City Of Shadows 1955 Screenplay by Houston Branch, directed by William Whitney.
A gangster hires a paperboy to help him put the other gangster's slot machine business out of order. The gangster takes over the gambling racket. The gangster and the kid remain pals, the kid grows up and the gangster sends him to law school. He helps the gangster beat a rap with a legal loophole still on the books. The young lawyer wants to keep the old gangster out of jail but his henchmen in the gang aren't having that. It gets a bit dark before it mostly has a happy ending.
It's pretty standard stuff but still entertaining. You can check it out on YouTube.
Tiger By The Tail 1954 Based on Never Come Back by John Mair, screenplay by John Gilling and Willis Goldbeck, directed by John Gilling. The film was produced by my favorite producing duo, Robert S Baker and Monty Berman.
Larry Parks plays an American Journalist called John. He's in London investigating some crooks when he gets involved with a woman, they date but fall out over his inquiry's into her life. When he picks up her diary she pulls a gun, in a struggle the guns discharges and she dies. He grabs the diary, cleans up his presence and flees. The rest of the movie is him running about trying to keep ahead of the police and the baddies.
It was about average but mostly entertaining. You can test drive it by following the link in the title above.
Death Machine 1995 Written and directed by Stephen Norrington. We watched the director's cut from the Kino Lorber Blu-ray. It's got three versions of the movie on two disks. Norrington only directed four films, this was the first, followed by Blade, The Last Minute and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. I've liked the 3 films of his that I've seen, TLM is the one I haven't seen. He hasn't directed any films since 2003 but has occasionally worked in special effects. He has no credits on the IMDb after 2016.
Ely Pouget is head of Chaank Armaments Corp, Brad Dourif is a designer, Richard Brake and William Hootkins are executives. The Corp's enhanced solder glitches and kills some people in a diner. The story is out and the public isn't happy. The corp tries some damage control. Ely wants full public disclosure but the board says no. She wants Brad fired but the board says no.
Ely has an encounter with Brad about the project in Vault 10 and Brad threatens her. He's a major loony but fun to watch. Things get worse between them and Brad sends his killer robot from Vault 10 after her. Soon the robot is clanking around the building, slaughtering the staff. Some Eco-warriors break into the building, they become Ely's reluctant partners battling the robot and trying to escape. Ely locks Brad in Vault 10 with his robot. Hardly anybody gets out alive.
It's got plenty of great robot action, lots of clanky noise, good sets and models, plenty of gun shooting and explosions. I enjoyed it and I will order the Blu-ray for myself. I want to see the other versions of the film and I'm curious about the Norrington commentaries. The Blu-ray is only 15 bucks on Amazon. Seems a bargain.
The Lady And The Monster 1944 Based on the novel Donovan's Brain by Curt Siodmak, screenplay by Dane Lussier and Frederick Kohner, directed by George Sherman. He watched the new Kino Lorber Republic Horror Collection Blu-ray. It's got four 1940s films on two Blu-rays with plenty of commentaries.
Erich von Stroheim is Professor Franz Mueller, he's a mad scientist with his own laboratory in a fake looking castle in the middle of the Arizona desert. Erich believes he can keep a human brain alive out of the body. Mueller is asked by the local rangers if he can help a man who was in a plane crash. When the man dies Mueller takes advantage and removes the brain. They find out the dead man is a millionaire business man called Donovan. Richard Arlen and Vera Ralston are Erich's assistants, Patrick and Janice. The pair have a thing going on but Mueller also has feelings for Janice, he tries his best to disrupt the relationship.
Donovan's brain seems to be sending messages to a tired Patrick and Mueller encourages him to make contact with the brain. Patrick does, Donovan slowly takes over Patrick's brain, turning him into a slave. Donovan's lawyer is investigating the death, he finds the brain in the lab with documents about the experiment. Donovan had hid all his money, he sends Patrick on a mission to recover it. Things come to a head when Mueller tries to kill Patrick. The house keeper shoots him dead and Donovan's brain gets dashed to the floor. Patrick goes to jail for monkeying with a dead man's brain and Janice promises to wait for him.
I mostly enjoyed the movie but it sure dragged at times, I was drifting off for a while there and there were complaints about the pace. A New York Times review, at the time of release, called it "a mite too lethargic." They aren't wrong. I seem to remember that the 1953 Donovan's Brain film was a better picture but it's been ages since I've seen it. I'll have to watch it and see. I'm looking forward to the commentaries on the film.
