DC Showcase: The Spectre

 

Hidey-ho, Readers of the Rotten! Sorry but I had to change up that intro, otherwise it gets rather dull. Today, I wanted to look at some of DC Comics animated showcase. What I thought was going to be a fairly longer and more played out story line turned out to be a short. That will not detract my want to write this but it won't be all that detailed aside from my knowledge of the existing character. This is The Spectre.

The Dreaded Emo!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not to be confused with the alternative title to the 1963 Riccardo Freda's The Ghost ( A common misconception, I know.), the short film in question can be found on the 2010 release for Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. An early morning in the hills of Los Angeles, a movie mogul name of Foster Brenner (Jeff Bennet of Johnny Bravo, Star Wars: Jedi Knight- Jedi Academy, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, Striperella, The Powerpuff Girls, Dave the Barbarian, Duck Dodgers, The Batman, Saul of the Mole Men, and Justice League: The New Frontier) lands a blockbuster and decides to take an 9 a.m.dip in the pool, only to have an explosion and shock-wave send him into the hereafter. Well at least his last flick wasn't something like Ishtar or Gigli.

Told you that Michael Bay kid had moxy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Police are notified by the butler (also voiced by Jeff Bennet) and homicide and probably the bomb squad's expertise is on the scene, along with veteran detective, Jim Corrigan (Gary Cole of Office Space, Crusade, Vamp U, The Penguins of Madagascar, An Officer and a Murderer, 30 Rock, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Archer, The Good Wife, Justice League Action, and F Is for Family) who is friends with the family, decided to survey the blast site and offer condolences to Aimee, (Alyssia Milano of Who's The Boss, Commando, Fear, Embrace of the Vampire, Deadly Sins, Charmed, My Name Is Earl, Hall Pass, Romantically Challenged, Tempting Fate and Insatiable)vowing to right this tragic wrong.

Things and people aren't always what they seem to be in this crazy town and...okay I have to tone this down or it's going to sound like a knock off of Mickey Spillane or Raymond Chandler. Sorry about that. Our detective is no slouch in the powers of observation, primarily around the wages of sin.   You see, Corrigan has a little secret he has kept quiet for some time.  He's been dead for quite a few years.   I know the whole inert investigator, the ghost gumshoe sounds awkward at best but he has been chosen by a higher power to redeem his soul.  This is the portion of the review of a bit of exposition dump.  I normally don't do such a thing buuuut, our short is 13 minutes long so we need a little background.

Oh yeah? What about the rights of that little girl?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jim Corrigan was LAPD detective 2^nd class before mobsters dropped him in an oil drum filled with cement and into the bay to sink. Given he was a hard nosed cop, he may have beaten a confession out of a few suspects in the day or threaten their rights so he is a soul that should head to redemption. His soul is linked to an ancient power. The Wrath of God known as The Spectre. (Not KHAAAAAAAN!!) He can be a physical person when he wants to and he can go ghost if needs be. Manifests over objects, warps reality and can do serious damage to the living and the physical plane. Hell, in the comics he ate the souls of the damned and sent them to judgement. Technically he has been with the department since 1932 when he got gacked but hey, who's really in charge of record keeping, right?

The police captain (Voiced by the late great character actor Jon Polito of C.H.U.D., Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Highlander, Crime Story, The Equalizer, Barton Fink, The Rocketeer, Homicide: Life on the Street, Lands of Lore III, and The Tailor of Panama) is looking to bust Corrigan's chops for stepping into an investigation that isn't his, nor can it really be due to his personal involvement. The captain wants Corrigan to look into the sudden death of one of the suspects into the Brenner murder. Yup so go investigate the murder of one of the potential murderers of your family friend. Um, isn't that still a no-no due to personal involvement of the victim's potential victim?

