It’s low-rent Noir A Go-Go: Angela Lansbury is a double-crossing femme fatale in this independent cheapie with modest charms. You can’t trust anyone these days, especially real estate developers with plans to collect Your life insurance. Lansbury is the seductive ‘motivator’ with a preference for late-night rendezvous in the high mountains, where everything is a long drop, nudge nudge wink wink. She makes with the hotcha come-ons but rugged Keith Andes is the one who goes around topless for an entire reel. One of the most obscure ’50s films noir, this one gives us a peek at an evocative Hollywood location or two.
A Life at Stake
Blu-ray
The Film Detective
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 76 min. / Street Date September 7, 2021 / 24.95
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglass Dumbrille, Claudia Barrett, Jane Darwell, Gavin Gordon, Charles Maxwell, William Henry.
Cinematography: Ted Allan
Set Designer: Robert Haver
Film Editor: Frank Sullivan
Original...
A Life at Stake
Blu-ray
The Film Detective
1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 76 min. / Street Date September 7, 2021 / 24.95
Starring: Angela Lansbury, Keith Andes, Douglass Dumbrille, Claudia Barrett, Jane Darwell, Gavin Gordon, Charles Maxwell, William Henry.
Cinematography: Ted Allan
Set Designer: Robert Haver
Film Editor: Frank Sullivan
Original...
- 9/4/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Surreal delirium in cinema! Gary Cooper and Ann Harding are a tragic romantic pair, but even when separated by space, time and the law they manage to live a full life together as virtual dream lovers. The odd art film out in Henry Hathaway’s career, this unabashed spiritualist fantasy was adopted by French surrealists as emblematic of their values. It’s beautifully filmed by cameraman Charles Lang, avoiding overdone expressionist effects… reality is a dream, folks, and this star-crossed pair makes dreams real by a simple force of will. Spiritual Nirvana or pretension? It’s crazy, but it connects with real life as we experience it — with our romantic memories and regrets.
Peter Ibbetson
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date August 10, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, Ida Lupino, John Halliday, Dickie Moore, Virginia Weidler, Douglass Dumbrille, Donald Meek, Leonid Kinskey,...
Peter Ibbetson
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1935 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 85 min. / Street Date August 10, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Gary Cooper, Ann Harding, Ida Lupino, John Halliday, Dickie Moore, Virginia Weidler, Douglass Dumbrille, Donald Meek, Leonid Kinskey,...
- 8/31/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“We Have Ways Of Making Men Talk”
By Raymond Benson
Despite its grammatically incorrect title, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is considered one of the great old-school Hollywood epic adventure movies, and it remains so to this day. It was released very early in 1935 after a long gestation period and became one of the most popular pictures of the decade. It was nominated for the Oscar Best Picture, Best Director (Henry Hathaway), Best Adapted Screenplay, and four other awards, but it won only one—Best Assistant Director? (Obviously a now defunct category.)
What are Bengal Lancers, you ask? They were British soldiers serving in India in those days of the British Raj between the two world wars. Apparently, one didn’t have to be British to serve. The protagonist, Lieutenant Alan McGregor (Gary Cooper), is Scottish-Canadian. Lieutenant John Forsythe (Franchot Tone) seems to be American, but maybe the actor...
By Raymond Benson
Despite its grammatically incorrect title, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is considered one of the great old-school Hollywood epic adventure movies, and it remains so to this day. It was released very early in 1935 after a long gestation period and became one of the most popular pictures of the decade. It was nominated for the Oscar Best Picture, Best Director (Henry Hathaway), Best Adapted Screenplay, and four other awards, but it won only one—Best Assistant Director? (Obviously a now defunct category.)
What are Bengal Lancers, you ask? They were British soldiers serving in India in those days of the British Raj between the two world wars. Apparently, one didn’t have to be British to serve. The protagonist, Lieutenant Alan McGregor (Gary Cooper), is Scottish-Canadian. Lieutenant John Forsythe (Franchot Tone) seems to be American, but maybe the actor...
