LIZABETH SCOTT AND PAUL HENREID IN HAMMER'S 'STOLEN FACE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsujolPhpg8ZjniWjkhfmaYu1C8bciT0MQUqjeJD7jgsPEd3n0Ezert8DQ1Nur-cgD4Q7Sf_Di8coohaNtPE2hrDUubFHhyphenhyphenpLhcJQV6jNVtQQABg7V2YI9qO6j35oYsmd4lZLmtkIm7FvRfn621CT3vY-I1VVUR-GVLj7roOm4Jo18fnq_3dov6Sk3Fup/s1842/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-16%20at%204.23.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="1842" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinsujolPhpg8ZjniWjkhfmaYu1C8bciT0MQUqjeJD7jgsPEd3n0Ezert8DQ1Nur-cgD4Q7Sf_Di8coohaNtPE2hrDUubFHhyphenhyphenpLhcJQV6jNVtQQABg7V2YI9qO6j35oYsmd4lZLmtkIm7FvRfn621CT3vY-I1VVUR-GVLj7roOm4Jo18fnq_3dov6Sk3Fup/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-16%20at%204.23.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Stolen Face Year: 1952 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Passive CASABLANCA French actor Paul Henreid's cheated on again, here in Hammer's noirish-drama STOLEN FACE, describing how Henreid, a plastic surgeon, made a badly scarred female career-criminal look exactly like the beautiful (and surreptitiously engaged) sophisticated pianist he fell for during the first half, resembling more of a Douglas Sirk melodrama than the intended crime-thriller by Hammer's future stock auteur Terence Fisher...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Enter American import Lizabeth Scott, who turned to England what she couldn't find in America, having portrayed both good and bad girls in stateside noir films, and here she plays both... despite only the original classic pianist character baring her own famously sultry low voice, which would have fit better than dubbing the original pre-surgery Mary Mackenzie for consistency (which wouldn't matter given the initial far-fetched premise)...</p><p><span></span></p>

andre morell, fifties, hammer films, hammer noir, lizabeth scott, melodrama, paul henreid, romance, russel napier, terence fisher, thriller

LIZABETH SCOTT AND PAUL HENREID IN HAMMER'S 'STOLEN FACE'

Title: Stolen Face Year: 1952 Rating: *** Passive CASABLANCA French actor Paul Henreid's cheated on again, here in Hammer's noirish-...

TERENCE FISHER DIRECTS DIANA DORS IN HAMMER'S 'MAN BAIT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SuOytRPDlSILJhEvueNk1-I93rnyL42ebSQ4ASQlvrKC6XcXmV3Q81zgnowN9D5CTfeD5wRolR4wlF2d2CfYVthOw8MEH3jSFHzFK0QG9pwSSkNuSWt2nHLH3y1XTiUaSmym2beSzkQJhTVEyD2aIyDeo_Y8U-LJqGmf7oS5nLn8pEBQhQyQdxX_9AGd/s2138/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-15%20at%209.21.32%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1238" data-original-width="2138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SuOytRPDlSILJhEvueNk1-I93rnyL42ebSQ4ASQlvrKC6XcXmV3Q81zgnowN9D5CTfeD5wRolR4wlF2d2CfYVthOw8MEH3jSFHzFK0QG9pwSSkNuSWt2nHLH3y1XTiUaSmym2beSzkQJhTVEyD2aIyDeo_Y8U-LJqGmf7oS5nLn8pEBQhQyQdxX_9AGd/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-15%20at%209.21.32%20PM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: MAN BAIT aka THE LAST PAGE Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/05/BadBlonde.html">BAD BLONDE</a>, here's another Hammer British Film Noir dealing with a blonde: in this case, beautiful Diana Dors, where any expression wields not only a full-lipped pout, but a seductively vicious pout as the story, centering on blackmail at a high-end English bookstore, slowly... through chatty exposition dialogue... unfolds...<br><br>Dors plays Ruby Bruce, whose stunning appearance alone turns men into jelly. Although her rich boss, with a lucrative insurance policy, is tougher than most pawns: So Ruby teams with ex-convict con man Jeffrey Hart to collect the money as the slow, meticulous nature in which the plot pans out is intriguing... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

blackmail, british film noir, diana dors, fifties, george brent, hammer films, hammer noir, marguerite chapman, meredith edwards, peter reynolds, terence fisher

TERENCE FISHER DIRECTS DIANA DORS IN HAMMER'S 'MAN BAIT'

Title: MAN BAIT aka THE LAST PAGE Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 Following BAD BLONDE , here's another Hammer British Film Noir dealing with ...

PETER CUSHING CREATES HAMMER'S 'THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbtuqhdjT3ERevHxGNLuDwUCrhMM0pcV5ec6c-VVkOcl_gPRjEQLR8BRiwJX32gEyHqTBoFHz3qVTY-wPohU4n_jWammKgnbu_FToK1MjCY1BJ6sBTxxITExQimyxSQ4LDRwMjv6tp0ZD1jQNrz8BkJT-wuXJ9VQeJY7Quzm3T9hpBe49ofP6AV6oxOhN/s1262/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-08%20at%201.03.07%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="870" data-original-width="1262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbtuqhdjT3ERevHxGNLuDwUCrhMM0pcV5ec6c-VVkOcl_gPRjEQLR8BRiwJX32gEyHqTBoFHz3qVTY-wPohU4n_jWammKgnbu_FToK1MjCY1BJ6sBTxxITExQimyxSQ4LDRwMjv6tp0ZD1jQNrz8BkJT-wuXJ9VQeJY7Quzm3T9hpBe49ofP6AV6oxOhN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-01-08%20at%201.03.07%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN Year: 1957 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>What Hammer did for FRANKENSTEIN is made people know that, unlike what it seems having grown up with James Whale's otherwise brilliant Universal double-feature, is that that's not the name of the monster, whose name is basically, The Monster, but here he's constantly established as the Victorian-era scientist himself...<br><br>As classy and sophisticated phenom turned idealistic heir, with a castle all to himself, Victor Frankenstein begins as a frustrated teenager, and there's never been such aesthetically perfect casting from child to man...</p><p><span></span></p>

