Carla Balenda, who starred alongside Dana Andrews and Claude Rains in the Rko Pictures thriller Sealed Cargo and portrayed Mickey Rooney’s girlfriend on the NBC sitcom Hey Mulligan, has died. She was 98.
Balenda, billed at times as Sally Bliss, her birth name, died April 9 of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her grandson Jim Martin told The Hollywood Reporter.
She also played a nurse on the 1955-56 syndicated series The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, starring Glen Gordon, and recurred as Miss Hazlitt, Timmy’s (Jon Provost) teacher, on CBS’ Lassie from 1958-63.
In Sealed Cargo (1951), Balenda portrayed a woman who is aboard a fishing trawler bound for Newfoundland when she and the skipper (Andrews) wind up tangling in the North Atlantic with Nazis led by Rains’ character. She often said it was her favorite role.
When Rooney took his first crack at television,...
Balenda, billed at times as Sally Bliss, her birth name, died April 9 of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, her grandson Jim Martin told The Hollywood Reporter.
She also played a nurse on the 1955-56 syndicated series The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu, starring Glen Gordon, and recurred as Miss Hazlitt, Timmy’s (Jon Provost) teacher, on CBS’ Lassie from 1958-63.
In Sealed Cargo (1951), Balenda portrayed a woman who is aboard a fishing trawler bound for Newfoundland when she and the skipper (Andrews) wind up tangling in the North Atlantic with Nazis led by Rains’ character. She often said it was her favorite role.
When Rooney took his first crack at television,...
- 7/22/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
f it was the summer of the megawatt blockbusters “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” September has turned into a month of sequelitis with “The Nun 2,” “Equalizer 3” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.” Even Kenneth Branagh’s “A Hunting in Venice,” is the third installment in the actor/director’s Hercule Poirot mystery series. It’s all a bit of a snooze. That wasn’t the case 70 years ago this month.
There were some oddball films that were released September, 1953 including “Cat-Women of the Moon” with Sonny Tufts and Marie Windsor and “The Sins of Jezebel” starring Paulette Goddard. But 70 years ago, audiences were introduced to a new wide-screen format and young actress who would become one of the biggest stars of the 1950s and ‘60s and Clark Gable returning to a role he originated in 1932.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Darryl F. Zanuck unveiled the studio’s new widescreen process Cinemascope...
There were some oddball films that were released September, 1953 including “Cat-Women of the Moon” with Sonny Tufts and Marie Windsor and “The Sins of Jezebel” starring Paulette Goddard. But 70 years ago, audiences were introduced to a new wide-screen format and young actress who would become one of the biggest stars of the 1950s and ‘60s and Clark Gable returning to a role he originated in 1932.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Darryl F. Zanuck unveiled the studio’s new widescreen process Cinemascope...
- 9/19/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
This picture looks as modern and radical as anything from Italy in the 1960s, yet it’s a tough-talking take on hardboiled crime caper fiction. In three pictures Stanley Kubrick went from amateur to contender: now he has a like-minded producer, a top-flight cast, and the help of the legendary pulp author Jim Thompson. Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards peg the cynical film noir style, and Kubrick maintains the source book’s splintered chronology for the tense racetrack heist. All Hollywood took notice — at least that part of the industry looking out for daring, progressive storytelling. Now in 4K, Kubrick’s superb B&w images look better than ever.
The Killing
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen,...
The Killing
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1956 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date July 26, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Sterling Hayden, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen,...
- 7/30/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Richard Fleischer’s thriller achieves classic noir status thanks to Earl Felton’s Oscar nominated script—the dialog is so hard boiled it sizzles. The terrific Charles McGraw plays a cop protecting a gangster’s girlfriend train-bound for the grand jury—assorted assassins and gangsters have other ideas. As the unmanageable mobster’s moll, the great Marie Windsor is one of the most duplicitous dames in noir history. Rko boss Howard Hughes liked this quickie so much that he kept it on the shelf for two years while pondering whether to to remake it with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Luckily he decided against it.
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- 9/13/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh is no stranger to heist movies. Remember 1998’s “Out of Sight,” 2001’s “Ocean’s Eleven” and 2017’s “Logan Lucky”? And he’s returned to the popular genre with this latest film “No Sudden Move,” which landed on HBO Max July 1 after having premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Set in Detroit in 1954, “No Sudden Move” around a group of small-time hoods who are hired to steal a document. Though they consider it to be a straightforward job, it turns out to be anything but when the gig goes wrong. While the crooks try to figure out who hired them and way, they are lead down a rabbit hole of twists and turns involving racial prejudice, corporate greed in the auto industry and even the mob. “No Sudden Move,” which stars Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Brendan Fraser, and Ray Liotta, is currently at...
Set in Detroit in 1954, “No Sudden Move” around a group of small-time hoods who are hired to steal a document. Though they consider it to be a straightforward job, it turns out to be anything but when the gig goes wrong. While the crooks try to figure out who hired them and way, they are lead down a rabbit hole of twists and turns involving racial prejudice, corporate greed in the auto industry and even the mob. “No Sudden Move,” which stars Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Brendan Fraser, and Ray Liotta, is currently at...
- 7/2/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Viavision’s second deluxe Film Noir boxed finds real variety in the film style, with entries that range from low-budget efforts to a picture filmed on location in Mexico. Richard Conte solves a notorious movie studio murder in Hollywood Story, Gig Young is a cop who considers going crooked in City that Never Sleeps, Glenn Ford dodges murderous treasure hunters in Plunder of the Sun and Steve Cochran’s cop really does go rogue in Private Hell 36.
Essential Film Noir Collection 1
Blu-ray (Region-Free)
Viavision [Imprint] 18, 19, 20, 21
1947-1957 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 327 min. / Street Date October 28, 2020 / Available from Viavision [Imprint] / 149.99
Starring: Richard Conte, Julia Adams; Gig Young, Mala Powers, Marie Windsor; Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina; Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff.
Directed by William Castle, John H. Auer, John Farrow, Don Siegel
Viavision’s noir series throws a wide net, with two debuts on Blu-ray and one full debut on home video.
Essential Film Noir Collection 1
Blu-ray (Region-Free)
Viavision [Imprint] 18, 19, 20, 21
1947-1957 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 327 min. / Street Date October 28, 2020 / Available from Viavision [Imprint] / 149.99
Starring: Richard Conte, Julia Adams; Gig Young, Mala Powers, Marie Windsor; Glenn Ford, Diana Lynn, Patricia Medina; Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran, Howard Duff.
Directed by William Castle, John H. Auer, John Farrow, Don Siegel
Viavision’s noir series throws a wide net, with two debuts on Blu-ray and one full debut on home video.
