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After merging his Atomic Monster film and TV production company with Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions earlier this year, James Wan looks to have finally set his next movie to direct, a remake of the 1954 monster horror film Creature From the Black Lagoon. More on this upcoming movie and Wan's potential involvement below.

Many people might recognize Wan as the creator of the highly successful The Conjuring Universe. He's also the co-creator of other successful horror franchises, such as the Saw franchise and the Insidious film series. But while he's been signed on as producer or executive producer on recent projects, he hasn't sat in the director's chair since 2023's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

Now, it's been reported that he's in early talks to direct a Creature From the Black Lagoon remake for Atomic Monster and Universal Pictures. He will reportedly produce the film through his Atomic Monster production company,...

James Wan has been at the helm of several horror films, and he might have his take on a popular horror remake. Wan is currently in talks to helm a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon.

James Wan is a very complex director with a preference for horror. He has created, co-created, and directed many popular horror franchises, including Saw, Insidious, and The Conjuring, but he's also had his shot at 2015's Furious 7 and the two Aquaman films. Per The Hollywood Reporter, Wan is currently in talks to have a new take on the classic Universal monster.

Related The Conjuring 4 Sets Theatrical Release Date, Confirmed as Final Mainline Entry

New Line announces when the final mainline installment in The Conjuring Universe will be released in theaters.

Wan and his collaborators reportedly presented Universe with a pitch for a remake of the classic horror film: Creature from the Black Lagoon.

James Wan is now in talks to remake The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Creature from the Black Lagoon was originally a 1954 monster horror film that told the story of a strange Amazonian beast that scientists are attempting to capture and bring back to study. Creature from the Black Lagoon was directed by Jack Arnold and featured a leading cast including Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, and Nestor Paiva.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, Wan is now in talks to helm a remake of Creature from the Black Lagoon.

More to come...

Source: THR...

Ranking up there with “Ryan Coogler rebooting The X-Files” as one of the most unexpected pieces of news today is the announcement that The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman will be producing a remake of the 1956 horror film The Mole People (watch it Here) for Universal Pictures. Deadline reports that the project was pitched by Christopher Winterbauer, director of the HBO Max Original Moonshot, who will be writing the screenplay. The news is surprising because The Mole People isn’t exactly one of the most popular titles in the Universal library.

Directed by Virgil Vogel from a screenplay written by László Görög, The Mole People told the story of three archaeologists who come upon an unusual race of albino beings who shun all forms of light and have mutant mole men as their slaves. Because of their “magical cylinders of fire” (what we know as flashlights), these archaeologists are treated...

Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer hit the big screen early in the 3-D craze, in a much tamed-down adaptation. The camera legend John Alton handled the lighting and likely called the shots on the camera setups as well. As a detective noir it’s definitely flat-footed, with a bum script, weak direction and a miscast Biff Elliot as the vengeful tough-guy hero. But compensating are the seductive Dran Hamilton, Margaret Sheridan and especially Peggie Castle — the key ‘dame’ in the pulp fiction finale. The United Artists release has been mostly Mia for decades,and this release presents it three ways: flat in both 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray, plus a beautiful restored 3-D Blu-ray encoding.

I, the Jury

4K Ultra HD + 3-D Blu-ray + Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1953 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 88 min. / Special Limited Edition / Street Date November 8, 2022 / Available from ClassicFlix / 34.99

Starring: Biff Elliot, Preston Foster, Peggie Castle, Margaret Sheridan, Alan Reed,...

It’s a classic from the Golden Year of 1939, directed in fine style by Wild Bill Wellman and well cast with Paramount stars Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, and Robert Preston, and with Brian Donlevy as one of the movies’ most hissable villains. The popular story has been remade and spoofed innumerable times, yet this remains the indelible best version. A commentary with William Wellman Jr. and Frank Thompson points out many things we didn’t notice before, including where some excised scenes belong, and what originally happened in them.

Beau Geste

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1939 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 112 min. / Street Date April 7, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Gary Cooper, Ray Milland, Robert Preston, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, J. Carrol Naish, Albert Dekker, Broderick Crawford, Charles Barton, James Stephenson, Heather Thatcher, George P. Huntley, Donald O’Connor, Billy Cook, Martin Spellman, Ann Gillis, David Holt, Henry Brandon, Nestor Paiva, Francis McDonald.

