super Cops is no work of art but if you also have a weakness for dirty cop movies of the 70s, it's worth a look. The region-free DVD contains the original trailer.

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The short-lived 1960s TV series "The Green Hornet" was brought to ABC-TV by the producer of "Batman" in the hope the lightning would strike twice. It didn't. The show lasted but a single season. Whereas "Batman" was played for laughs, "The Green Hornet" was done as a serious adventure series and probably seemed too hokey even in 1966. Still, if one catches the re-runs on various networks today, it remains highly entertaining. The series afforded an early high profile role for Bruce Lee, who tended to occasionally overshadow top-billed star Van Williams. The show has never been released officially on video in the USA or UK, probably due to legal entanglements. (It took literally decades to get "Batman" released.) The dismal look of this rare ABC promo spot isn't much worse than the prints that are being telecast today. So let's hope someone, somewhere can give The Green Hornet and Kato a first-rate release on video in the near future.

BY LEE PFEIFFER

When it was published in 1955, John O'Hara's novel "10 North Frederick" became not only a bestseller but somewhat of a "must-read" sensation. Not surprisingly, Hollywood studios began a bidding war for the screen rights. Ultimately, 20th Century Fox prevailed by offering O'Hara the (then) astronomical fee of $300,000 and also agreeing to hire him as a screenwriter for three forthcoming films, though, ironically "10 North Frederick" was not among them. Spencer Tracy was wooed for the leading role and production was delayed to accommodate his schedule. However, he later dropped out of the film in order to star in "The Last Hurrah" for director John Ford. Fox then hired Gary Cooper, who was enthused about taking on one of the most controversial roles of his career.

The film opens (a la "Citizen Kane") with media reporting on the death of a significant man who had wealth and widespread political influence. The year is 1945 and the man is Joseph Chapin (Cooper), a prominent lawyer who had once been feted by the rich and powerful. Chapin was a mover and shaker and held significant sway over politics in the state of Pennsylvania. As dignitaries gather at his mansion to express their condolences to his widow Edith (Geraldine Fitzgerald), a more controversial scene is taking place upstairs in the bedroom of his son Joby (Ray Stricklyn) who is inebriated. His sister Ann (Diane Varsi) is trying to persuade him to join the mourners and express his love and admiration for their father. It's clear, however, that both Joby and Ann hold a substantial grudge against their mother, who they accuse of manipulating their father to improve her own ambitions and social status. The film then switches into flashback mode to unveil a story of an outwardly stable family that is, in fact. beset by dysfunction. Chapin is a soft-spoken, dignified man who is bamboozled by his wife to enter the race for Lt. Governor, calling in favors from the officials he has supported over the years in order to get the nomination. Chapin is in a loveless marriage but is unable to free himself from the willful Edith. Joby is pushed by his family to attend Yale and become a prominent lawyer but the young man rebels, drops out of school and ultimately finds a career in the military, much to the displeasure of his parents. Ann also rebels against the strict social structure her mother has kept her in and ultimately marries a charismatic musician (Stuart Whitman), having become recently pregnant. Edith persuades her husband to intervene and Joe alternately threatens and bribes the new groom into deserting Ann. The problem of her giving birth to a child conceived before marriage poses a problem for Edith's reputation among the lifted pinky set but the situation is resolved when Ann suffers a miscarriage. She ultimately moves into an apartment she shares with her good friend Kate Drummond (Suzy Parker). Things become even more complicated when Kate is seduced by Tom. The couple fall madly in love and Joe promises to divorce Edith before circumstances arise that throw these plans into disarray. The film concludes with Joby's emotional dressing down of his mother and her motives in front of her high society friends.

"10 North Frederick" was directed by Phillip Dunne, who also wrote the screenplay. He was a great enthusiast of O'Hara's novel but was accused of watering down controversial aspects (Ann's loss of the baby was due to an abortion in the book) as well as overplaying the love affair between Joe and Kate, a development that takes up the latter part of the film although on the printed page, it was a minor plot point. This is at heart a soap opera, although an admittedly engrossing one. It is packed with devious, scheming characters and if they all had southern accents, it might fit well into the canon of works by Tennessee Williams. Cooper gives a fine performance, playing against type as a man manipulated by his cold hearted wife. He's a decent fellow at heart who nonetheless doesn't always have the courage of his convictions. A key distraction is the fact that Cooper plays a 50 year-old man. In fact, he was 56 at the time and could easily have passed for being a decade older. The supporting cast is first-rate throughout but the production is hampered by the surprisingly cheesy production values. There are virtually no exteriors and the drab studio settings can't be saved by the crisp B&W cinematography of the esteemed Joseph MacDonald. There was also plenty of drama behind the scenes when Diane Varsi had to be hospitalized for a nervous breakdown, though she did manage to complete the film and managed to provide an excellent performance. For Cooper, the idea of playing a married man in a torrid affair must have brought back memories of his own relationship with actress Patricia Neal, who in real life suffered her own nervous breakdown when Cooper ultimately told her he would not leave his wife.

There are plenty of plot twists and devious goings-on among the principal characters, but "10 North Frederick" never rises to the heights it might have, given the talented people involved, which is why it might have deemed a commercial and critical failure. Still, it's never dull and makes for compelling viewing.

The Twilight Time Blu-ray provides an excellent transfer. The region-free disc has no bonus extras other than an isolated track for composer Leigh Harline's score. There is also an illustrated booklet with fine production notes by Mike Finnegan.

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BY MARK CERULLI

Although Bond and Jill Masterson famously quaffed Dom Perignon in Goldfinger (right before she met her “glittering end”), Bollinger has been Bond’s go-to on screen champagne since the early Roger Moore era.

Over the decades since, the vintner has been canny enough to celebrate their cinematic tie-in by releasing a number of limited edition 007-themed bottles over the years, usually coinciding with each new film.

To celebrate the 25^th Bond movie, No Time to Die, Bollinger really went all out, releasing two special editions – one within the reach of most Bond fans and one for the more, um, rarified collector…

The first edition, produced in limited quantities, is a real work of art – the bottle itself has the names of all 24 previous Bond films as part of a swirling “25”. The outer case is a wood veneer and glass gift box that opens when pressed. The glass top is etched with the logos of each Bond release from Dr. No on up. Oh, yes, there IS a beverage inside – a 2011 Millésime with notes of “hazelnut, vanilla and subtle flavors of plum and honey” which by all accounts is quite delicious, although who’s going to open their bottle? If you can find it, it’s a steal at around $200.

To commemorate the 40^th anniversary of Moonraker and the Bollinger/Bond association, there is an even more exquisite release – a magnum of 2007 Millésime nestled in a Saint Louis crystal ice bucket, tucked inside a pewter and wood veneer case in the outline of a space shuttle. Each is numbered and hand finished with a total edition of just 407 worldwide. Adding to its exclusivity is its price tag – around $5,600. However, as one wine site noted, this champagne is drinkable until 2030, so there’s that…

Champagne Bollinger has made numerous appearances in the films (as in the pre-credits sequence of The Living Daylights when Bond drops in on a woman luxuriating on the deck of a yacht and sipping a glass of Bollinger) so it’s as much a part of the Bond legend as the tuxedo or Walther PPK. If you’re interested in snagging a bottle for your cellar… or in-home Bond display, hurry, they are selling out – although more are on the way, timed to hit stores right around No Time to Die’s release.

Cheers!

REVIEW: "KIDNAPPED" (1971) STARRING MICHAEL CAINE; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY RELEASE

REVIEW: "KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE" (1968) STARRING CHUCK CONNORS; KINO LORBER BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION