TV Episode: Daredevil: Into the Ring

Hello all and welcome back to the week. From the ABC Studios production team comes a different kind of hero. Streetwise, book smart and quite the fighter. Today we head to New York or more specifically Hell's Kitchen. Violence in the streets, drugs being pushed and humans trafficked in sex slaving. With the cops being bought off, people terrified to speak up and no Avengers coming to save the day, the folks of Hell's Kitchen pray for an angel... or perhaps a devil they know. This is Daredevil: Into the Ring.

Batman? I could take him.

With the partnership that is Nelson & Murdock, our young lawyers Franklin "Foggy" Nelson (Elden Henson of Cast Away, Manic, Cheats, Under the Tuscan Sun, Lords of Dogtown, Deja Vu and Smith) and his partner blind man Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox of Stardust, Stone of Destiny, Glorious 39, Boardwalk Empire and Hello Carter) have just secured their practice in Hell's Kitchen, hanging their shingle out and ready to defend those in need. No sooner have they set up a few desks, a friend on the police force, Sgt. Mahoney (No, not Steve Guttenberg but Royce Johnson of Life on Mars, Law & Order, Conspiracy X, A Magic Helmet and The Following) calls the fellas explaining a young lady is being held in custody due to being found with a dead man covered in the man's blood, found with the murder weapon and scared out of her mind.

Vampire Jessica! SHAME ON YOU!!!

Matt and Foggy are on the scene and ask the very confused and frightened Karen Page (Deborah Ann Woll of Aces 'N' Eights, True Blood, Mother's Day, Seven Days in Utopia, Catch .44 and The Automatic Hate) details to the case. Genuinely scared she starts explaining how she didn't kill the man. Matt believes her and he and Foggy are going to do everything their power to get her out as she hasn't even been charged for what clearly looks like an open and shut case. As she later tells Matt that she is a whistle blower on the odds and ends of Union Allied when she finds discrepancies in the books that screams a pension embezzling.

Nelson & Murdock point out to the detectives in charge there is too many holes in the case, coupled with an attempt on her life while in their care, Karen needs be released ASAP. Karen still terrified to be in her apartment opts to stay with Matt for a few days. Matt drifts off to sleep as Karen leaves to go back to her apartment in search of her copy of the records on Union Allied. An assassin is posted at her apartment to end her, take the records and clean this mess up. Unbeknownst to the assassin, a black garbed man with a mask is there to beat the crap out of him and save the girl. With the files in hand, the information is leaked to the press and whomever was keeping this underwraps has a scandal on their hands. Is Karen safe? Is there more to this that just a money making scheme? Who pulled the strings to frame Karen?

A few points of interest now. We are introduced to a re-occuring character from the comic, such as petty crook Turk Barrett, one of Daredevil's unwilling informant. Michael C. Hall of Six Feet Under and Dexter expressed interest in playing Daredevil. The real estate agent pitching the building to Matt and Foggy points out that they are lucky this spot in Hell's Kitchen is even around after the events that last summer commenting on the Battle of New York in the Avengers. Nice link up there.

You know I can't see you flipping me off, right?

Hitchcock Week: The 39 Steps

Hitchcock Week is moving in stride and we will tackle another forgotten gem.  A story of espionage, murder, conspiracy and in general a thrilling concept to the likes we have not seen in cinema because the formula was lost.   Of course that could also just be my bitter theory regarding modern spy thrillers. So grab that bucket of popcorn with the real imitation buttery flavor, over ice your coke and avoid the row with the necking teenagers.   This is The 39 Steps.

 

Great Title Card, right?

There are 20 million spoilers in this island and I get to be chained to you.

At the London Music Hall Theatre, Richard Hannay (Robert Donat of Over Night, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Ghost Goes West, The Citadel, The Young Mr. Pitt, Vacation from Marriage and The Magic Box) witnesses a demonstration of the recall of stage act “Mr. Memory” (Wylie Watson of Leave It to Me, Radio Lover, Queer Cargo, Pack Up Your Troubles, Danny Boy The Saint Meets the Tiger and The Sundowners) a man with an Eidetic memory explaining something in detail when gunfire erupts from the crowd causing a mass panic in the building.  Hannay finds himself pressed against a frightened girl named Annabella Smith (Lucie Mannheim of Danton, Madame Wants No Children, The Bear, Yellow Canary, The Mistress, The Paris Express, Ich und Du and You Can No Longer Remain Silent) who talks him into taking her back to his apartment.  Fast mover is gal, eh?  

And now, a speech from the Minister of Silly Walks.

There the only revealing is that she is a spy being pursued by assassins and she has uncovered a plot to steal British Intelligence secrets, conducted by a man miss the top joint of one of his fingers.   She speaks of the “39 steps” but clearly she doesn’t go into giving the meaning behind it.  That evening Annabella bursts through Hannay’s bedroom with a knife in the back telling him to escape while he still can.  Clutched in her hand is a map of Scotland with a town circled.   Fleeing his apartment disguised as a milkman Hannay makes his way to the train yard for Scotland as a manhunt has been issued for him.   Can Hannay clear his name; circumvent this league of assassins and save the day?

I just have a quick couple of comments to be made about this film.  Filmed in glorious Black and White via 35 mm Spherical, Lime Grove Studios gets another visit for most of the interior shots but surprisingly enough several of the Scottish village shots were done in Edinburgh and Glen Coe but most of the exterior of the village itself was conducted at Welwyn Studios,Welwyn  Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.  This studio was known for some of the earliest works of both Boris Karloff and Bela Legosi.  This same studio shot Richard Attenborough’s tenth major motion picture Brighton Rock.

Ahh, the healing power of booze.

The film is compelling, clever, witty, dark and downright confusing.  Make no mistake folks, if you need to have a bathroom break hit pause.   To miss a scene means you are out of the loop of this impressive body of work.

Hitchcock Week: The Man That Knew Too Much

Back again Hitchcock fans and I apologize for the delay but family emergency has been met and things are scoping very nicely.  I felt this next film is a bit of a lost gem.  A diamond in the rough as it were; many of you no doubt are familiar with its 1956 remake; I felt we should explore the original and see it for what it was.  So grab your seats, enjoy your beverage and movie snacks.   This is The Man Who Knew Too Little.

 

Now dear, we're English, so no emotions.

You know, to a man with a heart as soft as mine, there’s nothing sweeter than a touching spoiler.

Take everything that you know of the remake with Doris Day and James Stewart and toss it right out the window because other than the title, the original’s tone, setting and plot details are vastly different.

Bob Lawrence (Leslie Banks of The Most Dangerous Game, The Fire Raisers, Red Ensign, Wings of the Morning, Cyrano de Bergerac and Henry V) and his lovely wife Jill (Edna Best of Tilly of Bloomsbury, The Calendar, South Riding and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir) are an English couple on vacation in Switzerland with their daughter Betty.  Jill is partaking in a clay pigeon shooting contest when they are befriended by a Frenchman Louis Bernard (Pierre Fresnay of Marius, Fanny, Street of Shadows Le Duel,  Justice is Done and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) who happens to be staying at the same hotel as they.  Louis and Jill are dancing and Jill sees Louis assassinated before her eyes.  Before passing on he gives them both some imperative information to be delivered to the British Consul.    

The diabolical dwarf and dunderhead.

However before the Lawrences can deliver these documents the lead assassin Abbott (Peter Lorre of M, High and Low, Mad Love, Crime and Punishment, Secret Agent, The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca) kidnaps the couples’ daughter to ensure their silence.  Unable to go to the police, they return to England and run down leads only to discover the assassins have a head of state to liquidate during a concert.   Now how many of your parents would try to thwart an assassination and come looking for you?   Let’s face it; some of our parents have left us at the store by accident.  

Moving right along I have a few tidbits about the film.    Studio locations were the order for filming in the Alps could get pricey so Switzerland was actually Lime Studios of Lime Grove, Shepard’s Bush, London, England, UK.   A studio made famous as the building blocks of Hitchcock’s first major motion pictures as well as the studio for the comedy Steptoe and Son and Doctor Who.  The scenes of the assassination attempt in Royal Albert Hall were most definitely the Real McCoy. 

I say, old boy it is a trifle nippy out.

While the plot lines are very similar in both versions, I felt Lorre’s performance compared to Daniel Gelin’s was more disturbing and sinister overall.  His idle comments had great undertone coming from a man that had no qualms about killing a young girl and that just sent chills up and down my spine.   I believed Lorre would follow through with his implied threats more so than Gelin’s version.   Both films are equally enjoyable but I must say I do fancy the original.

Film Noir Week : The Maltese Falcon

Well hello there boys and girls and welcome to Day 5 of Film Noir Week and of course we go out with a bang.   Very few are aware of the predecessor in 1931 starring Bebe Daniels and Ricardo Cortez but I am certain several know the 1941 classic starring Humphrey Bogart, Sydney Greenstreet, Mary Astor and Peter Lorre.   So roll me a snipe, keep watch out dat window and have the rod at the ready.   This is The Maltese Falcon.

By gads sir, you are a spade and I am calling it such.

Spoilers take slaps and like it!

Private Eyes Spade and Archer have a corner office in an otherwise respectable neighborhood in an unrespectable business. Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart of A Devil with Women, Big City Blues, The Petrifed Forest, To Have and Have Not and The Big Sleep) takes a meeting with a babe in the woods, Miss Wanderly (Mary Astor of No Time to Marry, Midnight, Listen Darling, Meet Me in St. Louis and Desert Fury) worried over her missing sister with a bum name of Thrusby, pointing out that he is a dangerous man and not to be trifled with but our boys assure her all the way they can handle it.  

*looks at Archer* NOT IT!

Spade gets a call at night to come to a crime scene.  He patters down only to find his partner at the bottom of a hill with one slug in him.  Next thing he knows is the cops are grilling him for info.  What was his partner after; who did he work for and so on.  Detective Tom Polhaus (Ward Bond of Night Key, Topper, Dead End, 3 Godfathers, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Searchers and Wagon Train) takes a softball approach with Spade and offer an olive branch rather than his hardnosed and hard headed Lieutenant’s approach of hoist him in for questioning and sweat him under a lamp, possibly plant a weapon on him with a bottle of rye. 

 Spade is back trailing Miss Wanderly who shock and gasp turns out to be Miss O’ Shaughnessy and she fields more than a few questions on what she is chasing and what has scared he like a rabbit in a hole.   Three other such criminals are also after said item, a black bird statue.  Thrusby once worked with Shaughnessy but he decided to cut her out of the action and strike out on her own.  While Sam is back in the office a gentleman name of Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre of M, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Casablanca, My Favorite Brunette and Quicksand) first holds him at gunpoint and attempts to search his office, Sam chuckles and makes short work of the little triggerman. 

Colt .45 gets 'em every time.

All this cloak and dagger leads back to a larger gentleman name of Gutman (Sydney Greentstreet of They Died with Their Boots On, In This Our Life, Casablanca, Background to Danger and Passage to Marseille) who has spent 17 years tracking the black bird from royalty to privateer to private collector.  The bird is said to be a gift to King Charles the 5^th of Spain, and the bird has enamel over it to conceal riches that is embedded within.   The chase is on and who will get the bird and who will be holding the bag?

Film Noir Week: Kiss Me Deadly

 Howdy folks and welcome back to Day 3 of Film Noir Week and we have us a gritty dark detective novel turned film by director Robert Aldrich (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte, The Flight of the Phoenix, The Dirty Dozen and The Longest Yard).  So keep your head down, lay low or face the music. This is Kiss Me Deadly.

Stop farting or I am pulling over and letting you out.

 Kiss Me, Spoiler. I want you to kiss me. Kiss me. The liar’s kiss that says I love you, and means something else.

The 1955 film noir drama produced and directed starring Ralph Meeker. The screenplay was written by A.I. Bezzerides (On Dangerous Grounds, Thieves’ Highway, The Big Valley, The Greatest Mother of Them All and The Big Valley) based on the Mickey Spillane Mike Hammer mystery novel Kiss Me, Deadly.  Kiss Me Deadly is often considered a classic of the noir genre. Ralph Meeker (Wanted: Dead or Alive, Dillinger, Not for Hire, Something Wild, Wall of Noise and The Dirty Dozen)plays Mike Hammer, a tough Los Angeles private eye who is almost as brutal and corrupt as the crooks he chases. Mike, and his assistant/secretary/lover, Velda (Maxine Cooper of Zero Hour!, Perry Mason, Philip Marlowe, Stagecoach West and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) usually work on "penny-ante divorce cases", lock into a realm a juicy murder and the clock is ticking. 

Girl in a trench coat?  Is it my birthday?