christopher lee, fifties, frankenstein, hammer films, hazel court, horror, peter cushing, robert urquhart, science-fiction, terence fisher, valerie gaunt

PETER CUSHING CREATES HAMMER'S 'THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN'

Title: THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN Year: 1957 Rating: **** What Hammer did for FRANKENSTEIN is made people know that, unlike what it seems hav...

DANE CLARK WITH BEN JOHNSON & PETER GRAVES 'FORT DEFIANCE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgsHzGZdCEgKklq8ykcr5b4MfGq4MU-tQsuCZEKPsz5O3eaWahHvcNWKmtEZP8UdZIlcN5NmDzmNwSM9xk5hnqBkyHjvZ37GIBpbeSfsSX_tJzANs9q4HH_a0n_WoLj5lVu42K2zl6MrebOK59KPtt6RKllBhj-rtyDsedi-sXtuVm1LYWyrOmb-TvIue/s1968/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-22%20at%208.44.58%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1110" data-original-width="1968" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbgsHzGZdCEgKklq8ykcr5b4MfGq4MU-tQsuCZEKPsz5O3eaWahHvcNWKmtEZP8UdZIlcN5NmDzmNwSM9xk5hnqBkyHjvZ37GIBpbeSfsSX_tJzANs9q4HH_a0n_WoLj5lVu42K2zl6MrebOK59KPtt6RKllBhj-rtyDsedi-sXtuVm1LYWyrOmb-TvIue/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-22%20at%208.44.58%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dane Clark in FORT DEFIANCE Year: 1951 Rates: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For a fitfully simple b-western, FORT DEFIANCE has the most complicated case of post Civil War revenge, twofold: first there's Ben Johnson, who becomes a ranch-hand working for blind, extremely trustworthy Peter Graves, and secretly wants to kill Peter's older brother for backing out of one of the last battles... and then an entire posse wants both brothers dead... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Enter first-billed Dan Clark, extremely anticipated through expository dialogue, thirty-five minutes in, as his brother and new best friend are cornered by Indians in a cornering canyon, led by legendary faker Iron Eyes Cody...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, ben johnson, dane clark, fifties, peter graves, tracey roberts, western

DANE CLARK WITH BEN JOHNSON & PETER GRAVES 'FORT DEFIANCE'

Dane Clark in FORT DEFIANCE Year: 1951 Rates: ***1/2 For a fitfully simple b-western, FORT DEFIANCE has the most complicated case of post Ci...

JODY FAIR AND JUDY HOWARD IN 'GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJoP-fTsJVywNaojjEcdObSpbrWGf3940Ac-_7LzYfiK6SZtynVKsmoFd9jl_PhDBAMzRKFotgba-43o7iJChW81q92scp4kl3c2Sossh0wi6GGqyLG4DkR_J935MxZ5YUEPFJOF1KAc_oqakn9nxQGCVRK-Ua-TtsqoXQPxSGnLbC3fX47dv1gHWQtMc/s1942/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-29%20at%2010.51.45%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="1942" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJoP-fTsJVywNaojjEcdObSpbrWGf3940Ac-_7LzYfiK6SZtynVKsmoFd9jl_PhDBAMzRKFotgba-43o7iJChW81q92scp4kl3c2Sossh0wi6GGqyLG4DkR_J935MxZ5YUEPFJOF1KAc_oqakn9nxQGCVRK-Ua-TtsqoXQPxSGnLbC3fX47dv1gHWQtMc/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-29%20at%2010.51.45%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1959 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Sequel to a franchise b-movie HOT CAR GANG that hardly involved a gang and with only two young actors returning in the genre novelty of GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW, combining the titular ghost story with the original's borrowed plot about saving a car club's clubhouse, the dancing and rocking motorhead teens wind up at a haunted manor with only about twenty minutes left...  </p><p></p><p></p><p>Beginning with the only actual car race shot in an L.A. reservoir with mechanically-minded beauty Jody Fair returning with spectacle-wearing geek mechanic Harry McCann... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, elaine dupont, exploitation, fifties, franchise, horror satire, jack ging, jody fair, judy howard, russ bender, sequel, teen

JODY FAIR AND JUDY HOWARD IN 'GHOST OF DRAGSTRIP HOLLOW'

Year: 1959 Rating: **** Sequel to a franchise b-movie HOT CAR GANG that hardly involved a gang and with only two young actors returning in t...

TOM CONWAY TEAMS WITH HILLARY BROOKE IN 'CONFIDENCE GIRL'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXvzVcWPrh5L-CVBpd9rNxItrFzCQcma6lmvBAX0D2e60_PI_UOnElceo_3Cyu9f9yHV2CSeikiEuH3UrPyECh_ShXG2J1qMZIjDyJ_kA3LHvq4QE5UqwY-fasAYzD14xJDkN8j3R3AdjMLcRjsNtRuY0BHPdbFKukPJkt59BD7IIvw_ePNkQ0QLVrut-/s1990/2%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1097" data-original-width="1990" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXvzVcWPrh5L-CVBpd9rNxItrFzCQcma6lmvBAX0D2e60_PI_UOnElceo_3Cyu9f9yHV2CSeikiEuH3UrPyECh_ShXG2J1qMZIjDyJ_kA3LHvq4QE5UqwY-fasAYzD14xJDkN8j3R3AdjMLcRjsNtRuY0BHPdbFKukPJkt59BD7IIvw_ePNkQ0QLVrut-/s16000/2%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2</u><br></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You know if a movie about confidence men aka con men (or in this case an ironic twist-titled CONFIDENCE GIRL) is being narrated/opened by an actual government agent, it won't particularly support their crooked schemes that would happen (from THE STING to DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS) decades later: when the cops are the heavies, the tricksters the anti-heroes and their victims rich dolts who should have never had so much money to begin with...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But with the casting of the always smooth and dashing Tom Conway, leading to a nifty first-act twist... instead of being one of the crowded room of detectives after Hillary Brooke's titular CONFIDENCE GIRL he's actually her partner... the title CONFIDENCE COUPLE would have fit better... </p><p><span></span></p>

aline towne, con man, cop, fifties, film noir or melodrama, hillary brooke, jack kruschen, tom conway

TOM CONWAY TEAMS WITH HILLARY BROOKE IN 'CONFIDENCE GIRL'

Year: 1952 Rating: ***1/2 You know if a movie about confidence men aka con men (or in this case an ironic twist-titled CONFIDENCE GIRL) is b...

KATHRYN GRANT 'THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED' WILLIAM LESLIE

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxtsevWVxZnYI1rqgFmjukJvXkfVctiKkwSPGP4PgasU3cfPcUFLaMZSGODmaKb_EjwtodC-saEgc1DPaBjyVxm49_xGo_cqNxiTP8kOsArXlWvN5BGx9jBjSEh6JkXJMVYkxhhTUY0OXhB77ha5dSXs4YMNZqrPSIY3gw3TfVnC6CSoGdrMKtPrOoAlU/s1201/Screen%20Shot%202024-09-29%20at%2010.22.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1201" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHxtsevWVxZnYI1rqgFmjukJvXkfVctiKkwSPGP4PgasU3cfPcUFLaMZSGODmaKb_EjwtodC-saEgc1DPaBjyVxm49_xGo_cqNxiTP8kOsArXlWvN5BGx9jBjSEh6JkXJMVYkxhhTUY0OXhB77ha5dSXs4YMNZqrPSIY3gw3TfVnC6CSoGdrMKtPrOoAlU/s320/Screen%20Shot%202024-09-29%20at%2010.22.05%20PM.jpeg" width="320"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1957 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There's a scene in otherwise underrated b-movie director Fred F. Sear's 1950's science-fiction disaster flick THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED where lovely actress Kathryn Grant (who he had directed in the film noir biopic <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/04/cell.html">CELL 2455 DEATH ROW</a>), soon to be known as Kathryn Crosby after marrying legendary WHITE CHRISTMAS crooner Bing Crosby, is beautifully pouting with her insanely-gorgeous full lips...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Actually, despite being surprisingly first-billed, that's pretty much every scene she's in in this early "we're to blame for the earth's inevitable demise" melodrama, with only a few exterior shots of archive footage and where most of the time's spent in a clean office or grungy tunnel while blandly-handsome scientist William Leslie's being constantly... pouted at by that gorgeous assistant who silently adores (and is burdened with the desire to connect with) him... only there got an entire WORLD to save and enough lectures to make EXPLODED more drowsy motion than the supposed action built into a misleading title that's (other than Kathryn) the best thing going. <br></p><p><span></span></p>

cult, disaster, fifties, fred f. sears, kathryn grant, melodrama, race against time, william leslie

KATHRYN GRANT 'THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED' WILLIAM LESLIE

Year: 1957 Rating: ** There's a scene in otherwise underrated b-movie director Fred F. Sear's 1950's science-fiction disaster fl...

KATHRYN GRANT & RICHARD KILEY GAMBLE 'THE PHENIX CITY STORY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCwPOMBqtWnJhwUNPet-hYLMWYaqauez3P0WJUN9SK9ewYB0KI4w3tZtj6X3N8kCNblTAh0G75x4DWBKWa2F472Qr_ugZDIDLNw7KFtE48hafUhxQrckJfi38jzkzrW4uDVSFKf2pGfhtILC7uE2PqhgLqG9IlUbDU0AN5LLKOhoNbhU8LZVNogtHemup/s902/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="902" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCwPOMBqtWnJhwUNPet-hYLMWYaqauez3P0WJUN9SK9ewYB0KI4w3tZtj6X3N8kCNblTAh0G75x4DWBKWa2F472Qr_ugZDIDLNw7KFtE48hafUhxQrckJfi38jzkzrW4uDVSFKf2pGfhtILC7uE2PqhgLqG9IlUbDU0AN5LLKOhoNbhU8LZVNogtHemup/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE PHENIX CITY STORY Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since the entire first act of the film noir docudrama THE PHENIX CITY STORY consists of interviews with actual citizens recalling when one seedy downtown street of vice and gambling ruled the otherwise peaceful and rural titular Alabama town, when the second act rolls in, we get right to dirty business...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>With actors now, beginning with good girl Kathyrn Grant dealing the central casino's marked cards to losing-streak boyfriend Biff McGuire... at which point everything's literally on the table since the joint's not only wholly dishonest, but bare-knuckle dangerous...</p><p><span></span></p>

biff mcguire, docudrama, edward andrews, expose, fifties, film noir or melodrama, gambling, jean carson, john larch, john mcintire, kathryn grant, meg myles, mobster, phil karlson, richard kiley

KATHRYN GRANT & RICHARD KILEY GAMBLE 'THE PHENIX CITY STORY'

Title: THE PHENIX CITY STORY Year: 1955 Rating: ***1/2 Since the entire first act of the film noir docudrama THE PHENIX CITY STORY consists ...

JOHN MILLS IN THE BRITISH WRONG MAN NOIR 'THE VICIOUS CIRCLE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3VCnxmJJHW07F0G8ZP28yXFta892oN3E3gHI3KVXEIaog1tjPpXViHZHRFPN6j592tSzqLxG_vLwIIBHL1rVqMKfTDV6XAQwV19qPQrAQjKOti9lv7mQnbEhK4vOXk7Td8XWejQxKHJ3Vro8IwXLZJgDAnOWwP3Grw-cxTKqSjd07jEUqHH57p88r8ha/s1894/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-21%20at%2011.44.21%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1894" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd3VCnxmJJHW07F0G8ZP28yXFta892oN3E3gHI3KVXEIaog1tjPpXViHZHRFPN6j592tSzqLxG_vLwIIBHL1rVqMKfTDV6XAQwV19qPQrAQjKOti9lv7mQnbEhK4vOXk7Td8XWejQxKHJ3Vro8IwXLZJgDAnOWwP3Grw-cxTKqSjd07jEUqHH57p88r8ha/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-21%20at%2011.44.21%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE VICIOUS CIRCLE Year: 1957 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At one point in the middle of THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, starring John Mills as a doctor falsely accused of murdering gorgeous actress Lisa Daniely, he winds up playing an idyllic round of golf with best friend Derek Farr...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Strangely enough, during an otherwise suspenseful daylight-to-nighttime journey... from back alleyways to random offices to immense concert halls... the audience and main character are actually allowed to cut <i>from </i>the chase... </p><p><span></span></p>

action, british film noir, fifties, john mills, lionel jeffries, lisa daniely, noelle middleton, wilfrid hyde-white, wrong man

JOHN MILLS IN THE BRITISH WRONG MAN NOIR 'THE VICIOUS CIRCLE'

Title: THE VICIOUS CIRCLE Year: 1957 Rating: **** At one point in the middle of THE VICIOUS CIRCLE, starring John Mills as a doctor falsely ...

DENNIS COLE, RENÉE ASHERSON & PATRICK BARR 'TIME IS MY ENEMY'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSr22OUyGyAmXASjAGwOPlG6ZvGSvTjmGiPoSdzr_gDxZ_vYklZw6SmuZWVs8tUnLsu7YiUy6x-6xi7yQCZGPPB65F85FCvaLMEd5xd-Igh9Dd9tDR0GAA_FIZ1cW4gnyyTkqZO2MXBMaynfh3oPN-9HQnWktix536HqdV1LW_GIoi6SYwgL9xm4_40FmI/s1778/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-19%20at%204.52.30%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1778" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSr22OUyGyAmXASjAGwOPlG6ZvGSvTjmGiPoSdzr_gDxZ_vYklZw6SmuZWVs8tUnLsu7YiUy6x-6xi7yQCZGPPB65F85FCvaLMEd5xd-Igh9Dd9tDR0GAA_FIZ1cW4gnyyTkqZO2MXBMaynfh3oPN-9HQnWktix536HqdV1LW_GIoi6SYwgL9xm4_40FmI/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-19%20at%204.52.30%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TIME IS MY ENEMY Year: 1954 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>British actor Dennis Price made a living as smooth-talking lowlifes in British b-movies, and in 1954 he's a blackmailer for TIME IS MY ENEMY, crashing on his wealthy ex-wife who thought he died... while instigating cop Duncan Lamont, really the main character here, tries figuring things out...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p>This low-budget British programmer talks more than acts with dialogue over action, including an opening heist/murder that's only discussed through exposition... wasting characters like Price's two femme fatale lovers Barbara Graley and Susan Shaw, ultimately giving most of the work to initial ingenue-victim Renée Asherson, who even gets to wield a smoking gun to have some 11th hour crime-genre fun, which everybody on board here needed much more of.</p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, crime, dennis price, duncan lamont, fifties, renee asherson, susan shaw, william franklyn

DENNIS COLE, RENÉE ASHERSON & PATRICK BARR 'TIME IS MY ENEMY'

Title: TIME IS MY ENEMY Year: 1954 Rating: **1/2 British actor Dennis Price made a living as smooth-talking lowlifes in British b-movies, an...

JAMES KENNEY & JOAN COLLINS IN 'KOSH BOY' OR 'THE SLASHER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSztivwwyjpgLV6Erv4ORURXkjIaanoMGYRIWAEdendhpMYw3VgAPZpENvGmp_8wz67nk5i-WKX-zmfqvvAVDvp2tseRwTZdgnEiD1ZFy3-rqUIuYsYo-Nl9xV99R2oyM2YBm0DzcXooY1sIPXTF8RO6v0XAup1pNKNLFeRRmL-uS6hpioQweH7kpo5b3A/s1230/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSztivwwyjpgLV6Erv4ORURXkjIaanoMGYRIWAEdendhpMYw3VgAPZpENvGmp_8wz67nk5i-WKX-zmfqvvAVDvp2tseRwTZdgnEiD1ZFy3-rqUIuYsYo-Nl9xV99R2oyM2YBm0DzcXooY1sIPXTF8RO6v0XAup1pNKNLFeRRmL-uS6hpioQweH7kpo5b3A/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: COSH BOY also THE SLASHER Year: 1954 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It's a shame that COSH BOY (strangely re-titled THE SLASHER) is so extremely dated, holding back what's promised by the edgy image of British teen actor James Kenney as a street thug "teddy boy" (name of youth gangs in England)... because Kenney not only delivers his dialogue strongly, but listens just as intensely...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Too bad his words are aimed at a coddling mother, about to marry a strict man... and both are even more important than the fellow gang members, who sporadically hit the streets to "cosh" (violently mug) their victims...</p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, fifties, james kenney, joan collins, melodrama, teen

JAMES KENNEY & JOAN COLLINS IN 'KOSH BOY' OR 'THE SLASHER'

Title: COSH BOY also THE SLASHER Year: 1954 Rating: **1/2 It's a shame that COSH BOY (strangely re-titled THE SLASHER) is so extremely d...

ALAD LADD, SUSAN GORDON & CAROLYN JONES 'THE MAN IN THE NET'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7p2Yri8YomHVFZhSkmBwXSQ5dzilM9txxqaAQyvpYXSUGhE7iWY9LEQj3zGdbXAdqQP9p-jMovPteoywkGCiyCPRobK0TDflH0UOyi7Kvz5IgXeFSQps66T6SuZM6hwHFEof0PBwMflSLYNhOlbeJ2T_G5essAsR1KKI6YRIAFJ6i9a1TJDapESl3qKKo/s1190/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-06%20at%2012.03.27%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="1190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7p2Yri8YomHVFZhSkmBwXSQ5dzilM9txxqaAQyvpYXSUGhE7iWY9LEQj3zGdbXAdqQP9p-jMovPteoywkGCiyCPRobK0TDflH0UOyi7Kvz5IgXeFSQps66T6SuZM6hwHFEof0PBwMflSLYNhOlbeJ2T_G5essAsR1KKI6YRIAFJ6i9a1TJDapESl3qKKo/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-06%20at%2012.03.27%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charles McGraw, Edward Binns & Alan Ladd pictured from THE MAN IN THE NET Year: 1959 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By 1959, Film Noir had ended, but not officially since it was never an official genre or a categorized style of films... at least not yet... that is, the French had yet to coin the Dark Film into the term that would grow throughout the years... but the template that makes these kind of dark crime melodramas still remained, and in Michael Curtiz's A MAN IN A NET, two of the most specific and popular tropes are well at hand...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>First off, the Wrong Man aspect as an aged, sluggish, loser artist Alan Ladd (looking as if he had a facelift to resemble a miniature Robert Mitchum) as the only logical culprit to have killed his boozing/cheating, no-good wife... and the second aspect's just been mentioned, and in that, Carolyn Jones, on the verge of THE ADDAMS FAMILY and having been in a handful of noirs ranging from THE BIG HEAT to SHIELD FOR MURDER, is the best thing going...</p><p><span></span></p>

alan ladd, carolyn jones, charles mcgraw, diane brewster, edward binns, fifties, michael mcgreevy, mystery, neo noir, susan gordon, wrong man

ALAD LADD, SUSAN GORDON & CAROLYN JONES 'THE MAN IN THE NET'

Charles McGraw, Edward Binns & Alan Ladd pictured from THE MAN IN THE NET Year: 1959 Rating: ** By 1959, Film Noir had ended, but not of...

LORI NELSON, JOHN RUSSELL & MAMIE VAN DOREN 'UNTAMED YOUTH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbL8faQqwVhFg8x1sgk6Q9vF_-u3EFjQ05tyYvTYDEroA-s01QyBpiHs4xaGfGmbUBhYp3fMOCL49RU8FGyGRCTyYS-RDxXjVnjDE0mWhHF5YVLIMfgtoUO-nsDF3rcpQfeIlxJWzmJxGwc7Eaw7tbyarwgFZmuP8c5gOUFE3kTT3dqxUMU7n46WSnx4O0/s1712/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-05%20at%2011.45.07%20AM%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1073" data-original-width="1712" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbL8faQqwVhFg8x1sgk6Q9vF_-u3EFjQ05tyYvTYDEroA-s01QyBpiHs4xaGfGmbUBhYp3fMOCL49RU8FGyGRCTyYS-RDxXjVnjDE0mWhHF5YVLIMfgtoUO-nsDF3rcpQfeIlxJWzmJxGwc7Eaw7tbyarwgFZmuP8c5gOUFE3kTT3dqxUMU7n46WSnx4O0/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-05%20at%2011.45.07%20AM%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>title: UNTAMED YOUTH year: 1957 rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In a creatively low-budget twist of the prison genre, by the time bad lockup girl Jeanne Carmen fights friendly newcomer Lori Nelson, who's defending blonde bombshell singing sister Mamie Van Doren, she soon becomes their friend... because in this particular work-farm, square-jawed big boss John Russell's practically the sole antagonist, a hybrid of warden and cheating businessman...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Connected with by being secreted married to an older woman, who just happens to be the small town ranch-owning judge that winds up intentionally sentencing outsiders to her man's makeshift hoosegow, and whose son, fresh from the Navy, is as heroic as Russell is (with trained dobermans) borderline deadly...</p><p><span></span></p>

bel air productions, drama, eddie cochran, fifties, howard w. koch, john russell, lori nelson, lurene tuttle, mamie van doren, music, warner archives, wayne nelson, women in prison, yvonne lime