Jim starts nosing around in these suspects' lives to come up with the clues needed to close his case and God's will. Unlike anyone else kicking this dirt clod of a planet, Jim is focused, capable and not easily distracted by Life's pursuits or fancies. That helps keep a sharp mind and well you can't very well bribe, cajole or distract with jiggly girls to a guy that pushed off the mortal coil.

Overall, while brief this short is got that gritty L.A. Noir vibe of the dogged detective, maybe a femme fatale and more than a few homicides. The music score sounds like something out of Dirty Harry or The French Connection.  While I wish it was a longer story, it had a great vo cast, gorgeous music score and the animation was top notch. Yes I would love a Spectre series Live Action or animated but so far, that is not in the works. C'mon DC! The fans would love it.

Additional; holy crap Gary Cole did awesome voice work! Keep tossing him in front of the mic!

 

Stop crowding and just go around me!!

 

Erratic Viewings: Last Man Standing

So you know I am going a bit fanciful notion to keep it loose and easier for me to write. With this wayward view on writing you get to pick and choose a bit more leisure. Howzabout a story of a gunslinger caught in the middle of two warring mobs and deciding who to work for. This is Last Man Standing.

More Colt 45 than Billy Dee Williams!

Stuck in Prohibition a lone man, "John Smith" (Bruce Willis of Moonlighting, Die Hard, Hudson Hawk, The Last Boy Scout, Striking Distance, The Jackal, Mercury Rising, The Whole Nine Yards and The Expendables) walks in to the ghost town of Jericho Texas. The Irish and the Italians are blasting each other for a piece of the action after scaring of decent people. Gotham of the Old West. The Irish want Smith as their new gunsel offering him dough to fight for them. The paddy in charge, Doyle (David Patrick Kelly of The Warriors, 48 Hrs., Dreamscape, Commando, Cheat Shots, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Twin Peaks and Malcolm X) and his enforcer Hickey (Christopher Walken of The Deer Hunter, Heaven's Gate, The Dogs of War, A View to a Kill, King of New York, True Romance, The Prophecy, Nick of Time and The Country Bears) don't see eye to eye about Smith and he leaves it open ended.

Why must I play the eye candy?  Grr.

The Italians led by Fredo Strozzi (Ned Eisnberg of Deadly Force, Hiding Out, Miami Vice, Air America, The Fanelli Boys, Star Struck, Head of State and Million Dollar Baby) tosses Smith an offer and the promise of position of power. Smith lets some info between the gangs for extra scratch remaining neutral. Our ghost town has three whole jobs left, the sheriff, bartender and undertaker. Imagine Raymond Chandler meets John Sturges giving a hybrid of the gritty Old West and the roaring 1920s.

WHAT CRAZY EYE!?!

This film brings suspense and action hand-in-hand and it dawns on me why. Our director is Walter Hill (The Warriors, The Long Riders, 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire, Brewster's Millions, Crossroads, Extreme Prejudice, Red Heat, Another 48 Hrs. And Wild Bill) and this feels like a Peckinpah flick similar with The Wild Bunch or The Getaway, giving elements of suspense, character development, story arc and a fair degree of movie unfolds. With Willis' stoic line delivery, the patented Eastwood squint and the feeling of pure apathy in contrast to Walken's scenery chewing, this flick is pretty damn impressive but it does fall a bit short to be a classic. The pseudo love interest Felina (Karina Lombard of Legends of the Fall, Kull the Conqueror, Deception, The 4400, Secrets, The L Word and Rescue Me) gets pawned off to Smith and there's a bit of chemistry but honestly Hill really just used her for eye candy. A disappointment given the lady can act but it happens.

People of all ages, creed, shape and size will reference A Fistful of Dollars calling this a remake but if you really do your homework, this is a remake of Yojimbo by writer/director Akira Kurosawa (Rashomon, The Idiot, Sword for Hire, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Saga of the Vagabonds, Fencing Master, Redbeardm Sanshiro Sugata and The Last Day of Hsianyang). You see Americans, Kurosawa is responsible for The Magnificent Seven, The Outrage and Stray Dog so you may have heard a few of these. Hell, Sword for Hire feels closer to A Few Dollars More than I previously knew. Hell with the level of blood flowing this could be Sergio Corbucci's Django but Willis' still not as cool as Franco Nero. No offense Bruno.