One evening on a lonely country road, Hammer gives a ride to Christina (Cloris Leachman of the Man on the Moon, Gunsmoke, Target: The Corruptors, Wagon Train, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Last Picture Show, Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, Dillinger, Young Frankenstein, Crazy Mama and Lake Placid 2), an attractive hitchhiker wearing nothing but a trench coat. She has escaped from a nearby mental institution. Thugs waylay them and Hammer awakens in some unknown location where he hears Christina screaming and being tortured to death. The thugs then push Hammer's car off a cliff with Christina's body and an unconscious Hammer inside. Hammer next awakens in a hospital with Velda by his bedside. He decides to pursue the case, both for vengeance and because, "She (Being Christina previously mentioned) must be connected with something big" behind it all. 

I washed your damn window now gimme some change!

The twisting plot takes Hammer to the apartment of Lily Carver (Gaby Rodgers of Suspense, Tales of Tomorrow, The Big Break and The United States Steel Hour), a sexy, waifish blond who is posing as Christina's ex-room mate. Lily tells Hammer she has gone into hiding and asks Hammer to protect her. It turns out that she is after a mysterious box that, she believes, has contents worth a fortune. 

A quick few notions and observations about the film now and yes you have come to expect that.   Operating a standard 35 mm Spherical, some wonderful night time shots that does NOT incorporate day for night shots and thank God for that.  The lighting gives off tons of shadows for the unknown to lurk and the composure by Frank De Vol (Attack, The Dirty Dozen, Family Affair, My Three Sons and The Brady Brunch) gives such presence to the film’s overall feel.

Film Noir Week: Out of the Past

Back again boys and girls and welcome to Day 2 of Film Noir Week.  As it is known to be a grim, bleak and disturbing setting with these films, the stories have a tendency to go that extra mile and impress us all with dastardly villains, femme fatales and stout heroes…but let’s be honest; a lot of you are there for the fights, gunfights and twist endings.  I can relate.   So how about we take a peek at this fine Jacques Torneur film.   This is Out of the Past.

Stop falling in love with me, baby.

How big a spoiler can you get to be? I was finding out.

What is a man made up of? Is it his humble beginnings or is it possibly the chance to start all over again?   This is the story of Jeff Bailey a.k.a. Jeff Markham (Robert Mitchum of Crossfire, Blood on the Moon, El Dorado, Man with the Gun, The Yakuza and The Big Sleep) operating out of a shabby little garage in Bridgeport California and dating a swell gal named Ann (Virginia Huston of Nocturne, Sudden Fear, Tarzan’s Peril and Knock on Wood) when a big muscled goon name of Joe Stephanos tells Jeff him a fella name of Whit Sterling demands to see him.  Jeff agrees reluctantly.  That night Jeff picks up Ann and the two just drive off to Jeff’s meeting and the story gets narrated by Mitchum as we are treated to the rest of the movie in the form of a flashback.   Relax Highlander fans, flashbacks can be your friend too.  

Mustn't fart in front of Douglas..Hold it.

Jeff pins our ears back a spell and gives us the low down about him being a gumshoe with a partner named Fisher (Steve Brodie of The Wild World of Batwoman, Bonanaza, Lassie, Gunsmoke and The Giant Spider Invasion) working for a man named Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas of A Letter to Three Wives, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Spartacus, 2000 Leagues Under the Sea and the Vikings).  What’s the problem you might ask?  A dame with enough beauty to make a preacher kick in a stained glass window, a woman with more slink than a cat; in short his mistress Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer of Dick Tracy, Sunset Pass, Station West, You for Me and The Prisoner of Zenda).  Sterling spins us a yarn about the tomato pulled a roscoe, pumped two bits of lead in him and off with more than 40 large.   This fella says bygones is bygones and just wants her back in his life.  Not Jacks’ cross to bear but a gig is a gig they say.

I have just a few comments and observations about the film at this time.  This story is very tongue in cheek, snappy patter and Mitchum just revels in being a tough guy and yet you can believe what happens to him was inevitable.  Jane Greer’s performance just gets under your skin to one point you could see her talking you into a mass murder spree, convincing you it was your idea in the first place.

Mmm, the Surgeon General never warned me about her.

Back with 35mm Spherical giving a wide scope on the film’s view at a nice, steady pace of 97 minutes this film will keep surprising you.   Based on the novel Build My Gallows High by San Fransico newspaper man Daniel Mainwaring a.k.a. Geoffrey Holmes, this book was adapted by a few name alterations and punching up the third act to follow the spice and danger the book laid out.   Thrills, chills and spills with this one and Mitchum has some damn good lines that will sizzle the ladies’ socks.

