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With the announcement for the 76th Primetime Emmys set for July 17th, let’s travel back 70 years and revisit the winners of the 6th Emmy Awards held Feb. 11, 1954 at the venerable Hollywood Palladium and telecast on Khj. New categories introduced that year included best new program and supporting actor and actress in a TV series. Prior to 1954, performers were nominated as individuals, but this year the program for which they were nominated was also included. NBC was nominated for 36 Emmys, while CBS placed second with 30 and ABC trailing far behind with just three.

CBS’s cherished “I Love Lucy’ won its second Emmy for best comedy series, while Vivian Vance took home her only Emmy for the show for her supporting role as Ethel Mertz. The other nominees for comedy series were CBS’ “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show,” NBC’s “Mr. Peepers,” CBS’ “Our Miss Brooks,” and CBS “Topper.

Jackie Loughery, the first Miss USA who segued from the pageant world to a career in film and television in the 1950s and ’60s, died Friday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

Her death was announced on social media pages of the Miss USA organization.

“It is with great sorrow that we share the news of Jackie Loughery’s passing, a pioneer who made history as the First Ever Miss USA in 1952,” the organization wrote. “Jackie Loughery will always be remembered as a trailblazer in the world of beauty pageants. Her grace, poise, and intelligence captivated audiences and paved the way for future generations of women to shine on the stage.”

Following her news-making pageant win in 1952, Loughery had small or uncredited roles in several films and series before appearing as a beautiful alien in 1953’s Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. Also that year, she had credited roles in Take...

Jackie Loughery, who parlayed a victory in the first Miss USA pageant into an acting career that included a prominent role opposite future husband Jack Webb in the 1957 military drama The D.I., has died. She was 93.

Loughery died Friday in Los Angeles, Webb biographer Dan Moyer told The Hollywood Reporter. “She was like a mother to me and called me her kid,” he said.

The Brooklyn native also served as Johnny Carson’s assistant on a game show and appeared in the Western comedy Pardners (1956), starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis; the melodrama Eighteen and Anxious (1957), starring William Campbell; and the political drama A Public Affair (1962), starring Edward Binns.

And for television, Loughery portrayed the niece of the title character (Edgar Buchanan) on the 1955-56 syndicated Western series Judge Roy Bean.

Loughery played a cautious shop owner named Annie who is romanced by a tough U.S. Marine drill sergeant...

Let's hope that Magnum and Higgins keep away from marine life in this episode (and in the future).

After all, repossessing that stingray on Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 12 must have cost them money (not that that's something new).

The stingray ate all of the tropical fish in the La Mariana aquarium, which had to be expensive to replace. And how oblivious would Rick be not to notice the different fish?

Of course, Rick was so distracted over his possible date with Piper that maybe any lack of observation wouldn't be inexplicable.

The last episode's case scaled up quickly as Thomas and Juliet searched for the scammer who had ripped off Kumu's friend Ying, which grew into a matter of human trafficking.

The case on Magnum P.I. Season 5 Episode 13 promises to be less significant as the P.I.s are hired to find a missing high-end chef. (Let's hope it's a paying gig this time.

The Lone Ranger is one of the most iconic Western television shows ever to hit the air. However, it certainly didn’t receive the same amount of love when it came to certain audiences. The Lone Rangers only received three awards nominations over the course of its existence, starting in 1949 until its end after season 5 in 1957. The show never earned a single award, but it’ll always have the following nominations under its belt.

The plot follows a former Texas Ranger known as the Lone Ranger, played by Clayton Moore. After his brother and fellow lawmen die in an ambush, a Native American man he once saved named Tonto (Jay Silverheels) returns the favor. Wearing a piece of his brother’s clothing as a mask, the Lone Ranger fights outlaws along with Tonto across the Old West.

Primetime Emmy Awards – Best Film Made for and Viewed on Television in 1949 Clayton...

Somewhere in between his Oscar-winning portrayal of a gay lawyer dying of AIDS in "Philadelphia" and his performance as the mild-mannered captain of an Army detachment ordered to rescue the sole surviving son of a family that lost three of their children to the Normandy Invasion in "Saving Private Ryan," Tom Hanks was declared the James Stewart of his generation. The evidence was compelling. As Forrest Gump, astronaut Jim Lovell, and Sheriff Woody, Hanks had come to exemplify all that is right and decent about America. We saw the best of ourselves in his characters, while, off-screen, he exuded good, clean charm whenever he turned up on a talk show or a red carpet. He seemed affable, erudite, and kind. But to call him the Baby Boomer James Stewart was to ignore Stewart's willingness to play hard against type.

It is 2023, and Hanks has just delivered his first truly...

In 1978, nearly two decades into an already illustrious career, Bob Dylan released the movie Renaldo and Clara. Dylan wrote and starred in the film, which combined concert footage, interviews, and fiction. It was not well received. Many critics panned the film, with one even going so far as to say he wished Dylan had died before he had the chance to make it. This type of reaction begs the question: do we expect too much of Dylan?