All hail Olivia de Havilland, America’s longest living movie star. The more de Havilland pictures we see, the more we admire her taste and judgment in roles… or is that better expressed as, the more we admire her ability to guide a near-perfect career, going so far as to defy the studios in court. This 1941 drama has director Mitchell Leisen in fine form, a smart script by Brackett & Wilder, and a central topic that’s currently quite hot: illegal immigration.

Hold Back the Dawn

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 116 min. / Street Date July 16, 2019 / 39.95

Starring: Charles Boyer, Olivia de Havilland, Paulette Goddard, Victor Francen, Walter Abel, Curt Bois, Rosemary DeCamp, Nestor Paiva, Eva Puig, Micheline Cheirel, Madeleine Lebeau, Mikhail Rasumny, Charles Arnt, Mitchell Leisen, Brian Donlevy, Kitty Kelly, Veronica Lake, Carlos Villarías, Richard Webb.

Cinematography: Leo Tover

Film Editor: Doane Harrison

Original Music: Victor Young

Written by Charles Brackett,...

Back we go the golden age of the drive-in, or at least what many see as the ideal time freeze of a continent; family values, mom and dad and the kids loading into the car for a wholesome night under the sky. But the most popular films on the outdoor screen were the horror movies, and those were hitting their very own genre idealism with Atomic Horror, led off by 1954’s Them!, which brought giant ants from their hills to Hollywood’s with resounding success. It was open season on gargantuan critters after that, and first out of the gate was Tarantula! (1955), melding together a larger than life spider with some mad scientist action to create a unique and fun addition to the canon.

As a matter of fact, Tarantula! stands as one of the best B’s from the era; solid performances and pretty damn great special effects help...

A plug for commercial exterminators everywhere, William Alland’s titanic hairy spider provided plenty of chills for 1950s drive-ins, delivering exactly the naïve monster thrills teenagers craved. John Agar and Mara Corday do what they can with the clunker script and Jack Arnold’s direction, while Leo G. Carroll saves face by retreating below a rubber mask that makes him look like Droopy Dog. But for fans that like their monsters as big as the Great Outdoors, Clifford Stine and David Horsley’s startling special effects provide a spider-verse of sensational, surreal insect fear.

Tarantula

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1955 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 80 min. / Street Date April, 2019 / 29,99

Starring: John Agar, Mara Corday, Leo G. Carroll, Nestor Paiva, Ross Elliott, Edwin Rand, Raymond Bailey, Hank Patterson.

Cinematography: George Robinson

Special Optical Effects and Cinematography: Clifford Stine, David S. Horsley

Original Music: Herman Stein, Henry Mancini

Written by Jack Arnold, Robert M. Fresco,...

Verily, Blu-ray 3-D is better than most theatrical 3-D! Paramount’s fourth and last 3-D production went out to theaters only in 2-D, so for all practical terms this Kino/3D Archive restoration is a depth-format premiere. Expect a kissing scene or two: lusty Fernando (¿Quién es más macho?) Lamas and demure Rhonda Fleming succumb to the sweaty allure of the tropics. He pushes the sex appeal more than she does! Together they take a 3-D trek to where the headhunters roam, into a jungle to secure a golden treasure.

Jivaro

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date March 26, 2019 / 34.95

Starring: Fernando Lamas, Rhonda Fleming, Brian Keith, Lon Chaney Jr., Richard Denning, Rita Moreno, Marvin Miller, Morgan Farley, Pascual García Peña, Nestor Paiva, Gregg Barton.

Cinematography: Lionel Lindon

Film Editor: Howard Smith

Original Music: Gregory Stone

Written by Winston Miller, story by David Duncan

Produced by William H. Pine,...

Not enough love is set aside for this ambitious, under-budgeted Lost Civilization epic. John Agar and Cynthia Patrick find love in an ancient albino race that worships a Death Ray and enslaves a race of Subterranean Humanoid Underground Dwellers — Mole Men, what else? It’s unconvincing and the production lacks polish, but it’s also got clever story gimmicks and sympathetic monsters, so it gets a warm reception at CineSavant Central.

The Mole People

Blu-ray

Scream Factory

1956 / B&W / 1.85:1 + 2:1 widescreen / 77 min. / Street Date February 26, 2019 / 27.99

Starring: John Agar, Cynthia Patrick, Hugh Beaumont, Alan Napier, Nestor Paiva, Phil Chambers, Rodd Redwing, Robin Hughes, Frank Baxter, Eddie Parker.

Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter

Film Editor: Irving Birnbaum

Mask Maker: Jack Kevan

Special Photography: Clifford Stine

Written by László Görög

Produced by William Alland

Directed by Virgil Vogel

“Mole Hole, Mole Hole — A land of renown!

Iraq is Up and Sumeria’s down!

Before February draws to a close, we have one more batch of horror and sci-fi home media releases coming our way, including the Oscar-nominated Border, which this writer loved. There are also a ton of great cult titles that are finally getting their dues this week, including Mausoleum, Invasion of the Blood Farmers, Wacko, Next of Kin, and for all you classic sci-fi fans, Scream Factory is showing some love to The Mole People as well, and if you missed it in theaters, The Possession of Hannah Grace comes home on Tuesday, too.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for February 26th include Willard (2003), Party Line, Bullitt County, Atone, and Battle for the Lost Planet/Mutant War.

Border

Tina (Eva Melander) is a border guard who has the ability to smell human emotions and catch smugglers. When she comes across a mysterious man (Eero Milonoff) with a smell that confounds her detection,...

From a lost age...horror crawls from the depths of the earth! Scream Factory proudly presents The Mole People on Blu-ray for the first time in North America on February 26th, 2019. Scream Factory's release presents the film in two aspect ratios (1.85:1 and 2.00:1) and comes complete with special features including new featurette, new audio commentary with Film Historians Tom Weaver and David Schecter and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of The Mole People.

John Agar (Attack of the Puppet People), Hugh Beaumont (Leave It to Beaver) and Nestor Paiva (Creature from The Black Lagoon) star as three archaeologists who discover the remnants of a mutant five-millennia-old Sumerian civilization living beneath a glacier atop a mountain in Mesopotamia.

The party of archeologists come upon an unusual race of albino beings who shun all forms of light and have mutant mole men as their slaves. Because of their "magical cylinders...

Before he played Ward Cleaver—a familiar face in living rooms across the Us from 1957–1963—on Leave it to Beaver, Hugh Beaumont portrayed

Dr. Jud Bellamin in The Mole People. Scream Factory will release the 1956 adventure horror film on February 26th, and we've been provided with full release dates for the new Blu-ray of the vintage creature feature.

From the Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA – From a lost age…horror crawls from the depths of the earth! Scream Factory proudly presents The Mole People on Blu-ray for the first time in North America on February 26th, 2019. Scream Factory’s release presents the film in two aspect ratios (1.85:1 and 2.00:1) and comes complete with special features including new featurette, new audio commentary with Film Historians Tom Weaver and David Schecter and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of “The Mole People.”

John Agar (Attack of the Puppet People), Hugh Beaumont (Leave It to Beaver...

Grand action entertainment bursts forth on the high seas, showing us how much production value Golden Hollywood could lavish on an exciting, artful swashbuckler. Errol Flynn is at his glorious best, backed by greats like Flora Robson, Henry Daniell and Claude Rains in fine form. The special effects and full-sized ship sets impress in ways that computer generated images never will. And the rousing music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold seals the deal — the term ‘Timeless Classic’ was invented for marvels like this.

The Sea Hawk

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1940 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 127 min. / Street Date December 18, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Claude Rains, Donald Crisp, Flora Robson, Alan Hale, Henry Daniell, Una O’Connor, James Stephenson, Gilbert Roland, William Lundigan, Julien Mitchell, Montagu Love, J.M. Kerrigan, David Bruce, Fritz Leiber, Francis McDonald, Pedro de Cordoba, Ian Keith, Jack La Rue, Halliwell Hobbes, Victor Varconi,...

It’s controversy in the Black Lagoon! Universal releases a much-desired box of all three Gill Man epics — but goes cheap on the encoding and hands us a 3-D rendering of Revenge of the Creature at half-resolution. When is a Blu-ray not a Blu-ray? When it’s not even full HD. And all that after commissioning a state-of-the-art 4k 3-D video remaster!

Creature From the Black Lagoon: Complete Legacy Collection

Creature from the Black Lagoon (3-D + 2-D), Revenge of the Creature (3-D) + 2-D, The Creature Walks Among Us (2-D)

Blu-ray

Universal Studios Home Entertainment

1954-1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79, 82, 78 min. / Street Date August 28, 2018 / 39.98

Starring: Julie Adams, Lori Nelson, Leigh Snowden, Nestor Paiva, Richard Carlson, Jeff Morrow, John Agar, Rex Reason, Richard Denning, John Bromfield, Jeff Morrow, Greg Palmer…

and as the Gill Man: Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, Don Megowan, others.

