BY FRED BLOSSER

“The Don Is Dead,” a 1973 crime drama directed by Richard Fleischer, is available on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Unassuming but sharply executed, it may offer a bracing slice of old-school pizza for viewers who were disappointed by David Chase’s “The Many Saints of Newark” earlier this year. In Fleischer’s film, an unexpected heart attack claims Don Paolo Regalbuto, one of three powerful crime bosses in an unnamed American city. Since organized crime abhors a vacuum even more than nature does, the “national commission” of bosses quickly meets to decide the fate of the Regalbuto crime Family. No one ever uses the word “Mafia,” but wink-wink, you know whose these guys are anyway. One of the three bosses with whom Don Paolo shared control over their city, Don Jimmy, is away in prison and represented at the emergency summit by his consigliere, Luigi Orlando (Charles Cioffi). Luigi suggests that Don Paolo’s only son and heir apparent, Frank (Robert Forster), is too inexperienced to be crowned as the new boss of the Regalbuto empire, not to mention too impulsively hot-headed. Instead, why not dissolve Don Paolo’s organization and divide the assets between Don Jimmy and the other boss in the triumvirate, Don Angelo? Luigi will be glad to manage Don Jimmy’s interests in his enforced absence. When Frank resists the notion of stepping down, the seasoned Don Angelo (Anthony Quinn) ventures a middle ground that everyone agrees to. The Regalbuto assets will be divided evenly. Angelo will get half and Don Jimmy will get the other half as an absentee owner with Luigi as his caretaker. In the meantime, without any offspring of his own, Angelo will take Frank under his wing as his surrogate son. Don Paolo’s enforcers, the Fargo brothers, will be on call whenever either of the two gangs needs their services. When Angelo dies, Frank will inherit his entire organization.

Like many compromises, the plan is reasonable in theory but shaky in practice. Frank wants to continue his lucrative sideline in narcotics. No, Don Angelo objects -- too risky, too dirty. Still, he agrees to let the younger man travel to Italy to close one final transaction. The younger and smarter of the two Fargo brothers, Tony (Frederic Forrest) is determined to get out of the rackets, but Frank resists, as does Tony’s older brother Vince (Al Lettieri). They need Tony’s wise counsel to keep them on track. In the meantime, with his boss Don Jimmy behind bars, the devious Luigi Orlando turns the instability to his own advantage. When he and his equally grasping wife Marie see Frank having lunch with an attractive blonde, Luigi sends Marie over to chat her up after Frank leaves. Learning that the young woman, Ruby Bridges, is an aspiring singer and songwriter, Luigi devises a plan more J.R. Ewing than Al Capone, but equally effective. While Frank is away, Luigi secretly introduces Ruby to Don Angelo. Not aware that Frank has a prior claim, the older man falls for her. Her one song that we hear briefly on a demo tape (actually composed by Carol and Jerry Goldsmith) isn’t likely to excite today’s Adele or Cardi B fans, but Angelo likes it and he’s impressed by Ruby’s sincerity. In turn, she feels that Frank deserted her by flying off to Italy, and Angelo promises to use his high-level connections in the music business to further her career. It doesn’t hurt either that Ruby is played by Angel Tompkins. That name may not mean much to anyone under 50 today, but it revives fond memories for all us guys who saw the blonde actress in the sleazy 1974 drive-in movie “The Teacher” in our hormonal early 20s. Angelo installs Ruby in a luxurious apartment as his mistress, as Frank learns when he returns from Italy and receives an anonymous tip from Luigi. The short-tempered younger gangster reacts violently, Don Angelo retaliates, and war breaks out with Frank and the Fargo brothers on one side, Angelo on the other, and Luigi gleefully stirring things up behind the scenes.

Any Mafia movie, even “The Godfather” which “The Don Is Dead” dutifully emulates on a smaller scale, stands or falls on two factors. One, does it deliver the expected quota of double-crosses, machine-gun volleys, shotgun blasts, and loud explosions? Fleischer’s unpretentious drama, with screenplay credited to veteran pulp writer Marvin H. Albert, based on his novel, performs as well in this respect as most pictures in its genre, if not better. There’s even one of the action-movie staples so beloved by the late Roger Ebert, the runaway car that crashes into a produce stand, scattering fruits and vegetables everywhere. Fleischer and Albert add a second crash for good measure, followed by a scene where a character, fatally shot, falls onto a mountain of empty crates, toppling it. On the second criterion -- are the actors believably cast and do they perform capably?-- the picture scores high points too. Cioffi, Forrest, Forster, Lettieri, and Quinn are all first-rate. This is one of those rare films where Quinn is nearly, if not completely, upstaged in macho presence by his co-stars. Another graduate of “The Godfather,” Abe Vigoda, is listed prominently in the credits, but he only appears briefly early on, as one of the big bosses who decide the fate of Don Paolo’s empire. For veteran TV fans, there are plenty of other welcome players in the supporting cast too, notably Frank De Kova, J. Duke Russo, Joe Santos, and Vic Tayback. Viewers who muse, “I know the face, but who is that guy?” may spend as much time trying to ID the actors as following the plot.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray includes the theatrical trailer and an excellent audio commentary by film historian Sergio Mims.

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Fred Blosser is the author of "Sons of Ringo: The Great Spaghetti Western Heroes". Click here to order from Amazon)

“WONG FEI-HUNG AND THE CRITERION TREASURE”

By Raymond Benson

What character in cinematic history has appeared in the most films? Our friend the Internet says that Sherlock Holmes holds the record, followed by Dracula. However, most people outside of Asia might not realize that possibly third on the list is a Chinese martial arts practitioner and physician named Wong Fei-hung, who was a real person who lived mostly in the Canton area from 1847-1925. Wong became a cultural folk hero in his native country, spawning literature, comics, television series, and many, many films.

Wong Fei-hung (Wong is the surname, so in the West he would be Fei-hung Wong) has been known in fictional settings as Huang Fei-hong, Huang Fei Hong, Wong Fei Hong, and in this recent series as Wong Fei-hung. The actor most associated with the character in China is Tak-Hing Kwan, who made over 75 films between the 1940s and 1980s. Kwan is to Wong Fei-hung as Sean Connery is to James Bond. For many, Kwan is Wong. The titles to these movies invoke those of old serials, and they always begin with Huang Fei-hong… (e.g., Huang Fei-hong and the Courtesan’s Boat Argument or Huang Fei-hong’s Fight at Foshan).

However, other actors have portrayed the character in more recent years—Gordon Liu, Andy Lau, and Jackie Chan. Most recently, the actor Jet Li is associated with the role in director Tsui Hark’s extremely popular film and television series produced in Hong Kong in the 1990s.

Tsui (again, his surname) is one of the giants of the Hong Kong film industry. He began his career in the 1970s and worked on many films as director, writer, producer, and other capacities. He eventually started his own film company and became a major player in the region. In the early 90s Tsui decided to resurrect Wong Fei-hung in an updated, more politicized series of pictures that reflected a subtext of the anxiety felt by the Hong Kong people about the upcoming handover from Britain to China in 1997.

Thus, Once Upon a Time in China, as it was known in the West (in Cantonese the title is simply Wong Fei-hung), was unleashed in 1991 and proved to be a huge success. Jet Li, who was already a star on the Chinese film scene, moved to Hong Kong and solidified his standing along the likes of other martial arts superstars like Jackie Chan. The film’s triumph was such that the green light was given to make a sequel in 1992, Once Upon a Time in China II, followed by III in 1993. Jet Li dropped out of the series for the next two, IV (1993) and V (1994), and was replaced by Vincent Zhao (credited on screen as Zhao Wen Zhuo). Tsui Hark co-produced and co-wrote all five pictures, and he directed the first, second, third, and fifth. IV was directed by Yuen Bun. The five movies were then followed in Hong Kong by a five-episode television series called Wong Fei-hung, also starring Vincent Zhao as Wong. For a coda, a sixth film, Once Upon a Time in China and America was made in 1997, was directed by Sammo Hung, and Jet Li returned to the role of Wong one last time.

The overall theme in the series is one of nationalism. Unlike most high-action martial arts films produced in Hong Kong in the 90s, the Once Upon a Time series is overtly political, emphasizing how foreigners (i.e., Britain, the U.S., Europeans) invaded China and corrupted centuries-old cultures and traditions. Hence, in most cases, the villains in the films are the foreigners, although often the bad guys are also Chinese religious cults aiming to undermine not only foreigners but the current government.

The Criterion Collection has released a magnificent box set of the six feature films, plus a ton of supplements. Each movie takes place in the late 1800s (early 1900s in the last film) during the Qing Dynasty. Wong lives in a town called Foshan and runs a martial arts and Chinese medical clinic. He is surrounded by recurring characters who, while adept at martial arts and participate in the amazing action sequences, are there mainly for comic relief. A major recurring character is Leung Foon, played in the first picture by Yuen Biao, and from then on by Max Mok. Both Wong and Leung’s love interest is Yee Siu-kwan, more commonly addressed in the series as “13th Aunt” because of a complicated familial relationship to Wong. She is always played by Rosamund Kwan throughout the series. Wong himself is a serious guy who is honest, patriotic, and loyal. As played by Jet Li (and by Zhao as well), he is a dynamo at kung fu. For this reviewer’s money, he could take on Jackie Chan any day of the week and it would be troubling to decide upon whom to bet.

The films in the set:

Once Upon a Time in China (1991; Directed by Tsui Hark). A superb picture that won several of the Hong Kong Film Awards (their equivalent to the Oscars) of its year—Best Director (Hark), Editing (Marco Mak), Action Choreography (Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Shun-yee, Lau Kar-wing), and Original Score (James Wong). The main title theme song, based on a Ming Dynasty folk song, “A Man of Determination,” became the running theme for the entire film series and a popular hit tune. The song has long been associated with Wong Fei-hung, even before Tsui’s series. Here it is sung by George Lam (in the second feature it is sung by none other than Jackie Chan over the end titles). The film was nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, and Supporting Actor (Jacky Cheung, as “Bucktooth”). The story involves Wong and his team battling a gang that operates like a mafia, terrorizing businesses in Foshan, as well as the corrupt American officials who plan to kidnap Chinese women and export them back to the U.S. as slaves (i.e., prostitutes). Although this first feature in the series is a little too long (134 minutes), it introduces all the ongoing characters, establishes the mix of action, comedy, and melodrama, and is full of visual spectacle.

Once Upon a Time in China II (1992; Directed by Tsui Hark). This reviewer ranks the second feature as the absolute favorite among the bunch. Replacing Yuen Biao with Max Monk as Leung Foon, who is Wong’s main sidekick, is an improvement. The story is tighter and not so all over the place as it was in the first picture. Wong and company travel to Canton to attend a medical conference, where they meet real-life political figure. Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Zhang Tielin). A dangerous religious cult, the White Lotus Sect, threatens not only the foreigners in the region, but also any Chinese who believe in progress or moving away from outdated traditions. Everything in the movie works, and the fight scenes are especially inventive and exciting. The historical perspectives involving Sun Yat-sen are also engaging. While there is no evidence that the real Wong Fei-hung ever met the real Sun Yat-sen, it’s entirely possible because their lives overlapped.

Once Upon a Time in China III (1993; Directed by Tsui Hark). This one provides a change of scenery as Wong and his team travel to Beijing to participate in a “lion dance” competition. Although made in Hong Kong, the film’s art direction convincingly creates landmark locations in Beijing, such as the Forbidden City. A Russian acquaintance of 13th Aunt, Tomanovsky (John Wakefield), supplies romantic conflict as well as antagonist duties. There are also rival gangs in the competition who aim to cheat to win, and Wong must dispel these challenges to his honor. It’s not as engaging as the first two—it feels as if we’ve seen much of it before. It’s also not surprising that Jet Li decided to leave the series after this production. Still, for fans of the films, it provides enough of the goods to entertain.

Once Upon a Time in China IV (1993; Directed by Yuen Bun). Vincent Zhao replaces Jet Li as Wong, but the rest of the cast remains the same. Rosamund Kwan and her character is absent, but she is replaced by her sister, “14th Aunt,” played by Jean Wang. In this one, Wong participates in an international lion dance competition, and there’s another fanatical religious cult, the Red Lantern Sect, this time made up entirely of women. In many ways, IV is a repeat of III, and the production values seem cheaper. Most interesting is the new dynamic of the romantic trio between Wong, Leung, and 14th Aunt.

Once Upon a Time in China V (1994; Directed by Tsui Hark). Hark must have decided to direct again due to the disappointing IV. Rosamund Kwan is also back as 13th Aunt, but Wang as 14th Aunt is still present, creating an even more romantic whirlwind conflict among the characters. A big improvement over IV, this picture features Wong and company moving to Hong Kong, where they join forces with the local government to battle pirates who are cutting off supply routes.

Once Upon a Time in China and America (1997; Directed by Sammo Hung). This one seems like an afterthought, although it is unique and entertaining in its way. Jet Li returns to the role of Wong Fei-hung, and this time the team travel to America and the Wild West in the early 1900s. Think Back to the Future Part III, as the Chinese characters are fish out of water, dealing with cowboys, outlaws, and Native Americans. The movie was made in the U.S., too, and there are scenes in Monument Valley and other locations identified with Hollywood westerns. It’s mindless hokum, but different enough from the others that it’s still enjoyable.