LORI NELSON, JOHN RUSSELL & MAMIE VAN DOREN 'UNTAMED YOUTH'

title: UNTAMED YOUTH year: 1957 rating: **** In a creatively low-budget twist of the prison genre, by the time bad lockup girl Jeanne Carmen...

WILLIAM HOLDEN AND NANCY OLSON IN 'SUBMARINE COMMAND'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX97R_krL4-Ym-uKwEVch7H4ccl18ox8mLLI4JNdgtYNPeJ17pIstm8Sx1gdpDj8y1RuvoWL26V8XCAVfMnbMhdEhXyGlfzeE-rsUdGlTZDUzXiiIPq0TsFVrJxLBlbEpn8XehMi-LEt2hAWz3LXsiC5vyIrFFoCJWJIe9AtT5DPWwqDIH7-LVkVcLzjQ2/s1253/2%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="927" data-original-width="1253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX97R_krL4-Ym-uKwEVch7H4ccl18ox8mLLI4JNdgtYNPeJ17pIstm8Sx1gdpDj8y1RuvoWL26V8XCAVfMnbMhdEhXyGlfzeE-rsUdGlTZDUzXiiIPq0TsFVrJxLBlbEpn8XehMi-LEt2hAWz3LXsiC5vyIrFFoCJWJIe9AtT5DPWwqDIH7-LVkVcLzjQ2/s16000/2%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: SUBMARINE COMMAND Year: 1951 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Imagine THE CAINE MUTINY, without a mutiny, and you might have the William Holden vehicle SUBMARINE COMMAND (actually more like THE FROGMEN) co-starring SUNSET BOULEVARD girl-next-door Nancy Olson as the wife of Holden's Lt. Commander Ken White, who, initially second-in-charge within the titular vessel, makes a quick decision to submerge when the stalwart/popular captain's still outside...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The audience can see he's been hit by a Japanese zero but the drama relies on Holden's character not knowing if the death was by gunfire or drowning, the latter to save the crew... yet what really matters is stocky CPO Boyer's opinion, and, played by always reliable William Bendix, he doesn't like Holden's guilt-ridden second-guessing lieutenant one bit...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, arthur franz, don taylor, drama, fifties, nancy olson, william bendix, william holden, world war II

WILLIAM HOLDEN AND NANCY OLSON IN 'SUBMARINE COMMAND'

Title: SUBMARINE COMMAND Year: 1951 Rating: *** Imagine THE CAINE MUTINY, without a mutiny, and you might have the William Holden vehicle SU...

DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY IN 'WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhPb8JjRRH1wWt-iiX7FYG10-nzeRLO8EErcY5OVLHm6Cx7A09fIsAMDqJaGjP7rFsUpKG6V4hzwku6nWNYwKWUAjyLP5cCaXulAmaqn5QhZwvwexT3oKaoEHFX9v8ft1uGBpVPgDzMLzv_9qg9KkC0f5a9XRzOcLIkzOE3WKZVtI3oaUUeJbyFQoZFy0/s1270/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-02%20at%202.50.48%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="972" data-original-width="1270" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJhPb8JjRRH1wWt-iiX7FYG10-nzeRLO8EErcY5OVLHm6Cx7A09fIsAMDqJaGjP7rFsUpKG6V4hzwku6nWNYwKWUAjyLP5cCaXulAmaqn5QhZwvwexT3oKaoEHFX9v8ft1uGBpVPgDzMLzv_9qg9KkC0f5a9XRzOcLIkzOE3WKZVtI3oaUUeJbyFQoZFy0/w400-h306/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-02%20at%202.50.48%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Dana and Gene a third time YEAR: 1950</u></td></tr></tbody></table>A sort of Film Noir in reverse as a downright bad and brutal cop does something accidental and pretty awful, covers it up and then, a bit later, gets half-a-heart, which is how Noir leading men usually start: this after he falls for the Falsely Accused Wrong Man's daughter in Gene Tierney's gorgeous, as usual, Morgan Taylor... Even her name is lovely...<br> <br> Dana Andrews, who resembled a hybrid Sean Connery before there was one famous enough to resemble, and Steve Martin had he been a tough and tall leading man type, stole scenes in the post World War Two classic, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/BYOOurLIVES.html">THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES,</a> and, brother of Steve Forrest, has the same square-jaw and no-nonsense style, and is a lot more edgy and desperate than his snoopy cop in the previous, more lavish and high-budgeted crime melodrama, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/05/Loir.html">LAURA</a>, with the same director and gorgeous co-star...<br>

bert freed, british film noir/melodrama, cop, craig stevens, dana andrews, fifties, gary merill, gene tierney, karl malden, otto preminger, suspense

DANA ANDREWS & GENE TIERNEY IN 'WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS'

Dana and Gene a third time YEAR: 1950 A sort of Film Noir in reverse as a downright bad and brutal cop does something accidental and pretty ...