150th Post! Film Noir Week: The Woman in the Window

Alrighty kids welcome to the Film Noir Week and let’s kick this shindig off with some Fritz Lang (Metropolis, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse, M and Fury) and we will see the genius envelope you and the phenomenal standing that is this movie.  So wipe down those prints, ditch the murder weapon and try to blot up that blood pool.  This is The Woman in the Window.

An indecent proposal?  Well...okay.

The streets were dark with something more than spoilers

This film tells the sad tale of a middle aged professor of psychology Richard Wanley (Edward G. Robinson of Double Indemnity, The Stranger, Key Largo and The Ten Commandments)  and friends ogle a portrait of a lovely woman in the window next to the fellas’ gentlemen’s club .  By happenstance Wanley bumps into the lovely Alice Reed and becomes enamored with the young model/femme fatale. After a get together with Alice Reed (Joan Bennett of Scarlett Street, Man Hunt, Girl Trouble, Nob Hill and Dark Shadows) to check out her etchings (wink wink) but feels it is a bit off being a married man, nevertheless he follows her up to said apartment.  As he and Alice relax, her boyfriend misconstrues Wanley’s intent and instigates a donnybrook.  Reed accidently stabs him and the professor’s life goes topsy-turvy after killing Alice’s insanely jealous sugar daddy, know as Frank Howard (Arthur Loft of Teddy the Rough Rider, Charlie Chan in the Secret Service, Scarlet Street, Blondie Knows Best and Lone Star Moonlight)  slowly quickly sinks into a quagmire of blackmail and murder Wanley is terrified for his career and life,    he is flailing around in a world he has lectured against he feels there is no one to turn to that would believe him anyway.

Alright! I will move from your chair!

Inspector Jackson (Thomas E. Jackson of Manhattan Melodrama, Little Caesar, The Big Sleep, Meet Me at the Fair and Crime Wave) attached to Homicide is hot on the case as Wanley is sweating bullets, trying to stay on top of the case all the while attempting to remain calm and collective.  Alice tries to meet with Wanley and tells him that blackmail is on the rise and he needs to help her raise the money to keep the blackmailer at bay.    Yeah that trick always works.

Just a few points of the film I would like to observe.  The film is based on the novel One Off Guard by J.H. Wallis, screenplay was adapted by accomplished screenwriter Nunnally Johnson (The Grapes of the Wrath, How to Marry a Millionare, The Three Faces of Eve and The Dirty Dozen) was able to form International Pictures, his own independent production company into a radio play adaption reprising the roles for all actors.  

So Professor, how does one conceal a body well?

35mm Spherical Panavision and the lighting and soundtrack speak such volumes for this movie.  The tone is dark and bleak with no sign of a safety net in sight.   This is a roller coaster of a film. Robinson’s performance is incredibly believable and Bennett is a desperate beauty whose portrayal is so convincing you truly feel for both of them and you are just on pins and needles as this story unfolds.  This mystery is absolutely spellbinding and I highly recommend this film for everyone that enjoys this genre.

Film Noir Week

Alright you cat and kittens, perk yer ears to the sky or I am liberal to write youse a message with my Chicago typewriter, see?

Line please.

We will be taking in the sights of some of the most impressive pieces of Film Noir and so long no one's got a beef about it we'll have a ball.  Film Noir is described as a dark and bleak look on American crimes and detective films.  The gig is like so; a backdrop of mistrust, paranoia and loss of innocence.  Primarily these film were created during WWII to show the exploits of underworld figures taking advantage of the cops being skeleton crews whilst they dabbled in their future enterprising endeavors.  Bootlegging, racketeering and protection scams was not uncommon.

 The hard boiled detective was a popular theme as was either a cop that bent the rules to win the day or a private dick that had no problem about handling things his own way.  The Femme Fatale was popular in this genre as she was commonly a woman of striking beauty and a corrupt mind willing to put some hapless dope into harm's way to get her own end.  Lazy or rotten politicians would find policemen of their same ilk and keep investigations quick and easy without ruffling feathers.

So let's clip this clam bake into high gear already.

Why I ougtta..