Mad Heidi 2022 Written by Sandro Klopfstein, Johannes Hartman and Gregory D Widmer, directed by Johannes Hartman and Sandro Klopfstein.
For the last 20 years Switzerland has been under the control of a dictator who makes cheese. It's against the law for anyone to make their own cheese, it's against the law to be lactose intolerant. Heidi's boyfriend gets caught making goat cheese and Heidi gets arrested for complaining about Kommandant Knorr killing her boyfriend. In jail Heidi is bullied by the other women, she breaks out and a gaggle of nuns take her in and train her to fight the fascists. It's all revenge to the end.
I thought it was a lot of fun. One of the viewers here said it was the best exploding head movie he'd ever seen. There's plenty of goopy bits and violent action. The sets and scenery are fun. I enjoyed the heck out of it and would want to watch it again.
The Cat Creeps 1946 Story by Gerald Geraghty, screenplay by Edward Dein, Jerry Warner and Gertrude Walker, directed b Erle C Kenton.
The last of the Universal horror titles to be shot. It was released on a double bill with She-Wolf Of London. Horror was failing to draw the patrons, The Brute Man was shot just before The Cat Creeps, it was sold to PRC to release.
The movie is an old dark house sort of story with a group of people on an island without a way to get home after their boat is burnt. An old lady in the house is attacked as the visitors arrive at the door. They are there to search for $200,000 in cash that was stolen in a robbery 15 years ago. Someone finishes off the old lady and another guy has a bad fall down the basement stairs. Now the rest of the visitors have to try to keep alive until they can be rescued.
There's a cast of decent character actors, Noah Beery Jr, Frederick Brady, Douglass Dumbrille, Jonathan Hale, Paul Kelly are the few I knew. The story is pretty standard stuff, it gives the cast something to do most of the time. It's not great but it's got some jokes. I enjoyed it and I'd watch it again.
Alicia En El Pueblo De Las Maravillas 1999 Screenplay by Aldo Busto Hernández, Luis Felipe Bolaños and Daniel Diaz Torres, directed by Daniel Díaz Torres. A movie about the social state of Cuban in the 1980s that alludes to Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland but isn't an adaptation of the book. It was considered controversial when it came out and was banned in Cuba 3 days after release.
Alice travels to a small town where she has some weird and disturbing things happen to and around her. It's a horrible filthy town that's home to failed officials. Like Alice in the novel Alicia gets caught up in local activities that hardly make any sense to her.
It's a satire that's rather confusing if you don't know much about the country and the era. I had to read the Wikipedia page to get details that the movie didn't always provide. You can watch the movie and decide for yourself, it's not a great copy but it's watchable. There's a DVD on Amazon but it's not worth $15.43 to me, plus tax. I'm not likely to watch it again.
Pig 2020 Story by Vanessa Block and Michael Samoski, screenplay and direction by Michael Samoski. It's his first film. I normally avoid a drama but I'll make an exception for Nicolas Cage on occasion.
Nic lives in the woods with his pig, they hunt truffles for a living. They sell them to Amir who sells them to fancy restaurants in Portland. One day Nic is attacked and his pig stolen. The movie has Nic travel around with Amir and it leads to some trouble for them.
They locate the scummy crack heads that stole the pig and learn it was taken to Portland. They travel to Portland where a whole lot of story is heaped on our plates before they find out what really happened to Nic's pig.
Maigret 1988 Written by Arthur Weingarten, directed by Paul Lynch. A US TV film that was the pilot for a TV series. The film didn't sell the show. It came out on VHS but not on DVD.
Richard Harris was picked to play Maigret, after Richard Burton, Alec Guinness and George C Scott dropped out. He's not really like the character in Georges Simenon's novels, he rather more like Peter Falk's Columbo, but with a pipe and a mumble. He's no Bruno Cremer or Rupert Davies.
The story was OK but I can't say much more than that. I can see why it never sold the pilot.
The Card Player 2003 Story and screenplay by Dario Agento and Franco Ferrini, directed by Dario Argento.
