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Before John Wayne began making low-budget Westerns in the 1930s, stunt performers were rarely, if ever, acknowledged or given credit for their work. Studios didn't want to break the illusion to reveal that it wasn't the main star on-screen performing their own stunts, so the practice became one of Hollywood's biggest secrets. Looking back on the history of stunts from the era, the British Action Academy noted that, during that time, studios and directors began demanding more dangerous stunts that resulted in a large increase in on-set fatalities.

The marquee star wasn't in mortal jeopardy and some actors like Harold Lloyd had it written into their contracts that it could never be revealed when a stuntman was utilized. Tom Mix, the first bonafide movie star, always claimed that he was the one who made the famous horse jump across the Beale's Cut ravine in John Ford's 1923 short film, "3 Jumps Ahead.

Is this show a hatchet job on Raymond Chandler’s confidential agent, or do Robert Altman and Leigh Brackett honestly find a place for Philip Marlowe in the laid-back 1970s? Vilmos Zsigmond’s even more laid-back ‘pushed and pre-flashed’ cinematography made industry news by shooting in places that normally needed three times more artificial light. The characters are vivid, as portrayed by Nina Van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, and Mark Rydell. It’s also a terrific Los Angeles film, from Marlowe’s Hollywood apartment to the Malibu Colony, and a dangster’s Sunset Blvd. tower office suite. Elliott Gould’s mellow Marlowe may be unfocused and sloppy, but he still subscribes to the old ethics, particularly where friendship and betrayal are concerned. And darn it, he cares about his pet cat.

The Long Goodbye

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1973 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 112 min. / Street Date December 14, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Elliott Gould,...

Cecil B. DeMille delivers a satisfying western epic starring Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy & Akim Tamiroff; the story of the building of a railroad is historically bogus but highly entertaining and action-filled. Joel McCrea is our favorite ethical frontier lawman; here he’s a troubleshooter keeping crooks, Indians and proto-Bolsheviks from delaying construction. The huge cast includes scores of favorite supporting actors — although the screen is so busy some of them will be hard to spot.

Union Pacific

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1939 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 135 min. / Street Date August 3, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Henry Kolker, Anthony Quinn, Lynne Overman.

Cinematography: Victor Milner

Art Directors: Hans Dreier, Roland Anderson

Film Editor: Anne Bauchens

Special Effects: Gordon Jennings, George Tomasini, Loren L. Ryder, Barney Wolff, Jan Domela, Paul K. Lerpae

Original Music: Sigmund Krumgold, John Leipold

Written by Jack Cunningham,...

The message of this ode to early Christian martyrs is overpowered by Cecil B. DeMille’s indulgence of his sanctimonious/perverse instincts: although seldom lumped in with other pre-Code sex & sadism offenders, there’s more salacious and violent content here than in a dozen ordinary ‘discouraged’ pre-Code pictures. Fredric March and Elissa Landi provide the pro-Christian idealism, but Charles Laughton and especially Claudette Colbert steal the show with marvelously wicked portraits of Emperor Nero and Empress Poppea. The smirks and come-hither looks are backed up with hot content that filled seats in Depression-era theaters.

The Sign of the Cross

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1932 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 125 min. / Street Date August 25, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Fredric March, Elissa Landi, Claudette Colbert, Charles Laughton, Ian Keith.

Cinematography: Karl Struss

Art Direction & Costumes (+ assistant director): Mitchell Leisen

Film Editor: Anne Bauchens

Original Music: Rudolph G. Kopp

Written by Waldemar Young,...

Ready for some good old-fashioned artistic propaganda, Soviet-style Russian filmmakers tried to make film grammar into an emotional-intellectual science, and these pro-Revolution masterpieces by Vsevolod Pudovkin are terrific lessons in cinematic persuasion. The first two commemorate big moments in proletarian revolt. The third heads east to Soviet Mongolia for an even more powerful demonstration of Pure Kino-Power harnessed to political ends. With plenty of extras including informed, insightful (and needed) audio commentaries.

The Bolshevik Trilogy

Three Films by Vsevolod Pudovkin

Blu-ray

Flicker Alley

1926-1928 / B&w / 1:33 flat / 87, 73, 131 (291) min.