Joan Baez and Bob Dylan | Icon and Image/Getty Images Bob Dylan released the movie ‘Renaldo and Clara’

During Dylan’s 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue tour, the musician decided to shoot a film. He partnered with playwright Sam Shepard to write a script, but Shepard admitted they didn’t get far.

Renaldo and Clara Posters #5

The beautiful yet somehow very funny Italian poster. "The music leaps off the screen with electrifying brilliance and power.

When your students are tanking their classes (if they attend at all) and dumping Fizzies tablets onto the varsity swim meet, you can't be a soft school administrator. That said, Dean Wormer would run Faber College more like Rikers if he had the opportunity. The gruff villain (played by John Vernon) is just one of the highlights of "National Lampoon's Animal House," John Landis' 1978 frat comedy, as the biggest authority standing in the way of Delta House's good time. The movie was penned by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller, pulling from their respective experiences in higher education. It was "National Lampoon Magazine" editor-in-chief and writer Kenney who came up with the Dean years before the movie, as the satirical "National Lampoon's High School Yearbook" featured Wormer as a civics teacher and coach. On the big screen, Wormer doesn't suffer fools or twerps, and he's as rigid about...

Celebrated cartoonist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes discusses his favorite formative films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Baxter (1989)

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Ghost World (2001) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Art School Confidential (2006)

Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Mudhoney (1965) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968)

Common Law Cabin (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Seven Minutes (1971)

Black Snake (1973)

An American Werewolf In London (1981) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews

Lady In A Cage (1964) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Wild One (1953)

Hush…...

Of the many TV-to-movie adaptations, the diciest propositions have always been the films based on series that were tailored to the personality of their stars. Dan Aykroyd made "Dragnet" work (until its lame action finale) because he was doing a dead-on, deadpan parody of Jack Webb's Sergeant Joe Friday, whereas the great Jim Varney struggled as Jed Clampett in 1993's "The Beverly Hillbillies" because, when it came to playing TV rednecks, he was too defined by his Ernest P. Worrell persona to approximate Buddy Ebsen's interpretation and/or add his own flourishes.

It gets dicier when you're adapting a show named after the actual star. Even if creator James L. Brooks went nutzoid and decided to revive "The Mary Tyler Moore" show starring Sydney Sweeney, there would be an audience of exactly zero for it. Fans of the show would be aghast at the notion of anyone trying...

Hollywood actors, writers and executives gathered at a memorial on Sunday in Santa Monica to remember power attorney Bert Fields with a string of stories about his legal prowess and sometimes unorthodox way of helping clients.

The larger-than-life litigator — with clients that included The Beatles, Warren Beatty, Tom Cruise, Edward G. Robinson and Michael Jackson — knew a lot of the secrets behind Hollywood scandals that happened throughout his six-decade-long career. Not to mention, he was yanked into a federal wiretapping and conspiracy probe into notorious private investigator Anthony Pellicano in the early 2000s.

The video that played to kick off the tribute addressed the controversies head-on — putting up a fake tabloid cover with the word “escandalo.” It also included a 1967 clip of his appearance on “Dragnet” (Jack Webb was a client) and a tribute from Tom Cruise.

“He’s a very unique adventure, someone I knew we could always count on.

The Law & Order television franchise is “commercial” for a “defective product,” said John Oliver on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight, capping a lengthy rant about the Dick Wolf cop shows that Oliver argued present an unrealistic and misleading depiction of law enforcement.

“If a medical show was giving us inaccurate information, we would say it’s dangerous,” Oliver said at one point, suggesting that if Grey’s Anatomy espoused misleading information about vaccines, “We’d probably be having a conversation about, [and] that’s essentially what Law & Order is doing.”

The franchise, Oliver argues, regularly promotes a message that “cops can always figure out who did it,” defense attorneys are an annoyance and police brutality is acceptable for “a just outcome.”

Making extensive use of show clips – Oliver never denies how entertaining and compelling the shows can be – the HBO host outlined numerous ways in which the fictional cops diverge from reality: On L&o: Svu,...

William Reynolds, an actor-turned-businessman best known for his six seasons starring on the TV series “The F.B.I.,” has died following a short illness. He was 90.

Reynolds portrayed F.B.I. agent Tom Colby on the hit ABC series from 1967 to 1973, joining the show in its third season. The role proved to be his last, as he pursued a business career beginning in the 1970s thereafter.

Born in 1931 in Los Angeles, Reynolds attended Pasadena City College and began acting in 1951. Signed to Universal, he appeared in the film “Carrie” (1952) among several other small parts in movies. That same year he was drafted into the military, but he resumed his work in Hollywood in 1955 with films like “Gunsmoke,” “Cult of the Cobra” and Douglas Sirk’s “All That Heaven Allows.”