- 5/6/2020
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Which actors are the most "Presidential"? To find out, we assembled this exclusive list of actors who have portrayed the President of the United States more than once.
Getting the opportunity to portray a Us President in film is rare. It can be a dignified role, and many times the actor has to be able to exhibit certain qualities we would traditionally associate with the Us head of state. Us Presidents are also depicted in film in a variety of ways. Some of them are the main characters for their respective films, where others are simply bit parts designed to represent the figurehead. Other roles may be satires, caricatures, or played for comedic effect. Regardless of the purpose or the depth of the role, there have been a limited number of Us President roles in the last century+ of motion picture projection.
Of course, some actors are more Presidential than others.
Getting the opportunity to portray a Us President in film is rare. It can be a dignified role, and many times the actor has to be able to exhibit certain qualities we would traditionally associate with the Us head of state. Us Presidents are also depicted in film in a variety of ways. Some of them are the main characters for their respective films, where others are simply bit parts designed to represent the figurehead. Other roles may be satires, caricatures, or played for comedic effect. Regardless of the purpose or the depth of the role, there have been a limited number of Us President roles in the last century+ of motion picture projection.
Of course, some actors are more Presidential than others.
- 11/12/2018
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (G.S. Perno)
- Cinelinx
What a Way to Go!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1964 / Color B&W / 2:35 enhanced widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 111 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald Gardiner, Margaret Dumont, Fifi D’Orsay, Maurice Marsac, Lenny Kent, Marjorie Bennett, Army Archerd, Barbara Bouchet, Tom Conway, Peter Duchin, Douglass Dumbrille, Pamelyn Ferdin, Teri Garr, Queenie Leonard.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Film Editor: Marjorie Fowler
Original Music: Nelson Riddle
Written by: Betty Comden, Adolph Green story by Gwen Davis
Produced by: Arthur P. Jacobs
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Want to know what the producer of Planet of the Apes was up to, before that milestone movie? Arthur P. Jacobs was an agent for big stars before he became a producer, which positioned him well for his first show for 20th Fox, What a Way to Go!
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1964 / Color B&W / 2:35 enhanced widescreen 1:37 flat Academy / 111 min. / Street Date February 7, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Robert Cummings, Dick Van Dyke, Reginald Gardiner, Margaret Dumont, Fifi D’Orsay, Maurice Marsac, Lenny Kent, Marjorie Bennett, Army Archerd, Barbara Bouchet, Tom Conway, Peter Duchin, Douglass Dumbrille, Pamelyn Ferdin, Teri Garr, Queenie Leonard.
Cinematography: Leon Shamroy
Film Editor: Marjorie Fowler
Original Music: Nelson Riddle
Written by: Betty Comden, Adolph Green story by Gwen Davis
Produced by: Arthur P. Jacobs
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Want to know what the producer of Planet of the Apes was up to, before that milestone movie? Arthur P. Jacobs was an agent for big stars before he became a producer, which positioned him well for his first show for 20th Fox, What a Way to Go!
- 1/31/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Hal Roach looks on as technicians install Vitaphone equipment in his studio screening room, ca. 1928. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) 'A Century of Sound': Q&A with former UCLA Preservation Officer Robert Gitt about the evolution of film sound technology Long before multi-track Dolby stereo and digital sound technology, there were the Kinetophone and the Vitaphone systems – not to mention organ and piano players at movie houses. Much of that is discussed in A Century of Sound, which chronicles the evolution of film sound from the late 19th century to the mid-1970s. A Century of Sound has been split into two parts, with a third installment currently in the planning stages. They are: Vol. 1, “The Beginning, 1876-1932,” which came out on DVD in 2007. Vol. 2, “The Sound of Movies: 1933-1975,” which came out on Blu-ray in 2015. The third installment will bring the presentation into the 21st century.