Street Date March 23, 2020

Available through Flicker Alley / 34.95

Mother

The End of St. Petersburg

Storm Over Asia

Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin

The more abstract Soviet agit-prop film classics were a tough row to hoe in film school. We’d study the writings of Sergei Eisenstein, etc., but the theories on paper didn’t always apply to the films we could see. In...

Ready for some good old-fashioned artistic propaganda, Soviet-style? Russian filmmakers tried to make emotional-intellectual film grammar into a science, and these pro-Revolution masterpieces by Vsevolod Pudovkin are terrific lessons in cinematic persuasion. The first two commemorate big moments in proletarian revolt. The third heads east to Soviet Mongolia for an even more powerful demonstration of Pure Kino-Power harnessed to political ends. With plenty of extras including informed, insightful (and needed) audio commentaries.

The Bolshevik Trilogy

Three Films by Vsevolod Pudovkin

Blu-ray

Flicker Alley

1926-1928 / B&w / 1:33 flat / 87, 73, 131 (291) min.

Street Date March 23, 2020

Available through Flicker Alley / 34.95

Mother

The End of St. Petersburg

Storm Over Asia

Directed by Vsevolod Pudovkin

The more abstract Soviet agit-prop film classics were a tough row to hoe in film school. We’d study the writings of Sergei Eisenstein, etc., but the theories on paper didn’t always apply to the films we could see. In...

John Ford’s favorite western of his own work is a curiously gentle, endearingly simple hark-back to the verities of silent filmmaking. Mormons crossing the desert are encumbered by show people and beset by a nasty outlaw family — but don’t worry ’cause the Sons of the Pioneers will still be singing backup for ‘The Chuckawalla Swing.’ Ford rodeo discovery Ben Johnson returns with Harry Carey Jr. and every other Ford stock player not nailed down, and the marvelously direct cinematography is keyed to Ford’s idealized vision of life on the frontier.

Wagon Master

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1950 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date August 13, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Ben Johnson, Joanne Dru, Harry Carey Jr., Ward Bond, Charles Kemper, Alan Mowbray, Jane Darwell, Ruth Clifford, Russell Simpson, Kathleen O’Malley, James Arness, Francis Ford, Hank Worden.

Cinematography: Bert Glennon

Film Editor: Jack Murray

Original Music:...

In his day Buster Keaton’s popularity trailed that of Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd, but now those reputations have switched around. These two ‘lesser’ Keaton features generate more sheer fun than anything going. Seven Chances and Battling Butler are great on remastered Blu-ray — better materials, no missing frames — but do yourself a favor and find a way to see a Keaton picture with a big audience!

Seven Chances & Battling Butler: The Buster Keaton Collection Volume 3

Blu-ray

Cohen Film Collection

Street Date August 20, 2019 / 29.98

Original Music composed and Conducted by Robert Israel

Produced by Joseph M. Schenck

Starring, and Directed by Buster Keaton

Seven Chances

1925 / B&w + Color / 1:37 Silent Ap / 56 min.

Starring: Buster Keaton, Snitz Edwards, Ruth Dwyer, T, Roy Barnes, Jean Arthur, Constance Talmadge.

Cinematography: Elgin Lessley, Byron Houck

Art Direction: Fred Gabourie

Written by Clyde Bruckman, Jean Havez, Joseph Mitchell from a play by Roi Cooper Megrue

Directed...

Make room for a genuine rarity, come back from the cinema graveyard in excellent condition: a lavish color musical extravaganza from 1930 that’s been effectively Mia for generations. Universal undertook a daunting restoration of this ‘revue-‘ style spectacle, which includes a full presentation of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in its original orchestration.

King of Jazz

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 915

1930 / Color / 1:33 flat full frame / 98 105 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date March 27, 2018 / 39.95

Starring: Paul Whiteman, John Boles, Bing Crosby (unbilled),

Laura La Plante, Jeanette Loff, Glenn Tryon, Wiliam Kent, Slim Summerville, The Rhythm Boys, Kathryn Crawford, Beth Laemmle, Stanley Smith, Charles Irwin, George Chiles, Jack White, Frank Leslie, Walter Brennan, Churchill Ross, Johnson Arledge, Al Norman, Jacques Cartier, Paul Howard, Nell O’Day, The Tommy Atkins Sextette, Marion Stadler, Don Rose, The Russell Markert Girls.