Blood's so thick in the streets, I need sponges.

Joan Crawford Week: Mildred Pierce

Good day and welcome to Day 3 of Joan Crawford Week. Today I thought we should get away from the MGM years as those were more or less supporting roles and dammit we are gonna let the diva shine. So how about we head over to Warner Brothers to show off the film based on the 1941 novel Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain. With this flick, Crawford won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this film noir about a suffering back breaking mother and her horrific ungrateful brat of a daughter. This is Mildred Pierce.

So whiskey with your whiskey or just the double whiskey?

With a tiny bit of voice-over narrative, via Joan our movie opens in police interrogation after they discover the body of Mildred's second husband Monte Beragon (Zachary Scott of The Mask of Dimitrios, The Southerner, The Young One, It's Only Money and The Rogues) who utters the name Mildred just before death. The cops have a strong suspicion that Mildred's first husband Bert Pierce (Bruce Bennett of Sahara, Dark Passage, The Treasure of Sierra Madre, Perry Mason, Lassie and The Clones) is their culprit, snag him and sweat him under the lamp until he sung like a canary. Shocked at Bert's barbarism she cannot fathom why a man so kind and gentle would ever even think of committing murder.

From there we flashback to simpler times. With selling of pies and cakes all the while tending to the house and the children, Bert feels less of a man being unemployed and comes to terms that Mildred has made the kids her main concern and not him. Boo frickin' hoo. Divorced, Mildred has custody of her two daughters Veda (Ann Blyth of Brute Force, The Great Caruso, The King's Thief, Kismet, Slander and The Helen Morgan Story) a snotty 16 year old social climbing and aspiring pianist with visions of a greater status quo and Kay (Jo Ann Marlowe of Yankee Doodle Dandy, Dangerous Intruder, Man from Rainbow Valley, A Scandal in Paris, Little Iodine and The Strange Woman) a bit of a tomboy playing in the dirt. Mildred's main goals is to win Veda's affection by lavishing this unruly brat with worldly good and attention of which Veda spurns every chance she gets, pointing out how common her mother is to be working at a restaurant as a lowly waitress... Anyone else want to drop the little princess out on her ass?? Bert picks up the kids for a weekend visit when little Kay get pneumonia and dies. I'm sure Bert didn't cause that to happen.

Jeez, father backed over the cat and just tore off.

Sicken with grief and guilt, Mildred throws herself into work where she and her supervisor Ida (Eve Arden of The Eve Arden Show, Anatony of a Murder, The Red Skelton Hour, The Mothers-In-Law and In Name Only) work to build a better restaurant into a chain of them for across the country, a deal to insure a fleet of Mildred's making their ways all over the freeways. Veda refuses to give an inch from her mother and mocks her precious gifts. Will Mildred and Veda ever become the mother and daughter Mildred deserves? Will Veda "accidentally" be shoved into an industrial wood chipper? Will Bert meet an Ernie?

A few points on this movie now.

Shirley Temple was originally considered for the part of Veda Pierce. Interestingly enough, Joan Crawford was a waitress and a saleswoman supporting herself before her chorus days let alone her acting days.

Author James M. Cain sent Joan a signed first edition of the original novel, inscribed read: To Joan Crawford, who brought Mildred Pierce to life just as I had always hoped she would be, and who has my lifelong gratitude. Not too shabby, eh?

Pipe down sweet cheeks, the menfolk are talking.