- 6/29/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Witness six noir heroes, doing what noir heroes do: one crooked gambler, one psycho, another psycho with access to a gun, a dope railroaded into a prison sentence, and an even bigger dope who doesn’t realize he’s poisoning himself. That’s only five, but the sixth is a cop, and not a particularly compromised one, the way we like ’em in noir. This third Columbia Noir Collection can boast big stars and some name directors, beautiful HD transfers and some fascinating short subjects as extras.
Columbia Noir #3
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-57 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / Street Date May 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Dick Powell, Lee J Cobb, Nina Foch, William Holden, Edmond O’Brien, Dorothy Malone, Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Marie Windsor, and Vince Edwards.
Directed by Robert Rossen, Rudolph Maté, Henry Levin, Gordon Douglas, Edward Dmytryk, Irving Lerner
Powerhouse Indicator’s...
Columbia Noir #3
Region B Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1947-57 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / Street Date May 17, 2021 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £49.99
Starring: Dick Powell, Lee J Cobb, Nina Foch, William Holden, Edmond O’Brien, Dorothy Malone, Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Marie Windsor, and Vince Edwards.
Directed by Robert Rossen, Rudolph Maté, Henry Levin, Gordon Douglas, Edward Dmytryk, Irving Lerner
Powerhouse Indicator’s...
- 5/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Maverick meets Yojimbo in Burt Kennedy’s raucous horse opera about a confidence man working both sides of a small town feud. James Garner plays the conniving charmer and Suzanne Pleshette is the fiery belle determined to corral his worst instincts. Hollywood’s golden age is represented by a formidable duo, Marie Windsor and Joan Blondell.
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- 3/15/2021
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Now for a real treat for musical fans, a core MGM dazzler with top stars, fully restored and looking incredibly good. Vincente Minnelli’s snappy, funny 1948 show isn’t ranked among producer Arthur Freed’s best but it ought to be. Silly farce gets a high-toned, technically amazing workout as Judy Garland’s demure señorita secretly lusts after the ruthless corsair of the title, Mack the Black! Gene Kelly’s slippery carny womanizer impersonates her piratical fantasy sex object, and it all ends in clowning and killer musical numbers. Cole Porter’s smart songs attest to the great orchestrators and arrangers in MGM’s world-class music department; the new full digital restoration makes the movie look and sound better than I’ve certainly ever seen it.
The Pirate
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak,...
The Pirate
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1948 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 24, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Walter Slezak,...
- 11/24/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Updated: Following a couple of Julie London Westerns*, Turner Classic Movies will return to its July 2017 Star of the Month presentations. On July 27, Ronald Colman can be seen in five films from his later years: A Double Life, Random Harvest (1942), The Talk of the Town (1942), The Late George Apley (1947), and The Story of Mankind (1957). The first three titles are among the most important in Colman's long film career. George Cukor's A Double Life earned him his one and only Best Actor Oscar; Mervyn LeRoy's Random Harvest earned him his second Best Actor Oscar nomination; George Stevens' The Talk of the Town was shortlisted for seven Oscars, including Best Picture. All three feature Ronald Colman at his very best. The early 21st century motto of international trendsetters, from Venezuela's Nicolás Maduro and Turkey's Recep Erdogan to Russia's Vladimir Putin and the United States' Donald Trump, seems to be, The world is reality TV and reality TV...
- 7/28/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Todd Garbarini
Stephen King’s 1975 novel Salem’s Lot began life as an unpublished short story (“Jerusalem’s Lot”) while Mr. King was still in college. When he decided to expand it into a novel he posed the question as to what would happen if Count Dracula were to come back in 20th Century America, and his wife Tabitha joked that he would probably get run over by a cab in New York City. It was originally titled Second Coming, however it was changed at the urging of Mrs. King because it sounded like a “bad sex story” (she’s was right, and had a dirty mind to boot!). The 439-page book was then made into an effective TV-movie four years later, premiering in two parts on both November 17 and November 24 on CBS. TV-movies are a completely different animal than theatrical films as they are often shot in a much quicker fashion.
Stephen King’s 1975 novel Salem’s Lot began life as an unpublished short story (“Jerusalem’s Lot”) while Mr. King was still in college. When he decided to expand it into a novel he posed the question as to what would happen if Count Dracula were to come back in 20th Century America, and his wife Tabitha joked that he would probably get run over by a cab in New York City. It was originally titled Second Coming, however it was changed at the urging of Mrs. King because it sounded like a “bad sex story” (she’s was right, and had a dirty mind to boot!). The 439-page book was then made into an effective TV-movie four years later, premiering in two parts on both November 17 and November 24 on CBS. TV-movies are a completely different animal than theatrical films as they are often shot in a much quicker fashion.
- 1/17/2017
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
John Flynn's The Outfit (1974), a brutally efficient bit of business based glancingly on Richard Stark’s procedurally inquisitive and poetic crime novel of the same name, is a movie that feels like it’s never heard of a rounded corner; it’s blunt like a 1970 Dodge Monaco pinning a couple of killers against a Dumpster and a brick wall. I say “glancingly” because the movie, as Glenn Kenny observed upon The Outfit’s DVD release from the Warner Archives, is based less on the chronologically unconcerned novel than an idea taken from it. On the page Stark's protagonist, the unflappable Parker, his face altered by plastic surgery to the degree that past associates often take a fatal beat too long to realize to whom it is they are speaking, assumes the detached perspective of a bruised deity, undertaking the orchestration of a series of robberies administered to Mob-run businesses...
- 6/5/2016
- by Dennis Cozzalio
- Trailers from Hell
I guess Howard Hughes wanted to go easy on Minnesota Nazis. William Cameron Menzies directs a Cold War thriller about an insidious germ warfare conspiracy -- it's an early paranoid suspense tale with apocalyptic consequences. But the story behind the movie's making -- and then remaking -- is even more fantastic. The Whip Hand DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1951 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 82 min. / Street Date February 16, 2016 / available through the WBshop / 18.59 Starring Elliott Reid, Raymond Burr, Carla Balenda, Edgar Barrier, Otto Waldis, Michael Steele, Lurene Tuttle, Peter Brocco, Lewis Martin, Frank Darien, Olive Carey, George Chandler, Gregory Gaye. Cinematography Nicholas Musuraca Film Editor Robert Golden Original Music Music by Paul Sawtell Written by George Bricker, Frank L. Moss, Ray Hamilton Produced by Louis J. Rachmil Directed by William Cameron Menzies
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Film writers Bill Warren and Tom Weaver have reported extensively on the unusual production story...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Film writers Bill Warren and Tom Weaver have reported extensively on the unusual production story...