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William Reynolds, who portrayed crime-stopping Special Agent Tom Colby opposite Efrem Zimbalist Jr. on the final seven seasons of the ABC crime drama The F.B.I., has died. He was 90.

Reynolds died Wednesday in Wildomar, California, from non-covid 19 complicated pneumonia, a family spokesperson announced.

The Los Angeles native also starred in three other series, all short-lived: as the trumpet player on the 1959 NBC drama Pete Kelly’s Blues, created by Jack Webb; on ABC’s The Islanders, a 1960-61 adventure show set in the East Indies; and on the World War II-set The Gallant Men, which ran on ABC from 1962-63.

In 1960, Reynolds memorably played a WWII officer who can’t ignore an ominous light on the faces of his men destined to be killed in the acclaimed Twilight Zone season-one episode “The Purple Testament.”

On the big screen, he appeared in the...

The cops-and-robbers formula is as reliable a formula as there is in entertainment, regardless of the medium. There are typically two approaches to these kinds of stories. The first is to focus on a detective, who could be anything from stolidly righteous (think Jack Webb's Sergeant Joe Friday) to relentlessly corrupt (they don't get much baser than Harvey Keitel's "Bad Lieutenant"). The other is to zero in on the crook, who could range from a principled thief in the Robin Hood mold to the charismatic murderers of Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas." There are endless possibilities in either approach, but, generally, a writer has...

The post Michael Mann's Vision For Heat Needed A Different Kind Of Movie Villain appeared first on /Film.

As principal photography begins on the historical comedy, ‘Seize Them! a lead cast of Aimee Lou Wood, Nicola Coughlan, Nick Frost, Lolly Adefope and Jessica Hynes has been announced.

Directed by Curtis Vowell (Baby Done, Fantail), the female-led comedy is set in the dark ages of Britain. Queen Dagan (Aimee Lou Wood) is master of all she surveys, with an ego to match – until she’s toppled by a revolution led by the charismatic Humble Joan (Nicola Coughlan). The Queen becomes a fugitive in her own land, a hefty bounty on her head. With the help of Shulmay (Lolly Adefope), a former servant with a lot of secrets – and Bobik (Nick Frost), a shit-shoveller who wants more out of life – Queen Dagan must face every conceivable hardship and danger as she embarks on a voyage to win back her throne. She also has to face up to the very worst parts of herself.

Principal photography commenced Monday at U.K. locations on historical comedy “Seize Them!,” directed by Curtis Vowell (“Baby Done”).

The cast includes BAFTA winner, Aimee Lou Wood (“Sex Education”), Lolly Adefope (“Shrill”), Nicola Coughlan, Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz”) and Jessica Hynes (“W1A”).

Written by Andy Riley (“Ron’s Gone Wrong”), “Seize Them!” is a female led comedy set in dark ages Britain where Queen Dagan (Wood) is toppled by a revolution led by Humble Joan (Coughlan). The Queen becomes a fugitive in her own land, a hefty bounty on her head. With the help of Shulmay (Adefope), a former servant with a lot of secrets and Bobik (Frost), a shit-shoveller who wants more out of life, Queen Dagan must face hardship and danger as she embarks on a voyage to win back her throne.

The film is produced by Damian Jones (“Absolutely Fabulous The Movie”) and Matthew James Wilkinson (“Yesterday”) and executive produced by Nigel Green,...

Two of the series' most tightly wrapped characters got the spotlight treatment.

Yup, Magnum P.I. Season 4 Episode 4 took a look inside Higgins and Katsumoto, with cases that hit close to home for both of them.

It was surprising that Juliet was willing to admit that she could use some professional help untangling some of her recent life changes.

It made perfect sense that Higgins did a deep dive into Dr. Ogawa before ever setting foot in her office. And even then, an anxious Juliet was ready to cut and run before she even started.

Ogawa had dealt with doubters before and appeared to be an ideal choice to crack the nut that is Higgins.

But, seeing the shift in Ogawa's temperament after she received that calendar reminder, Juliet put off that moment of revelation by offering instead to investigate the suicide of Ogawa's former teen patient.

Ogawa's need to know...

Tim Donnelly, the actor who is best known for playing fireman Chet Kelly on the 1970s TV series “Emergency!,” has died. He was 77.

The news was first shared by the Los Angeles County Fire Museum. Clearly, Donnelly held his television ties to the firefighter community quite dearly.

“We at the Fire Museum are heartbroken as we sure all of you will be as well regarding the following news. It is with deep sadness that we announce the sudden passing of our friend, Tim Donnelly, this weekend,” a Facebook post read. “Tim, as you know, played Chet Kelly on the show ‘Emergency!’ among many other roles during his acting career. Tim is survived by his daughter, Ashley, two grandsons, his sister Kathleen and his brother Dennis.”