The first two films in the Criterion Collection set have 4K digital restorations, and new 2K digital restorations for the others, all presented in original Cantonese theatrical-release sound mixes in uncompressed monaural or stereo (the latter available as a choice for the first two films). Supplements abound on each of the six disks in the box. There are too many to list here; suffice it to say that there are new interviews with Tsui Hark, editor Marco Mak, and others, as well as vintage interviews with Jet Li and Tsui. A new interview with critic Tony Rayns is essential viewing for a background to the Wong character and the series. There is much more, including a master class given by martial arts choreographer Yuen Wo-ping, making of featurettes, behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted scenes. Essays by film critic Maggie Lee and novelist Grady Hendrix are included in the booklet.

The final word—Criterion’s Once Upon a Time in China—The Complete Films is a must-have package for fans of Hong Kong cinema, Jet Li, Tsui Hark, and martial arts extravaganzas.

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RETRO-ACTIVE: THE BEST FROM THE CINEMA RETRO ARCHIVES

REVIEW – Naked City: The Complete Series

RLJ Entertainment / 6,063 minutes

By Harvey F. Chartrand

Naked City was like no other TV series before or since – Michel Moriarty, star of Law and Order, once told this reviewer.

Inspired by Jules Dassin's 1948 film of the same name, Naked City centers on the detectives of the NYPD’s 65th Precinct, but the criminals and New York City itself often played as prominent a role in the dramas as the series regulars. Like the film it was based on, Naked City (1958- 1963) was shot almost entirely on location. The first season ran as a half-hour show under the title The Naked City, starring James Franciscus and John McIntire playing, respectively, Detective Jimmy Halloran and Lieutenant Dan Muldoon—the same roles essayed by Don Taylor and Barry Fitzgerald in the film.

The Naked City also starred Harry Bellaver as Det. Frank Arcaro. When the series was expanded to an hour, the producers brought in handsome Paul Burke as Det. Adam Flint and gruff Horace McMahon as Lt. Mike Parker to replace Franciscus and McIntyre (with jovial Bellaver remaining in the cast). That's when the classic episodes of Naked City were produced... with a host of famous guest stars, ranging from silent movie actors like Conrad Nagel to newcomers Martin Sheen, Peter Fonda and Christopher Walken.

Naked City is so good and so unlike any other American crime drama or police procedural it's hard to believe it was produced in the United States, because the series definitely has a European look and sensibility. It's sort of operatic neorealism – Vittorio De Sica let loose with a camera in NYC. Not unlike De Sica's Bicycle Thieves and Umberto D., Naked City reflects a very existentialist and humanistic philosophy that occasionally moves the viewer to tears. The series regulars often become supporting players in the weekly dramas. The writing by Stirling Silliphant and others makes the more celebrated Paddy Chayevsky sound like an overbearing pontificator. Silliphant really humanizes his characters.... whether cops, criminals or ordinary New Yorkers.

Sadly, the image quality of Naked City: The Complete Series varies considerably. Several of the earlier episodes are in bad shape – dark and speckled. Framed in 1.33:1, most of the transfers look pretty good. Generally, image and sound quality are more than acceptable, although dialogue isn't always clear.

But this box set is the only way to see the entire landmark television series – unfamiliar to contemporary audiences because the series rarely went into syndication after its ABC run.

Watching 138 episodes of Naked City on 29 DVDs is quite a time commitment, but well worth the effort. The show (filmed in glorious black and white) is interesting from a historical standpoint: We see the magnificent old Penn Station (tragically demolished in 1963) and the Singer Building (the 47-story office tower – built in 1908 and torn down in 1968). In the early sixties, the New York City skyline was never more beautiful and balanced, before the intrusion of such massive structures as One World Trade Center and the Bank of America Tower. The Columbus Circle of the late fifties is almost unrecognizable, with the monument at the centre the only constant. We also see pre-gentrified Manhattan neighborhoods that looked quite grungy back in the day, especially in the winter.

Naked City attracted top-flight guest stars, including Luther Adler, Eddie Albert, Edward Asner, Martin Balsam, Barbara Barrie, Richard Basehart, Diahann Carroll, Lee J. Cobb, James Coburn, Richard Conte, Hume Cronyn, Robert Culp, Sandy Dennis, Bruce Dern, Bradford Dillman, Keir Dullea, Dan Duryea, Robert Duvall, Peter Falk, Nina Foch, Anthony Franciosa, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Hopper, Kim Hunter, David Janssen, Jack Klugman, Shirley Knight, Diane Ladd, Piper Laurie, Joanne Linville, Robert Loggia, Jack Lord, Walter Matthau, Myron McCormick, Roddy McDowall, Burgess Meredith, Sylvia Miles, Vic Morrow, Robert Morse, Lois Nettleton, Leslie Nielsen, Carroll O'Connor, Susan Oliver, Nehemiah Persoff, Suzanne Pleshette, Claude Rains, Robert Redford, Ruth Roman, Mickey Rooney, Carol Rossen, Telly Savalas, George C. Scott, George Segal, William Shatner, Sylvia Sidney, Maureen Stapleton, Karen Steele, Akim Tamiroff, Rip Torn, Jon Voight, Eli Wallach, David Wayne, Tuesday Weld, Keenan Wynn and Dick York. George Maharis guest stars in a first-season episode that served as a pilot for Route 66. (Naked City and Route 66 were created and produced by Stirling Silliphant and Herbert B. Leonard.)

Gene Hackman

Christopher Walken

The only extra features are 12 minutes of commercials from 50+ years ago, including one in which Peter Lorre promotes a flexible watchband.

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BY HANK REINEKE

On the very month that Roger Corman’s The Raven was to hit theaters in January 1963, AIP announced that they had just signed a four year eight-film contract with that film’s co-star Peter Lorre. The contract was an interesting one as it wasn’t exclusive: the actor wasn’t necessarily barred from accepting acting offers from other studios. But the contract stipulated Lorre could not accept any roles offered of “the horror, science-fiction, macabre type,” and certainly not in any competing non-AIP Edgar Allan Poe film adaptation. Such movies would remain the domain of AIP, which had recently been on a hot streak with their churning of Gothic horrors. Arkoff and Nicholson triumphantly announced they had already readied two new projects for Lorre, one titled It’s Alive (reported to co-star Elsa (The Bride of Frankenstein) Lanchester and a second, The Comedy of Terrors. The former film, alas, would never see the light of day.

Then, in March of ’64, AIP announced a similar deal had been struck with the aging and increasingly frail Boris Karloff. Perhaps sensing that the seventy-six year old Karloff’s faltering health might prove a liability, the actor’s contract called for a more cautious four film, two-year deal. As with Lorre, the rider in Karloff’s contract also precluded him from appearing in any non-AIP horror-type pictures in the years 1963-1965.

In the final tally, Karloff was able to fulfill to the terms of the deal struck, appearing in two films, The Comedy of Terrors and The Terror in 1963. His concluding two films for AIP were less demanding on the beloved actor. He would appear in a cameo role in the Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon romp Bikini Beach (1964) and, lastly, as “The Corpse” – a somewhat more substantial seated role for the mostly wheelchair-bound actor - in the Nancy Sinatra vehicle Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (released 1966).

Lorre’s tenure with AIP was, sadly, cut short. The actor appeared, memorably, in The Comedy of Terrors and, in a brief cameo, in still another Frankie and Annette teen-comedy Muscle Beach Party (1964). These two films would be among his last released. Lorre was found dead, the apparent victim of a stroke, in his apartment on Hollywood Boulevard in March of 1964. He was a mere 59 years of age. Vincent Price, his co-star in both The Raven and The Comedy of Terrors, told the Los Angeles Times that he was “crushed” when he learned of his friend’s passing. “Peter was the most inventive actor I’ve ever known,” Price memorialized. “He was a great scholar, an accomplished dramatic actor and a masterful comedian. Peter liked to make pictures which entertained people, not critics. He didn’t have any pretensions about conveying messages to the world.”

AIP was doing very well, thank you, not making edgy soapbox pictures. So well, in fact, that in October of 1963, Nicholson and Arkoff announced that 1964 was going to be their biggest year ever. The two were feeling, justifiably, cocky. Two months earlier the national Theater Owners Association named the pair “Producers of the Year.” AIP was riding high and the company’s future plans were being readied to be put into aggressive motion. The producers planned for no fewer than twenty-three films to be put into production - with the caveat that only nine would actually be filmed in costly Hollywood. Their promised investment of twenty-five millions dollars into these twenty odd projects would mark a twenty-five percent increase in their budget expenditures of the previous year.

“In the field of Edgar Allan Poe, the teen-age appeal ‘beach’ pictures and in comedy-terror, AIP will continue to be the leaders with even bigger and better productions,” the partners promised via a crowing press release. Though they had definite designs on AIP’s future, they also thought it time to look back on what had been issued since their incorporation in 1955. To stoke interest in two new Poe adaptations scheduled for release in ’64 (The Masque of the Red Death and City in the Sea), the company also planned to reissue twin-bills of earlier efforts, pairing House of Usher with The Pit and the Pendulum and The Premature Burial with Tales of Terror.

One of the films that AIP had hoped would carry the day was The Comedy of Terrors, the title a jokey if macabre homage to the famous Shakespeare play. The title was the idea of screenwriter Richard Matheson. Nicholson wanted to title the film Graveside Story, a lampoon of the recent box-office musical smash West Side Story. Matheson conceded that Nicholson’s suggested moniker might have ultimately brought in more patrons to the cinema to see the film, but he believed that the insert of the word “comedy” into the title might possibly have alienated horror-film stalwarts. Though a non-Poe production, the film would share many of the same qualities – and technical crew - of that series. The movie would re-team the “Triumvirate of Terror” that made The Raven such a great success: Lorre, Karloff, and – of course – AIP’s number one ghoul Vincent Price.

One key member of the team that would be missing from the set was Roger Corman. The antsy director was interested in going off in another direction with such films as his Grand Prix drama The Young Racers (1963). The figure eventually chosen to replace Corman in the director’s chair was certainly no slouch. Matheson suggested that Jacques Tourneur, the French-born director of several of the greatest RKO horror-mystery films of the 1940s (Cat People, I Walked with a Zombie, and The Leopard Man) would be well-suited to the task, the pair having recently worked together on an episode of The Twilight Zone.

The producers agreed and Tourneur was promptly signed. The pipe-smoking auteur had been working in the film industry since the late 1920s, but his fortunes and opportunities had reversed in the succeeding decade. He went from directing critically-acclaimed features in the 1940s to helming television dramas throughout most of the 1950s. The offer to direct The Comedy of Terrors would give the fifty-nine old director an opportunity to get back into the game.

One of the prizes that AIP dangled before him was an opportunity to direct one of the most ambitious films that they had on their schedule. In December of 1963, AIP signed the Frenchman to direct a lavish production of Genghis Kahn, a 70mm “Technirama” epic to be shot in Italy and Spain at a cost of some 4.5 million dollars. That film would, of course, never see production, so Tourneur had to settle on helming AIP’s succeeding Poe-project War Gods of the Deep, a very free adaptation of the author’s City by the Sea.

Matheson recalled that the role of John F. Black, eventually played by Basil Rathbone in The Comedy of Terrors, was originally designed with Karloff in mind. But the role was a hugely physical one, and Karloff’s mobility issues and emphysema precluded his accepting the part. Regardless, having Karloff’s name on the marquee of a horror film still carried a lot of value, so he was given the role – if little substantial screen time - as the doddering Amos Hinchley. Matheson would later sigh that the legendary actor wasn’t given the opportunity to “do too much of anything” in the film – though he would figure as a key player in the film’s dénouement.

Rathbone was actually a splendid replacement, appearing as a hoary poof who recites Shakespeare soliloquies and performs all manner of physical comedy. The problem he causes Price and Lorre, two perversely unethical morticians, is that the cataleptic-prone character he portrays steadfastly chooses to remain un-dead despite the pair’s devious machinations, an obvious detriment to their funeral business. Though the film’s box-office totals did not match that of The Raven, Matheson maintained The Comedy of Terrors still did OK when all was said and done. In his view, the penny-pinching producers of AIP were very box-office savvy and “didn’t spend enough money to lose money.”

The film did well enough that in September of ’63, just as shooting was near completion, there was some scuttlebutt that most of the assembled talent in the film – including actress Joyce Jameson who played Price’s frustrated wife – would be reunited on screen before long. Nicholson once again teased Graveside Story as the working title on the company’s next horror-comedy extravaganza. Matheson recalls that another actress, Tallulah Bankhead, was also in contention for a role in the projected film. The problem was that, similarly to Karloff, the aging actress’s health was also in decline. Bankhead’s recent plum role in the Hammer Films production Die! Die! My Darling (1964) was reportedly almost scrubbed due to her health issues, but the production of that film managed to soldier on regardless.

Matheson had even written the screenplay for the projected new film, a self-described comedy-thriller, now titled Sweethearts and Horror. Sadly, the passing of Lorre in early winter ’64 and the producer’s hesitancy of working with two cast members with day-to-day health issues effectively put the kibosh on the project. If film fans desire to learn what they missed due to this confluence of bad breaks and health-related caution, they need only check out Matheson’s Visions Deferred: Three Unfilmed Screenplays (Gauntlet Press, 2009). The book includes the screenwriter’s unproduced script for Sweethearts and Horror.