Cinematography: Hal Mohr, Jerry Ash, Ray Rennahan

Film Editor: Maurice Pivar, Robert Carlisle...

Are ’70s auteur pictures liberated and loose, or flaky and undisciplined? Bob Rafelson’s Alabama escapade places Jeff Bridges amid a wide range of choice-quality nuts, with both Sally Field and Arnold Schwarzenegger staking their claim on the big screen. What do the changing face of The South and competition-level body building have to do with each other? You tell us!

Stay Hungry

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1976 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 102 min. / Street Date October 31, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.95

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, Arnold Schwarzenegger, R.G. Armstrong, Robert Englund, Helena Kallianiotes, Roger E. Mosley, Woodrow Parfrey, Scatman Crothers, Kathleen Miller, Fannie Flagg, Joanna Cassidy, Ed Begley Jr., Joe Spinell.

Cinematography: Victor J. Kemper

Film Editor: John F. Link II

Original Music: Byron Berline, Bruce Langhorne

Written by Bob Rafelson, Charles Gaines from his novel

Produced by Bob Rafelson, Harold Schneider

Directed by Bob Rafelson

Some movies are ahead of their time,...

He sings, he fixes cars, and he takes punches better than De Niro’s Raging Bull. Elvis Presley excels in one of his few ’60s pictures that shows an interest in being a ‘real movie,’ a remake of a boxing saga with entertaining characters and fine direction from noir specialist Phil Karlson. Plus Charles Bronson, Lola Albright and Joan Blackman in standout roles.

Kid Galahad

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1962 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 95 min. / Street Date August 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Elvis Presley, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman, Charles Bronson, Robert Emhardt, Liam Redmond, Judson Pratt, Ned Glass, George Mitchell, Roy Roberts, Michael Dante, Richard Devon, Jeff Morris, Edward Asner, Frank Gerstle, Seamon Glass, Bert Remsen.

Cinematography: Burnett Guffey

Film Editor: Stuart Gilmore

Original Music: Jeff Alexander

Written by William Fay, Francis Wallace

Produced by David Weisbart

Directed by Phil Karlson

What, a good Elvis Presley picture?...

Sometimes a movie is simply too good for just one special edition… Savant reached out to nab a British Region B import of Georges Franju’s horror masterpiece, to sample its enticing extras. And this also gives me the chance to ramble on with more thoughts about this 1959 show that inspired a score of copycats.

Eyes Without a Face (Bfi — U.K.)

Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD

Bfi

1959 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 90 min. / The Horror Chamber of

Dr. Faustus, House of Dr. Rasanoff, Occhi senza volto / Street Date August 24, 2015 / presently £10.99

Starring: Pierre Brasseur, Edith Scob, Alida Valli, Francois Guérin,

Béatrice Altariba, Juliette Mayniel

Cinematography: Eugen Schüfftan

Production Designer: Auguste Capelier

Special Effects: Charles-Henri Assola

Film Editor: Gilbert Natot

Original Music: Maurice Jarre

Written by Pierre Boileau, Thomas Narcejac, Pierre Gascar, Claude Sautet from a novel by Jean Redon

Produced by Jules Borkon

Directed by Georges Franju

Savant has reviewed Eyes Without a Face twice,...

J. K. Rowling is back with a wizard world tale over which she has complete control — a diverting period adventure starring Eddie Redmayne and scores of fanciful magic creatures that belong on an endangered species list. Yep, it’s 2+plus hours of CGI illusions — in glorious 3-D for those so equipped, and Ms. Rowling has populated it with charming, personable actors. “You know — for adults.”

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

3-D Blu-ray

J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

2016 / Color / 2:40 widescreen /133 min. / Street Date March 28, 2017 / 3-D 44.95; Blu-ray & DVD 35.99

Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Katherine Waterston, Samantha Morton, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Carmen Ejogo, Ron Perlman, Jon Voight, Josh Cowdery, Dan Hedaya, Johnny Depp. .