- 6/4/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Shall we sing the praises of actress Marie Windsor? A self--assessed Queen of the Cheapies, she was anything but cheap, gracing some of the better films noirs and delivering some of the most deliciously acidic dialogue ever heard on screen. The woman doesn't just have bedroom eyes, she has bedroom everything, and a wicked smile to go with it.
No Man's Woman Blu-ray Olive Films 1955 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Marie Windsor, John Archer, Patric Knowles, Nancy Gates, Jil Jarmyn, Richard Crane, Louis Jean Heydt, Percy Helton, Morris Ankrum. Cinematography Bud Thackery Film Editor Howard A. Smith Original Music R. Dale Butts Written by John K. Butler story by Don Martin Produced by Rudy Ralston Directed by Franklin Adreon
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Marie Windsor is really something in Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil, lounging around in an effort to seduce John Garfield.
No Man's Woman Blu-ray Olive Films 1955 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 70 min. / Street Date October 27, 2015 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Marie Windsor, John Archer, Patric Knowles, Nancy Gates, Jil Jarmyn, Richard Crane, Louis Jean Heydt, Percy Helton, Morris Ankrum. Cinematography Bud Thackery Film Editor Howard A. Smith Original Music R. Dale Butts Written by John K. Butler story by Don Martin Produced by Rudy Ralston Directed by Franklin Adreon
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Marie Windsor is really something in Abraham Polonsky's Force of Evil, lounging around in an effort to seduce John Garfield.
- 11/21/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Coleen Gray in 'The Sleeping City' with Richard Conte. Coleen Gray after Fox: B Westerns and films noirs (See previous post: “Coleen Gray Actress: From Red River to Film Noir 'Good Girls'.”) Regarding the demise of her Fox career (the year after her divorce from Rod Amateau), Coleen Gray would recall for Confessions of a Scream Queen author Matt Beckoff: I thought that was the end of the world and that I was a total failure. I was a mass of insecurity and depended on agents. … Whether it was an 'A' picture or a 'B' picture didn't bother me. It could be a Western movie, a sci-fi film. A job was a job. You did the best with the script that you had. Fox had dropped Gray at a time of dramatic upheavals in the American film industry: fast-dwindling box office receipts as a result of competition from television,...
- 10/15/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Groucho Marx in 'Duck Soup.' Groucho Marx movies: 'Duck Soup,' 'The Story of Mankind' and romancing Margaret Dumont on TCM Grouch Marx, the bespectacled, (painted) mustached, cigar-chomping Marx brother, is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 14, '15. Marx Brothers fans will be delighted, as TCM is presenting no less than 11 of their comedies, in addition to a brotherly reunion in the 1957 all-star fantasy The Story of Mankind. Non-Marx Brothers fans should be delighted as well – as long as they're fans of Kay Francis, Thelma Todd, Ann Miller, Lucille Ball, Eve Arden, Allan Jones, affectionate, long-tongued giraffes, and/or that great, scene-stealing dowager, Margaret Dumont. Right now, TCM is showing Robert Florey and Joseph Santley's The Cocoanuts (1929), an early talkie notable as the first movie featuring the four Marx Brothers – Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo. Based on their hit Broadway...
- 8/14/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Burbank, Calif. May 19, 2015 – On June 2, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (Wbhe) will release The John Wayne Westerns Film Collection – featuring five classic films on Blu-ray™ from the larger-than-life American hero – just in time for Father’s Day. The Collection features two new-to-Blu-ray titles, The Train Robbers and Cahill U.S. Marshal plus fan favorites Fort Apache, The Searchers and a long-awaited re-release of Rio Bravo. The pocketbook box set will sell for $54.96 Srp; individual films $14.98 Srp.
Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, John Wayne first worked in the film business as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer vacations from University of Southern California, which he attended on a football scholarship. He met and was befriended by John Ford, a young director who was beginning to make a name for himself in action films, comedies and dramas. It was Ford who recommended Wayne to director Raoul Walsh for the male lead in the 1930 epic Western,...
Born Marion Robert Morrison in Winterset, Iowa, John Wayne first worked in the film business as a laborer on the Fox lot during summer vacations from University of Southern California, which he attended on a football scholarship. He met and was befriended by John Ford, a young director who was beginning to make a name for himself in action films, comedies and dramas. It was Ford who recommended Wayne to director Raoul Walsh for the male lead in the 1930 epic Western,...
- 5/13/2015
- by [email protected] (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Stars: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards, Jay C. Flippen, Ted de Corsia, Marie Windsor, Elisha Cook Jr., Joe Sawyer, Timothy Carey, Kola Kwariani, Dorothy Adams | Written and Directed by Stanley Kubrick
It goes without saying that film fans know that Stanley Kubrick was a master of his art. All masters though have a starting point where they were learning and in some respects were yet to evolve into the legends that they would become. With the Arrow Academy release of The Killing on Blu-ray, which also includes Killer’s Kiss we get to see a director who had a vision, but was yet to perfect his style.
The Killing is a heist movie that when it was first released didn’t make that much of an impact, but not surprisingly when it comes to Kubrick’s work has grown to be respected and revered as a true classic of the genre.
It goes without saying that film fans know that Stanley Kubrick was a master of his art. All masters though have a starting point where they were learning and in some respects were yet to evolve into the legends that they would become. With the Arrow Academy release of The Killing on Blu-ray, which also includes Killer’s Kiss we get to see a director who had a vision, but was yet to perfect his style.
The Killing is a heist movie that when it was first released didn’t make that much of an impact, but not surprisingly when it comes to Kubrick’s work has grown to be respected and revered as a true classic of the genre.
- 2/12/2015
- by Paul Metcalf
- Nerdly
The Conversation is a new feature at Sound on Sight bringing together Drew Morton and Landon Palmer in a passionate debate about cinema new and old. For their second piece, they will discuss Stanley Kubrick’s film The Killing (1956).
Drew’s Take
Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956) is not my favorite work by the visionary director. In fact, the film probably wouldn’t even make it onto a list of my top five Kubrick films. Yet, with a career that included such amazing films as Paths of Glory (1957),Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964),2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Barry Lyndon (1975), and The Shining (1980), that’s not an indication that The Killing is a film of poor quality but an indication that Kubrick’s body of work comes the closest to cinematic perfection than any director I can think of. Thus, while The Killing...
Drew’s Take
Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956) is not my favorite work by the visionary director. In fact, the film probably wouldn’t even make it onto a list of my top five Kubrick films. Yet, with a career that included such amazing films as Paths of Glory (1957),Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964),2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Barry Lyndon (1975), and The Shining (1980), that’s not an indication that The Killing is a film of poor quality but an indication that Kubrick’s body of work comes the closest to cinematic perfection than any director I can think of. Thus, while The Killing...