Cinematography: William E. Snyder; Charles S. Welbourne; Maury Gertsman

Film...

I tell you it’s rough out there on Frisco Bay, especially when you say the word ‘Frisco’ within earshot of a proud San Francisco native. This Alan Ladd racketeering tale could have been written twenty years earlier, but it has Warner Color and the early, extra-wide iteration of the new movie attraction CinemaScope.

Hell on Frisco Bay

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen Academy / 98 min. / Street Date , 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, Joanne Dru, William Demarest, Paul Stewart, Perry Lopez, Fay Wray, Nestor Paiva, Willis Bouchey, Anthony Caruso, Tina Carver, Rod(ney) Taylor, Jayne Mansfield, Mae Marsh, Tito Vuolo.

Cinematography: John F. Seitz

Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted

Stunts: Paul Baxley

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Martin Rackin, Sydney Boehm from a book by William P. McGivern

Produced by George C. Berttholon, Alan Ladd

Directed by Frank Tuttle

Alan Ladd had always been...

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman

Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away in 2013 at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and...

Looking to discover a top-quality film that honors lasting values? Jean Renoir gives Zachary Scott and Betty Field as Texas sharecroppers trying to survive a rough first year. It's beautifully written by Hugo Butler, with given realistic, earthy touches not found in Hollywood pix. And the transfer is a new UCLA restoration. With two impressive short subjects in equal good quality. The Southerner Blu-ray Kino Classics 1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 92 min. / Street Date February 9, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Betty Field, Beulah Bondi, Carol Naish, Norman Lloyd, Zachary Scott, Percy Kilbride, Charles Kemper, Blanche Yurka, Estelle Taylor, Paul Harvey, Noreen Nash, Nestor Paiva, Almira Sessions. Cinematography Lucien Andriot Film Editor Gregg C. Tallas Production Designer Eugène Lourié Assistant Director Robert Aldrich Original Music Werner Janssen Written by Hugo Butler, Jean Renoir from a novel by George Sessions Perry Produced by Robert Hakim, David L. Loew Directed by Jean Renoir...

Susan Hayward. Susan Hayward movies: TCM Star of the Month Fiery redhead Susan Hayward it Turner Classic Movies' Star of the Month in Sept. 2015. The five-time Best Actress Oscar nominee – like Ida Lupino, a would-be Bette Davis that only sporadically landed roles to match the verve of her thespian prowess – was initially a minor Warner Bros. contract player who went on to become a Paramount second lead in the early '40s, a Universal leading lady in the late '40s, and a 20th Century Fox star in the early '50s. TCM will be presenting only three Susan Hayward premieres, all from her Fox era. Unfortunately, her Paramount and Universal work – e.g., Among the Living, Sis Hopkins, And Now Tomorrow, The Saxon Charm – which remains mostly unavailable (in quality prints), will remain unavailable this month. Highlights of the evening include: Adam Had Four Sons (1941), a sentimental but surprisingly...

Rex Ingram in 'The Thief of Bagdad' 1940 with tiny Sabu. Actor Rex Ingram movies on TCM: Early black film performer in 'Cabin in the Sky,' 'Anna Lucasta' It's somewhat unusual for two well-known film celebrities, whether past or present, to share the same name.* One such rarity is – or rather, are – the two movie people known as Rex Ingram;† one an Irish-born white director, the other an Illinois-born black actor. Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” continues today, Aug. 11, '15, with a day dedicated to the latter. Right now, TCM is showing Cabin in the Sky (1943), an all-black musical adaptation of the Faust tale that is notable as the first full-fledged feature film directed by another Illinois-born movie person, Vincente Minnelli. Also worth mentioning, the movie marked Lena Horne's first important appearance in a mainstream motion picture.§ A financial disappointment on the...