Director Week: Stanley Kubrick- The Killing

Good day and welcome to Day 1 of Director Week: Stanley Kubrick. I wanted to tap into some of his earliest works and this little film noir came my way. Our Director Stanley Kubrick (Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey) helmed our movie as it was his third full-length feature film about a robbery gone wrong. So let’s hold out in the flop house, clean and prep the Roscoes and try to keep a cool head. This is The Killing.

GIN!!   Dammit, we are playing Poker!!

Our movie’s leading role ain’t one of the good guys but a career criminal that is planning one last score before he and the missus settle down for the house with the white picket fence. Tough guy Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden of Flaming Feather, Hellgate, The Golden Hawk, The Star, So Big, Dr. Strangelove and 1900) is as vicious as they come but with a heart of gold. His doll baby Fay (Coleen Gray of Kiss of Death, Red River, Kansas City Confidential and Cry from the Mountain) is a gal with great stems and a can do attitude and Johnny would move the heavens just to give her a better view.

With a few choice teammates he assembled Johnny plans to rob a little over two million dollars from a racetrack during a high stakes race. With using a betting teller George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr. of The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, House on Haunted Hill, Blacula and Salem’s Lot: The Movie) giving the access to the back room, a crackshot sniper who is cold as they come, Nikki Arcane (Timothy Carey of Rio Conchos, Beach Blanket Bingo, Gunsmoke, A Time for Killing, Head and What’s the Matter with Helen?) a corrupt cop Randy (Ted de Corsia of The Lady from Shanghai, The Naked City, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Delta Factor), a wrestler Maurice (Pro Wrestler Kola Kwariani of The Killing) for crowd distraction. The deck is stacked and ready for game time.

Pour you a boob er um a glass??

One slight hitch is George blabs the plan to his annoyed wife Sherry (Marie Windsor of Force of Evil, The Narrow Margin, Swamp Diamonds, The Day Mars Invaded Earth, Bedtime Story and Salem’s Lot: The Movie) who schemes to get her gunsel boy toy Val Cannon (Vince Edwards of Ben Casey, The Victors, The Devil’s Brigade, The Return of Ben Casey and Son of Darkness: To Die For II) to rob the lot of them and do them in if they get out of line. The heist is set and everyone knows their part but George tells Johnny his wife knows everything and Johnny takes care of business with Sherry telling her to know her place and she and George are getting a big piece of the action as it is. Will the scheme go off without complications or will it blow up in their faces?

A handful of facts now. Our lead Sterling Hayden pocketed a cool 40 gees while Kubrick didn't get a dime. Jack Palance and Victor Mature were alsom considered for the part of Johnny Clay.

Kirk Douglas was so blown away by the film that he sought out Kubrick for Paths of Glory. Shot in 24 days, Kubrick was dissatisfied with the use of narrative in this fim because most of the information was either in error or just plain false. Day of Violence and and Bed of Fear were the working titles for this movie and frankly I think we can all agree that The Killing hits all the requirements for a title.

Mugsy the Clown goes on a shooting spree, slaying five!

Robert Evans Week: Chinatown

Howdy boys and girls and welcome back to Robert Evans Week.  This time around I thought we would go more into a neo film noir if you will.  A story of a private detective that gets in over his head, get muscled by some local talent, falls for the female client and in general get caught in a land grab scheme and did I mention a certain blonde bombshell happens in this film?  So keep a watch handy, know your street contacts and never sleep with the lady client.  This is Chinatown.

Alright, what or who is the Joker?

Noah Cross: Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and spoilers all get respectable if they last long enough.







Directed by Roman Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary’s Baby, Macbeth, The Tenant, Tess and Pirates) and written by writer Robert Towne (Bonnie and Clyde, The Last Detail, The Yakuza, Orca, Heaven Can Wait and 8 Million Ways to Die) comes a story of private detective J.J. or Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson of Easy Rider, 5 Easy Pieces, The Shining, As Good as It Gets and The Departed) fresh from a cheating wife case and the client while not thrilled settles most of the bill.  Gittes is asked to do a surveillance gig on a potential cheating husband by a woman that identifies herself as Evelyn Mulwray.  Jake follows Mr. Mulwray around a reservoir, a nearby oceanfront and finally back to a ritzy apartment snapping pics of Mulwray and a  pretty, young blonde girl.  The pictures end up in the newspaper the next day.