If The Comedy of Terrors was to serve as a template for producing Sweethearts and Horror, it might have been for the best. It’s not that the former is not a serviceable and entertaining film – it’s actually quite funny in moments - but its predecessor The Raven was certainly the better film. One might reasonably assume that had Sweethearts been made, that film might have reflected another step down on the pedestal.

I for one, would have loved to have seen it made regardless, even if Lorre was no longer around to once again take part in ghoulish revelry with friends Price and Karloff. I simply love all of these colorful ‘60s AIP horror films – produced tongue-in-cheek or otherwise. Should you share my enthusiasm, dim the lights, stretch out on the couch some late Saturday night, snack on a bowl of popcorn, relax and enjoy The Comedy of Terrors. You might not be enlightened, but you will be entertained.

This impressive Kino Lorber Studio Classics Blu-ray edition of The Comedy of Terrors is presented here in a 1920x1080p with an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and dts sound. There are removable English subtitles and an attractive slipcase cover. The set also includes featurette Richard Matheson: Storyteller and an audio commentary track by film historian, author, and publisher Tim Lucas. The release rounds out with the film’s original theatrical trailer as well as an additional eight titles from Kino’s Vincent Price catalog.

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 If you haven't subscribed for Season 17 of Cinema Retro, here's what you've been missing:

Issue #49 (January, 2021)

Lee Pfeiffer goes undercover for Robert Vaughn's spy thriller "The Venetian Affair" .

Cai Ross goes to hell for "Damien- Omen II"

Ernie Magnotta continues our "Elvis on Film" series with "Elvis: That's the Way It Is"..

Robert Leese scare up some memories of the cult classic "Carnival of Souls"

Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer look back on the 1976 Sensurround sensation "Midway"

Remembering Sir Sean Connery

James Sherlock examines Stanley Kramer's pandemic Cold War classic "On the Beach".

Dave Worrall goes in search of the Disco Volante hydrofoil from "Thunderball"

Gareth Owen's "Pinewood Past" column

Darren Allison reviews the latest soundtrack releases

Issue #50 (May, 2021)

50th anniversary celebration of "The French Connection" : Todd Garbarini interviews director William Friedkin

"Scars of Dracula": Mark Cerulli interviews stars Jenny Hanley and Christopher Matthews

Mark Mawston interviews Luc Roeg about his father Nicholas Roeg's "Walkabout"

James Bond producer Kevin McClory- Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury interview his family members

John Harty pays tribute to "Young Cassidy" starring Rod Taylor

"The Curse of the Werewolf"- Nicholas Anez pays tribute to the underrated Hammer horror film

Dave Worrall on the moving 1974 adventure film "The Dove"

Lee Pfeiffer on what worked and didn't work in "Goodbye, Columbus"

PLUS! You will also receive our fall issue:

Dave Worrall chronicles the challenges of bringing Cleopatra to the big screen in a 14 page Film in Focus feature loaded with rare photos.

John Harty looks at the ambitious but disastrous Soviet/Italian co-production of "The Red Tent" starring Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale and Peter Finch

Terence Denman rides tall in the saddle with his story behind "The Savage Guns", the only Western ever made by Hammer Films

Dave Worrall and Lee Pfeiffer unveil the secrets of "Ice Station Zebra" starring Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan and Jim Brown

Rare original U.S. drive-in movie theater adverts

Brian Davidson's exclusive interview with David McGillivray (aka McG), screenwriter of 1970s horror flicks and looks back at "Hoffman", the bizarre film that Peter Sellers wanted destroyed.

Nicholas Anez examines the underrated thriller "The Night Visitor" starring Max Von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Per Oscarsson and Trevor Howard

Plus regular columns by Raymond Benson, Darren Allison and Gareth Owen

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“A DARK YEAR AND A HARD NIGHT”

By Raymond Benson

From the directorial eye of Lewis Milestone (All Quiet on the Western Front) and a script by playwright Clifford Odets (plays Waiting for Lefty and Awake and Sing!) came the odd and mysterious adventure-spy picture, The General Died at Dawn. Released in 1936 by Paramount Pictures, the movie seems out of place for the time. Hollywood output in the thirties, for the most part, was all about entertainment and lifting an audience out of the doldrums of the Great Depression. There were some serious dramas from Tinsel Town, to be sure, but General is decidedly dark, moody, and rather cynical fare.

This was Odets’ first screenplay (from a story by Charles G. Booth). He would go on to write None but the Lonely Heart (1944) and Sweet Smell of Success (1957), which are also rather gloomy and acerbic pictures. Combined with Milestone’s own flare for peeling back the light and revealing what is, in protagonist O’Hara’s words, “a dark year and a hard night,” The General Died at Dawn is not feel-good material.

O’Hara (Gary Cooper) is an American mercenary in war-ravaged China. The evil warlord, General Yang (Akim Tamiroff) is overrunning the land and leaving behind starving (or dead) peasants. O’Hara works for the opposition, and his assignment is to deliver a beltful of money to Mr. Wu (Dudley Digges) so that the resistance can buy arms with which to fight Yang’s forces. Another American expat, Peter Perrie (Porter Hall), is ill and desires to get back to America at any cost. He’s in cahoots with Yang to stop the resistance from receiving those funds—for a price. Perrie thus orders his beautiful daughter, Judy (Madeleine Carroll) to seduce O’Hara and get him to take the train to Shanghai instead of a plane. It is there that Yang and his soldiers have set a trap for O’Hara. Other spies, both Chinese and Westerners played by the likes of Philip Ahn, J. M. Kerrigan, and William Frawley (!), enter the fray with motivations of their own.

What happens to the money and to the cast of motley characters provides a little over ninety minutes of action, adventure, and melodrama that doesn’t totally gel as one might wish. The plot is overly complex, and it isn’t often clear why some of the personnel do what they do. Granted, the movie was made in 1936 and the action takes place mostly within the interiors of train cars. There is certainly an awful lot of talking going on when at any point General Yang could have simply pulled out a gun and shot his nemesis or just torn open all the luggage to find the dough.

That said, this is Hollywood “exotica” in all its politically incorrect glory. Two actors—Armenian Tamiroff and Irishman Digges—wear Chinese makeup to play Yang and Wu (and Tamiroff received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, the first year that category was offered). And yet, all the other Chinese characters are played by Asian actors. One supposes that because Yang and Wu were indeed supporting roles, then they had to be played by Westerners. (Sheesh.) But this was Hollywood in the 1930s, after all, and it was par for the course. For what it’s worth, Tamiroff is very good in the role.

Gary Cooper spends most of the movie carrying his pet monkey, Sam, who crawls all over Cooper as if the man was the primate’s long lost mother. It’s endearing, though, and Sam almost steals the movie. Nevertheless, Cooper exhibits the requisite hero qualities. He assuredly caused swooning among a certain selection of audience members. Carroll, who had recently made the move from the UK to Hollywood, holds her own, but the script unfortunately doesn’t fully develop her character.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray restoration looks remarkably good, given the picture’s age and the Oscar-nominated soft focus black and white photography (by Victor Milner). There is an audio commentary by author/film historian Lee Gambin and actress/film historian Rutanya Alda that sheds some light on this dark picture. The only supplement is the theatrical trailer, nestled among other trailers from Kino.

The General Died at Dawn is for fans of 1930s Hollywood, adventure and spy thrillers, and the ever handsome Gary Cooper.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

In Cinema Retro's never-ending quest to analyze relatively inconsequential movies, the trail takes us to Dirty Dingus Magee, one of Frank Sinatra's last starring feature films. The movie shocked critics when it opened in 1970 due to the trivial of the production. Time has done nothing to enhance its reputation and one can only wonder what possessed Sinatra to star in this tepid Western comedy. In reality, Sinatra's passion for movie-making was also tepid. He always preferred to concentrate on his singing career and regarded acting as a time-consuming sideline. His penchant for rarely approving a second take became legendary. Nevertheless, he was undeniably one of the cinema's great icons. Prior to Dirty Dingus Magee, Sinatra had shown good judgment with the majority of the films he made during the mid-to-late Sixties. There were some misguided efforts but Von Ryan's Express, Tony Rome, Lady in Cement and The Detective were all quality productions in which he acquitted himself very well. All the more puzzling as to what attracted him to the MGM Western that seemed cursed from the start. 

Seldom has so much talent been squandered on one modestly-budgeted movie. The film was directed by Burt Kennedy, an old hand at bringing highly entertaining Westerns to the silver screen. (i.e The War Wagon, Support Your Local Sheriff, The Train Robbers, Hannie Caulder.) The screenplay was co-written by Catch-22 author Joseph Heller and the talented cast includes George Kennedy, Michele Carey, Anne Jackson, Jack Elam, Lois Nettleton and Harry Carey Jr. Yet it all adds up to a lively but inconsequential trifle that would have been designed for the bottom of double feature bills at drive-ins had it not been for Sinatra's name above the title. He plays the titular character, a low-rent outlaw who engages in an endless cat-and-mouse game with newly-appointed sheriff Hoke Birdsill (Kennedy). The two men relentlessly track each other down and alternately deceive and rob the other. The razor-thin plot has something to do with local madam Anne Jackson trying to start an Indian uprising to prevent the local U.S. Cavalry unit from relocating, thus ensuring the demise of her bordello.

It's unconscionable that as late as 1970 Native Americans could be portrayed in such a racist fashion on screen. The dialogue afforded them is of the "Me-Tarzan, You-Jane" variety and the tribe is presented as a bunch of childish imbeciles. Michele Carey is cast as Dingus's Indian maiden love interest but she is relegated to prancing around in a short buckskin outfit and enduring endless interrupted attempts to get it on with Dingus. The "palefaces" don't fare much better. Anne Jackson is channeling Shelly Winters as the obnoxious madam who spends more time screamin' than screwin'. Even old stalwart Jack Elam is completely wasted, as are a number of other generally reliable old coots who populated Westerns during this era. Sinatra seems uncomfortable throughout. Adorned by a distracting Beatle-type wig, he is constantly upstaged by George Kennedy, who provides whatever modest pleasures the film affords. Kennedy has a knack for playing broad, slapstick comedy that Sinatra never acquired.The movie's cheap production values extend to some of the worst rear screen projection I've ever seen in a major movie, and that includes Marnie.

At this point in his career Sinatra said he had grown bored with show business. He even went into self-imposed retirement for a couple of years before re-emerging and admitting that doing nothing was even more boring. He enjoyed remarkable success in the ensuing years and won a new generation of fans. Sadly, his work in films all but evaporated. After the poor reception accorded Dirty Dingus Magee, he only had one other starring role- ten years later in the underrated thriller The First Deadly Sin. His fine performance in that film stands as a stark reminder of what he could have accomplished in films in the latter part of his career had he concentrated on challenging projects. Dirty Dingus Magee is worth acquiring on DVD- but only to witness one of the most misguided ventures of Old Blue Eyes' career.

Them region-free DVD contains the original trailer.

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Powerhouse Films' Indicator label in the UK have just released a special edition  Region B Blu-ray of Universal's 1976 WWII movie Midway on their Indicator label, and when they say special they really mean it!

Limited to just 3000 copies, and with a booklet that includes the text from the Cinema Retro 'Film in Focus' in issue #49 (2021) written by Lee Pfeiffer and Dave Worrall, this amazing disc includes the following:

• High Definition remaster; original mono and 2.1 Sensurround audio tracks
• Alternative two-part television version (101 mins and 92 mins)
• the rarely seen extended television cut containing unique scenes, reframed to 4:3 and presented in standard definition, as originally broadcast
• Audio commentary with film historians Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin (2021)
• The Guardian interview with Robert Wagner (1983, 71 mins): archival audio recording of the film and TV star in conversation with Joan Bakewell at the National Film Theatre, London
• They Were There! (1976, 7 mins): Charlton Heston presents this archival documentary featuring interviews with three combatants who survived the battle
• The Making of Midway (2001, 39 mins): documentary looking at the film's production
• Sensurround: The Sounds of Midway (2001, 5 mins: a look at the film's use of the Sensurround audio system
• The Super 8mm consumer movie version of highlights from the film
  
• The Battle of Midway (1942, 18 minutes): award-winning documentary directed by John Ford relaying the battle with footage shot by Navy cameramen
• Original theatrical trailer, TV spots, radio spots, image gallery, promotional and publicity materia
• New and improved English subtitles for the deaf and hard-of-hearing
• A limited edition 36-page booklet featuring archival articles on the film and the event that inspired its screenplay, an overview of critical responses, and film credits.
  

An excellent release, and one that won't be around for long! (Please note: this release is in Region 2/B format. If you are not in the appropriate geographic region, you will need a region-free Blu-ray player.)

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(right to left) George Feltenstein poses with Michael Feinstein, and Roddy McDowall in front of a re-creation of Rick’s cafe for the 1992 VSDA trade show.

Many of our readers enjoyed listening to film historian Tim Millard's interview with George Feltenstein, who is a legend in the home video industry, on a previous episode of his podcast "The Extras". Now, Tim has conducted a second interview with George in which he discusses his career at Warner Home Video and the origins and launch of the popular Warner Archive catalog of classic and cult movies. Click here to listen.   

“SMALL TOWN, BIG DRAMA”

By Raymond Benson

James Jones is mostly known for his debut novel, From Here to Eternity. His second novel, published in 1958, was Some Came Running, a 1,200-page potboiler that blows the lid off small town America. It was a more adult Peyton Place, if that was possible for the time. Colorful, sometimes sordid, characters populate the book, and it didn’t do as well as that classic first publication. Nevertheless, MGM immediately scooped it up and managed to turn it into a motion picture by the end of the same year.