Western Week: Rio Bravo

Hey all!  We as we end Western Week I thought we’d finish on a Howard Hawks Film of notoriety.  What do you get when you put two singing legends alongside the Duke in a heaping round of gunfights and fist fights and toss in some eye candy by the name Angie Dickinson?   Well pardners, grab your six guns, check your ammo and board up those windows.  This is Rio Bravo.

Why yes it is only a one horse town.

Dagnab Spoilers!!

Small town sheriff John T. Chance (John Wayne of Red River, 3 Godfathers, Rio Grande, The Sea Chase, The Searchers, El Dorado, Chisum, Rio Lobo and Big Jake) arrests a gutless well connected man Joe Burdette (Claude Akins of Gunsmoke, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Movin’ On, Kiss Me, Kill Me, B.J. and the Bear, The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo and Murder, She Wrote) prepares to take him to stand trial to the Presidio for murder. His brother Nathan (John Russell of Soldiers of Fortune, Lawman, It Takes a Thief, Alias Smith and Jones, and Pale Rider) will not abide by that decision and shells out plenty of dinero to buy himself a helluva posse to bottleneck the town so Chance can’t take Joe to trial.  His steadfast backup deputies consist of a crippled old grump named Stumpy (Walter Brennan of To Have and Have Not, How the West Was Won, The Real McCoys, The Tycoon, The Guns of Will Sonnett and To Rome with Love) an washed up drunk named Dude (Dean Martin of That’s My Boy, Road to Bali, The Caddy, Living It Up, Some Came Running, The Silencers, 5 Card Stud and Airport).  A well meaning citizen, Wheeler offers his gun hand but Chance can’t accept because he knows his friend has never known the life.   A slick kid with a pretty boy face and twin six shooters name of Colorado (Ricky Nelson of Here Come the Nelsons, Love and Kisses, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet, The Over-the-Hill Gang and The Streets of San Francisco) seem to need not prove himself to Chance and Chance respects that. 

That hippie went this away. git 'em!

That evening at The Robantes’ Saloon, they register a complaint (No it was not a Norwegian Blue) about some card sharks at the gambling table.   A dishy redhead name of Feathers (Angie Dickinson of I Married a Woman, Cry Terror!, Big Bad Mama, Police Woman, Dressed to Kill, Death Hunt, Cassie & Co., Wild Palms and Sabrina) has less than standing in Lady Luck’s circle as her husband is a known card hustler.  She claims innocence and tells Chance to toss her room if he still thinks she is a cheat.  Colorado steps in pointing out that it may be a different rascal after all.  Chance aided of Colorado’s keen eye spots the swindler and has him locked in his room.   Wheeler gets gunned down in the back and Colorado offers his support.     Chance and Dude manage to get the back shooter but the week isn't over yet.

Nathan claims to visit his brother the next day and Chance points out how he and his men to need to disappear or there could be an accident to befell Joe.     Colorado clearly with not enough sense throws in with Chance and his lot as the odds is stacked pretty high against them.  

Dammit, what is my line?

And now comes the part of my need to make a few observations of our movie.   Most of the film was in location of Old Tucson in Tucson Arizona as well as Stage 5 and 26 in Burbank California.  This film had such an impact on writer/director/editor/composer John Carpenter he said the whole basis of this movie is the reason he created Assault on Precinct 13.   What I have always found fascinating about Howard Hawks movies is the staging.  His characters are always in unusual and interesting places where they are constantly moving throughout streets or the collection of buildings.  Bit like it is a performance art piece.  Not necessarily with dialogue spoken but there is always an array of expressions and emotions on their faces as it seems they are mentally preparing themselves for the day ahead.  This is another film were I would recommend to film students to get some blocking technique down.

Heh one last note, John Wayne just hums along with Ricky and Dean as they clearly can carry a tune in a bucket but hey we can’t have every talent now, can we?

70's TV Week: Vega$

What’s shakin’ babies?  Day 2 of 1970’s TV shows and I thought we need to examine the private investigator standing.  The place is Sin City itself and the adventures, hijinks and cases of damsels in distress.  Maybe a femme fatale or maybe a conspiracy but above all else, there will be leisure suits.  So grab a martini, turn on that hi-fi and kick back.  This is Vega$.

That cat can croon!