“To all the ‘Emergency!’ fans, we want you to know that he was very excited about coming to the Museum in January for the 50th Anniversary,...

Tim Donnelly, who portrayed the fun-loving firefighter Chet Kelly on all six seasons of the 1970s NBC series Emergency!, has died. He was 77.

Donnelly died Friday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of complications from surgery, his older brother, director Dennis Donnelly, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Donnelly had appeared on the Jack Webb-produced shows Dragnet and Adam-12 when he was cast as Chet on the Webb-produced Emergency!, which starred Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as firefighter/paramedics and Robert Fuller, Julie London and Bobby Troup as doctors.

Working out of Station 51 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Donnelly was on 122 ...

Tim Donnelly, who portrayed the fun-loving firefighter Chet Kelly on all six seasons of the 1970s NBC series Emergency!, has died. He was 77.

Donnelly died Friday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, of complications from surgery, his older brother, director Dennis Donnelly, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Donnelly had appeared on the Jack Webb-produced shows Dragnet and Adam-12 when he was cast as Chet on the Webb-produced Emergency!, which starred Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as firefighter/paramedics and Robert Fuller, Julie London and Bobby Troup as doctors.

Working out of Station 51 of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, Donnelly was on 122 ...

Kate Winslet’s tough but tender small-town police detective Mare Sheehan of HBO’s acclaimed crime thriller “Mare of Easttown” is the latest in a long line of female TV detectives including S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law & Order”); Helen Mirren (“Prime Suspect”); Kyra Sedgwick (“The Closer); Mariska Hargitay (“Law & Order: Svu”) and Regina King (“Watchmen”).

Unfortunately, it took an inordinate amount of time for actresses to get a fair shake in police procedurals. Early TV crime dramas were inundated with the likes of taciturn toughies Lee Marvin (“M Squad”), Robert Taylor (“The Detectives”), Jack Webb (“Dragnet”) and Broderick Crawford (“Highway Patrol”). Way too much testosterone.

But slowly the dynamics began to change especially with the rise of the Women’s Movement. Here’s a look at five trailblazing female cop shows who paved the way.

Beverly Garland (“Decoy”)

After macho actor after macho actor as police detectives and cops,...

Join Joe Friday and Frank Smith as they make a case against the rotten gangland crooks that moiderized Dub Taylor with a shotgun, point blank! See detectives loiter about while smart remarks and Big music stings provide the excitement! The big-screen version of the hit TV show has a surfeit of guest crooks, unhappy women, and a script that wants to grant cops the right to harass and wiretap whoever they wish without restraint. Jack Webb’s ‘interesting’ ideas of script, performance and direction are really… interesting. The Joe Friday-fest comes with an informative commentary by Toby Roan, laying down plenty of Dragnet and Jack Webb history I didn’t know, not ‘just the facts.’

Dragnet

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 1:75 widescreen + 1:37 unmatted / 88 min. / Street Date November 17, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Jack Webb, Ben Alexander, Richard Boone, Ann Robinson, Stacy Harris, Virginia Gregg, Victor Perrin, Dub Taylor,...

Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. Pull up your mask – up over your nose – and we’ll hit the streets of Hollywood for this week’s diversion.

Fairy tales can come true, they can happen to you, if you keep a flamethrower in your pool house. Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 instant classic, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, takes late ‘60s Tinseltown and spins a happy ending for one of the saddest stories of the era.

Plenty of Los Angeles streets are featured in the film, with a soundtrack provided by Boss Radio Khj, pouring forth from car radio speakers. El Cielo Drive serves as a constant point of reference throughout the movie, and as the natural setting for its climax.

There are plenty of cocktail options included in Once Upon a Time…, if you...

Veteran journalists know that the public mood is quirky, so it’s always risky to report “a consensus.” A few days ago, for example, there seemed a “consensus” that Americans had lost confidence in their neighborhood cops. Further, their expectations about cops had been distorted by movies and television.

But then things became even more complicated: Donald Trump decided to mobilize an entirely new police force of uncertain origin and training, dispatching it to Portland, Seattle and other major cities. This left the public to figure out a new way to respond to “authority” and, for the media, a new strategy for covering the incursions.

Yet another complication: Only a year ago, the data reflected a decade-long decline in violent crime. Now suddenly the crime rate was exploding. And the rising numbers don’t begin to include the clashes stemming from new protests prompted by the arrival of Trump’s Troopers.

To mark the release of Police Squad: The complete Series on 20th April, we’ve been given 1 copy to give away on Blu-ray.

There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. Here are six. Join Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) and Capt. Ed Hocken (Alan North) as they solve the toughest cases – full of all the sight-gags, puns, and non sequiturs that made the series famous! Created by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, who gave us other classics such as Flying High! and The Naked Gun series.