Frank Sinatra found the material appealing, and he saw himself as the story’s lead, Dave Hirsh, a prodigal son of sorts from fictional Parkman, Indiana. Discharged from the army, Hirsh arrives in town with a hangover and a party girl he picked up in Chicago, Ginny Moorehead (Shirley MacLaine). His brother, Frank (Arthur Kennedy) is a big shot in Parkman. Frank owns a jewelry business and is on the board of one of the two rival banks. Dave and Frank have been estranged for years, especially since Frank put younger Dave in a boarding school when their parents died, instead of having Dave come live with him and his wife, Agnes (Leora Dana). Dave once fancied himself a writer and had published two books. While deep down he hopes to write again, his cynicism for just about everything keeps him from doing so. Dave meets Bama Dillert (Dean Martin) in the town bar, and they hit it off. Bama is an alcoholic, but he’s an amusing companion who, like Dave, likes to play poker games. Dave eventually meets and falls in love with the creative writing teacher at the school, Gwen French (Martha Hyer)—but Ginny, who has stayed in town to be near Dave, is a constant obstacle to that match. Other disreputable goings-on complicate the plot, such as Frank’s daughter (and Dave’s niece), Dawn (Betty Lou Keim), catching her father parked in the “lover’s lane” with the jewelry shop secretary, Edith (Nancy Gates). Will Dave find the love he wants and needs? Will the gangster from Chicago, who is in town to cause trouble for Ginny and Dave, resort to serious violence? Will Bama ever take off his hat, which he insists on wearing all the time, even in bed? You’ll have to see the film to find out.

That plot summary might sound like the outline of a soap opera, but never mind that—Some Came Running is a fascinating, searing, well-acted, and beautifully-directed drama. The director, Vincente Minnelli, was on a roll in 1958—he won the Academy Award for Director for Gigi (it won Best Picture, too), also directed The Reluctant Debutante, and ended the year with Some Came Running. For this reviewer’s money, Minnelli got the Oscar for the wrong film. Yes, Running is that good.

For one thing, Frank Sinatra has never been better, his Oscar-winning turn in From Here to Eternity notwithstanding. It’s shocking that, after receiving a nomination for his performance as a drug addict in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), he was not up for Best Actor for Running. He commands every frame of film he’s in. Secondly, Dean Martin is terrific in one of his early “Dean Martin Persona” roles he fashioned for himself after the cinematic partnership with Jerry Lewis splintered. Finally, Shirley MacLaine is a delight as the not-so-bright, trampy, but good-natured Ginny—and she received her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for the performance. Kennedy and Hyer also both respectively received Supporting Actor and Actress Oscar nominations.

The movie is an insightful character study of lost souls reaching for a place called “happiness” by pretending that they’re already there. In many ways, the small town is a character, too, for it has the façade of Americana at its finest, and yet there are those pockets that exist in every town of skid row neighborhoods, seedy bars, loose women, and crime. It’s in the latter locations where Dave finds himself, no matter how much he aspires to be in the “respectable” parts of town life. Nevertheless, he knows, and the audience eventually learns, that there is one class of people in town who may be prosperous but are really phonies, and a lower class that is sleazy and yet sincere. What you see is what you get.

Some may find the dialogue and attitudes toward women—especially from Martin’s character, who calls all women “pigs”—to be sexist and even misogynistic. This, however, is part of the James Jones milieu, as well as a major aspect of the locale, the class structure, and the era in which the picture takes place. What the movie really has to say about women is far more significant and auspicious.

Warner Archive’s new Blu-ray release looks gorgeous in its vivid widescreen Technicolor. There’s not a blemish in sight. Supplements include an informative 20-minute documentary on the film’s history and making, and the theatrical trailer.

Some Came Running is an underrated, overlooked gem that should be re-evaluated. For fans of Sinatra, MacLaine, Martin, Minnelli, and James Jones. Highly recommended.

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Director Nicolas Roeg's 1973 chiller "Don't Look Now" is without question one of the great achievements in the horror film genre. This original trailer shows why. If you do view it for the first time, do so without any interruptions....this is the kind of intense experience that can be compromised by taking a snack or bathroom break! 

“MURDER MYSTERY PARLOR GAME”

By Raymond Benson

The genius of Stephen Sondheim is usually reserved for the Broadway stage as the creator or co-creator of multiple award-winning and classic musicals (West Side Story, Gypsy, Company, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, etc.). The presence of Anthony Perkins is usually earmarked for screen and stage appearances as an actor (Psycho, Catch-22, Murder on the Orient Express, etc.). So, who would have thought that these two would team up to write a murder mystery screenplay—with no musical numbers within earshot—that would be filmed by director Herbert Ross, and then win an Edgar Allan Poe Award from Mystery Writers of America for the script?

The Last of Sheila, released in early summer 1973, seems to be a precursor to the series of Agatha Christie all-star-cast pictures that launched in the mid-70s (e.g., Murder on the Orient Express). It’s an original story, though, concocted by Sondheim and Perkins, allegedly inspired by real “scavenger hunt” party games that were thrown by their friends in those days. Starring (alphabetically) Richard Benjamin, Dyan Cannon, James Coburn, Joan Hackett, James Mason, Ian McShane, and Raquel Welch, the cast of seven is not as large as those Christie extravaganzas, but you get the idea. In a way, it is also an antecedent to the whodunnit, Knives Out (2019), which has a similar structure.

Movie producer Clinton (Coburn) is married to Sheila (Yvonne Romain in a cameo), who is killed by a hit-and-run driver after a late night party in Hollywood. A year later, Clinton invites six close friends to a week of sailing on his yacht in the Mediterranean. These include writer Tom (Benjamin), his wife Lee (Hackett), director Philip (Mason), casting agent Christine (Cannon), actress Alice (Welch), and her husband/manager Anthony (McShane). Clinton is a lover of parlor games, and he has concocted an elaborate murder-mystery-game in which the six contestants must compete as a condition for joining the cruise. Each player is given a card that reveals a “secret” that may or may not be a true one. For example, one card reads, “You are a shoplifter,” or “You are an ex-convict.” Each night at a port of call, the contestants must run around the village ashore and hunt for the answer to who holds that night’s particular card. Clinton provides the clues. On the first night, the object is to find out who holds the “shoplifter” card, and so on. It is revealed later in the picture that one of the cards reads, “You are a hit-and-run driver,” indicating that Clinton wants to reveal who killed Sheila.

Thus begins a game of musical chairs, as Christine puts it, with the tale twisting and turning and real secrets emerge. Director Ross—and the script—keeps us guessing, especially when one “solution” turns out not to be correct. The entire affair is told with a light touch, much like the future Agatha Christie all-star vehicles, but there is a seriousness underlying the proceedings that makes for a good caper.

The cast is excellent. Coburn is especially winning—there is one bit where is dressed in drag and it’s a shock! Benjamin, Hackett, Cannon, and Mason also display a command of the screen. A very young Ian McShane is almost unrecognizable from the man we know today. Welch is gorgeous, as always, and she competently stands her own with the others.

The new Warner Archive Blu-ray looks marvelous and comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack in 2.0 mono. An entertaining but somewhat meandering audio commentary by stars Benjamin, Cannon, and Welch accompanies the feature. The only supplement is the theatrical trailer.

The Last of Sheila was supposed to have been the first of several screenplay collaborations between Sondheim and Perkins, but this ended up being the only one. It’s a surprisingly good curio, though, and worth checking out, especially for fans of any of the cast members, mystery whodunnits, and the lush South of France locations.

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Dean Martin in "The Silencers" (1966), the first of the Matt Helm spy spoofs.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Turner Classic Movies (TCM), now in its 27^th year as a leading authority in classic film, will present the U.S. broadcast premiere of the documentary Dean Martin: King of Cool on Nov. 19, 2021. Director Tom Donahue and producer Ilan Arboleda will appear alongside TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce the documentary and four of Dean Martin’s most iconic films, including Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Caddy (1959).

Dean Martin epitomized cool. A founding member of the Rat Pack, Dean was a multi-talented performer who was part of the number one comedy act in America, a chart-topping singer for over half a century and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and on TV. He was the consummate charmer on stage and off. Yet for all his celebrity, fame, and adoration, no one ever truly knew him.

King of Cool dives deep into Martin’s life through never-before-seen archival footage including from his time with Jerry Lewis, his movies and his TV Variety Show and Roasts. Interviews with friends (Angie Dickinson, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett), family (Deana Martin), and admirers (RZA, Jon Hamm) give an intimate and personal account of his life, and the film tries to understand why Martin was such an enigma.

“Despite his extensive discography and his lengthy list of film and television credits, not much is known about Dean Martin,” said Charlie Tabesh, svp of programming for TCM. “We are thrilled to premiere the definitive look at Martin’s life and explore what made him so cool – and mysterious.”

“What an incredible, joyous labor of love it has been to tell the story of one of the 20th Century’s greatest entertainers,” said Tom Donahue, director of Dean Martin: King of Cool. “The more I learned, the greater and deeper my appreciation and affection for this man became.”

Dean Martin: King Of Cool was produced by CreativeChaos vmg in association with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, and Danny Strong’s Danny Strong Productions. It was also executive produced by Paul Barry, Deana Martin, John Griffeth, and Steve Edwards. Ron Marasco was the story producer and it was co-produced by Mandy Stein, Peter Greenwald, Tina Potter, Jessicya Materano and Chantel Ellis.

“As a huge Dean Martin fan, I was so honored to be part of this amazing team led by Tom Donahue and Ilan Arboleda to tell the story of one of the greatest talents of the 20th century,” said executive producer Danny Strong. “Dean is an icon, a legend and a mystery. By telling his story we hope to shed some light on that mystery and to keep his legend living on.”

TCM’s full lineup of programming includes:

Friday, November 19
8:00 p.m. King of Cool (2021) – Documentary telling the story of actor and singer Dean Martin through film clips, photographs and interviews with family, friends and colleagues.
9:30 p.m. The Caddy (1953) – A master golfer suffering from performance anxiety caddies for a man he's taught everything.
11:15 p.m. Rio Bravo (1959) – A sheriff enlists a drunk, a kid and an old man to help him fight off a ruthless cattle baron.

Friday, November 26
8:00 p.m. Ocean’s 11 (1960) – A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
10:15 p.m. Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964) - A Chicago gangster stumbles into philanthropic work during a gang war.
12:30 a.m. King of Cool (2021) – Documentary telling the story of actor and singer Dean Martin through film clips, photographs and interviews with family, friends and colleagues.

*all times Eastern

BY LEE PFEIFFER

Promoted for its psychedelic aspects (as seemingly all youth-driven films of the late 1960s were), the crime thriller "Cop-Out" also bears a completely meaningless title that was designed to bring the mod crowd into theaters. (Please do not confuse this "Cop-Out" with director Kevin Smith horrendous 2010 sleaze fest "Cop Out".) Yet, despite the emphasis on exploitation, the film is actually a tightly-scripted, highly intelligent drama that boasts an especially impressive performance by the generally impressive James Mason. He plays John Sawyer, a once-esteemed lawyer who has fallen on hard times. His vivacious wife has left him because of his sexual inattention to her, as well as his love affair with booze. With her departure, Sawyer putters around a decaying mansion that, like himself, was once quite impressive. Sawyer's house is also a home to his daughter Angela (Geraldine Chaplin), but the two are barely on speaking terms. She resents his disinterest in her well-being and he resents what he believes is her misspent youth. Angela hangs out with a group of upper crust, spoiled rotten modders who spend their time drinking, smoking and screwing with shameless abandon. The odd man out in the group is Jo (Paul Bertoya), a struggling Greek immigrant who is tolerated in the group of snobs primarily because Angela is his girlfriend. The restless modders end up surreptitiously boarding a docked freighter and wreaking havoc before they are caught out by a crew member, Barney Teale (Bobby Darrin), a fast-talking American hipster who befriends the group and sets about manipulating them. He moves into their motley secret hideaway in an abandoned local theater and begins to make use of the premises to indulge in doing drugs and entertaining strippers and prostitutes. He's got a Jekyll and Hyde-like personality: one minute he's charming and funny, the next he's cruel and violent. When Barney suffers injuries due to an accident, Angela allows him to recuperate in her room, safe in the assumption that her disengaged father would never find out about his presence. However, during the night, a gunshot rings out and Barney turns up dead in Angela's bed. The prime suspect is Jo, who is accused of being jealous of Angela's proximity to the sex-crazed Barney. However, Angela insists he's being framed. The question is: by who? She imposes upon her father to return to his profession and take up Jo's defense. He agrees to do so but his appearance before the court is a disaster, leading to Angela to believe that Jo will inevitably be convicted. However, her father rallies, lays off the bottle and begins to play detective. In Agatha Christie fashion, he confronts the man he suspects of being the real murderer at a posh dinner party where the suspect is being honored on his birthday. 