Back from his shave and haircut (two bits!!) he is confronted by a stunning woman who exclaims they have never met and tells Jake she is the actual Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway of The Towering Inferno, Three Days of the Condor, Network, Voyage of the Damned and Mommy Dearest) who then threatens a major lawsuit.  Realizing he has been left holding the bag, Gittes wants to know who wants to get at Mulwray but before he can get with the man he is found drown in a freshwater reservoir.   Jake looks into Mulwray’s death and find thousands of gallons of water are being dumped in the middle of a drought and the head security of Water and Power along with a hobbit with a knife work Jake over.
Mrs. Mulwray convinced that Jake will get himself killed wants to simply pay Jake off and call things square but Jake is looking to finding out the bigger picture around her husband’s death, why the water is being wasted and who stands to gain from this.

Another UFO sighting missed!

I had just a few comments about the flick.   The Chinatown screenplay is widely regarded as one of the most perfect write ups and as used as a teaching point in screenwriting seminars and classes all over the states.  Robert Towne wrote this screenplay with Nicholson in mind as the lead.
The movie line” Forget it, Jake it’s Chinatown.” was voted as the #71st of the 100 Greatest Movie Lines by Premiere.   A dark, gritty classic full of murder, romance and everything in between as Ms.Dunaway woos the crowd with her demeanor and attitude.

Towne and Polanski went round and round on the production of Chinatown.  Polanski is said to be a perfectionist demanded that he and Towne go over the script page by page and touch up everything.  As the writer, Towne was offended and snapped back.  Evans looked forward to Polanski taking the director's chair again and tackling a rough and tumble story in a city where everyone has secrets.

The story around the campfire is the role of Evelyn Mulray was intended for Evans' wife at the time Ali McGraw but she ultimately lost the role divorcing Evans for Steve McQueen.

This was to be the first part of a trilogy as Robert Evans and Jack Nicholson saw it.   At one point Towne and Nicholson wanted Evans to step away from the producer's chair and get into make-up for the sequel The Two Jakes in 1989 but they hit a snag or two in the greenlight.

Begone you little, repugnant man!

Mickey Rooney Week: Quicksand

Hey there all and greetings to Day 3 of Mickey Rooney Week.  Y'know for a change I think we will review a Mickey Rooney movie where he has lead role and would be his first time challenging his goody two shoes persona he had been known for.   Hows-about a story where a lad gets in over his head with debt, criminals and the law and all for a shallow girl?   Sounds like quite the caper I agree, but I think I can sweeten the pot with a Peter Lorre sighting as well.  Did I mention it is film noir?   This is Quicksand.

Jeepers, boobies!

Daniel 'Dan' Brady: I feel like I'm bein' shoved into a spoiler, and if I don't get out soon, it'll be too late. Maybe it's too late already!



How much trouble can one guy get into? Oh brother you got no clue at all.    A struggling auto mechanic Dan Brady (Mickey Rooney of The Black Stallion, Donovan's Kid, Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July, Arabian Adventure and One of the Boys) just bragged to his co-worker about dropping his squeaky clean girlfriend as he goes ga ga for an obvious femme fatale Vera Novak (Jeanne Cagney of Yankee Doodle Dandy, The Time of Your Life, Don't Bother to Knock,  A Lion Is in the Streets and Town Tamer) who wants to be adored and fawned after.  Dan strapped for cash boosts 20 clams from the till because he can just get the money back from his buddy who he hasn't ran into yet.

Whudda mean no Laser Tag??!!! Gyp!