'Humoresque': Joan Crawford and John Garfield. 'Humoresque' 1946: Saved by Joan Crawford Directed by Jean Negulesco from a screenplay by Clifford Odets and Zachary Gold (loosely based on a Fannie Hurst short story), Humoresque always frustrates me because its first 25 minutes are excruciatingly boring – until Joan Crawford finally makes her appearance during a party scene. Crawford plays Helen Wright, a rich society lush in love with a tough-guy violin player, Paul Boray (John Garfield), who happens to be in love with his music. Fine support is offered by Paul's parents, played by Ruth Nelson and the fabulous chameleon-like J. Carroll Naish. Oscar Levant is the sarcastic, wisecracking piano player, who plays his part to the verge of annoyance. (Spoilers ahead.) Something wrong with that woman The Humoresque scenes between Paul and his mother are particularly intriguing, as the mother conveys her objections to Helen by lamenting, "There's something wrong with a woman like that!

'Hold Back the Dawn': Olivia de Havilland behind Charles Boyer and Paulette Goddard 'Hold Back the Dawn' 1941 movie: Olivia de Havilland steals show as small-town teacher in love Olivia de Havilland shines in Mitchell Leisen's melodrama Hold Back the Dawn, a sort of opening bracket for the director's World War II-era films. Adapted by Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett from Ketti Frings' semi-autobiographical story, Hold Back the Dawn stars Charles Boyer as George Iscovescu, a Romanian dancer unable to enter the U.S. from Mexico due to immigration quotas imposed at the onset of the European conflict. Paulette Goddard is his scheming former partner, Anita, who marries an American to gain entry into the country only to immediately leave the duped husband. George adopts the idea – a naïve small-town schoolteacher visiting a Mexican border town is his prey. As the unsuspecting teacher, Olivia de Havilland radiates understanding and sympathy.

Cary Grant movies: 'An Affair to Remember' does justice to its title (photo: Cary Grant ca. late 1940s) Cary Grant excelled at playing Cary Grant. This evening, fans of the charming, sophisticated, debonair actor -- not to be confused with the Bristol-born Archibald Leach -- can rejoice, as no less than eight Cary Grant movies are being shown on Turner Classic Movies, including a handful of his most successful and best-remembered star vehicles from the late '30s to the late '50s. (See also: "Cary Grant Classic Movies" and "Cary Grant and Randolph Scott: Gay Lovers?") The evening begins with what may well be Cary Grant's best-known film, An Affair to Remember. This 1957 romantic comedy-melodrama is unusual in that it's an even more successful remake of a previous critical and box-office hit -- the Academy Award-nominated 1939 release Love Affair -- and that it was directed...

Reactions from the talent behind films eviscerated on MST3k have varied (it could be a joke, but the crew claims Joe Don Baker of Mitchell fame wants to take a swing at them), though not as much as fans of the films proper. A famous, though unverified, story has Dennis Miller flying the cast to a filming of his HBO show only to scream at them for having their way with Marooned! In light of the recent announcement that creator Joel Hodgson wants to reboot the cult favourite, here’s a look at a few episodes that may not have been playing fair.

5. Revenge of The Creature (Season 8, Episode 1)

There is a delicate chemistry to enjoying trash on its own merit. Too bad or too good, it can easily throw things off-balance into the oblivion of the unwatchable. Creature upped the stakes of the classic original by bringing it to local beaches and,...

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve dedicated a lot of time to covering the World 3-D Film Expo, which took place at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood and knocked my socks off. One of the headlining films, the most exciting one for us certainly, was Creature From The Black Lagoon, the legendary monster flick from Jack Arnold that starred Richard Carlson, Richard Denning, Nestor Paiva, and one Julie Adams, who may very well be the most famous scream queen of all-time thanks to her iconic role as Kay.

Julie and her son, Mitchell Danton, were in attendance for the Expo (for two screenings, Wings Of The Hawk also played) for a book signing and Q&A after the screening. I was lucky enough to get a chance to talk with the delightful pair, catching them after a late breakfast (as Mitch says, “a day can never start too late,...

After opening day of the World 3-D Film Expo III at the Sid Grauman Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, where two diverse hits from 1953 where aired, Hondo and House Of Wax, the next day brought with it the blockbuster outing of the entire festival. Especially for monster kids.

Following The Maze and Bwana Devil, Saturday brought us Jack Arnold’s Creature From The Black Lagoon on the big screen, in 3-D, how it was intended to be seen, with star Julie Adams (aka Kay Lawrence, the luminescent bombshell in the classic white swimsuit) in attendance for a Q&A after the show. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I was blessed with the opportunity to talk with Julie Adams and her son Mitch Danton before the festival, in an interview that is forthcoming (stay glued to Facebook, Twitter, and the website for details!). At the Expo, I was able...