"Cop-Out" is rather striking for its blunt depiction of the open sexuality that was inherent in the youth revolution of the Sixties. There are few noble characters among the sleazebags but Sawyer's rise from the ash heap of humanity serves as a precursor for Paul Newman's character in "The Verdict" in that both men regain meaning in the lives by combating what they feel is a social injustice. The film was directed by Pierre Rouve, and it marks his only turn helming a film. (He major credits were as producer, including Antonioni's "Blow-Up".) Rouve is quite impressive, too, and doesn't allow the sexual and violent aspects of the film to overshadow the intelligent screenplay, which is based on the novel "Strangers in the House" by Georges Simenon. There's a very able supporting cast, with young Ian Ogilvy in what turns out to be a key role. The script deftly makes some biting observations about British class structure and delves into other areas such as sexual harassment, impotence and homosexuality (which was still an imprisonable offence at the time in England!).  Chaplin performs well, as does the supporting cast, with Bobby Darin somewhat mesmerizing in an off-the-wall performance. The main recommendation for seeing the movie, however, is Mason's outstanding performance as the world-weary, worn-out shadow of a man who still has the ability to slay his social adversaries with his rapier wit. There's also some good location scenery (it was filmed in Southampton) and retro movie lovers will enjoy Mason glimpsing at some skin magazines including one promoting Molly Peters in "Thunderball". As an added treat, there are occasional vocals by Eric Burden and the Animals. 

Kino Lorber has rescued yet another obscure gem of a film and given it a fine presentation on Blu-ray. The original trailer is included as are trailers from other KL releases including "Coming Home", "The Crucible" and others.  

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Kino Lorber, in conjunction with Scorpion Films, has released  the offbeat WWII drama "Counterpoint" as a Blu-ray special edition. The film requires a bit of historical context before getting into the main plot. By December 1944, the Third Reich was crumbling rapidly. Allied forces were on the doorstep of Germany itself and victory was assumed to be only a matter of weeks away. However, Adolf Hitler had an ace up his sleeve. On December 16 he unleashed a massive secret reserve of tank forces in a surprise attack on Americans in Belgium. The Yanks were caught completely off guard as Panzers raced toward their goal of recapturing the port city of Antwerp. Hitler knew that if he succeeded in taking possession of this strategic city he could prolong the war indefinitely. Because German forces had to move at a lightning pace before Americans could regroup, they were given grim orders from the high command to execute prisoners because they could not spare the resources to imprison and care for them. This resulted in the infamous Malmedy Massacre in which dozens of American POW's were shot dead by German troops. The Americans retaliated with identical orders and there were instances of Germans who were shot dead after surrendering. Ultimately, Hitler's bold gamble, which became known as The Battle of the Bulge, failed. After strong initial success, due largely to the fact that the U.S. air corps was grounded because of poor weather, the tide turned. The weather improved and the Americans had mastery of the skies. They took a devastating toll on the Panzer corps, which itself was starved for fuel. Ultimately, the entire strategy was deemed one of the worst military blunders in history. Hitler had expended his last reserves that could have been used to defend Germany. Defeat followed and within six months, Hitler would commit suicide and his "Thousand Year Reich" would have lasted less than a decade.  

It is against this intriguing backdrop that the plot of "Counterpoint" (which was filmed under the title "Battle Horns") takes place. The movie opens immediately before the German counter-offensive. With victory in sight, complacent Americans feel comfortable inviting USO troupes into Belgium to entertain the G.Is. Among them is a world famous symphonic orchestra led by its larger-than-life conductor Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston). (This is one of the more fanciful aspects of the plot- the idea that battle-scarred G.I.s would be eager to see a classical music concert instead of Bob Hope or Glenn Miller.) The maestro is conducting a concert in the ruins of bombed out palace when a sudden German bombardment throws everything into chaos. As American troops rush to gather arms, the 70 member orchestra attempts to flee in a bus. They are captured within minutes and taken to an ancient cathedral that serves as the command HQ of German General Schiller (Maximilian Schell). His second-in-command, Col. Arndt (Anton Diffring) has already been executing American prisoners and intends to do the same with the members of the orchestra, despite Evans' protests that they are civilians. Before the execution can take place, their lives are spared by Schiller, who has an appreciation for classical music and who admires Evans, having seen him conduct before the war. Schiller proposes a deal to Evans: he will spare everyone's life if he agrees to stage a private concert for Schiller. Evans, a headstrong, arrogant man, refuses. He suspects that Schiller will kill the musicians anyway and does not want to give him the satisfaction of having them perform for him. A battle of wills begins between two equally stubborn men.

Complicating matters for Evans is the fact that two American soldiers are masquerading as members of the orchestra. Then there is the additional complication of Evans' relationship with cellist Anabelle Rice (Kathryn Hays). The two were once lovers but Annabelle left Evans to marry Victor Rice (Leslie Nielsen), who is Evans' assistant conductor. Evans is still carrying a torch for her and when the troupe is imprisoned in a dank basement within the cathedral, old tensions between the two arise once more. Schiller first tries to woo Evans by treating everyone humanely and ensuring they are comfortable and well-fed. However, he makes it clear that time is running out, as he must join forces at the front line. Ultimately, Evans relents due to pleas from his orchestra members who are on the verge of panic. However, he cautions that they will be killed as soon as the concert ends. He is correct, as Schiller has agreed to turn the orchestra over to Col. Arndt, who has already had a mass grave dug in anticipation of the executions. Evans buys as much time as possible by telling Schiller the troupe needs extensive rehearsals. During this period, he helps the two G.I.'s attempt to escape. He also secures access to a pistol and devises a plan in which the orchestra will resist their executioners and attempt to escape in the bus as soon as Schiller's concert has ended. They will be aided by a small group of Belgian partisans who will launch a diversionary attack. 

"Counterpoint" represented only one in a list of films in which Charlton Heston played characters who were arrogant, conceited and often self-absorbed. (i.e "The War Lord", "Khartoum", "Planet of the Apes", "Number One", "The Hawaiians" ). As Evans, he selfishly risks the lives of dozens of people rather than to lose face in his psychological war of wills with Schiller. Refreshingly, when the final shoot-out takes place, Evans doesn't transform into a typical Heston action hero and it's amusing to watch the future president of the NRA have to be coached in how to use a handgun. The film was shot on the cheap, as so many Universal productions were during this era. Literally every frame was filmed on the studio back lot, but because of the claustrophobic nature of the script, the overall impact isn't diminished by the penny-pinching. Heston gives a powerful performance as one of the more flawed characters he has played and he is quite convincing in scenes in which he conducts the orchestra. He is matched by Maximilan Schell, who is all superficial charm and charisma. Kathryn Hays is quite good as the woman caught between two lovers and Leslie Nielsen reminds us that he was once a good dramatic actor before going the "Naked Gun" route late in his career. Ralph Nelson directs the intelligent screenplay and milks a good deal of tension from certain scenarios and an additional pleasure is hearing classical music played so brilliantly. "Counterpoint" may not be a classic but the unusual nature of the story, combined with the talents of an inspired cast, make it a winner. 

The Blu-ray release boasts a beautiful transfer and an audio commentary by film historians Steve Mitchell and Steven J. Rubin, who seem to be on every WWII video release of recent years. As always, they provide an entertaining and highly informative commentary in terms of both historical events and the making of the film itself. (They reveal that Kathryn Hays was not Heston's choice for leading lady, as her preferred Jessica Walter or Anne Heywood.) The only other bonus feature is the original trailer and a trailer gallery of other KL/Scorpion releases. 

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BY JOHN M. WHALEN

We all know Roy Rogers, King of the Cowboys, as famous for his colorful fringed shirts and hand-tooled boots as he was for his ability with his fists, guitar and shooting iron. He was the epitome of Hollywood’s concept of a fantasy hero in a west that never was, as far from reality as director William Witney and writers like Sloan Nibley and Gerald Geraghty could make him. He made over 80 feature films basically playing himself, and became an icon that will live on beyond the memory of any of us. He stopped making feature films in 1952, but spent five more years turning out over 100 episodes of the Roy Rogers TV Show. He sort of retired after that, making occasional appearances on TV and at rodeo shows, but in 1975, at age 64, in what may have been an attempt at a comeback, he returned to movie making and turned out a film far removed from any of those he’d done before.

He said he wanted to make a movie in a modern setting with a more realistic character but one who lived by the same values he’d always upheld. The movie was called “Mackintosh and T.J,” and was a bold departure for Roy. No fancy shirts, no Trigger, the smartest horse in the movies, no more songs around the campfire with the Sons of the Pioneers. The title character, Mackintosh, is a 64-year-old former rodeo cowboy, a drifter, traveling the country in a broken down pickup truck, a loner looking for work of any kind wherever he can find it. He’s like Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner (Steve McQueen), only older and with fewer options. He’s no longer able to work the rodeo circuit, but he’s not angry about it and doesn’t feel sorry for himself. He takes life as it comes and deals with it best he can, without bitterness or regret.

The action of the story begins when Mackintosh stops in the town of Dickens, Texas, pop. 300, to put water in his truck’s leaky radiator. He spots a 14-year-old boy being run out of town by a local cop. He later runs into him down the road in a market where a grocer is about to catch him trying to steal some apples. On an impulse he steps in, telling the grocer they’re together and pays for his groceries as well as the apples. Screenwriter Paul Savage doesn’t provide much background information at this point about Mackintosh to explain why he decides to protect the boy, but it’s apparent he sees something of himself in the lad. T.J. (Clay Obrien) tells him that he is on his own on his way to “see the Pacific Ocean.” Mackintosh offers to take him at least part of the way, if he wants a ride.

As they travel, we learn that T.J. has been pretty much on his own for most of his young life. He’s got a cocky attitude, and tells Macintosh he always pays his own way. He seems to have a pretty cynical view of life for a kid. Mackintosh tells him, “What you see depends on how you look at it.” When a truck honks at them while passing, T.J. tells Mackintosh he doesn’t like being passed by anybody. He wants to be number one. But Mackintosh tells him those who get there first usually spend a lot of time just waiting for the rest of us to catch up. “That’s what time does to you. Waters down the vinegar in your bite.”

They split up temporarily when Mackintosh’s truck has a breakdown in the middle of nowhere and T. J. accepts a ride from a passing stranger. They meet up a few days later in a bar, where Mackintosh stops for a steak, and is surprised to see T. J. working as a bus boy. “Making fifteen dollars washing a stack of dishes higher than your hat,” the boy tells him. There’s trouble when a tough, drunken cowboy named Cal (Luke Askew) accuses T.J. of stealing money he’d left on his table. When Cal tries to rough him up, and make him pull out his pockets to prove he didn’t take the money, Mackintosh steps in between them. He tells Cal to back off and asks T.J. if he didn’t take the money why doesn’t he prove it by doing what he asks.

“I don’t have to,” the boy says. “I told him I didn’t and that ought to be enough.” Cal grabs the boy but Mackintosh knocks him to the floor. The drunk pulls a switchblade, and the next thing you know Mack has a ketchup bottle in his hand and smashes it against the cowboy’s head!

Hold on a minute! Roy Rogers just got into a bar fight and smashed a drunk in the head with a ketchup bottle!!? What?? I told you this wasn’t your usual Roy Rogers movie. There are several other themes that are dealt with in “Mackintosh and T. J.” that must have raised the eyebrows of more than a few Roy Rogers fans back in 1975. The story also deals with Maggie (Joan Hackett) a battered wife. Mack’s concern for her turns her husband Luke (Billy Green Bush) into a jealous maniac, which becomes a plot element further on. Also in the mix is Coley (Andrew Robinson) one of the ranch hands where Mack and TJ find jobs. He’s a pervert, a Peeping Tom who gets his kicks climbing up the side of Maggie’s house at night and watching her undress. Robinson has played his share of weirdos in his career and is best known as the killer Scorpio in “Dirty Harry”. You take a jealous husband and a peeping Tom and throw Roy Rogers into the middle of it and you’ve got a set up for some real trouble.

Perhaps it’s the mix of these unusual story elements and casting choices that resulted in “Mackintosh and T.J.” never really being given decent distribution. It only played in a few theaters south of the Mason-Dixon Line. I doubt if many people reading this review have ever heard of this movie much less seen it. And actually it’s too bad. Because it’s a very good movie—one that should have been given a chance to find an audience. Rogers’ performance as Mackintosh is low key and solid, and you never doubt for a minute that he’s real. Clay O’Brien, who was only 14, grew up to be a ProRodeo Hall of Famer and had already starred in two John Wayne westerns, “The Cowboys,” (1972), and “Cahill: U.S. Marshall,” (1973). Askew and Green are the quintessential “gold ol’ boys” you’d find in any good western, and James Hampton (The Longest Yard) as Cotton is decidedly nasty as a ranch hand with a gossip’s tongue who spins the various plots elements together into a vicious web with Mackintosh caught in the middle. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the film is the appearance of Joan Hackett in the cast. Her part is not quite developed enough for her to do much with, but she adds a quiet dignity to the film.

Director Marvin Chomsky, best known for his work in television, particularly “Brotherhood of the Rose,” (1989) and “Holocaust,” (1978), made some excellent choices in the way he and director of photography Terry K. Meade shot “Mackintosh and T.J.” Filmed entirely on location around Guthrie, Texas and on the famous 6666 ranch, the camera really captured the wide expanse of the ranch and the surrounding country, while at the same time focusing in close on the characters and the drama that unfolds. Another plus is the soundtrack, written and played by Waylon Jennings with an assist on one tune by Willie Nelson.

MVD Entertainment Producer Steve Latshaw deserves credit for rescuing “Mackintosh and T.J.” from obscurity. The film is presented in a beautiful 4K restoration that does justice to the images as they were captured on film. The color is rich and textured. It’s a pleasure to watch.