Spoilers can be a drag, man…

The year is 1978 in Las Vegas Nevada.  One would think that being a shamus in this town would be moot point given how secrets have a tendency to get out on its own but like any town husbands and wives are suspect of cheating on each other, water’s wet and the sky is blue.  An age of debauchery, devil may care attitude could put you in quite the pickle so at 200 buckaroos a day P.I. Dan Tanna (Robert Urich of Magnum Force, S.W.A.T., Soap, Tabitha, Spencer for Hire and Lonesome Dove) is on the case.  Hell or high water, possibly a dishy dame or two might distract him but his assistant Binzer (Bart Braverman of 20 Million Miles to Earth, Alligator, Hit and Run, The New Odd Couple and Mowgli: The New Adventures of the Jungle Book) tries to help Tanna on the straight and narrow in the town full of gray areas.  

Of course I am too cool for letterbox. Why?

His mentor and reoccurring client Phillip “Slick” Roth (Tony Curtis of Some Like It Hot, The Sweet Smell of Success, The Defiant Ones, The Great Race, The Rat Race, Spartacus and Sex and the Single Girl) is the answer to Howard Hughes but less paranoia but dear God this man is too wealthy.  He flew a helicopter from one of his casinos over to the other.     Mind you Tanna has his eyes ever faithful to his lady friend Angie Turner (Judy Landers of Charlie’s Angels, B.J. and the Bear, Madame’s Place, The Love Boat and Stewardess School) a buxom blond that would turn a priest away from his vows.

 Now to keep in mind younger readers, you will be seeing buildings that Vegas ultimately decided to DESTROY!!!  That is I mean they felt this casinos were no longer of any use so if by chance you seen Dunes and are baffled well look to the leisure suits and disco belts and you will realize this is a timeline different from yours.   No you have not entered another dimension, you’re fine.   Writer/ Director/Producer Michael Mann (Starsky and Hutch, Crime Story, Miami Vice, Manhunter, and L.A. Takedown) cut his teeth under this project and started to develop his style of lighting, love of composure with dialogue and cut scenes.  With this project, the Miami Vice elements via episode blended so well that it translated to big film experiences such as: (Thief, Manhunter, Heat and Collateral).  

Who loves ya Tony?

 This has what you came to expect from a TV detective show; run ins with the cops,  fist fights via boxing, gunfights, car chases, car crashes, wooing the girl and getting bloody vindication sworn at him once a week.   Personally I would raise my rates to at least $500 a day but that’s just me.    Nice steady pace for a story arc to occur via the 1970’s as well.  I cannot help but agree.  Take your time and let the story envelop the audience.     Wisecracking, smart assed but built pretty boy with solid right hook, Dan Tanna does alright for himself but dear God do NOT let Binzer drive the T-bird man.   

Werewolf Week: The Beast Must Die

How do folks!  Say how do we pep up a tired notion like a werewolf story?  Given it is commonly based in creatures hunting a snarling beast only after multiple murders.  How about a nutty wealthy philanthropist hell bent to play a deadly game of Ten Little Indians…with a werewolf?   Grab a chair, prepare to be dazzled and amazed.  This is The Beast Must Die.

Spoilers lurking about!!!

BBC director Paul Annett (The Worker, Fraud Squad, Kate, Crown Court, New Scotland Yard and Little Lord Fauntleroy) tackles Michael Winder’s (Dixon of Dock Green, The Mask of Janus, Champion House, The Saint and The Ace of Wands) screenplay. Alternatively titled The Black Werewolf; this supernatural angle to Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians.  Seven people invited to spend time at the whim of one Tom Newcliffe, millionaire and game hunter (Calvin Lockhart of A Dandy in Aspic, Dark of the Sun, Salt and Pepper, Myra Breckinridge, Hung Up and The African Deal) and his wife Caroline (Marlene Clark of Ganja & Hess, Enter the Dragon, Black Mamba, Newman’s Law, Lord Shango and Switchblade Sisters) now feels after hearing tales of an existing werewolf roaming about his estateand through his own intuition feels it is clearly one of these people. 