That night on the Santa Monica pier Vera and Dan have a swell time in spite of her old boss of the penny arcade Nick (Peter Lorre of M, The Maltese Falcon, My Favorite Brunette and Arsenic and Old Lace) but sorry fellas no action shown in this 50's film so fade to black.   Dan never runs into Chuck to get his funds and finds out the shop's book keeper arrived two days earlier than expected so Dan hatches a brillant scheme that he will buy an expensive watch and pawn it for the money he could get from it then sneaks the scratch into the till.  That is a minor felony but hey no worries, he is bound to get into crazier circumstances.

 A day later Dan forgot he put the auto shop down as his work address and an investigator for the store tells Dan he has 24 hours to pay the money to avoid grand larceny charges.  Dan also seem to space the concept of serial numbers.    On a binder at the local bar, Dan spots the local bingo caller Shorty, clearly tanked and a wallet full of cash.   Dan gets Shorty (heh) and swipes the cash.  He runs into Vera and Nick squabbling and Dan gives him a licking but leaves his handkerchief behind.  The same one he used in the robbery.
Nick meets with Dan about the robbery and demands a car for himself or this goes to the cops, see?  Without no choice in sight, Dan swipes a car off the lot only to be spotted by his sleazebag boss who in turn blackmails the lad for the marked up price of the car or this goes to the cops.   Anyone seeing a pattern with the people Dan interacts with?

I had just a few comments about the film.  This role was meat and potatoes for Rooney allowing him to step out of the goody goody image and gives an amazing performance.  Sadly the ladies Cagney and Barbara Bates don't have anything new to the table and didn't grant the same moral quagmire that Rooney and Lorre's executions on screen.  The dolls of the flick got the typical good girl and bad girl bird cage with no wiggle room in between.   I have to say while there was a fair amount of product placement in the film, for the most part it was low key and most of this film was shot on Santa Monica with almost all exterior scenes on the old pier.  Low cost, great pace and spectacular showmanship is all these ingredients found in Quicksand.  Well at least the film that is.

Don't forget tomorrow, yer givin' me a sponge bath.

Dunaway Week: Chinatown

Howdy boys and girls and welcome back to Dunaway Week.  This time around I thought we would go more into a neo film noir if you will.  A story of a private detective that gets in over his head, get muscled by some local talent, falls for the female client and in general get caught in a land grab scheme and did I mention a certain blonde bombshell happens in this film?  So keep a watch handy, know your street contacts and never sleep with the lady client.  This is Chinatown.

I'm here for the Barbershop quartet audition.

Noah Cross: “Course I’m respectable. I’m old. Politicians, ugly buildings, and spoilers all get respectable if they last long enough.

Directed by Roman Polanski (The Fearless Vampire Killers, Rosemary’s Baby, Macbeth, The Tenant, Tess and Pirates) and written by writer Robert Towne (Bonnie and Clyde, The Last Detail, The Yakuza, Orca, Heaven Can Wait and 8 Million Ways to Die) comes a story of private detective J.J. or Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson of Easy Rider, 5 Easy Pieces, The Shining, As Good as It Gets and The Departed) fresh from a cheating wife case and the client while not thrilled settles most of the bill.  Gittes is asked to do a surveillance gig on a potential cheating husband by a woman that identifies herself as Evelyn Mulwray.  Jack follows Mr. Mulwray around a reservoir, a nearby oceanfront and finally back to a ritzy apartment snapping pics of Mulwray and a young blonde girl.  The pictures end up in the newspaper the next day.

Sheesh, more barren than a politician's promise

Back from his shave and haircut he is confronted by a stunning woman who exclaims they have never met and tells Jake she is the actual Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway of The Towering Inferno, Three Days of the Condor, Network, Voyage of the Damned and Mommy Dearest) who then threatens a major lawsuit.  Realizing he has been left holding the bag, Gittes wants to know who wants to get at Mulwray but before he can get with the man he is found drown in a freshwater reservoir.   Jake looks into Mulwray’s death and find thousands of gallons of water are being dumped in the middle of a drought and the head security of Water and Power along with a hobbit with a knife tune Jake up.  