“Mackintosh and T.J.” is a film worth seeing, and the Blu-ray disc, which is loaded with extras, including interviews with some of the cast members by C. Courtney Joiner, is a keeper. Too bad Roy never got to do another “realistic” western after this one. But at least it’s good that this one time we get to see the King of the Cowboys as he was in his later years. The same as he ever was. Highly recommended.

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BY DOUG OSWALD

Rock Hudson is a former World War II fighter pilot struggling with a crisis of conscious and faith in “Battle Hymn,” released on Blu-ray for the first time by Kino Lorber. Hudson is Lieutenant Colonel Dean Hess, a minister in a small town in Ohio haunted by his accidental bombing of an orphanage in Germany before the end of the war which killed dozens of children. He resigns as the church minister and returns to active duty at the start of the Korean War in 1950 as commander of a squadron training Korean pilots. There he believes he’ll find meaning in what he knows best, flying military aircraft, and perhaps make amends for the death of innocent children which has haunted him for the past five years. Deacon Edwards (Carl Benton Reid) tries to convince him he’s needed at the church. His wife, Mary (Martha Hyer) is not happy, but he assures her he’s only training Korean pilots, not fighting in the war.

Colonel Hess meets the members of his squadron and we get to meet familiar faces from movies and television starting with his cigar chomping First Sergeant, Master Sergeant Herman (Dan Duryea), who’s able to scrounge up anything they need to provide them with all the amenities starting with a road grater to prepare the old runway for the ten P-51 fighter planes about to arrive. Other members of the squadron include his WWII wing man, Captain Dan Skidmore (Dan DeFore), Major Frank Moore (Jock Mahoney who is probably best remembered as Tarzan in two films in the 1960s), Lieutenant Maples (James Edwards who may be most familiar to readers as General Patton’s military aid, Sergeant William George Meeks, in “Patton”) in the first portrayal in a movie of an African-American fighter pilot, Major Chong (James Hong as the leader of the Republic of Korea pilots and uncredited in the movie) and the Mess Sergeant played by Alan Hale Jr. (The Skipper on “Gilligan’s Island” in the 1960s).

While getting the squadron ready, Hess comes across a group of orphans being cared for by En Soon Yang (Anna Kashfi) in a bombed out building. Hess convinces Soon to continue to care for the orphans with the promise he and his men will help fix up the place and provide the with food and supplies. Hess also enlists the help of Lu Ahn (Philip Ahn), an old man on his way to the shop where he sells statues he creates. En Soon learns Hess is married and it’s clear she has feelings for him. The large number of orphans swell as the squadron moves from training to being drawn into the fight as the North Koreans advance on both the runway and the orphanage. This movie is about redemption and fighting personal demons. Hess deals with loss and is able to comfort the dying as well as relate to a pilot who accidently kills innocent people on the ground during a fire fight with the North Koreans. The redemption for everyone involved is the evacuation of over 400 orphans and refugees to a safe location. This real life event is known as Operation Kiddy Car when the United States Air Force provided airlift for the orphans to an island of the South Korean coast. In real life there is some controversy regarding just how much involvement Dean Hess had in this airlift, but it makes for a great story.

The movie was filmed with the cooperation of the United States Air Force with the use of the Texas Air National Guard’s P-51s for the flying sequences. It was shot on an Arizona Air National Guard base and in Hollywood with terrific aerial footage and close ups of the actors in sound stage cockpits. Today all of this would be recreated using CGI and be blended more realistically. Shot in CinemaScope, the movie makes great use of the wide screen. The orphans in the movie are the actual orphans from Operation Kiddy Car brought to the United States to play the orphans in the movie.

Based on the bestseller by Dean Hess, the movie was directed by Douglas Sirk with a screenplay by Charles Grayson and Vincent Evans. Sirk was a director who retired from Hollywood features in 1959 at the top of his game, having directed many movies now considered classics. Born in Germany, he became a popular director in the 1930s until he was forced to leave Germany in 1937 because his wife was Jewish. They came to America in 1941 and Sirk’s first movie for Hollywood was the anti-Nazi propaganda thriller, “Hitler’s Madman,” in 1943. However, he really came into his own in the 1950s with his high melodrama look at American life which he made for Universal, often collaborating with Rock Hudson and others behind the scenes. Some critics refer to his work high gloss soap operas, but I think they are much more than that. My favorite Sirk film is “The Tarnished Angels” from 1957, filmed in black & white and CinemaScope (and also available from Kino Lorber). All Sirk’s movies are entertaining and range from westerns to high drama, thrillers and comedy. He even dipped his toes into musical territory and swashbucklers. He and his wife moved to Switzerland in 1959 where he remained until his death in 1987.

Hudson is believable in his portrayal of a man torn in his attempts to make amends for a terrible accident of war. He was good in generally every movie he appeared in whether it be romantic comedy, heavy drama or military adventure. Hudson served in the Navy during WWII as an aircraft mechanic and he carries the role of military leader very well indeed. Dan Duryea nearly steals every scene he’s in as the cigar chomping sergeant and scrounger in a departure from his many tough guy roles. Dan DeFore rounds out the three main military members of the squadron as Skidmore, Hess’ former WWII wingman. The most interesting member of the cast is Anna Kashfi as the female lead, En Soon Yang. She had parts in this and three other movies between 1956 and 1959, but is probably best known as Marlon Brando’s first wife and the mother of their son Christian. She’s good in what would have ordinarily been the romantic lead, but Hess was a married man and this was the 1950s. Interestingly, the great James Hong is uncredited in a substantial supporting role as the commander of the Korean pilots. Oddly, character actor Philip Ahn has a substantial supporting role as Lu Ahn, Soon’s assistant at the orphanage, but gets credited as Old Man.

Released in February 1957, “Battle Hymn” is a rare example of a Korean War era movie. The movie clocks in at 108 minutes and is very entertaining. I first discovered “Battle Hymn” while visiting the United States Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Ohio where there was an exhibit on Colonel Dean Hess and Operation Kiddy Car. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is an improvement over the previous DVD releases in both picture quality and sound. Extras include an informative audio commentary by Nick Pinkerton which is filled with interesting anecdotes about the real life Dean Hess and trailers for this and other Kino Lorber releases. Highly recommended for fans of Rock Hudson, Douglas Sirk and military movies.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

The old adage "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" is especially true in Hollywood, but it can be said it could be amended to "Imitation is the sincerest form of economic opportunism". Almost since the beginning of cinema, films that proved to be especially successful have immediately spawned a flood of imitators from rock 'n roll musicals to beach party comedies to secret agent films and "Star Wars"inspired sci-fi flicks. It's fair to say that studios are notoriously shameless about exploiting the success of competitor's products. In 1974, director Michael Winner released the screen version of author Brian Garfield's novel "Death Wish", which traced the path to vigilantism by a New Yorker whose wife and daughter have been ravaged by gang members. It was an especially dark period in terms of soaring crime rates and Americans looked to popular culture to mirror their frustrations with "the system", which was deemed to be too lenient on the bad guys. Director William Friedkin once told this writer that upon seeing "Death Wish" in a local movie theater, he found the audience's response to the vigilante's trail of vengeance to have elicited the most visceral reaction he had ever witnessed in regard to a motion picture. To be sure, "Death Wish" was far from a favorite with critics, but it was shrewdly made in terms of appealing to the emotions of everyday people who could not envision in 1974 that America would one day enjoy a sustained period of lower crime rates (the Covid pandemic period aside.) Sociologists found the advocacy of taking the law into one's hands to be a very dangerous message and even author Brian Garfield publicly distanced himself from the movie, stating it didn't resemble his novel in many key areas. Police officials were glad to have the public speak out about laws that were soft on criminals but feared a spike in real life vigilantism if everyday people tried to emulate star Charles Bronson's take-downs of celluloid bad guys.

The success of "Death Wish" immediately led to a flood of vengeance-themed dramas both as feature films and TV productions. The theme generally adhered closely to Winner's film: an everyday guy suffers a terrible fate at the hands of brutal criminals. The police are sympathetic but explain that they are understaffed and that the law often provides for a revolving door in terms of letting arrested suspects back into society. With no other options available, our protagonist takes matters into his own hands and initiates his own brand of brutal justice. One of the "Death Wish"-inspired crime thrillers was "Trackdown", a little-remembered 1976 production directed by Richard T. Heffron and starring Jim Mitchum in a rare leading role. Mitchum plays Montana rancher Jim Calhoun, whose 17 year-old sister Betsy (Karen Lamm) grows bored and desires to see the big city. While Jim is roping horses, she makes a getaway to Los Angeles, where the pretty blonde teenager immediately draws the attention of a local gang that spies her walking around Hollywood Boulevard. The gang enlists one of their members, Chucho (Erik Estrada) to help set her up for a robbery. The gang members escape with all her money and I.D. while guilt-plagued Chucho tries to help the desperate young girl in any way he can. She ends up moving into his small apartment where to no one's surprise she chooses to get it on with Chucho, probably because he looks like Erik Estrada. The two genuinely fall for each but tragedy is in the offing when the gang breaks in and brutally gang rapes Betsy. They then kidnap her and sell her into prostitution to a Jeffrey Epstein-like rich guy, Johnny Dee (Vince Cannon), who wants to add her to his stable of young hookers. He  assigns his mistress, Barbara (Anne Archer) to persuade Betsy to cooperate by showing her all the swag and posh surroundings she will get if she sleeps with some of Dee's clients. Betsy, who seems to have the ability to recuperate from the gang rape in record time, consents- although she soon learns the dark side of her new profession.

A parallel story forms in which Jim Calhoun arrives in L.A. desperate to find his sister. Jim, complete with cowboy hat, get the expected treatment Clint Eastwood received in New York in "Coogan's Bluff": he's treated like a naive hick by the cops, who explain the city is so awash with teen runaways that there is little hope of finding Betsy. Jim enlists the hope of local social activist Lynn Strong (Cathy Lee Crosby), who assists him in tracking down Chucho, who agrees to help them find Betsy, even though he will be endangering his own life by betraying his fellow gang members. Jim goes through the requisite attempts to save his sister through legal means before taking the traditional vigilante route and launching a violent campaign of revenge against Betsy's kidnappers. 

"Trackdown" benefits from being shot on location and eschewing studio scenes. Consequently, there's an abundance of footage of old Seventies L.A. that adds a degree of realism to the goings-on. While much of Jim Calhoun's crusade plays out in predictable fashion, there are some unexpected plot twists involving the cliched characters. Director Heffron does execute and excellent and suspenseful sequence in which Jim and Chucho battle the villains inside an elevator shaft. It's neatly staged and adds an element of originality to an otherwise well-worn scenario. Jim Mitchum gives a fine performance as the rancher whose seemingly inexhaustible patience is put to the test. His understated manner contrasts with his ability to carry off the action scenes. The rest of the cast is also rather good and you can see the future star power and charisma in Erik Estrada's performance. Vince Cannon makes an appropriately smarmy villain and Anne Archer is quite winning as his live-in glamor girl.  Cathy Lee Crosby seems inserted into the film simply to provide Jim with some opportunities to engage in some mild flirting. The film comes to a climax that is over-the-top but highly stylized.The movie also includes original songs sung by country music icons Del Reeves and Kenny Rogers.

Japanese 45RPM of Kenny Rogers' "Runaway Girl", which was written for the film.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is yet another welcome collaboration with Scorpion, which holds a catalog of worthy "B" titles. The film has a fine transfer and offers a gallery of trailers for other titles that are available. There are also some radio spot ads for the film and reversible sleeve artwork. "Trackdown"'s virtues shouldn't be overstated, but it is one of the better "Death Wish" imitators.

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By Raymond Benson

Anything that originated from the mind of celebrated mystery novelist, Cornell Woolrich, is worth one’s perusal, and the 1948 film adaptation of the author’s 1945 work, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, mostly measures up.

Directed with confidence and style by John Farrow, Night is a film noir that ticks a lot of boxes that define that Hollywood cinematic movement of the late 1940s and early 50s. There’s a cynical and disturbed protagonist who is haunted by the past, cinematography (by John F. Seitz) that highly contrasts light and shadows, voiceover narration, flashbacks, and, of course, crimes. It’s short (81 minutes) and it’s intriguing. The picture’s faults might be that it can be overly melodramatic at times, and there are a couple of weak casting choices that prevent Night from being a classic. It’s good enough, though.

John Triton (Edward G. Robinson) is “The Mental Wizard,” one of those mentalist performers in nightclubs who “predict” or “reveal” things about members of the audience. He’s successful, too, until his predictions become dangerous premonitions. For example, he “sees” that the woman he wants to marry, Jenny (Virginia Bruce), will die in childbirth. He thus ends his relationship with her, fearing that he would be the cause of her ultimate death. His business partner, Whitney Courtland, marries her instead. Courtland also buys oil-enriched land after Triton predicts it will make the man rich. Later, Courtland dies in an airplane crash that Triton has foreseen. Twenty years after that, Triton lives as a recluse, afraid of his shadow, fearing his own “gift.” He then meets Jenny and Whitney’s daughter, Jean (Gail Russell), who will inherit her father’s wealth—but Triton predicts that she, too, will die on a specific night at 11:00pm. Her fiancé, Elliott (John Lund), believes Triton is a phony, but Jean knows of the man’s history with her parents. The police, led by Lt. Shawn (William Demarest), get involved to protect Jean on the fateful night—and Triton himself is suspected of plotting to kill Jean. Triton must convince everyone that he has no ulterior motives and wants to prevent the tragedy from occurring.