- 2/7/2015
- by Landon Palmer
- SoundOnSight
Howard Hughes movies (photo: Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in 'The Aviator') Turner Classic Movies will be showing the Howard Hughes-produced, John Farrow-directed, Baja California-set gangster drama His Kind of Woman, starring Robert Mitchum, Hughes discovery Jane Russell, and Vincent Price, at 3 a.m. Pt / 6 a.m. Et on Saturday, November 8, 2014. Hughes produced a couple of dozen movies. (More on that below.) But what about "Howard Hughes movies"? Or rather, movies -- whether big-screen or made-for-television efforts -- featuring the visionary, eccentric, hypochondriac, compulsive-obsessive, all-American billionaire as a character? Besides Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a dashing if somewhat unbalanced Hughes in Martin Scorsese's 2004 Best Picture Academy Award-nominated The Aviator, other actors who have played Howard Hughes on film include the following: Tommy Lee Jones in William A. Graham's television movie The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977), with Lee Purcell as silent film star Billie Dove, Tovah Feldshuh as Katharine Hepburn,...
- 11/6/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The Narrow Margin
Written by Earl Felton
Directed by Richard Fleischer
USA, 1952
Single-location films can be a tough sell for some. In some instances, the location might seem too preposterous to be the setting for an entire story, thus creating a sense that the project is based on a gimmick. It requires some considerable storytelling prowess to properly convey the reasons why characters would remain in said location if dangers lurk around every corner, and to create new, plausible threats to keep the interest level high. Trains as single-location settings present some interesting challenges. They offer its passengers the opportunity to peruse its in and outs in many ways, not all of which offer a lot of breathing room. Richard Fleischer turned out to be one such director capable of taking full advantage of the setting with 1952’s The Narrow Margin.
Detective Sergeants Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) and Gus Forbes...
Written by Earl Felton
Directed by Richard Fleischer
USA, 1952
Single-location films can be a tough sell for some. In some instances, the location might seem too preposterous to be the setting for an entire story, thus creating a sense that the project is based on a gimmick. It requires some considerable storytelling prowess to properly convey the reasons why characters would remain in said location if dangers lurk around every corner, and to create new, plausible threats to keep the interest level high. Trains as single-location settings present some interesting challenges. They offer its passengers the opportunity to peruse its in and outs in many ways, not all of which offer a lot of breathing room. Richard Fleischer turned out to be one such director capable of taking full advantage of the setting with 1952’s The Narrow Margin.
Detective Sergeants Walter Brown (Charles McGraw) and Gus Forbes...
- 12/6/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Hattie McDaniel as Mammy in ‘Gone with the Wind’: TCM schedule on August 20, 2013 (photo: Vivien Leigh and Hattie McDaniel in ‘Gone with the Wind’) See previous post: “Hattie McDaniel: Oscar Winner Makes History.” 3:00 Am Thank Your Lucky Stars (1943). Director: David Butler. Cast: Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Eddie Cantor, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Errol Flynn, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Ann Sheridan, Dinah Shore, Alexis Smith, Jack Carson, Alan Hale, George Tobias, Edward Everett Horton, S.Z. Sakall, Hattie McDaniel, Ruth Donnelly, Don Wilson, Spike Jones, Henry Armetta, Leah Baird, Willie Best, Monte Blue, James Burke, David Butler, Stanley Clements, William Desmond, Ralph Dunn, Frank Faylen, James Flavin, Creighton Hale, Sam Harris, Paul Harvey, Mark Hellinger, Brandon Hurst, Charles Irwin, Noble Johnson, Mike Mazurki, Fred Kelsey, Frank Mayo, Joyce Reynolds, Mary Treen, Doodles Weaver. Bw-127 mins. 5:15 Am Janie (1944). Director: Michael Curtiz. Cast: Joyce Reynolds, Robert Hutton,...
- 8/21/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Randolph Scott Westerns, comedies, war dramas: TCM schedule on August 19, 2013 See previous post: “Cary Grant and Randolph Scott Marriages — And ‘Expect the Biographical Worst.’” 3:00 Am Badman’S Territory (1946). Director: Tim Whelan. Cast: Randolph Scott, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Ann Richards. Bw-98 mins. 4:45 Am Trail Street (1947). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Bw-84 mins. 6:15 Am Return Of The Badmen (1948). Director: Ray Enright. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys, George ‘Gabby’ Hayes, Jacqueline White, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene aka Richard Powers, Robert Bray, Lex Barker, Walter Reed, Michael Harvey, Dean White, Robert Armstrong, Tom Tyler, Lew Harvey, Gary Gray, Walter Baldwin, Minna Gombell, Warren Jackson, Robert Clarke, Jason Robards Sr., Ernie Adams, Lane Chandler, Dan Foster, John Hamilton, Kenneth MacDonald, Donald Kerr, Ida Moore, ‘Snub’ Pollard, Harry Shannon, Charles Stevens. Bw-90 mins. 8:00 Am Riding Shotgun (1954). Director: André De Toth. Cast: Randolph Scott, Wayne Morris,...
- 8/20/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Lana Turner movies: Scandal and more scandal Lana Turner is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" star today, Saturday, August 10, 2013. I’m a little — or rather, a lot — late in the game posting this article, but there are still three Lana Turner movies left. You can see Turner get herself embroiled in scandal right now, in Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life (1959), both the director and the star’s biggest box-office hit. More scandal follows in Mark Robson’s Peyton Place (1957), the movie that earned Lana Turner her one and only Academy Award nomination. And wrapping things up is George Sidney’s lively The Three Musketeers (1948), with Turner as the ruthless, heartless, remorseless — but quite elegant — Lady de Winter. Based on Fannie Hurst’s novel and a remake of John M. Stahl’s 1934 melodrama about mother love, class disparities, racism, and good cooking, Imitation of Life was shown on...
- 8/11/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Paul Henreid: Hollow Triumph aka The Scar tonight Turner Classic Movies’ Paul Henreid film series continues this Tuesday evening, July 16, 2013. Of tonight’s movies, the most interesting offering is Hollow Triumph / The Scar, a 1948 B thriller adapted by Daniel Fuchs (Panic in the Streets, Love Me or Leave Me) from Murray Forbes’ novel, and in which the gentlemanly Henreid was cast against type: a crook who, in an attempt to escape from other (and more dangerous) crooks, impersonates a psychiatrist with a scar on his chin. Joan Bennett, mostly wasted in a non-role, is Henreid’s leading lady. (See also: “One Paul Henreid, Two Cigarettes, Four Bette Davis-es.”) The thriller’s director is Hungarian import Steve Sekely, whose Hollywood career consisted chiefly of minor B fare. In fact, though hardly a great effort, Hollow Triumph was probably the apex of Sekely’s cinematic output in terms of prestige...