- 1/26/2016
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Gary Cooper movies on TCM: Cooper at his best and at his weakest Gary Cooper is Turner Classic Movies' “Summer Under the Stars” star today, Aug. 30, '15. Unfortunately, TCM isn't showing any Cooper movie premiere – despite the fact that most of his Paramount movies of the '20s and '30s remain unavailable. This evening's features are Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Sergeant York (1941), and Love in the Afternoon (1957). Mr. Deeds Goes to Town solidified Gary Cooper's stardom and helped to make Jean Arthur Columbia's top female star. The film is a tad overlong and, like every Frank Capra movie, it's also highly sentimental. What saves it from the Hell of Good Intentions is the acting of the two leads – Cooper and Arthur are both excellent – and of several supporting players. Directed by Howard Hawks, the jingoistic, pro-war Sergeant York was a huge box office hit, eventually earning Academy Award nominations in several categories,...
- 8/30/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
A Life at Stake
Written by Russ Bender, Hank McCune
Directed Paul Guilfoyle
U.S.A., 1954
Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) spends most of his days lumped on his chair, staring out the window from his cramped little apartment room. A scorned man, he was once a star on the rise in the real estate business, that is, until a former partner swindled him. An embittered and stubbornly honest man, Edward’s hope at redemption and to improve his name in the business arrives one morning when a lawyer presents him the opportunity to pay back his debts and make new headways in his line of profession. His first order of duty involves meeting Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury), the business-savvy wife of a successful entrepreneur, Gus Hillman (Douglas Dumbrille). Doris knows her way around in the realm of real estate, not to mention how to allure men, both young and old.
Written by Russ Bender, Hank McCune
Directed Paul Guilfoyle
U.S.A., 1954
Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) spends most of his days lumped on his chair, staring out the window from his cramped little apartment room. A scorned man, he was once a star on the rise in the real estate business, that is, until a former partner swindled him. An embittered and stubbornly honest man, Edward’s hope at redemption and to improve his name in the business arrives one morning when a lawyer presents him the opportunity to pay back his debts and make new headways in his line of profession. His first order of duty involves meeting Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury), the business-savvy wife of a successful entrepreneur, Gus Hillman (Douglas Dumbrille). Doris knows her way around in the realm of real estate, not to mention how to allure men, both young and old.
- 7/10/2015
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl': Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow. 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' review: Mostly an enjoyable romp (Oscar Movie Series) Pirate movies were a Hollywood staple for about three decades, from the mid-'20s (The Sea Hawk, The Black Pirate) to the mid-to-late '50s (Moonfleet, The Buccaneer), when the genre, by then mostly relegated to B films, began to die down. Sporadic resurrections in the '80s and '90s turned out to be critical and commercial bombs (Pirates, Cutthroat Island), something that didn't bode well for the Walt Disney Company's $140 million-budgeted film "adaptation" of one of their theme-park rides. But Neptune's mood has apparently improved with the arrival of the new century. He smiled – grinned would be a more appropriate word – on the Gore Verbinski-directed Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,...
- 6/29/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Loretta Young films as TCM celebrates her 102nd birthday (photo: Loretta Young ca. 1935) Loretta Young would have turned 102 years old today. Turner Classic Movies is celebrating the birthday of the Salt Lake City-born, Academy Award-winning actress today, January 6, 2015, with no less than ten Loretta Young films, most of them released by Warner Bros. in the early '30s. Young, who began her film career in a bit part in the 1927 Colleen Moore star vehicle Her Wild Oat, remained a Warners contract player from the late '20s up until 1933. (See also: "Loretta Young Movies.") Now, ten Loretta Young films on one day may sound like a lot, but one should remember that most Warner Bros. -- in fact, most Hollywood -- releases of the late '20s and early '30s were either B Movies or programmers. The latter were relatively short (usually 60 to 75 minutes) feature films starring A (or B+) performers,...