Robinson is effective as Triton, although it’s one of his seriously sincere roles (like in Scarlet Street) in which he wrinkles his brow a lot and seems to be on the verge of crying. Unfortunately, the two supporting actors, Gail Russell and John Lund, are both duds. They move through the picture with low energy, and Lund is especially wooden. Luckily, William Demarest livens things up when he enters the movie.

The story is compelling, although it’s not quite clear why Jean wants to commit suicide at the beginning of the film, the catalyst for the rest of the tale to unfold.

Kino Lorber’s new 2K master looks quite good, considering the picture’s relative obscurity. It comes with an audio commentary by film historian Imogen Sara Smith. The theatrical trailer, along with other Kino trailers, complete the package.

Night Has a Thousand Eyes is for fans of film noir, Edward G. Robinson, Cornell Woolrich, and mysteries with a supernatural bent.

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“MURDER OR SELF DEFENSE?”

By Raymond Benson

This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it was 1948, not that this is an excuse.

That said, The Accused, directed by William Dietele and produced by the inimitable Hal B. Wallis for Paramount Pictures, is fairly riveting, well-acted, and superbly written (by Ketti Frings, based on the novel Be Still, My Love by June Truesdell). Note that both the novel and the screenplay are written by women, making The Accused somewhat a rare feminist statement for the time.

Wilma (Young) is harassed by student Bill Perry (Douglas Dick), a handsome but arrogant womanizer who has perhaps already gotten a fellow student (Suzanne Dalbert) “in trouble.” In the interest of counseling Perry, Wilma agrees to be given a ride home. Instead, Perry takes her to a secluded cliff in Malibu overlooking the ocean, where he proceeds to enact an attempted rape. Wilma clobbers him on the head, killing the young man. Obviously, she was defending herself. She panics, though, and decides to stage the death by making it appear that Perry jumped and committed suicide. Later, Perry’s “guardian” and attorney, Warren Ford (Robert Cummings), appears to settle Perry’s affairs and becomes embroiled in the police investigation. Ford meets Wilma and falls in love—and she with him, too. However, Wilma is besieged by guilt and flashbacks of the “crime,” sometimes inexplicably speaking hints of what she’d done as if she were talking in her sleep. Lt. Dorgan (Corey) suspects her, but he also wants to date her, and there is a bit of rivalry with Ford for her hand. As the story progresses, evidence is uncovered that points to Wilma as Perry’s killer… will she be arrested? And if so, can she convince a jury that she had acted in self-defense?

Loretta Young had just enjoyed great success as the lead in The Farmer’s Daughter (1947). She was cast in The Accused, replacing Hal Wallis’ intended casting choice, Barbara Stanwyck (she refused the part). Then, Young won the Oscar for The Farmer’s Daughter, elevating her stock even higher. Would she have taken such a potboiler role in The Accused had she known she would soon be an Oscar-winning actress? Who knows… That said, Young is quite good in The Accused, although her character seems to wilt in fear and uncertainty way too often.

Robert Cummings is fine, but Wendell Corey is a bit too slimy and predatory for believability. Maybe in 1949 it was realistic for a cop to come on to his suspect, but now it just feels creepy. Douglas Dick is frightening as the sociopathic student, and Sam Jaffe is always fun to watch (here he is the police forensics guy).

The ending is surprisingly ambiguous as to whether Wilma walks away free from her trial. No spoilers here, but Lt. Dorgan has a final line that points to how this is going to go. A message to women everywhere regarding assault and self-defense? Perhaps. Very bold for 1949.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray looks satisfactory in its restoration. It comes with an audio commentary by film historian Eddy Von Mueller. The only supplement is the theatrical trailer, along with other Kino trailers.

The Accused is for fans of Loretta Young, melodramatic crime pictures, and Hollywood in the late 1940s.

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“DOUBLE TROUBLE”

By Raymond Benson

Crime stories about twins are usually compelling, despite the sameness (no pun intended) about them. Among the Living, a 1941 potboiler from Paramount, is a short (only 69 minutes!) thriller that, with a few cuts, might have been an episode of an Alfred Hitchcock Presents or similar anthology television program. It moves quickly, holds interest, and contains a reasonably dynamic performance from Albert Dekker as twins—one of them “normal,” and the other insane.

Dekker had an admirable career in Hollywood for three decades, usually working in supporting roles. He is perhaps best known as the titular character in Dr. Cyclops (1940). Landing a dual starring part in Among the Living was likely a result of his appearance in Cyclops.

The old Raden home is supposedly haunted, barely looked after by the elderly Black caretaker, Pompey (Ernest Whitman). Old man Raden, who owned the town textile factory, a hotel, and other businesses, has died. He was not a popular man. His son, John (Dekker), arrives for the funeral with his wife Elaine (Frances Farmer). Family friend Dr. Saunders (Harry Carey) delivers a bombshell to John. John’s twin brother, Paul, who allegedly died and was buried at the age of ten, is still alive. Paul (also Dekker), has been kept a prisoner in a room in the old house, looked after by Saunders and Pompey. Paul is stark, raving mad—but he is also naïve about the world outside. Paul murders Pompey, escapes, and runs loose in town, where he rents a room at a boarding house. There, he meets Millie (Susan Hayward). At first there might be the beginning of a romance, but Paul’s ignorance about the ways of society are eventual red flags to Millie. When Paul murders a bar girl because she screamed “like his mother did,” the manhunt is on. And since innocent John looks exactly like Paul, you know who gets accused of being the murderer…

Among the Living isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s a quick and entertaining flick with some twists, albeit predictable ones. Dekker is fine in both roles, and his Paul is effectively played as a child inside a killer’s mind. Hayward, still in her early rise to stardom in those days, is gorgeous and bubbly as the daughter of the boarding house landlady. The movie sparkles when she’s on the screen.

It’s not quite a film noir, but the photography by Theodor Sparkuhl, and the look of the picture, infuses enough German Expressionism in it to hint toward what was to come in Hollywood crime pictures. In a way, it owes much more to its studio’s horror series.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray release looks remarkably good, given the picture’s age and obscurity. It comes with an audio commentary by professor and film historian Jason A. Ney. The only supplements are the theatrical trailer and others from Kino releases.

Among the Living is for fans of early Hollywood crime flicks… and Susan Hayward.

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We don't usually cover the world of stand-up comedy on Cinema Retro but this is one for the ages: a late career burst of brilliance from George Carlin that reminds us of why his legacy is safe as one of the most innovative comic minds of his time. What is not generally remembered was that Carlin occasionally appeared in feature films. His first credited role was in the 1968 Doris Day/Brian Keith comedy "With Six You Get Eggroll". He also appeared in "Car Wash", "Outrageous Fortune", both "Bill & Ted" films and "The Prince of Tides" among others. 

Although it is still performing strongly in theaters, Daniel Craig's acclaimed final James Bond film,  "No Time to Die" , hits U.S. streaming platforms, including Amazon, today for $19.99. If you've been able to resist seeing the film in theaters, Amazon offers a 3-minute free preview of the movie.  Click here for more info.

BY DOUG OSWALD

Errol Flynn leads a group of American paratroopers into WWII Burma on a pre-invasion expedition in “Objective, Burma!” released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection. The mission for the paratroopers is to parachute into Burma behind enemy lines, destroy a Japanese radar station and meet up at an old British air strip to be picked up and returned to their base in India. Everything goes as planned and they succeed in destroying the radar installation with no casualties. Mission accomplished. There wouldn’t be much of a movie if things ended with a successful mission and rescue. Naturally, the Japanese are at the airfield ready to destroy the soon-to-arrive C-47 transport aircraft. Flynn orders the aircraft to leave them rather than risk their destruction and he takes his men to a more defendable position in the jungle.

Flynn is the leader of the expedition, Captain Nelson, who takes his men from one jungle location to another including a Burmese village and a mountain plateau where they hope to make contact with allied forces and be rescued. Attempts to air drop supplies for the expedition are futile as the Japanese are always one step behind them or waiting to ambush them. The casualties mount as the American soldiers succumb to wounds, illness, hunger and thirst.

Directed by Raoul Walsh with his usual gritty style, he is primarily known for his classic crime dramas such as “High Sierra” and “White Heat” as well as adventure yarns like “They Died with Their Boots On,” “Desperate Journey” and “Don Juan” (these last three featuring Flynn). “Objective, Burma” offers a terrific mid-career performance by Flynn,who is backed by a good supporting cast. The screenplay is by Ranald MacDougall and Lester Cole from a story by Alvah Bessie which may have been based on the real life Operation Loincloth, a 1943 British operation in Burma. According to IMDb, producer Jerry Wald said the screenplay for “Objective, Burma!” was partially lifted from “Northwest Passage,” a 1940 MGM release. Henry Hull is very good as American war correspondent Mark Williams who joins the operation as the “old man” who promises to tell their story. The cast is rounded out by several second tier stars and character actors, most notably George Tobias who offers comic relief as Corporal Gabby Gordon.

The main criticisms of this movie are the obvious use of Hollywood sound stages and California locations standing in for the jungles of Burma. The climax of the movie is clearly located in California and not in the jungle. The war was still raging when the movie was being made so the lack of jungle locations can be forgiven. The other criticism, and this was a big deal at the time of the film’s release in February 1945, is the Americans didn’t really have a huge role in the liberation of Burma. It was largely a British and Australian operation with the exception of General Merrill and his Marauders who were also advisers to this film. Their story would be told in “Merrill’s Marauders,” and released in 1962. The British were so incensed that they banned “Objective, Burma!” from release in the UK for seven years. Hollywood didn’t learn its lesson and made a similar switch in the 2000 release “U-571” about the operation to capture a Nazi Enigma cipher machine. The only problem with the all American Naval operation as depicted in the movie is that in real life this was an all British Royal Navy operation.

Flynn, like John Wayne, was criticized for not serving during WWII, but playing military heroes in movies. The Australian-born Flynn tried to enlist, but was rejected due to health issues which Warner Bros. kept secret as to not affect Flynn’s box office returns. Flynn, notorious for his drinking and “bad boy” persona, was on his best behavior during most of the war period in order to focus on home front morale and make amends for not serving in the military. Flynn acquits himself well here and I enjoyed this military drama. The movie clocks in at a whopping 142 minutes, but it feels shorter as the action keep things moving at a brisk pace. The Blu-ray looks and sounds terrific and includes the trailer as well as a couple of WWII era curiosities that some, including this writer, found fascinating. The first is “The Tanks are Coming,” a 1941 short featuring George Tobias, Richard Travis and Gig Young. The second is “The Rear Gunner” from 1943 featuring Burgess Meredith and Ronald Reagan. The movie is recommended for fans of Errol Flynn and military war dramas.

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REVIEW BY ADRIAN SMITH

Lexington Books

202 Pages

6 x 9 inches

Hardback

ISBN: 978-1-7936-0121-6

October 2021

RRP: $95/£73.00

A blind masseur, Zatoichi would wander from village to village in Feudal Japan hoping for employment to maintain his meagre existence. Hidden within his cane was a sword which he would frequently be required to use against an assortment of yakuza, villains, assassins and ronin. Zatoichi was a legendary blind swordsman whose adventures were charted across an initial run of twenty-six feature films and a hundred television episodes all starring Shintaro Katsu between 1962 and 1979, with a return to the character one last time for the film Zatoichi in 1989. Katsu was something of a legend in Japan, and he came from a showbusiness family: his elder brother was Tomisaburō Wakayama, star of the Lone Wolf and Cub series. This in-depth new book from academic Jonathan Wroot takes in not only Katsu’s incredible run, but also looks at other Zatoichi films such as the 2003 reboot directed by and starring Takeshi Kitano. Known primarily as a comedian and TV presenter in his native Japan (remember Takeshi’s Castle?), Kitano’s Zatōichi won dozens of awards including the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Another Zatoichi film was made as recently as 2010, suggesting that this is a character, so ingrained in Japanese culture, that we have not seen the last of just yet.

Wroot charts the influence of Zatoichi across other countries as well, with Taiwanese and Indonesian cinema both producing variations of the blind swordsman back in the 1970s, whilst Zatoichi himself occasionally crossed over into other cultures (Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman in 1971 saw him cross paths with one of Hong Kong cinema’s most popular disabled fighters, played by Jimmy Wang-Yu). In American cinema, Rutger Hauer played a variation of the character as a blinded Vietnam vet in 1989’s Blind Fury, a remake of 1967’s Zatoichi Challenged, and in the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016), Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen played a blind warrior skilled with a staff, which, as Wroot points out, is a further connection between the Star Wars universe and Japanese cinema (Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (1958) is often cited as a key influence). In terms of pop culture, perhaps most significantly, there is Marvel’s Daredevil, given the Netflix treatment across three series (2015-2018, plus The Defenders series in 2017), in which a blind lawyer with second sight fights the criminal underworld using his training in martial arts from the Samurai-style warrior known as Stick, who was also blind.

Jonathan Wroot’s has packed The Paths of Zatoichi with information and analysis of this significant long-running character who goes across such a huge area of Japanese film history, and the book also has much to say about franchises, remakes and adaptations within global popular culture. Highly recommended.

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(The book is also available in a Kindle edition on both sites.)