Marginally a “straight” police drama in the Jack Webb/Quinn Martin school, Police Squad occurs in a strange universe where everything is taken literally (when a name “rings a bell” we hear bells go off every time someone mentions it), non sequiturs occur and sight gags abound.

Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only

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The...

Our 75th guest! The legendary filmmaker John Sayles joins Josh and Joe to explore some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Ulzana’s Raid (1972)

Django (1966)

The Birth Of A Nation (1915)

City Of Hope (1991)

Return of the Secaucus 7 (1980)

The Challenge (1982)

Avalanche (1978)

Eight Men Out (1988)

Piranha (1978)

The Howling (1981)

The Wizard Of Oz (1939)

The Killers (1964)

The King And I (1956)

Time Without Pity (1957)

The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964)

Ben-Hur (1957)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Two Women (1960)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Spartacus (1960)

Fixed Bayonets! (1951)

The Steel Helmet (1951)

Merrill’s Marauders (1962)

Targets (1968)

Touch Of Evil (1958)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Woodstock (1970)

Crime In The Streets (1956)

The Bad Seed (1956)

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

Fedora (1978)

Dune (1984)

The Cotton Club (1984)

Choose Me (1984)

Raising Arizona (1987)

El Norte (1983)

Yellow Sky (1948)

Apocalypse Now (1979)

The Irishman (2019)

A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood (2019)

The Thing (1982)

Chinatown (1974)

Manhattan (1979)

Duck Amuck (1953)

Goodfellas (1990)

Humanoids Of The Deep (1980)

Cockfighter (1974)

Dynamite Women a.k.a. The Great Texas Dynamite Chase...

Cinema Retro has received the following press release:

Normal 0 false false false En-us X-none X-none

Mediumrare Entertainment is proud to announce Police Squad! The Complete Series available for the first time on Blu-ray from 20th April 2020

Starring Leslie Nielson, Alan North & Ed Williams

There are 8 million stories in the Naked City. Here are six. Join Detective Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) and Capt. Ed Hocken (Alan North) as they solve the toughest cases - full of all the sight-gags, puns, and

non sequiturs that made the series famous! Created by David Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams, who gave us other classics such as Flying High! and The Naked Gun series.

Be an eye-witness to all the comedic action for the first time in stunning High Definition

Available to pre-order now from Amazon

Synopsis

Marginally a "straight" police drama in the Jack Webb/Quinn Martin school, Police Squad occurs in a...

Edd Byrnes, star of the 1950s and ’60s TV hit “77 Sunset Strip” who went on to co-star in the 1978 smash “Grease,” has died, the actor’s son, Logan Byrnes, confirmed Thursday via Facebook. He was 87.

Byrnes died at his home in Santa Monica, according to Logan Byrnes, who is a news anchor for Kusi-tv San Diego.

Byrnes became a comedic sensation as the co-star of the ABC detective drama “77 Sunset Strip,” starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as a hip L.A. private detective. Byrnes played Kookie, the parking lot attendant with a habit of running his comb through his slick hair. His character, Gerald Kookson III, introduced a host of early ’60s slang into mainstream primetime culture.

The series was among a slew of slick action-dramas that the fledgling Warner Bros. Television division produced for the Big Three networks in the late 1950s and early ’60s.

The Kookie character...

Bob Newhart has been selected by Gold Derby editors to receive a special Career Achievement Award at our Emmy season kickoff party on June 5 in Hollywood.

Newhart is not only an Emmy Award winner and frequent nominee, but the Emmys once played a lucky, key role in launching his early TV success.

Back in 1960, Newhart was known chiefly as the first artist ever to reach number 1 on the Billboard sales charts with a hit comedy album – “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” He was not yet a TV star, but he was invited to perform a solo skit at the next Emmys telecast. At the last minute, Newhart was suddenly given lots of extra airtime when an “inappropriate” comedy skit planned by Mike Nichols and Elaine May got nixed (it had the nerve to mock an advertiser) and TV producers had to fill the time.

“The show managed to usher...

Herb Ellis, an actor and director known for helping Jack Webb create the iconic TV series Dragnet, died Dec. 26 in San Gabriel, Calif. He was 97.

Born Herbert Siegel in Cleveland, Ohio on Jan. 7, 1921, Ellis was a radio actor and director. His frequent collaborations with Webb included a pilot they wrote titled Joe Friday, Room Five which later served as the foundation for the iconic TV procedural Dragnet.

For the first eight episodes of the series, which debuted in 1952, Ellis played Officer Frank Smith opposite Webb before Ben Alexander took over the role until the series ended in 1959.

In addition to Dragnet, Ellis appeared in various other radio series including Dangerous Assignment, Escape, Tales of the Texas Rangers, and The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe.

On the movie side, Ellis appeared in notable films such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing and Billy Wilder’s The Fortune Cookie.

In 1967, he returned...

Herb Ellis, a veteran character actor who helped Jack Webb create the legendary cop show Dragnet, has died. He was 97.