- 7/17/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival continues to expand, with newly added appearances by legendary stars at screenings of some of their most memorable films, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Barrie Chase, Polly Bergen,Coleen Gray, Theodore Bikel and Norman Lloyd, as well as producer Stanley Rubin, Clara Bow biographer David Stenn, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) film collections manager Katie Trainor and director Nicholas Ray’s widow, Susan Ray. In addition, TCM’s Essentials Jr. host and Saturday Night Live star Bill Hader will present screenings of Shane (1953) and The Ladykillers(1955).
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
And The Film Forum’s Bruce Goldstein will present a special screening of Frank Capra’s The Donovan Affair (1929), complete with live voice actors and sound effects to replace the film’s long-lost soundtrack.Mel Brooks is slated to talk about his comedy The Twelve Chairs (1970). Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan...
- 3/13/2013
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Killing
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Jim Thompson
U.S.A., 1956
Stanley Kubrick, now there is a name evocative of so many immediate thoughts and emotions for movie buffs everywhere. Infuriating, coldly mechanical in his depiction of people, difficult to comprehend. He was also an intelligent screenwriter, deeply profound in the exploration of themes in his films, and meticulous with his sets and camerawork like only a handful of other directors were before his time, during his time, and ever since his passing in 1999. His films consist of a laundry list of all the major film genres, save the western, which he never ventured into. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick seemingly told thought provoking tales through a wide variety of cinematic prisms. Lest it be forgotten that the man began his career as a creator of major motion pictures in the film noir genre.
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Written by Stanley Kubrick and Jim Thompson
U.S.A., 1956
Stanley Kubrick, now there is a name evocative of so many immediate thoughts and emotions for movie buffs everywhere. Infuriating, coldly mechanical in his depiction of people, difficult to comprehend. He was also an intelligent screenwriter, deeply profound in the exploration of themes in his films, and meticulous with his sets and camerawork like only a handful of other directors were before his time, during his time, and ever since his passing in 1999. His films consist of a laundry list of all the major film genres, save the western, which he never ventured into. From 2001: A Space Odyssey to Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick seemingly told thought provoking tales through a wide variety of cinematic prisms. Lest it be forgotten that the man began his career as a creator of major motion pictures in the film noir genre.
- 5/11/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
John Flynn's Rolling Thunder is finally out on DVD. He may not have made enough films, says John Patterson, but when he did, the script came first
John Flynn's Rolling Thunder (1977), available this week for the first time on DVD, takes you back to a time when Hollywood still made grown-up medium-budget thrillers like Charley Varrick, Mr Majestyk or Jackson County Jail. Flynn died in 2007 and never made enough movies; this one reminds us how good he was.
Rolling Thunder was written by Paul Schrader and – like Sydney Pollack's The Yakuza, written by Schrader and his brother Leonard – it signposts themes and imagery that would obsess Schrader in his own movies: Vietnam veterans, samurai ethics, and orgasmic explosions of cathartically violent revenge. Oh, and horribly mutilated hands. POWs Rane (William Devane) and Voden (Tommy Lee Jones) return to Texas after years of torture in a Hanoi prison.
John Flynn's Rolling Thunder (1977), available this week for the first time on DVD, takes you back to a time when Hollywood still made grown-up medium-budget thrillers like Charley Varrick, Mr Majestyk or Jackson County Jail. Flynn died in 2007 and never made enough movies; this one reminds us how good he was.
Rolling Thunder was written by Paul Schrader and – like Sydney Pollack's The Yakuza, written by Schrader and his brother Leonard – it signposts themes and imagery that would obsess Schrader in his own movies: Vietnam veterans, samurai ethics, and orgasmic explosions of cathartically violent revenge. Oh, and horribly mutilated hands. POWs Rane (William Devane) and Voden (Tommy Lee Jones) return to Texas after years of torture in a Hanoi prison.
- 2/4/2012
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Thanks to Criterion, Stanley Kubrick's The Seafarers is now the only film from the iconic director not available on Blu-ray. Criterion recently brought Kubrick's Paths of Glory to beautiful high-definition and now the director's 1956 heist feature, The Killing, arrives with a special inclusion, the helmer's 1955 feature Killer's Kiss. Releasing The Killing is one thing and should be enough to get you to buy this title, but the fact it also includes Killer's Kiss pretty much means any Kubrick fan simply has to buy it. I'm sorry, but those are the rules.
The screenplay was co-written by Kubrick with dialogue by pulp novelist Jim Thompson (though Thompson would later claim he wrote most of the film, a spat that almost ended their relationship), The Killing is based on "Clean Break" by Lionel White. The story is told using a fractured narrative, following the planning of a racetrack robbery. Throughout the film's brisk,...
The screenplay was co-written by Kubrick with dialogue by pulp novelist Jim Thompson (though Thompson would later claim he wrote most of the film, a spat that almost ended their relationship), The Killing is based on "Clean Break" by Lionel White. The story is told using a fractured narrative, following the planning of a racetrack robbery. Throughout the film's brisk,...
- 9/27/2011
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Chicago – When film lovers hear the name of one of the great masters of the form — Stanley Kubrick — their mind usually races to one of his most famous flicks, whether it be “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “A Clockwork Orange,” “Dr. Strangelove,” “The Shining,” or even “Full Metal Jacket.” But where did one of our most beloved directors hone his craft? In a series of smaller films, two of which are now available in a single Criterion Blu-ray or DVD release — “The Killing” and “Killer’s Kiss.”
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Synopsis:
Stanley Kubrick’s account of an ambitious racetrack robbery is one of Hollywood’s tautest, twistiest noirs. Aided by a radically time-shuffling narrative, razor-sharp dialogue from pulp novelist Jim Thompson, and a phenomenal cast of character actors, including Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Timothy Carey, Elisha Cook Jr., and Marie Windsor, The Killing is both a jaunty thriller and a cold-blooded punch to the gut.
Blu-Ray Rating: 4.5/5.0
Synopsis:
Stanley Kubrick’s account of an ambitious racetrack robbery is one of Hollywood’s tautest, twistiest noirs. Aided by a radically time-shuffling narrative, razor-sharp dialogue from pulp novelist Jim Thompson, and a phenomenal cast of character actors, including Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Timothy Carey, Elisha Cook Jr., and Marie Windsor, The Killing is both a jaunty thriller and a cold-blooded punch to the gut.