Our group consists of diplomat Arthur Bennington (Charles Gray of You Only Live Twice, The Devil Rides Out, Diamonds Are Forever, The Upper Crusts, Dial M for Murder and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes), classic pianist Jan Jarmokowski (Michael Gambon of Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Borderers, Eyeless in Gaza, The Challengers, BBC Play of the Month, Gosford Park) and his lover Davina Gilmore (Ciaran Madden of Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood, Sense and Sensibility, Gawain and the Green Knight, A Spy at Evening, A Married Man and The Body in the Library), artist and former convict Paul Foote (Tom Chadbon of Tess, Casualty, Shooting Fish and Casino Royale)  Newcliffe’s assistant Pavel  (Anton Diffring of Circus of Horrors, The Blue Max, Fahrenheit 451 and Where Eagles Dare) and last but certainly not least archaeologist and lycanthropy enthusiast Professor Christopher Lundgren (Peter Cushing of Horror of Dracula, Island of Terror, Dr. Who and the Daleks,  Daleks’ Invasion Earth:2150 A.D., Sherlock Holmes, Star Wars, Shock Waves and Top Secret!).  The estate is wired with security cameras and a motion tracking system.  

An interesting bit about this film that they try to get the audience to guess with of the invited is in fact the werewolf at the being of the film and by a clip asking people in the audience if they could identify the werewolf.  Towards the in end is a 30 second Werewolf Break allowing the audience to sum up the evidence and come to conclusion?  That’s right, it is a who dunnit with fur.   A horror mystery with the attempt at audience interaction seems more appropriate if you could have midnight showings in a theater. So this would be a recommendation for a fun get together and see if anyone has the dosh to figure out the creature.

Carpenter Week: Halloween

Back again all with the continuation of Carpenter week and hey why not touch base on his greatest success rate for a flick that cost all of $320,000?  By helping redefine a scary movie in the slasher genre prior to the success of Friday the 13^th, its predecessor brought terror, mystery and horror to the small town of Haddenfield Illinois.  So grab your mask, get your hefty bag for candy and hey let’s stay out til midnight.  This is Halloween.

Spoilers have the blackest eyes…The Devil’s eyes.

With the horror genre of the 70’s, directors and writers went from the absurd to the brutal evil that resides in humanity.  With the draw of Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and follow up Eaten Alive, Bob Clark’s thriller Black Christmas and Lucio Fulci’s monstrous Don’t Torture a Duckling this time line started to reshape Horror as we knew it and made the monsters a bit closer to human with still a primal driving force to kill victims and destroy lives as they knew only how.   John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 gave him the credibility that he needed to start on his filmography that he decided we let’s create a ghost story and flesh it out on the big screen with the working title The Babysitter Murders.  When executive producer Moustapha Akkad hears this title he cautions Carpenter that we don’t want the MPAA (Motion Pictures Association of America) losing their minds over such a title due to how much flack Tobe Hooper received and maybe it was better low key.  With the amount of money and time constraints already there Carpenter decided let’s get this done and over with unaware of the impact this film would have on generations to come.

Our story is about a young man raised in an asylum by the name of Michael Myers (Tony Moran of James at 16, The Waltons, California Fever and The Lucky Break) who after brutally murdering his older sister with a butcher knife, looms in the ward waiting. For 15 years he has remained silent and almost inert that the staff of said hospital doesn’t view him as a threat let alone a risk.  His doctor, Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence of You Only Live Twice, The Great Escape, Dracula 1979, Escape from New York, Alone in the Dark and Prince of Darkness) has urged the head of the mental institution that Michael is not to be taken lightly, is scoffed at and mocked by his higher ups.   As a result, Myers escapes from the institute grounds, steals a car and peels out.    Myers returns to his hometown and proceeds to wreak bloody havoc on the night of Halloween.  That’s right, kids the boogeyman is on your streets.

Good girl Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis of Prom Night, The Fog, Terror Train, Halloween II, Trading Spaces, A Fish Called Wanda and True Lies) is relegated to babysitting on Halloween night while most of her friends are out partying, engaging in hijinks and of course pre-marital sex.    Watching not only her charge Tommy Doyle but her friend Annie’s (Nancy Kyes of Assault on Precinct 13, The Sea Gypsies, The Fog, Halloween II and Halloween III: Season of the Witch) little sister Lindsey so she can have some alone time with her man.  Dr. Loomis desperately trying to get the Sheriff to see the terror that has been unleashed on his town must stop Michael at any cost, even his own life.   A horror classic to be sure and of course one that gets rented over and over for the holiday.  Heck Zombie’s version while with a different spin really tried to make it the homage this film deserved.  

Last tidbit is the mask for Myers is a William Shatner mask from Star Trek: The Motion Picture spray painted white.   Yes, Shatner is the face of evil. Dun dun dun!