Ellis died Dec. 26 in San Gabriel, Calif., his daughter, Karen, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ellis played bistro owner Wilbur on the NBC-ABC crime drama Peter Gunn, created by Blake Edwards, and was the film director in the opening scene that sees Peter Sellers create havoc on his set in Edwards' 1960 comedy, The Party (1968). He also appeared in the filmmaker's What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966).

Other notable big-screen appearances came in Stanley Kubrick's ...

Herb Ellis, a veteran character actor who helped Jack Webb create the legendary cop show Dragnet, has died. He was 97.

Ellis died Dec. 26 in San Gabriel, Calif., his daughter, Karen, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ellis played bistro owner Wilbur on the NBC-ABC crime drama Peter Gunn, created by Blake Edwards, and was the film director in the opening scene that sees Peter Sellers create havoc on his set in Edwards' 1960 comedy, The Party (1968). He also appeared in the filmmaker's What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966).

Other notable big-screen appearances came in Stanley Kubrick's ...

TV or, not TV, that is the question. The answer is TV.

I know, I’ve spent the past five columns writing about a TV show and not comic books, and also four out of the five columns before that doing the same. But sometimes these TV shows are just asking for it.

Like “By His Own Verdict,” the November 15, 1963 episode of 77 Sunset Strip. Okay, most of us weren’t even born when this episode first aired. And those of us who were – like, gulp, me – couldn’t shave yet. But the law involved in the story hasn’t changed in the almost fifty-five years since the episode aired. In fact, it’s been the law since 1910, which is before all of us were born. So the topic is still topical, even if it’s not timely.

Joseph Cotton played Arnold Buhler, a criminal defense attorney who was about to retire.

Back in the 1960s, the line between TV and movie stars was never more clearly defined, with actors from television seldom being able to make it on the big screen while film actors turned their noses up at the small screen. Don Knotts, however, was an exception, not only dreaming of movie stardom, but actually achieving it. In some ways, that's pretty surprising when you consider just how successful he was as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. He played the character with the understanding that series star Andy Griffith only intended to stay with it for five years, giving himself a deadline of sorts by which he needed to parlay that show's success into something bigger. Andy ended up changing his mind because of financial incentives thrown his way, while Don didn't, having been offered a five-film deal with Univeral. He chose to leave the show,...

Joseph Wambaugh’s breakthrough novel went through a blender to fit George C. Scott into the narrative, but it’s still a great cop show with terrific work from Stacy Keach and Scott Wilson, not to mention Jane Alexander and Rosalind Cash. The pro-cop agenda has a definite tone of personal experience, and the grim finish is anything but feel-good puffery.

The New Centurions

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1972 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: George C. Scott, Stacy Keach, Jane Alexander, Scott Wilson, Rosalind Cash, Erik Estrada, Clifton James, James Sikking, Isabel Sanford, Carol Speed, William Atherton, Ed Lauter, Dolph Sweet, Stefan Gierasch, Roger E. Mosley, Pepe Serna, Kitten Natividad.

Cinematography: Ralph Woolsey

Film Editor: Robert C. Jones

Production Design: Boris Leven

Original Music: Quincy Jones

Written by Stirling Silliphant, Robert Towne (uncredited) from the book by Joseph Wambaugh

Produced by Robert Chartoff,...

Sam Fuller turns the crime film inside-out with this tale of on infiltrator taking down the syndicate. Vengeful Cliff Robertson uses both the mob and the cops to wipe out the hoods that killed his dad, with the help of two women, one of them a hooker with a heart of gold. The show feels like a ’30s throwback with a precociously violent streak, spiked with a healthy helping of what the critics would call Fuller’s ‘Cinema Fist.’

Underworld U.S.A.

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1961 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Cliff Robertson, Dolores Dorn, Beatrice Kay, Paul Dubov, Robert Emhardt, Larry Gates, Richard Rust, Gerald Milton, Neyle Morrow, Peter Brocco, Bernie Hamilton.

Cinematography: Hal Mohr

Film Editor: Jerome Thoms

Original Music: Harry Sukman

Written, Produced and Directed by Samuel Fuller

Samuel Fuller’s successes with distributor-producer Robert Lippert...

Here’s something odd: the formative feature in Roger Corman’s proto- career. Roger gets credits for Story and Associate Producer, and learned what he needed to learn to produce two movies of his own in the same year. The modest crime thriller sees Richard Conte involved with three women during a chase on dusty desert roads: noir star Joan Bennett and young Wanda Hendrix are a suspicious pair, but special guest Hot Number Mary Beth Hughes all but steals the show.

Highway Dragnet

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 70 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, Wanda Hendrix, Mary Beth Hughes, Reed Hadley, Iris Adrian.