- 8/25/2011
- by [email protected] (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
"Often unfairly dismissed as a minor prelude to Stanley Kubrick's work from his attention-demanding antiwar indictment Paths of Glory onwards, 1956's The Killing finds the master imposing Big Direction on Small Ideas," argues Vadim Rizov at GreenCine Daily. "Instead of the headier themes associated with Kubrick — nuclear war, Vietnam, extraterrestrial monoliths — here is an 84-minute noir, adapted from a Lionel White novel by expert nihilist Jim Thompson, confined to the bare minimum of sets and a few street exteriors. The dialogue has Thompson's characteristic mean-spirited tone: when Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) tells her lover Val Cannon (Vince Edwards) about her meek husband George's (Elisha Cook Jr) upcoming involvement in a robbery, he scoffs. 'That meatball?' Sherry corrects him: 'A meatball with gravy.'"
"The first product of the reportedly strained, multi-film collaboration between Kubrick and Thompson, their incendiary script for The Killing remains cinematic legend, lightning trapped in...
"The first product of the reportedly strained, multi-film collaboration between Kubrick and Thompson, their incendiary script for The Killing remains cinematic legend, lightning trapped in...
- 8/19/2011
- MUBI
by Vadim Rizov
Often unfairly dismissed as a minor prelude to Stanley Kubrick's work from his attention-demanding antiwar indictment Paths of Glory onwards, 1956's The Killing finds the master imposing Big Direction on Small Ideas. Instead of the headier themes associated with Kubrick—nuclear war, Vietnam, extraterrestrial monoliths—here is an 84-minute noir, adapted from a Lionel White novel by expert nihilist Jim Thompson, confined to the bare minimum of sets and a few street exteriors. The dialogue has Thompson's characteristic mean-spirited tone: when Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) tells her lover Val Cannon (Vince Edwards) about her meek husband George's (Elisha Cook Jr.) upcoming involvement in a robbery, he scoffs. "That meatball?" Sherry corrects him: "A meatball with gravy."
George has been recruited by Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) for a racetrack robbery timed to the minute; narrator Art Gilmore (a veteran TV/radio announcer and voice-over artist who voiced Fdr,...
Often unfairly dismissed as a minor prelude to Stanley Kubrick's work from his attention-demanding antiwar indictment Paths of Glory onwards, 1956's The Killing finds the master imposing Big Direction on Small Ideas. Instead of the headier themes associated with Kubrick—nuclear war, Vietnam, extraterrestrial monoliths—here is an 84-minute noir, adapted from a Lionel White novel by expert nihilist Jim Thompson, confined to the bare minimum of sets and a few street exteriors. The dialogue has Thompson's characteristic mean-spirited tone: when Sherry Peatty (Marie Windsor) tells her lover Val Cannon (Vince Edwards) about her meek husband George's (Elisha Cook Jr.) upcoming involvement in a robbery, he scoffs. "That meatball?" Sherry corrects him: "A meatball with gravy."
George has been recruited by Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) for a racetrack robbery timed to the minute; narrator Art Gilmore (a veteran TV/radio announcer and voice-over artist who voiced Fdr,...
- 8/16/2011
- GreenCine Daily
Rank the week of August 16th’s Blu-ray and DVD new releases against the best films of all-time: New Releases Jane Eyre
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #3143
Win Percentage: 55%
Times Ranked: 1594
Top-20 Rankings: 7
Directed By: Cary Fukunaga
Starring: Mia Wasikowska • Michael Fassbender • Jamie Bell • Judi Dench • Imogen Poots
Genres: Drama • Gothic Film • Mystery • Period Film • Romance • Romantic Drama • Romantic Mystery
Rank This Movie
Something Borrowed
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #8753
Win Percentage: 40%
Times Ranked: 456
Top-20 Rankings: 3
Directed By: Luke Greenfield
Starring: Kate Hudson • Ginnifer Goodwin • John Krasinski • Colin Egglesfield • Steve Howey
Genres: Comedy • Comedy Drama • Drama • Romance • Romantic Comedy • Romantic Drama
Rank This Movie
Priest
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #6278
Win Percentage: 43%
Times Ranked: 1274
Top-20 Rankings: 5
Directed By: Scott Charles Stewart
Starring: Paul Bettany • Karl Urban • Cam Gigandet • Maggie Q • Lily Collins
Genres: Action • Comic-Book Superhero Film • Horror • Monster Film • Religious Horror • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Sci-Fi Horror • Supernatural Horror...
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #3143
Win Percentage: 55%
Times Ranked: 1594
Top-20 Rankings: 7
Directed By: Cary Fukunaga
Starring: Mia Wasikowska • Michael Fassbender • Jamie Bell • Judi Dench • Imogen Poots
Genres: Drama • Gothic Film • Mystery • Period Film • Romance • Romantic Drama • Romantic Mystery
Rank This Movie
Something Borrowed
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #8753
Win Percentage: 40%
Times Ranked: 456
Top-20 Rankings: 3
Directed By: Luke Greenfield
Starring: Kate Hudson • Ginnifer Goodwin • John Krasinski • Colin Egglesfield • Steve Howey
Genres: Comedy • Comedy Drama • Drama • Romance • Romantic Comedy • Romantic Drama
Rank This Movie
Priest
(Blu-ray & DVD | PG13 | 2011)
Flickchart Ranking: #6278
Win Percentage: 43%
Times Ranked: 1274
Top-20 Rankings: 5
Directed By: Scott Charles Stewart
Starring: Paul Bettany • Karl Urban • Cam Gigandet • Maggie Q • Lily Collins
Genres: Action • Comic-Book Superhero Film • Horror • Monster Film • Religious Horror • Science Fiction • Sci-Fi Action • Sci-Fi Horror • Supernatural Horror...
- 8/16/2011
- by Jonathan Hardesty
- Flickchart
Your Weekly Source for the Newest Releases to Blu-Ray Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
Agent 8 3/4 (1964)
Directed by: Ralph Thomas
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley
Synopsis: Unemployed Czech-speaking writer Nicholas Whistler thinks he’s got a job visiting Prague for a bit of industrial espionage. In fact he is now in the employ of British Intelligence. His pretty chauffeuse on arrival behind the Iron Curtain, Comrade Simonova, is herself a Czech agent. Just as well she’s immediately attracted to 007′s unwitting replacement. [highdefdigest.com]
Special Features: Unknown.
Armed And Dangerous (1986)
Directed by: Mark L. Lester
Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Meg Ryan, Robert Loggia
Synopsis: Dooley, a cop wrongly sacked for corruption, teams up with a useless defense lawyer in their new careers… as security guards. When the two are made fall guys for a robbery at a location they are guarding, the pair begin to investigate corruption within the company and their union.