"LIFE'S A BEACH"

BY LEE PFEIFFER

When it comes to defining cinematic guilty pleasures, one need not look any further than the lame-brained beach movies that were marketed to teenagers in the mid-1960s. The formula started in 1963 with "Beach Party", teaming Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon for the first time as loved-starved teens who are addicted to fun and sun in the surf. The film was such a hit that it spawned numerous sequels, delighting producers Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson and American International, which was mining gold by making big profits from low-budget productions. The beach series didn't vary much in terms of content and many of the most popular actors were utilized in each successive film. There were also simlarly-themed films starring Avalon in different geographical settings ("Pajama Party", "Ski Party"). But if the beach series burned brightly, its flame was short-lived. By 1965, the young audiences that initially craved this fare were moving on to more sophisticated movies. The  Beatles had made two movies by then and they defined what was hip. Suddenly, the perpetual horndog males and the virginal girls they were perpetually trying to seduce seemed about as cutting edge as an episode of "Leave It to Beaver". By the time the final entry in the series, "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" limped into theaters in 1965, the bloom was off the rose. This time around, even fans of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello were disappointed. The script has them in different parts of the globe and they are only seen together briefly at the conclusion. Making matters worse, their appearances in the film are abbreviated with most of the screen time going to supporting players. As was the norm in these films, well known mature character actors are cast in humorous roles apparently to ensure that any parents in the audience stay awake. In this case, we have the legendary Buster Keaton and Mickey Rooney along with the rather bizarre casting of Brian Donlevy. Go figure.

This time around Frankie (who is cleverly cast as a character named "Frankie") is in the U.S. Navy and assigned to Tahiti, where is he basking in the affections of the local beauties including lovely Irene Tsu. The implication is that the Tahitian girls are far more liberal in terms of sexual activities than their American counterparts and its hinted that monogamy isn't a high priority for them. Frankie is understandably intoxicated by having his own harem until he begins to fret that his fiancee, Dee Dee (Annette Funicello) might also be tempted to stray during his long absence. He seeks the advice of the local medicine man (Keaton), who comes up with a strategy: he will concoct a beautiful girl, Casandra, to suddenly appear in the midst of Frankie's beach crowd and prove to be so desirable that every guy in the group will spend their time trying to seduce her instead of pursuing Dee Dee. (This is somewhat of an insult to Dee Dee, implying she would no longer turn heads in the presence of the mystery woman, who is played by Beverly Adams.) The ploy doesn't work because there is indeed a potential suitor for Dee Dee- local playboy Ricky (Dwayne Hickman). Dee Dee plays along, nursing anger and broken heart when she learns that Frankie is not remaining chaste. There is a crazy subplot involving Rooney as a manic marketing executive working for greedy tycoon Donlevy. They scheme to woo Casandra to make her the national model for their brand of motorcycles. In the midst of all this are zany fights, humor that is juvenile enough to alienate the average 10 year-old and climactic (and seemingly) endless cycle race that is filmed in the Keystone Cops mode. One can only suspect that Avalon saw the script and demanded a reduced role. Funicello, who was pregnant at the time, is often relegated to sitting alone on the beach attired in beach wear that skillfully hides this fact. If all of this sounds awful, it plays out on the screen even worse. The only saving grace is some genuinely amusing bits from Keaton and a brief "Bewitched"-inspired cameo by Elizabeth Montgomery, whose presence here is attributed to the fact that she was married to the director/screenwriter William Asher. Even the rock group the Kingsmen aren't used strategically. Instead of playing their smash hit "Louie Louie",  they are relegated to performing an instantly forgettable tune. There is some estimable talent behind the scenes including the esteemed cinematographer Floyd Crosby and composer Lex Baxter, both slumming in search of a quick pay check. Watching the film from the standpoint of a more enlightened era, its astonishing how crass the treatment of the young actresses is. In some shots, they are filmed minus such unnecessary appendages as their heads, as the camera lingers on only the parts that jiggle.

One hates to be a curmudgeon about such simple fare and it is necessary to view it in the context of the era in which it was made. But there lies the rub: "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" was considered awful even back in 1965 and time has not been kind to it. The Olive Blu-ray has a very nice transfer, though. An original trailer is the only bonus feature.

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Castle Films were noted for licensing 8mm versions of famous movies that were sold commercially. The only problem was that the films were basically very short versions of the original movies with absurdly brief running times. Still, this was hot stuff for collectors in in the era of pre-home video. What makes this 7 minute condensation of "Psycho" unusual is that the person who posted it on YouTube says it was from a 16mm version of the film, which would have been outside of Castle's 8mm line. Not sure what the intended audience was for this version since very few consumers had access to a 16mm projector. Still, whoever edited this version did a fairly admirable job of including most of the key elements. In any event, if you ever wanted to watch a movie masterpiece but had only 7 minutes to spare, your ship has come in!  

BY DARREN ALLISON

I really didn’t know too much about Paul Guilfoyle’s 1955 film, A Life at Stake, although I have always had a fondness for stark film noir. Spoiled young Doris Hillman (played by the delightful Angela Lansbury) invites struggling architect Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) to come in as her husband's partner in a lucrative real estate deal. However, when Edward becomes romantically involved with Doris, he learns that something deadly is going on. There's a life at stake, and it could be his own.

As we progress deeper into the story immediate parallels begin to emerge such as Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944). However, it’s evident that A Life at Stake wasn’t afforded the same budgetary benefits as Wilder’s classic movie. That said, A Life at Stake is a brilliant slice of entertainment which is more than capable of standing on its own two feet. Lansbury really shines and makes for a wonderfully devious femme fatale - who would have thought it? In fact, there is nothing wrong with the cast at all. A handsome Keith Andes (who seems to be shot with his shirt off at any given opportunity) appears confident and fully in control in front of the camera, while Claudia Barrett provides a nice supporting role as Madge, the younger sister of Doris. The look is also rather impressive thanks to the cinematography of Ted Allan and Les Baxter provides a score which often punches well above its weight. A Life at Stake is a genuine lost gem, a rediscovered treasure from the tail end of the film noir period which deserves to be seen.

Produced by The Filmakers, an independent film company formed with Ida Lupino (vice-president) in 1948, the company only made twelve feature films, six of which Lupino directed or co-directed, but were all received positively. A small featurette is also provided which presents an interesting look into the company.

I must also mention a superb commentary track by professor and film scholar Jason A. Ney, which I have to say is quite excellent, it’s both specific and highly informative throughout. The Film Detective has provided a truly beautiful presentation of the main feature, with some nice deep blacks and impressive contrast. There is a strange instance of some very minor ‘warping’ which appears in a few brief scenes, a rippling effect of sorts, but it is brief and doesn’t distract from the overall viewing pleasure. A Life at Stake is a movie that may have easily slipped through your fingers and previously escaped attention. Thanks to the efforts of The Film Detective, this is no longer the case and guarantees that it will be around for a whole new audience to appreciate.

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REVIEW BY LEE PFEIFFER

20^th Century-Fox: Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio by Scott Eyman (Running Press/Turner Classic Movies) $28, 304 pages, Illustrated (Colour & B&W), Hardback, ISBN ‎978-0762470938

Scott Eyman has authored high profile biographies of numerous screen legends including John Wayne, James Stewart, John Ford, Louis B. Mayer and Cary Grant. Now, Eyman sets out to examine the career of another larger-than-life Hollywood icon, Darryl F. Zanuck. There’s plenty of fertile ground to examine, too, as the mercurial producer had a long, dramatic career that could have formed the basis of one of his films. He saved the fledgling Fox film corporation early in his career then became the tyrannical head of its subsequent incarnation, 20^th-Century Fox. Over the decades, Zanuck would be feared and despised, rarely liked, but always respected as his early knack for creating hits was legendary.

Zanuck on the set of his 1962 WWII epic, "The Longest Day."

How tough was he? On the set of The Longest Day, he publicly humiliated John Wayne for making an offensive remark about the French. Now, that’s tough. Eyman follows his life through the many highs and lows, from being dismissed from Fox only to be called back to stave the red ink from Cleopatra. The new glory years were followed by disaster due to Zanuck backing money-losing roadshow productions in the 1960s and 1970s. He also famously battled for control of the studio with his own son Richard, all the while still chasing women who were young enough to be his granddaughter. The book provides some fascinating insights into the Zanuck's track record. Despite some major hits such as Patton, Planet of the Apes and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the majority of their productions proved to be money losers, resulting in Zanuck passing the blame to Richard and backing the board in firing his own son. All you need to know about Zanuck's persona is that a previous biography of him, published in the 1980s by Mel Gussow, was titled "Don't Say Yes Until I Finish Talking".  It all makes for a highly compelling read that you will find difficult to put down.

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BY LEE PFEIFFER

Paramount has commemorated the 100th anniversary of the landmark Rudolph Valentino film, "The Sheik"", with a newly-restored special edition Blu-ray as part of the Paramount Presents line. In viewing the film today, I was impressed how well it has held up over time. The movie packs a great deal into its modest 66-minute running time. Set in contemporary times, Valentino plays the title character, Ahmed Ben Hassan, a French-educated, highly sophisticated young man who is the benevolent ruler over his nomadic tribe. Through a rather intriguing series of events, he meets Lady Diana Mayo (Agnes Ayres), an adventurous woman who is visiting the Sahara with her brother to see the wondrous sites. When she embarks on an ill-fated multi-day tour, she is captured by Ahmed, who is obsessed with having a European lover as a trophy. Although he allows her to live in the lap of luxury- or as much luxury as a desert setting can provide- she attempts to escape, a decision that leads to even more dramatic consequences. Naturally, as these types of plots tend to run even in today's films, the abrasive relationship between an attractive man and woman will ultimately lead to a love affair. As directed by George Melford, "The Sheik" retains its attributes as a landmark in cinema history, providing ample evidence why Valentino (who died young), would become the greatest male sex symbol in that era of the film industry. Perhaps, most fittingly the newly-restored version of the film also allows Valentino's leading lady, Agnes Ayres, to have her considerable and often forgotten talents placed back in the spotlight. She is every bit the heroine to Valentino's man of action, rather like a female Indiana Jones, which was a novel idea in the days of silent cinema.

Paramount's meticulously restored version of the film impressed this writer enough that I reached out to Andrea Kalas at Paramount, who oversaw the restoration process. Andrea leads Asset Management at Paramount Pictures. Prior to Paramount she was Head of Preservation at the British Film Institute, Digital Studio Director for Discovery Communications, Archivist for Dreamworks SKG and preservationist and research data expert at UCLA Film and Television Archive. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and currently serves on the Science and Technology Council where she chairs the committee on Digital Preservation.

1.  Can you provide some insight into how you became involved in the unusual profession of film restoration?

I worked at the UCLA Film and Television archive when I was a student – my first job was inspecting nitrate film for deterioration – I guess because I was willing to do that they gave me a full time job in preservation.  I learned on the job from some of the best in the profession – Bob Gitt, Preservation, Martha Yee, Cataloging, Eddie Richmond, Curation and Management. I was really lucky.

2. Prior to "The Sheik", what other classic movies did you assist with or oversee in the restoration process?

I’ve had the privilege of being involved in restoring hundreds of films – Sunset Boulevard, Wings, Harold and Maude, Saturday Night Fever, Roman Holiday. Just a few of my favorite Paramount films…

3. "The Sheik" must have proven to be a challenge, given the fact that the film is 100 years old. Can you tell us what the process was like in sourcing the best possible print. Were multiple prints utilized?

We looked around the world for best sources and Film Preservation Associates graciously loaned us a   a 35mm black and white print.  We also had a finegrain which turned out to have a better overall picture quality, but the print turned out to be great for the intertitles. 

4. You had to engage the process of "stretch printing". Can you describe what that entails?

Actually we had to kind of reverse-stretch. The original frame-per-second cadence was 22 FPS.  The fine grain we used had been “stretched” to 24 – essentially by adding frames. With the help of the lab, Pictureshop, we went back to 22FPS

5. The film's scenes alternate between various color tints. Was this the way the film was originally shown or was it presented in standard black-and-white?

We had a continuity script that was a critical guide to the digital tinting and toning we added – which was the way the audience in 1921 would have seen it.

6. How long did it take to restore the film, from inception to completion?

6-8 months

7. What was the most challenging aspect of the restoration process?

The greatest challenge of all restorations is to respect the elements you are working with as well as the tools you have to make the film look as great to audiences as possible. The Sheik should look as good as it can, but always look like a film from 1921.

8. The film features a fine original score by French composer Roger Bellon. Can you tell us about his background and how he became involved in the project? Was there ever an official score for the film or did individual theaters provide their own?

Roger Bellon’s score was commissioned in 1990 as part of a celebration of Paramount’s 75^th, and it really stands up.  Paramount did provide theaters with music that was written for its films, but Mr. Bellon’s score is one he composed.

9. In viewing the film today, how would you describe its legacy in the cinema history?

First of all, the power of Valentino’s very modern acting style and connection with the audience is something that endures in the performances of so many who have come after him.

Secondly it’s legacy is how different lenses of history interpret controversial issues of gender and race.  Valentino was considered very dark – so in 1921 a bias against darkness was on display.  Interestingly in 2021 the idea that an Italian American would play an Arab would be frowned upon.  Similarly, the depiction of sexuality was scandalous in 1921 but scholars in later years have pointed to the character of Lady Diana in the film as somewhat powerful before her time….

(Thanks to Deborah Annakin Peters for her help in arranging this interview.) 

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Writing on the Mental Floss web site, M. Arbeiter provides 17 interesting facts about Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" that you may not have been aware of. If you want to know how John Wayne and Dan Blocker fit into the legacy, click here.