Cinematography: John Martin

Film Editor: Ace Herman

Written by Herb Meadow, Jerome Oldlum from a story by U.S. Andersen, Roger Corman

Produced by Jack Jungmeyer, William F. Broidy (executive), A. Robert Nunes & Roger Corman (associates)

Directed by...

Kylie Jenner just gave fans the answer to a long-awaited question: her daughter’s name!

Nearly a week after Jenner, 20, welcomed her newborn daughter with boyfriend Travis Scott, she revealed on Instagram Tuesday that her baby girl’s name is Stormi. The new mom shared a photo of her holding her daughter’s finger with the simple caption, “Stormi.” She completed the post with an angel emoji.

Big sister Kim Kardashian West and family matriarch Kris Jenner also took to Twitter to share the name announcement.

— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) February 6, 2018

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Meet my precious granddaughter Stormi!

Joe Friday made television history by focusing on the facts when investigating crimes.

But for most viewers, the facts -- and sometimes even the case of the hour -- are not as entertaining as the relationships between cops.

Whether played for laughs or part of a serious crime drama, cop partnerships are central to almost every crime drama.

Check out our picks for the 17 best partnerships and share your own.

1. The Andy Griffith Show: Andy Taylor and Barney Fife Andy Taylor and Barney Fife were one of the funniest, and best known, cop partnerships of the early 1960s. Andy was the straight-laced, serious sheriff trying to raise his son to be an upstanding citizen, while Barney was goofy, silly, and accident-prone. This duo was so popular that ANdy Griffith and Don Knotts teamed up again seeral times during the course of Griffith's later lawyer-turned-detective show, Matlock. 2. Dragnet 1967: Joe...

Do you think older crime thrillers weren’t violent enough? This shocker from 1948 shook up America with its true story of a vicious killer who has a murderous solution to every problem, and uses special talents to evade police detection. Richard Basehart made his acting breakthrough as Roy Martin, a barely disguised version of the real life ‘Machine Gun Walker.

He Walked by Night

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1948 / B&W /1:37 flat full frame / 79 min. / Street Date November 7, 2017 / 39.99

Starring: Richard Basehart, Scott Brady, Roy Roberts, Whit Bissell, James Cardwell, Jack Webb, Dorothy Adams, Ann Doran, Byron Foulger, Reed Hadley (narrator), Thomas Browne Henry, Tommy Kelly, John McGuire, Kenneth Tobey.

Cinematography: John Alton

Art Direction: Edward Ilou

Film Editor: Alfred De Gaetano

Original Music: Leonid Raab

Written by John C. Higgins and Crane Wilbur

Produced by Bryan Foy, Robert T. Kane

Directed by Alfred L. Werker

Talk about a movie with a dynamite...

Born 1917, as Jean-Pierre Grumbach, son of Alsatian Jews, Jean-Pierre adopted the name Melville as his nom de guerre in 1940 when France fell to the German Nazis and he joined the French Resistance. He kept it as his stage name when he returned to France and began making films.

Melville at 100 at the American Cinematheque in Hollywood is showcasing eight of his films made from 1949 to to 1972 to honor the 100th year since his birth.

Americn Cinemtheque’s historic Egyptian Theater in Hollywood

The American Cinematheque has grown tremendously sophisticated since its early days creating the 1960 dream of “The Two Garys” (for those who remember). Still staffed by stalwarts Barbara Smith, Gwen Deglise, Margot Gerber and Tom Harris, and with a Board of Directors of Hollywood heavy hitters, it has also been renovated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which has spent more than $500,000 restoring its infrastructure and repainting its famous murals.

Director Steve Sekely’s hardboiled film noir leans heavily on the talents of star-producer Paul Henreid and camera ace John Alton — the three of them whip up the best gimmick-driven noir thriller of the late ‘forties. Strained coincidences and unlikely events mean nothing when this much talent is concentrated in one movie. It’s also a terrific show for star Joan Bennett, who expresses all the disappointment, despair and angst of a noir femme who knows she’s in for more misery.

The Scar (Hollow Triumph)

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 83 min. / Street Date April 18, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Paul Henreid, Joan Bennett, Eduard Franz, Leslie Brooks, John Qualen, Mabel Paige, Herbert Rudley, George Chandler, Robert Bice, Henry Brandon, Franklyn Farnum, Thomas Browne Henry, Norma Varden, Jack Webb.

Cinematography: John Alton

Film Editor: Fred Allen

Original Music: Sol Kaplan

Written by Daniel Fuchs from a...

Chicago Justice Justice Not Believable

Between the Law & Order franchise, the Chicago franchise, and the ill-conceived, even ill-advised, attempt to revive Dragnet without Jack Webb, Dick Wolf may be responsible for more hours of television that I haven’t watched than Susan Lucci. I know he’s created and produced some of the most popular shows on TV, but I think his collected works are oeuvre-rated. So when I watched the first episode of his new show, Chicago Justice, I wasn’t expecting much. But even I wasn’t expecting so little.