Agent 8 3/4 (1964)
Directed by: Ralph Thomas
Starring: Dirk Bogarde, Sylva Koscina, Robert Morley
Synopsis: Unemployed Czech-speaking writer Nicholas Whistler thinks he’s got a job visiting Prague for a bit of industrial espionage. In fact he is now in the employ of British Intelligence. His pretty chauffeuse on arrival behind the Iron Curtain, Comrade Simonova, is herself a Czech agent. Just as well she’s immediately attracted to 007′s unwitting replacement. [highdefdigest.com]
Special Features: Unknown.
Armed And Dangerous (1986)
Directed by: Mark L. Lester
Starring: John Candy, Eugene Levy, Meg Ryan, Robert Loggia
Synopsis: Dooley, a cop wrongly sacked for corruption, teams up with a useless defense lawyer in their new careers… as security guards. When the two are made fall guys for a robbery at a location they are guarding, the pair begin to investigate corruption within the company and their union.
- 8/15/2011
- by Travis Keune
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
DVD Playhouse—August 2011
By Allen Gardner
High And Low (Criterion) Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 adaptation of Ed McBain’s novel King’s Ransom is a multi-layered masterpiece of suspense and one of the best portraits ever of class warfare in post-ww II Japan. Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy businessman who finds himself in a moral quandary when his chauffer’s son is kidnapped by ruthless thugs who think the boy is Mifune’s. Beautifully realized on every level. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince; Documentary on film’s production; Interview with Mifune from 1984; Trailers and teaser. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 4.0 surround.
Leon Morin, Priest (Criterion) One of French maestro Jean-Pierre Melville’s rare non-crime-oriented films, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a devoted cleric who is lusted after by the women of a small village in Nazi-occupied France. When Fr. Morin finds himself drawn to a...
By Allen Gardner
High And Low (Criterion) Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 adaptation of Ed McBain’s novel King’s Ransom is a multi-layered masterpiece of suspense and one of the best portraits ever of class warfare in post-ww II Japan. Toshiro Mifune stars as a wealthy businessman who finds himself in a moral quandary when his chauffer’s son is kidnapped by ruthless thugs who think the boy is Mifune’s. Beautifully realized on every level. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Kurosawa scholar Stephen Prince; Documentary on film’s production; Interview with Mifune from 1984; Trailers and teaser. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS-hd 4.0 surround.
Leon Morin, Priest (Criterion) One of French maestro Jean-Pierre Melville’s rare non-crime-oriented films, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo as a devoted cleric who is lusted after by the women of a small village in Nazi-occupied France. When Fr. Morin finds himself drawn to a...
- 8/8/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Stanley Kubrick’s unforgettable 1956 film noir heist movie The Killing comes to Criterion Blu-ray and DVD on Aug. 16 for the list prices of $39.95 and $29.95, respectively.
Disguises are donned in a plot to rob a racetrack in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.
The story of a well-planned racetrack robbery is told via a radical-for-its-time splintered narrative peppered with sharp dialogue from the great pulp writer Jim Thompson. Plus, the film features a cast of legendary character actors, including Sterling Hayden (Dr. Strangelove), Coleen Gray (Red River), Timothy Carey (Paths of Glory) and Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon).
A too-cool thriller embodying all of film noir’s finest characteristics — deceit, betrayal, fate and a femme fatale — as well as its maker’s trademark tracking shots and precise mise-en-scene, The Killing is definitely a must-own for Criterion classics collectors.
The movie will feature a new high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition.
Disguises are donned in a plot to rob a racetrack in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.
The story of a well-planned racetrack robbery is told via a radical-for-its-time splintered narrative peppered with sharp dialogue from the great pulp writer Jim Thompson. Plus, the film features a cast of legendary character actors, including Sterling Hayden (Dr. Strangelove), Coleen Gray (Red River), Timothy Carey (Paths of Glory) and Elisha Cook Jr. (The Maltese Falcon).
A too-cool thriller embodying all of film noir’s finest characteristics — deceit, betrayal, fate and a femme fatale — as well as its maker’s trademark tracking shots and precise mise-en-scene, The Killing is definitely a must-own for Criterion classics collectors.
The movie will feature a new high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition.
- 5/19/2011
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
It’s so strange, writing this so long after the announcement yesterday. In today’s internet world of instant information, and twenty four second news cycles, yesterday’s August 2011 Criterion Collection new releases may as well have happened last week, or last month. I’m sure that the page views for this post will be markedly smaller than the usual, as I have tried consistently to have the new release post up within minutes of the pages going live on Criterion’s website. I know this all sounds like inside baseball stuff, but it’s on my mind, and darn it, this is my website.
I had a whole, several paragraph long, write up of the August titles, but since I’m finding myself writing this at 10pm on Tuesday evening, I think it’s better if I just scrap that whole thing and start over. I was going on...
I had a whole, several paragraph long, write up of the August titles, but since I’m finding myself writing this at 10pm on Tuesday evening, I think it’s better if I just scrap that whole thing and start over. I was going on...
- 5/18/2011
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
Back in February, Obsessed With Film’s Stuart Cummins dedicated an entry into his Top Ten Tuesdays series with his choice of the 10 Greatest Heist Movies Ever Made. It was a fun list and I loved most of the movies he chose but one classic he left out deserved recognition.
In fact I believe it to be the greatest heist film ever made.
Stanley Kubrick’s early career thriller The Killing, a movie so refined and perfectly put together – Criterion have got the idea to give it the kind of Blu-ray treatment only that magnificent company can with his 1958 boxing drama Killer’s Kiss getting the full restoration treatment as an bonus feature! Save your pennies in August.
Press release below;
The Killing – Blu-ray & DVD
Stanley Kubrick’s account of an ambitious racetrack robbery is one of Hollywood’s tautest, twistiest noirs. Aided by a radically time-shuffling narrative, razor-sharp dialogue from pulp novelist Jim Thompson,...
In fact I believe it to be the greatest heist film ever made.
Stanley Kubrick’s early career thriller The Killing, a movie so refined and perfectly put together – Criterion have got the idea to give it the kind of Blu-ray treatment only that magnificent company can with his 1958 boxing drama Killer’s Kiss getting the full restoration treatment as an bonus feature! Save your pennies in August.
Press release below;
The Killing – Blu-ray & DVD
Stanley Kubrick’s account of an ambitious racetrack robbery is one of Hollywood’s tautest, twistiest noirs. Aided by a radically time-shuffling narrative, razor-sharp dialogue from pulp novelist Jim Thompson,...
- 5/17/2011
- by Matt Holmes
- Obsessed with Film
The first thing people will notice about horror director Alan Rowe Kelly (Don't Look In The Basement, I'll Bury You Tomorrow) is that he is a gender bender, but Kelly has been bending more then genders his entire career as he has broken out the idea of conventionality. At the age of 39, with 40 just right around the corner, he had an epiphany. Bored with a career as a stylist, he made the sudden and dramatic move to horror. First testing the waters as an author, he switched over to the world of indie horror film directing where he won great acclaim for "I"ll Bury You Tomorrow". As he continued to direct films, he also started making a name for himself in the indie horror world as an actor playing power players, agents, something that rhymes with witch, etc. These were powerful, empowered characters that personally reflected upon Alan Rowe Kelly himself.