JANET MUNRO & JENNIFER JAYNE IN 'THE TROLLENBERG TERROR'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNpc32Xls2mMXrjENZFhORiKxNx0x_I_uinwAMnfjHIXZuELgzAw1bl41c6Bo_CMAQS6A_hcg0gsUSF_Kr_yb9VOAHbjsNe6HvpXXERT6qEuoAb4lXY9_9XiAuCcCy4ELhkL0dRJRbV_KkaolMN1KaUN56PjxaxASjCYnYiyAEcUATzgBeSzyN2ln-cEz/s1864/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1864" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmNpc32Xls2mMXrjENZFhORiKxNx0x_I_uinwAMnfjHIXZuELgzAw1bl41c6Bo_CMAQS6A_hcg0gsUSF_Kr_yb9VOAHbjsNe6HvpXXERT6qEuoAb4lXY9_9XiAuCcCy4ELhkL0dRJRbV_KkaolMN1KaUN56PjxaxASjCYnYiyAEcUATzgBeSzyN2ln-cEz/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>THE TROLLENBERG TERROR aka THE CRAWLING EYE Year: 1958 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The originally-titled British horror THE TROLLENBERG TERROR changing into THE CRAWLING EYE is a matter of b-movie peer pressure, morphing a genuinely effective, deliberately slow-paced and mostly character-driven thriller into the kind of campy fare that never really had a chance...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The central character is imported American actor Forrest Tucker, who had just come off another British-made snowbound venture (by Hammer Studios) THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN... and TERROR is equally smart and cerebral, featuring scream-queen Janet Munro as a young lady with telepathic powers, who... before honing in on the impending danger at hand... was a kind of novelty act with perfectly-cast older sister Jennifer Jayne, both lovely brunettes with full lips and looking very much related...</p><p><span></span></p>

british, creature, cult, fifties, forrest tucker, horror, janet munro, jennifer jayne, laurence payne, warren mitchell

JANET MUNRO & JENNIFER JAYNE IN 'THE TROLLENBERG TERROR'

THE TROLLENBERG TERROR aka THE CRAWLING EYE Year: 1958 Rating: **** The originally-titled British horror THE TROLLENBERG TERROR changing int...

GLENN FORD, LEE MARVIN & GLORIA GRAHAME IN 'THE BIG HEAT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-lFXZTduUiqdF3fnGWYpfG_u63EdvKtR7Vmj_MS_ONhkDvg4DfUb6h9IrdovA5yfUxlm86laqp11_eGUY93Vt2N1EUokLg0L7DEt5NINtNz_TeXaXOP2nPZD4t9Rh1Xw5TVaLsECx3ieGN1xWIlVIQjecCpmDU4UZMYhtYe890zHULsu_vLenLtALnyC/s968/1.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="638" data-original-width="968" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb-lFXZTduUiqdF3fnGWYpfG_u63EdvKtR7Vmj_MS_ONhkDvg4DfUb6h9IrdovA5yfUxlm86laqp11_eGUY93Vt2N1EUokLg0L7DEt5NINtNz_TeXaXOP2nPZD4t9Rh1Xw5TVaLsECx3ieGN1xWIlVIQjecCpmDU4UZMYhtYe890zHULsu_vLenLtALnyC/s16000/1.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE BIG HEAT Shown: Glenn Ford Year: 1953 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>On posters for Fritz Lang's classic film noir THE BIG HEAT there's what looks like an impassioned couple raging with sensuality in Glenn Ford and Gloria Grahame, which is misleading since neither care about each other within most of the story, and yet, perhaps no other actor and actress have ultimately shared so much energy and chemistry on screen... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>She's the beautiful, animated moll of chief gangster's thug Vince, played by Lee Marvin, who, before his days of tough anti-heroes, played neurotic, borderline sociopath hoods: and literally sizzles here as the title becomes too real for scene-stealing Graham, getting scalding coffee thrown on her face, punishment for having visited Ford's hidden cove apartment behind his back...</p><p><span></span></p>

alexander scourby, andy williams, cop, fifties, film noir or melodrama, fritz lang, glenn ford, gloria grahame, jeanette nolan, jocelyn brando, john crawford, lee marvin, peter whitney, revenge

GLENN FORD, LEE MARVIN & GLORIA GRAHAME IN 'THE BIG HEAT'

Title: THE BIG HEAT Shown: Glenn Ford Year: 1953 Rating: ***** On posters for Fritz Lang's classic film noir THE BIG HEAT there's wh...