Mrs. Mulwray convinced that Jake will get himself killed wants to simply pay Jake off and call things square but Jake is looking to finding out the bigger picture around her husband’s death, why the water is being wasted and who stands to gain from this.

I had just a few comments about the flick.   The Chinatown screenplay is widely regarded as one of the most perfect write ups and as used as a teaching point in screenwriting seminars and classes all over the states.  Robert Towne wrote this screenplay with Nicholson in mind as the lead.

The movie line” Forget it, Jake it’s Chinatown.” was voted as the #71^st of the 100 Greatest Movie Lines by Premiere.   A dark, gritty classic full of murder, romance and everything in between as Ms.Dunaway woos the crowd with her demeanor and attitude.

Sorry doll but I don't look for black birds. Try Spade.

Dunaway Week

Howdy readers!  I have recently been through several of my posts and I realized I have not given leading ladies of Hollywood their due and am a bit ashamed on that.  Starting this week I felt I would pay homage to a sultry siren of the silver screen from her resonant voice to the amazing set of eyes she has worked with the likes of Jack Nicholson, Steve McQueen, Robert Redford as well as the likes of Christopher Lee, Michael York, Oliver Reed and Gary Sinse.

Dishy, ain't she?

Her lasting power in the industry she has managed to produce, write and even direct.  Tinseltown can be merciless to starlets but this lady has persevered in a town that had the standing that any woman over 30 has a limited shelf life Faye Dunaway has ranked at #32 in 100 years of Heroes and Villains for Bonnie and Clyde as well as #41 for her portrayal of Joan Crawford in Mommy Dearest.

So pilgrimage with me and see this actress throughout the ages and hopefully you will enjoy.

A Dash of Film Noir: The Killing

Hey there gang and welcome to Day 1 of A Dash of Film Noir Week.   I was scouring through the film archives and came across what I can call a fine example of the genre.  Fortunately a seasoned director had his hands on this flick.   Director Stanley Kubrick (Paths of Glory, Spartacus, Lolita, Dr. Strangelove and 2001: A Space Odyssey) helmed our movie as it was his third full-length feature film about a robbery gone wrong.  So let’s hold out in the flop house, clean and prep the roscoes and try to keep a cool head.  This is The Killing.

So fellas, gin rummy anyone?

Johnny Clay: Alright spoiler, that’s a mighty pretty head you got on your shoulders. You want to keep it there or start carrying it around in your hands?

Our movie’s leading role ain’t one of the good guys but a career criminal that is planning one last score before he and the missus settle down for the house with the white picket fence.  Tough guy Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden of Flaming Feather, Hellgate, The Golden Hawk, The Star, So Big, Dr. Strangelove and 1900) is as vicious as they come but with a heart of gold. His doll baby Fay (Coleen Gray of Kiss of Death, Red River, Kansas City Confidential and Cry from the Mountain) is a gal with great stems and a can do attitude and Johnny would move the heavens just to give her a better view.

Oh Johnny, why can't you be more like Burt Lancaster?

With a few choice teammates he assembled Johnny plans to rob a little over two million dollars from a racetrack during a high stakes race.  With using a betting teller George Peatty (Elisha Cook Jr. of The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, House on Haunted Hill, Blacula and Salem’s Lot: The Movie) giving the access to the back room, a crackshot sniper who is cold as they come, Nikki Arcane (Timothy Carey of Rio Conchos, Beach Blanket Bingo, Gunsmoke, A Time for Killing, Head and What’s the Matter with Helen?) a corrupt cop Randy (Ted de Corsia of The Lady from Shanghai, The Naked City, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea and The Delta Factor),  a wrestler Maurice (Pro Wrestler Kola Kwariani of  The Killing) for crowd distraction. The deck is stacked and ready for game time. 

