My life at the movies.
Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Starring Richard Arlen, Roscoe Ates, William Austin, and Gary Cooper.
This tone-deaf Paramount spectacle combines elements from Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking-Glass and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Continue reading...
Directed by Terence Young. Starring Sean Connery, Ursula Andress, Joseph Wiseman, and Jack Lord.
This first entry in the James Bond franchise proves a gripping mix of hard-boiled detective story and escapist adventure as London sends Bond to Jamaica to investigate the local station chief’s murder. The trail leads him to the titular doctor, a mysterious criminal mastermind plotting to sabotage an American moon rocket. Continue reading...
Directed by Kurt Neumann. Starring David Hedison, Patricia Owens, Vincent Price, and Herbert Marshall.
I remembered The Fly as a low-budget, early-1950s creature-feature. I was wrong on all counts. Continue reading...
Directed by Ngai Choi Lam. Starring Amy Yip, Hitomi Kudô, So Man, and Pal Sinn.
As a fan of director Ngai Choi Lam’s bonkers, genre-defying The Seventh Curse and Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, I was eager to explore more of his filmography. So, with some trepidation given the title, I watched Erotic Ghost Story.
It proves a disappointing mix of horror and sex-comedy, spending much of its time proffering shots of full-frontal female nudity and scenes of sweaty, simulated sex. But when it pivots to horror, it goes hard, with characters vomiting blood and monsters ripping off faces, making for a shocking surprise. To delve further, I must reveal a plot twist, so beware, spoilers follow. Continue reading...
Directed by Edwin L. Marin. Starring John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, and George 'Gabby' Hayes.
Tall in the Saddle proffers a novel amalgam of the hard-boiled detective story and western. John Wayne plays a ranch hand who arrives in a small frontier town for a job only to find a corrupt sheriff, a shady judge, and his boss murdered a week prior. Continue reading...
Directed by Mack V. Wright. Starring John Wayne, Duke, Ruth Hall, and Luis Alberni.
The Man from Monterey ends with a Scooby-Doo-style chase culminating with John Wayne (who’s dressed as a caballero) alongside his sidekick (who’s dressed in drag) grabbing a sword off the wall and fighting off a horde of bad guys. Note: Wayne’s fencing consists of him waving the sword back and forth while the guys clutch their chests and fall to the ground. Not great filmmaking, but its silly earnestness charms. Continue reading...
Directed by Tenny Wright. Starring John Wayne, Duke, Frank McHugh, and Marceline Day.
Despite backing a young John Wayne with his best supporting cast in years, The Telegraph Trail still stinks. Continue reading...
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Starring Frank Silvera, Jamie Smith, Irene Kane, and Jerry Jarrett.
Stanley Kubrick’s sophomore feature tells the story of a boxer who falls for his neighbor and runs afoul of her gangster boss. An uneven effort, it nonetheless shows flashes of brilliance. Continue reading...
Directed by Richard Brooks. Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ethel Barrymore, Kim Hunter, and Ed Begley.
A throwback to the social-justice pictures Warner Brothers churned out in the 30s, Deadline U.S.A. casts Humphrey Bogart as the editor-in-chief of a big-city newspaper. Between trying to reunite with his ex-wife and stave off his paper being sold for parts he crusades to expose a gangster. The plot may be a near-ridiculous concoction of populist drama, but the execution shines. Continue reading...
Directed by Hy Averback. Starring Patrick O'Neal, Cesare Danova, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Laura Devon.
Warner Bros. shot Chamber of Horrors as a television movie, intended as a series pilot. When the network deemed the finished product too violent for television, the studio added some gimmicks and released it as a theatrical feature. The result looks good but underwhelms. Continue reading...