BRODERICK CRAWFORD, NEVILLE BRAND & RICHARD KILEY 'THE MOB'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn1AJq9VekXaZx_cNcVAKhiTfN6RBvnOC4TdycYZkNVBRyf_JsZv-LKTE83hoDxC_ghmjuldUigkGDWh_SR12I3rXSvAKdDkYX1M0s6awIA5g8Nma8bulcTMkbDtZIv4gMlqxFlOwvhSU0A-rRvIBZw9JQKNF1U9LaQBrNuGI4KPSE_6ezBLvVcAdvRji/s1768/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-07%20at%2010.23.56%20PM%202%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="1768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimn1AJq9VekXaZx_cNcVAKhiTfN6RBvnOC4TdycYZkNVBRyf_JsZv-LKTE83hoDxC_ghmjuldUigkGDWh_SR12I3rXSvAKdDkYX1M0s6awIA5g8Nma8bulcTMkbDtZIv4gMlqxFlOwvhSU0A-rRvIBZw9JQKNF1U9LaQBrNuGI4KPSE_6ezBLvVcAdvRji/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-07%20at%2010.23.56%20PM%202%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1951 Cast: Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, John Marley, Neville Brand, Richard Kiley  Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1955, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/charles%20bronson">Charles Bronson</a> played a cellmate to Broderick Crawford in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/BHUSA.html">BIG HOUSE USA</a> — and only four-years earlier, Bronson (known as Charles Buchinsky), had a quick yet important part in the Waterfront film noir THE MOB...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Where Crawford's an undercover cop (after the opening theme later used for THE BIG HEAT) seeking the leader/boss of a crime-syndicate screwing around the workers by choosing only their own...  and Bronson's the one guy complaining during his single scene where they're calling out rigged names for work (overseen by future GODFATHER horse-head victim John Marley), while Crawford and his newfound working-class buddy Richard Kiley look on...</p><p><span></span></p>

broderick crawford, charles bronson, emile meyer, ernest borgnine, fifties, film noir or melodrama, john marley, lynn baggett, mobster, neville brand, richard kiley, thriller

BRODERICK CRAWFORD, NEVILLE BRAND & RICHARD KILEY 'THE MOB'

Year: 1951 Cast: Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, John Marley, Neville Brand, Richard Kiley  Rating: ***1/2 In 1955, Charles Bronson pl...

STANLEY KUBRICK'S RUDIMENTARY FILM NOIR OF 'KILLER'S KISS'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxacvx1OGHKutZmjhLccTP7wJ4FHdYKn4EmGSkamaeK-rspzSl75vDfeJ08ajYU5AhhX-xYGFjrWiPGdvQY3SoAO0NLnnJw9VKPdkw2xxhvZ4RemsnIUzmt51N8VckiAWdVYP3lal7YRitFYFC4ZQyxPcjqNPz5_alIRVNtCbBM3Ta_Jce7GsTlnbEfGW/s2456/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-25%20at%209.35.08%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2456" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnxacvx1OGHKutZmjhLccTP7wJ4FHdYKn4EmGSkamaeK-rspzSl75vDfeJ08ajYU5AhhX-xYGFjrWiPGdvQY3SoAO0NLnnJw9VKPdkw2xxhvZ4RemsnIUzmt51N8VckiAWdVYP3lal7YRitFYFC4ZQyxPcjqNPz5_alIRVNtCbBM3Ta_Jce7GsTlnbEfGW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-07-25%20at%209.35.08%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Stanley Kubrick's KILLER'S KISS Year: 1955 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When it's not a primal, jazz piano, mamba-like rhythm as gangster/dance club owner Frank Silvera tries keeping his trophy girl from being romanced by someone truly deserving, the deepest, more soulful orchestration is very reminiscent of (years later) THE GODFATHER score...<br> <br> Despite director Stanley Kubrick referring to KILLER'S KISS as a student film, his rudimentary Noir is a beautiful, intentionally-simplistic tale with the auteur's metronomic, haunting rhythm intact, and, harboring such a flowing, naturally offbeat groove throughout, it's hard to fathom that, at this point, with only an even more low-budget (and unreleased) movie under his belt, he already possessed a vibe and structure all his own... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

boxing, felice orlandi, fifties, film noir or melodrama, frank silvera, irene kane, jamie smith, jazz-score, mobster, stanley kubrick, thriller

STANLEY KUBRICK'S RUDIMENTARY FILM NOIR OF 'KILLER'S KISS'

Title: Stanley Kubrick's KILLER'S KISS Year: 1955 Rating: **** When it's not a primal, jazz piano, mamba-like rhythm as gangste...

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVTTHag1ShCE3rC3u7lS9Tw3ZkNH-r_rEp3BiXA2l0dJsJeFtN-PuKHyHgNC51TT1ch_M88khfBw2ch_A1RpICYqa22p7jeUbUw3KtNphyphenhyphenpeyBTG1q_BGynzjgJz_4Lyy8Jh4nRr5B1fJCPSr62TEphTLCh1-8AX2IAVcBJkbsL7sK1y8c64IWV9BdTQQ/s1652/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%202.05.04%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="908" data-original-width="1652" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiVTTHag1ShCE3rC3u7lS9Tw3ZkNH-r_rEp3BiXA2l0dJsJeFtN-PuKHyHgNC51TT1ch_M88khfBw2ch_A1RpICYqa22p7jeUbUw3KtNphyphenhyphenpeyBTG1q_BGynzjgJz_4Lyy8Jh4nRr5B1fJCPSr62TEphTLCh1-8AX2IAVcBJkbsL7sK1y8c64IWV9BdTQQ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-03-27%20at%202.05.04%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act where scientists William Sylvester and Robert Beatty are figuring out an enigmatic presence on the moon, the pair was grounded as polar opposite siblings in the mystery/thriller POSTMARK FOR DANGER...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which was originally titled PORTRAIT OF ALISON, a reworking of the classic film noir LAURA in which a cop falls for a dead woman from a painting who, it turns out, is very alive...</p><p><span></span></p>

british film noir, fifties, geoffrey keen, mystery, robert beatty, terry moore, william sylvester

ROBERT BEATTY WITH TERRY MOORE IN 'POSTMARK FOR DANGER'

Title: POSTMARK FOR DANGER Year: 1955 Rating: ** Twenty years before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, involving a first-act wher...