One slight hitch is George blabs the plan to his annoyed wife Sherry (Marie Windsor of Force of Evil, The Narrow Margin, Swamp Diamonds, The Day Mars Invaded Earth, Bedtime Story and Salem’s Lot: The Movie) who schemes to  get her gunsel boy toy Val Cannon (Vince Edwards of Ben Casey, The Victors, The Devil’s Brigade, The Return of Ben Casey and Son of Darkness: To Die For II) to rob the lot of them and do them in if they get out of line.   The heist is set and everyone knows their part but George tells Johnny his wife knows everything and Johnny takes care of business with Sherry telling her to know her place and she and George are getting a big piece of the action as it is.   Will the scheme go off without complications or will it blow up in their faces?  Hey check it out because it is another brilliant Kubrick film.

When clowns turn to crime!!

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: Gun Crazy

Heya kiddies! Welcome to Day 4 of Film Noir Week.   After the RKO Pictures Out of the Past movie yesterday I thought we would go a bit more B-Movie this time around.  This is a simplistic yet dark storyline about two misunderstood enthusiasts and how the world does not get them.    So clean your cylinder, make your loads and get ready to bear arms.   This is Gun Crazy.

Pardon my erection, ma'am. 

You were going to kill that spoiler!

1950 film noir thriller Gun Crazy a.k.a. Deadly Is the Female. Directed by B-movie mogul Joseph H Lewis (Invisible Ghost, The Undercover Man, Cry of the Hunted, The Rifleman and The Big Valley). This adventure stars a crime spree commited by a husband and wife, daring to buck the ends and devil may care attitude about the consequences. Bart Tare (John Dall of Rope, The Man That Cheated Himself, Spartacus, Atlantis, the Lost Continent and Perry Mason) is a man with a long association and fixation of guns. At age 14 he is sentenced to reform school for breaking and entering as well as stealing a gun. At age 20 he musters out of the military and returns to his hometown to settle down.

Dear, your ear's on fire.

While attending a carnival act with his childhood friends, the sharpshooter Annie Laurie Starr (Peggie Cummins of Green Grass of Wyoming, Hell Drivers, Curse of the Demon and In The Doghouse) finds an attraction to Bart and the two become close instantly.  Annie feels a natural kinship of a like minded Bart and asks on his behalf to get him a job with the carnival.  Carnival owner Packett (Berry Kroeger of Guilty of Treason, Battles of Chief Pontiac, Hitler, The Story of Ruth, The Time Travelers and Demon Seed) offers a challenge to outshoot the champion markswoman and Bart equaled out.  

More than a few weeks go by and Packett hates Bart and it tries to get him fired and Annie goes with Bart.   Annie has a dirty secret of an accidental shooting in St. Louis taking a man’s life.  The two are married and have the idyllic honeymoon until the money runs out.  Bart comes to the conclusion he could simply sells his guns and put a little coin in his pocket.   Annie wants the fat cash and easy life and this shouldn’t be too difficult to do.  Annie proceeds to twist Bart around her finger and they proceed to pull heists from armored cars. 

While they never had to kill anyone Bart grew tired of a life of crime as it was something he was not comfortable with.   Can’t imagine why that is.   Annie sets up work for Armour Meat Company (festive name), prep work there and plan the payroll heist.  The plan goes sideways as the burglar alarm gets pulled as Annie throws lead at her supervisor.  

 

Females be wily, Officer Bumbles.

I have just some minor thoughts and conclusions on the film itself.  35mm Spherical naturally capturing every single nuance of the film and it is very clear that Bart and Laurie is modeled after Bonnie and Clyde.  While this is an extreme example of how weak men of decent heart can be corrupted but I think it really sets a tone of realism.   Rear projection car chases aside, the heist scene of 3 and a half minutes was all shot in one take was pretty impressive.

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.