- 1/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Jean Arthur films on TCM include three Frank Capra classics Five Jean Arthur films will be shown this evening, Monday, January 5, 2015, on Turner Classic Movies, including three directed by Frank Capra, the man who helped to turn Arthur into a major Hollywood star. They are the following: Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; George Stevens' The More the Merrier; and Frank Borzage's History Is Made at Night. One the most effective performers of the studio era, Jean Arthur -- whose film career began inauspiciously in 1923 -- was Columbia Pictures' biggest female star from the mid-'30s to the mid-'40s, when Rita Hayworth came to prominence and, coincidentally, Arthur's Columbia contract expired. Today, she's best known for her trio of films directed by Frank Capra, Columbia's top director of the 1930s. Jean Arthur-Frank Capra...
- 1/6/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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...
- 8/8/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
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...
- 6/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Eleanor Parker today: Beautiful as ever in Scaramouche, Interrupted Melody Eleanor Parker, who turns 91 in ten days (June 26, 2013), can be seen at her most radiantly beautiful in several films Turner Classic Movies is showing this evening and tomorrow morning as part of their Star of the Month Eleanor Parker "tribute." Among them are the classic Scaramouche, the politically delicate Above and Beyond, and the biopic Interrupted Melody, which earned Parker her third and final Best Actress Academy Award nomination. (Photo: publicity shot of Eleanor Parker in Scaramouche.) The best of the lot is probably George Sidney’s balletic Scaramouche (1952), in which Eleanor Parker plays one of Stewart Granger’s love interests — the other one is Janet Leigh. A loose remake of Rex Ingram’s 1923 blockbuster, the George Sidney version features plenty of humor, romance, and adventure; vibrant colors (cinematography by Charles Rosher); an elaborately staged climactic swordfight; and tough dudes...
- 6/18/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Joel McCrea, Jean Arthur, The More the Merrier The delightful actress Jean Arthur is Turner Classic Movies' star of the evening tonight. Beginning at 5 p.m. Pt, TCM will show five Jean Arthur movies: The Talk of the Town (1942), History Is Made at Night (1937), The Public Menace (1935), The More the Merrier (1943), and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936). Directed by George Stevens, The Talk of the Town received seven Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and two for its story and screenplay. (Back in those days there were three Best Writing categories.) Arthur is outstanding as a schoolteacher — this is perhaps my favorite among her performances — torn between a law professor (an equally outstanding Ronald Colman) and an escaped convict (Cary Grant). As a plus, former Warner Bros. contract player Glenda Farrell is excellent in a supporting role. The Talk of the Town is not to be missed. Though much less...
- 3/7/2012
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur in Frank Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Mr. Deeds Goes To Town Review Part I The acting in Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is top notch. Cooper is, well, Gary Cooper — mixing strength and vulnerability in perfect amounts. Apart from his Lou Gehrig in Sam Wood's The Pride of the Yankees (1942), Mr. Deeds may be his best role. Jean Arthur, for her part, conveys both vulnerability and depth, something that a lesser actress would not have brought to the part. The rest of the cast, from Douglass Dumbrille's lawyer and Lionel Stander's gravelly voiced PR flack to the small-town nutty sisters played by Margaret Seddon and Margaret McWade, are all good. Even the actors playing Deeds' manservants are convincing. Joseph Walker's cinematography is solid, while Howard Jackson's musical score is standard screwball-comedy fare. But on a Frank Capra film,...
- 3/20/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936) Direction: Frank Capra Cast: Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, George Bancroft, Douglass Dumbrille, Lionel Stander, H. B. Warner, Ruth Donnelly, Raymond Walburn, Margaret Seddon, Margaret McWade Screenplay: Robert Riskin; from Clarence Budington Kelland "Opera Hat" Oscar Movies Gary Cooper, Jean Arthur, Frank Capra By Dan Schneider of Cosmoetica: There is a tendency among some to think that all the art produced by a great artist is great. This is false, but it gives cover for bad critics who just recycle old blurbs about said artist. Think of the fawning that goes on in discussions of Shakespeare. Although he could be a great writer, all but a dozen or so of his sonnets were mediocre tongue-twisters, and two-thirds of his thirty-seven known plays range from mediocre to terrible. In other words, by being uncritical one actually diminishes the great art that has been produced, for an uncritical...
- 3/20/2011
- by Dan Schneider
- Alt Film Guide
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