- 12/11/2010
- by Big Daddy aka Brandon Sites
- Big Daddy Horror Reviews - Interviews
Stanley Kubrick, 1956
With this lean black-and-white racetrack robbery thriller, Stanley Kubrick found the high style and astringent tone that would serve him for the rest of his career. Like John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (and featuring that film's lead, the rock-like Sterling Hayden), it is a forensic depiction of the planning and negotiation preceding a big hold-up, and of the treachery and violence that ensue.
Shot in a taut, quasi-documentary style, and evincing not one ounce of sentimentality, the movie features a cast of seasoned B-movie gargoyles. These include Timothy Carey's racist sniper (who shoots the favourite horse mid-race), Jay C Flippen and Elisha Cook Jr's sleazebag co-conspirators, and noir staple Marie Windsor as the perfidious moll who sends the whole caper spiralling into internecine slaughter. The presence of legendary pulp scribbler Jim Thompson as co-screenwriter probably ensured this level of coruscating cynicism and brute realism, and the...
With this lean black-and-white racetrack robbery thriller, Stanley Kubrick found the high style and astringent tone that would serve him for the rest of his career. Like John Huston's The Asphalt Jungle (and featuring that film's lead, the rock-like Sterling Hayden), it is a forensic depiction of the planning and negotiation preceding a big hold-up, and of the treachery and violence that ensue.
Shot in a taut, quasi-documentary style, and evincing not one ounce of sentimentality, the movie features a cast of seasoned B-movie gargoyles. These include Timothy Carey's racist sniper (who shoots the favourite horse mid-race), Jay C Flippen and Elisha Cook Jr's sleazebag co-conspirators, and noir staple Marie Windsor as the perfidious moll who sends the whole caper spiralling into internecine slaughter. The presence of legendary pulp scribbler Jim Thompson as co-screenwriter probably ensured this level of coruscating cynicism and brute realism, and the...
- 10/17/2010
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
Craig here with today's Take Three
Today: Sterling Hayden
Take One & Take Two:... for Mr. Kubrick or: how I learned to stop worrying and love The Killing
Kubrick didn’t often cast actors more than once in major roles in his films. Apart from Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory, Spartacus) and Peter Sellers (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove) I can’t think of a great many others who received a repeat Kubrick experience. That is, other than Sterling Hayden, who nabbed two great roles in The Killing (1956) and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Hayden was the stern leader of Kubrick’s crime gang in the former, and an integral part of his military circus in the latter.
For Dr. Strangelove he was drawn out of early retirement by Kubrick to play General Jack Ripper, an ever-so-slightly insane, uber-patriotic Usaf Brigadier (bizarrely obsessed with his...
Today: Sterling Hayden
Take One & Take Two:... for Mr. Kubrick or: how I learned to stop worrying and love The Killing
Kubrick didn’t often cast actors more than once in major roles in his films. Apart from Kirk Douglas (Paths of Glory, Spartacus) and Peter Sellers (Lolita, Dr. Strangelove) I can’t think of a great many others who received a repeat Kubrick experience. That is, other than Sterling Hayden, who nabbed two great roles in The Killing (1956) and Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Hayden was the stern leader of Kubrick’s crime gang in the former, and an integral part of his military circus in the latter.
For Dr. Strangelove he was drawn out of early retirement by Kubrick to play General Jack Ripper, an ever-so-slightly insane, uber-patriotic Usaf Brigadier (bizarrely obsessed with his...
- 8/15/2010
- by Craig Bloomfield
- FilmExperience
Tana leaves brewing in the microwave, I spent seven days in full-on Mummy mode. It was such a dead-Egyptian-walking time for me that I considered binding myself in stray Band-aids before taking a nap, but, no, That would be crazy. Isn’t sipping hot, steaming tana leaves tea—with natural, Mummy-controlling powers—enough?
I’ve always been fascinated by The Mummy, that 1932 Universal picture starring Boris Karloff as the venerable Imhotep, resurrected by an inopportune reading of the life-giving Scroll of Thoth—first seen (however briefly) in slow-motion, wrapped-up Mummyness, later all parchment-faced, leathery, dried-out humanity as “Ardath Bey.” In this form, fez-topped Bey prefers “not to be touched,” because, of course, he might fall apart and break into ancient dust if someone should give his hand a good shaking.
Even today, I can remember when I first saw that fantasy film at age 10. I had spent most of Saturday...
I’ve always been fascinated by The Mummy, that 1932 Universal picture starring Boris Karloff as the venerable Imhotep, resurrected by an inopportune reading of the life-giving Scroll of Thoth—first seen (however briefly) in slow-motion, wrapped-up Mummyness, later all parchment-faced, leathery, dried-out humanity as “Ardath Bey.” In this form, fez-topped Bey prefers “not to be touched,” because, of course, he might fall apart and break into ancient dust if someone should give his hand a good shaking.
Even today, I can remember when I first saw that fantasy film at age 10. I had spent most of Saturday...
- 10/27/2009
- by [email protected] (David McDonnell)
- Starlog
I had never seen any of Alan Rowe Kelly’s films until he contacted me—literally moments after posting my first Gay Of The Dead blog. And yes, that is Alan in the photo to the left. Don’t worry, we’ll get to that later.
Kelly’s opening salvo to me was the grisly, intense and controversial A Far Cry From Home segment from the recently wrapped Gallery Of Fear anthology, which he co-wrote, co-directed and produced for his Southpaw Pictures. From there I jumped back to his first feature, I’LL Bury You Tomorrow, a loopy, sprawling, bloody feature that manages to wind storylines of seven main characters into one big crazy fest. After that, I popped in The Blood Shed, which starts off with a preteen kid being yanked in half and just gets more insane (see: awesome) from there.
After watching Kelly’s films and chatting...
Kelly’s opening salvo to me was the grisly, intense and controversial A Far Cry From Home segment from the recently wrapped Gallery Of Fear anthology, which he co-wrote, co-directed and produced for his Southpaw Pictures. From there I jumped back to his first feature, I’LL Bury You Tomorrow, a loopy, sprawling, bloody feature that manages to wind storylines of seven main characters into one big crazy fest. After that, I popped in The Blood Shed, which starts off with a preteen kid being yanked in half and just gets more insane (see: awesome) from there.
After watching Kelly’s films and chatting...
- 5/13/2009
- Fangoria
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