Ann Blyth movies: TCM schedule on August 16, 2013 (photo: ‘Our Very Own’ stars Ann Blyth and Farley Granger) See previous post: "Ann Blyth Today: Light Singing and Heavy Drama on TCM." 3:00 Am One Minute To Zero (1952). Director: Tay Garnett. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman. Bw-106 mins. 5:00 Am All The Brothers Were Valiant (1953). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth. C-95 mins. 6:45 Am The King’S Thief (1955). Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven. C-79 mins. Letterbox Format. 8:15 Am Rose Marie (1954). Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas. C-104 mins. Letterbox Format. 10:00 Am The Great Caruso (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, Ludwig Donath, Alan Napier, Pál Jávor, Carl Milletaire, Shepard Menken, Vincent Renno, Nestor Paiva, Peter Price, Mario Siletti, Angela Clarke,...

Fred MacMurray movies: ‘Double Indemnity,’ ‘There’s Always Tomorrow’ Fred MacMurray is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" today, Thursday, August 7, 2013. Although perhaps best remembered as the insufferable All-American Dad on the long-running TV show My Three Sons and in several highly popular Disney movies from 1959 to 1967, e.g., The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Boy Voyage!, MacMurray was immeasurably more interesting as the All-American Jerk. (Photo: Fred MacMurray ca. 1940.) Someone once wrote that Fred MacMurray would have been an ideal choice to star in a biopic of disgraced Republican president Richard Nixon. Who knows, the (coincidentally Republican) MacMurray might have given Anthony Hopkins a run for his Best Actor Academy Award nomination. After all, MacMurray’s most admired movie performances are those in which he plays a scheming, conniving asshole: Billy Wilder’s classic film noir Double Indemnity (1944), in which he’s seduced by Barbara Stanwyck, and Wilder...

Paul Henreid: From Eleanor Parker to ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’ (photo: Paul Henreid and Eleanor Parker in ‘Between Two Worlds’) Paul Henreid returns this evening, as Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of July 2013. In Of Human Bondage (1946), he stars in the old Leslie Howard role: a clubfooted medical student who falls for a ruthless waitress (Eleanor Parker, in the old Bette Davis role). Next on TCM, Henreid and Eleanor Parker are reunited in Between Two Worlds (1944), in which passengers aboard an ocean liner wonder where they are and where the hell (or heaven or purgatory) they’re going. Hollywood Canteen (1944) is a near-plotless, all-star showcase for Warner Bros.’ talent, a World War II morale-boosting follow-up to that studio’s Thank Your Lucky Stars, released the previous year. Last of the Buccaneers (1950) and Pirates of Tripoli (1955) are B pirate movies. The former is an uninspired affair,...

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, Sam Moffitt, and Tom Stockman

Special effects legend Ray Harryhausen, whose dazzling and innovative visual effects work on fantasy adventure films such as Jason And The Argonauts and The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad passed away last month at age 92. In 1933, the then-13-year-old Ray Harryhausen saw King Kong at a Hollywood theater and was inspired – not only by Kong, who was clearly not just a man in a gorilla suit, but also by the dinosaurs. He came out of the theatre “stunned and haunted. They looked absolutely lifelike … I wanted to know how it was done.” It was done by using stop-motion animation: jointed models filmed one frame at a time to simulate movement. Harryhausen was to become the prime exponent of the technique and its combination with live action. The influence of Harryhausen on film luminaries like Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson,...

Eleanor Parker 2013 movie series continues today (photo: Eleanor Parker in Detective Story) Palm Springs resident Eleanor Parker is Turner Classic Movies’ Star of the Month of June 2013. Thus, eight more Eleanor Parker movies will be shown this evening on TCM. Parker turns 91 on Wednesday, June 26. (See also: “Eleanor Parker Today.”) Eleanor Parker received her second Best Actress Academy Award nomination for William Wyler’s crime drama Detective Story (1951). The movie itself feels dated, partly because of several melodramatic plot developments, and partly because of Kirk Douglas’ excessive theatricality as the detective whose story is told. Parker, however, is excellent as Douglas’ wife, though her role is subordinate to his. Just about as good is Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Lee Grant, whose career would be derailed by the anti-Red hysteria of the ’50s. Grant would make her comeback in the ’70s, eventually winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her...