Cinematography: Philippe Rouselot

Film Editor: Mark Day

Original Music: James Newton Howard

Written by J. K. Rowling

Produced by J.K. Rowling, Lionel Wigram

Directed by David Yates

“And lo, the magical super-franchise of Harry Potter doth continue.

Wagon Tracks

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1919 / B&W / 1:33 Silent Ap / 64 min. / Street Date January 24, 2017 / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring William S. Hart, Jane Novak, Robert McKim, Lloyd Bacon, Leo Pierson, Bert Sprotte, Charles Arling.

Cinematography: Joseph H. August

Art direction: Thomas A. Brierley

Titles: Irvin J. Martin

Written by: C. Gardner Sullivan

Produced by: William S. Hart, Thomas H. Ince

Directed by: Lambert Hillyer

Last year we were gifted with an excellent Blu-ray of a silent John Ford western, 3 Bad Men, which turned out to be a satisfying sentimental action tale. This month we get a much older silent western that’s almost as interesting. Its star is William S. Hart, the silent icon most of know through a still of a man in a ten-gallon hat brandishing two pistols in a barroom. Hart frequently played gunslingers, but not always. Olive’s presentation of Wagon Tracks sees him...

"Death will take you as you sleep! A sleep as deep as Death!" Barbara Steele doesn't realize that her husband is using her to recover a forbidden sexual thrill. Riccardo Freda's film plays games with Alfred Hitchcock's filmography, but it also generates a Euro-horror spell like no other. Outrageous in 1962, it was a Technicolor ode to funereal surrealism. New in this review -- a crazy theory that might upend story assumptions about L'orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock. The Horrible Dr. Hichcock Blu-ray Olive Films 1962 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 77 88 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / L'orribile segreto del Dr. Hichcock; Raptus The Secret of Dr. Hichcock, The Terror of Dr. Hichcock / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98 Starring Barbara Steele, Robert Flemyng, Montgomery Glenn (SIlvano Tranquili), Teresa Fitzgerald (Maria Teresa Vianello), Harriet White (Harriet White Medin), Spencer Williams, All Christianson, Evar SImpson, Nat Harley. Cinematography Donald Green (Rafaele Masciocchi) Film Editor Donna Christie...

Clint Eastwood's mint juleps 'n' murder epic is an easygoing pleasure. Kevin Spacey, John Cusack and a host of great performances guarantee interest, but maybe I have to go to the book to really understand what's going on. A solid 'A' for this one, Clint. The Savannah tourism board must bless you in their nightly prayers. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Blu-ray The Warner Archive Collection 1997 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 155 min. / Street Date September 27, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 21.99 Starring John Cusack, Kevin Spacey, Jack Thompson, Irma P. Hall, Jude Law, Alison Eastwood, Paul Hipp, The Lady Chablis, Dorothy Loudon, Anne Haney, Kim Hunter, Geoffrey Lewis, Richard Herd, Jo Ann Pflug. Cinematography Jack N. Green Original Music Lennie Niehaus Written by John Lee Hancock from the book by John Berendt Produced by Clint Eastwood, Arnold Stiefel Directed by Clint Eastwood

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Clint Eastwood...

This early John Wayne oater displays the natural star quality and winning personality that sustained him through the 1930s -- it's a naïve, charming western that features some of The Duke's closest early associates. 'Neath Arizona Skies Blu-ray Olive Films 1934 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 52 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / available through the Olive Films website / 24.95 Starring John Wayne, Sheila Terry, Shirley Jane Rickert, Jack Rockwell, Yakima Canutt, Weston Edwards, Jay Wilsey, Earl Dwire, George 'Gabby' Hayes. Cinematography Archie Stout Film Editor Charles Hunt Original Music Billly Barber Written by Burl R. Tuttle from his story. Produced by Paul Malvern Directed by Harry L. Fraser

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Want to see where our western film heritage really came from? Big studios made giant wagon train movies, epics about the railroad and star-driven biographies of Billy the Kid, but the genre was sustained by a steady diet of six reel 'oaters,...