First, there was the problem that the first episode of Chicago Justice was the third part of a three-part cross-over event that started in Chicago Fire and continued in Chicago P.D., neither of which I had watched. Fortunately, television still does something comic books seem unwilling to do nowadays, give recaps. So I was able to pick up...

It's not TV. It's The Young Pope.

We hope HBO will pardon our repurposing of their famous catchphrase for the sake of celebrating what creator Paolo Sorrentino, star Jude Law and everyone else involved in this extraordinary pulp-prestige TV project have wrought. But hey, if the slogan fits, wear it. Flip the channels or scroll through the streaming services all you want, but you won't find anything like this. Its combination of tightly controlled tone with beautifully bizarre flights of fancy and absolutely colossal camp stands alone. It's Hannibal for lapsed Catholics.

Just what is the dreaded ‘Process 97’? Henry Hathaway’s docu-drama combined newsreel ‘reality’ with a true espionage story from the files of the F.B.I., creating a thriller about spies and atom secrets that dazzled the film-going public. But how much of it was true, and how much invented?

The House on 92nd Street

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1945 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 88 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring William Eythe, Lloyd Nolan, Signe Hasso, Gene Lockhart, Leo G. Carroll, Lydia St. Clair, William Post Jr., Harry Bellaver, Bruno Wick, Harro Meller, Charles Wagenheim, Alfred Linder, Renee Carson, Paul Ford, Vincent Gardenia, Reed Hadley, E.G. Marshall, Elisabeth Neumann-Viertel.

Cinematography Norbert Brodine

Film Editor Harmon Jones

Original Music David Buttolph

Written by Barré Lyndon, Charles G. Booth, John Monks Jr.

Produced by Louis De Rochemont

Directed by Henry Hathaway

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

I can’t believe...

It’s usually reserved for summer, but for the next few weeks it’s “prequel” time at the multiplex. Of course summer has the “tent poles” and the “franchise” flicks, but two special cases are making a most momentous exception. In about six weeks (December 16 to be exact), film fans will all be abuzz, waiting to journey to that “galaxy far, far away” with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, an action fantasy set just before the events of 1977’s much beloved Episode Four. In the meantime, we’re getting a trip back to another movie fantasy world, that of Harry Potter. Actually it’s a history of that setting where “muggles” (human beings) and magical beings mix. This new film peaks behind the pages of one of the textbooks that Harry and his class mates studied at Hogwarts School. Its title? This beloved tome is Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them.

It’s not just a cliche: Everything old is indeed new again on TV, particularly this upcoming season.

Fox is leading the drive, with three upcoming shows based on existing titles: “The Exorcist,” a new take on an old horror franchise; “Lethal Weapon,” a remake of the 1980s buddy comedy, and “Prison Break,” which is a continuation of that original series (expected in early 2017). CBS is also on the bandwagon, with new takes on “MacGyver” and “Training Day.”

The networks went through a similar exercise last year, and the results were mixed. At Fox, “Minority Report” was a dud, but the return of “The X-Files” was a massive ratings hit. CBS’ “Rush Hour” was a miss, but a new version of “The Odd Couple” is picking up steam.

Just as sequel and franchise mania envelops the film biz, it’s easy to knock TV for its constant desire to ride the wayback machine.

FilmOn TV already has more than 600 channels and it’s going to be even more fun with 4 new channels. The online streaming service recently added four new channels that features classic movies and TV shows. Check out the new channels below: 1. Hollywood @ War (Movies) – Classic war films, told Hollywood-style, extracted from the FilmOn library vault. 2. Dragnet TV (Classic TV) – Just the facts, ma’am. Every week, Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb) follows the clues, the witnesses and uses a lot of crime jargon as he tries to catch one ‘perp’ or another in this classic TV series from the 1950′s and 60′s, set in Los [ Read More ]

The post FilmOn TV Adds Four New Channels For Your Viewing and Entertainment Pleasure appeared first on Shockya.com.

Dirty cops were a movie vogue in 1954, and Edmond O'Brien scores as a real dastard in this overachieving United Artists thriller. Dreamboat starlet Marla English is the reason O'Brien's detective kills for cash, and then keeps killing to stay ahead of his colleagues. And all to buy a crummy house in the suburbs -- this man needs career counseling. Shield for Murder Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Edmond O'Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones, Claude Akins, Herbert Butterfield, Hugh Sanders, William Schallert, Robert Bray, Richard Deacon, David Hughes, Gregg Martell, Stafford Repp, Vito Scotti. Cinematography Gordon Avil Film Editor John F. Schreyer Original Music Paul Dunlap Written by Richard Alan Simmons, John C. Higgins from the novel by William P. McGivern <Produced by Aubrey Schenck, (Howard W. Koch) Directed by Edmond O'Brien, Howard W. Koch

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)

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