"Sorry, I just slashed my wrists." "Well, tape 'em!"  This is the aftermath of the '60s protest movement. Ivan Passer's riveting murder mystery of flakes and losers in sun-drenched, guilty Santa Barbara expresses the rage of radicals faced with the growing class divide, and the arrogance of the wealthy. Cutter's Way Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1981 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 109 min. / Ship Date , 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Jeff Bridges, John Heard, Lisa Eichhorn, Ann Dusenberry, Stephen Elliott, Arthur Rosenberg, Nina Van Pallandt. Cinematography Jordan Cronenweth Production Designer Josan F. Russo Film Editor Caroline Biggerstaff Original Music Jack Nitzsche Writing credits Jeffrey Alan Fiskin, from the novel Cutter and Bone by Newton Thornburg. Produced by Paul R. Gurian Directed by Ivan Passer

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Sort of the bad-news post-graduate version of American Graffiti, Ivan Passer's Cutter's Way is a movie with a mindset and background that I partly lived through,...

Constance Cummings in 'Night After Night.' Constance Cummings: Working with Frank Capra and Mae West (See previous post: “Constance Cummings: Actress Went from Harold Lloyd to Eugene O'Neill.”) Back at Columbia, Harry Cohn didn't do a very good job at making Constance Cummings feel important. By the end of 1932, Columbia and its sweet ingenue found themselves in court, fighting bitterly over stipulations in her contract. According to the actress and lawyer's daughter, Columbia had failed to notify her that they were picking up her option. Therefore, she was a free agent, able to offer her services wherever she pleased. Harry Cohn felt otherwise, claiming that his contract player had waived such a notice. The battle would spill over into 1933. On the positive side, in addition to Movie Crazy 1932 provided Cummings with three other notable Hollywood movies: Washington Merry-Go-Round, American Madness, and Night After Night. 'Washington Merry-Go-Round...

By Søren Hough

Contributor

* * *

As the prequel films to the estimable The Lord of the Rings franchise, Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit films already carry with them a heightened expectation of narrative quality. However, there was more to The Lord of the Rings than its epic story. Every part of the production was groundbreaking; filming all three movies at once in New Zealand alone was an unprecedented move. But perhaps most notable about The Lord of the Rings was Jackson’s and Weta Workshop’s prodigious use of the latest in special effects technology. With The Hobbit movies, Jackson is endeavoring to change the cinematic landscape again. And this time, he’s doing it by embracing High Frame Rate (Hfr) filmmaking.

The frame rate of cinema has always been a product technological limitation. At the dawn of film, pioneers of the form found that they could create motion by rapidly...

Here I am struggling to get an issue of my newsletter finished, after an embarrassing amount of time, and a brand-new fanzine arrives on my desk. Pop Twenty is an exceedingly handsome publication, bound like an oversized paperback and filled with rare and beautiful stills. It’s the brainchild of Bob Birchard and Mike Bifulco, who have pooled their resources to create a home for interviews, articles, and photo features focusing on all aspects of 20th Century pop culture, with an emphasis on the golden age of Hollywood. Bob’s lead article details the making of Footlight Parade, including the revelation that Busby Berkeley didn’t direct all of its musical numbers. Mike...

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There will be a book signing by legendary actress Carla Laemmle at the famed Larry Edmunds Book Store in Hollywood on October 30 at 7:00 Pm. Ms. Laemmle is the niece of Carl Laemmle, the founder of Universal Pictures and is the only living cast member of the silent version of The Phantom of the Opera the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula. Ms. Laemmle, who just celebrated her 100th birthday, will be joined by her co-authors Bob Birchard and Rick Atkins for a signing of her autobiography Among the Rugged Peaks. Birchard will also give a talk on the early days of Universal Studios. The book shop is located at 6644 Hollywood Boulevard. For more info call 323-463-3273.

In continuation of her centennial birthday celebration, Carla will be doing another signing event – this time promoting two new books about her life. With her will be the authors of both books – Rick Atkins, author of Carla’s biography, Among the Rugged Peaks, and Bob Birchard, author of Early Universal City. It’s coming up soon, so fans of early Universal horror should make sure to check it out… see below for details.