A serial killer is kidnapping women in Rome. He sets up a web based card game with the police, if the killer wins the victim is tortured and murdered on screen. When a British citizen is murdered the authorities send a cop to help in the investigation. He works with a woman who's not well respected by her male colleagues. The team does well and eventually figures out who the killer was.
Generally watchable but lack luster, not better than average. As uninspiring as the poster above. I wouldn't need to watch it again.
Billy goes to Ibiza in Spain to "write" on his mother's dime. He's not a writer, he's more a beatnik, he spends his days hanging out on the beach and at the local cafes, drinking coffee and beer, smoking cigarettes and cheap weed. Billy stays at the house of a local drug dealer called Eric. Billy meets and marries a German girl, they move to Barcelona where the marriage fails after Billy gets cut off by his mom.
Billy runs back to Ibiza to stay at Eric's again. Eric thinks the layabouts need to start contributing a bit of cash to the upkeep of his casa. One of the women suggests robbing an older man she used to date. She was with him when he was robbed before and he didn't put up a fight. Eric wants Billy and another lad to do the job but Billy is scared and doesn't want to do it. Eric brow beats him into getting the rob on and off they go. Of course things don't go so well. These aren't competent young men.
As a film it's below average but interesting as a bit of social history. I can say the same for a segment of the film near the end. Billy is on the run, he's gotten back to Barcelna, he sees two cops down the street and ducks in Antonio Gaudi's Casa Mila to hide. There's a short scene of him outside, inside and on top of the building. I'm such a big Gaudi fan I decided to keep a copy of the film in case I wanted to see that segment again. You can see the film over at YouTube. You might have an interest.
Murder At The Vanities 1934 Play written by Earl Carroll and Rufus King, screenplay by Carey Wilson, Joseph Gollomb, Sam Hellman (dialogue) and an uncredited Jack Cunningham, directed by Mitchell Leisen.
The Earl Carroll Vanities were a series of Broadway revues that appeared between 1923 and 1940. The main draw was the big lavish production numbers with dozens of showgirls dancing and singing. There were other acts featuring singers, dancers and white comics in blackface. Real black entertainers had jobs too, Duke Ellington appears in the movie just like he would have appeared in the revue.
Jack Oakie is the backstage manager at the Earl Carroll Revue, he's on his own, Earl is out of town, and he's worried about failing. Carl, the main singer, is going to marry Ann after the show, she's his partner in the show. Carl's old girlfriend is upset but his mother is happy, she's the seamstress on the show but that's a secret. Things percolate as the story progresses.
That's one of the cactus ladies in the Sweet Marijuana song. That song got a lot of flack and not for the nearly naked lady. It was the weed itself that people were complaining about, there was even comment at the League of Nations. Paramount was supposed to cut the song from the film but lucky for us Paramount didn't and we can see it today. That lovely ladies is about to have blood dripped on her by the first victim of the movie. It's pre-code so it's a bit more risque than it will be for another 30 years.
There's a good cast beside Jack Oakie: Carl Bisson is the main singer suspect, Victor McLaglen is the homicide detective, Kitty Carlisle is Carl's main partner in the revue, she's the gal he's going to marry. Gertrude Michael is the ex-girlfriend and Jessie Ralph is Carl's secret mom with a bad past. There's over 100 showgirls, they're often scantily clad.
The murders ramp up and there's plenty of running about between musical numbers. The show is known for the debut of Cocktails For Two. I didn't know it was from the movie but I was familiar with the song from 60s and 70s TV variety shows. People are still singing it today. Eventually the music is over, the murderer confesses and everyone leaves the theater.
I thought it was fairly entertaining but I wasn't that keen on some of the musical numbers. I watched the Kino Lorber Blu-ray and then listened to the commentary by film histories Arthur Slide. He had plenty of info and presented it well. I'll probably give it another watch sometime down the line.
A Haunting In Venice 2023 Based on Agatha Christie's Hallowe'en Party, screenplay by Michael Green, directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Hercule Poirot has retired to Venice in 1947. He's nearly forced to attend a Halloween party by mystery writer Ariadne Oliver. There's a lot of kids there when they arrive at the palazzo of Rowena Drake. Soon as the kids leave there's a séance with a medium called Joyce Reynolds. Rowena wants to talk to her dead daughter. She fell out of the palazzo and was drowned in the canal.
A number of guests join them at the table. Some odd things happen and Poirot reveals how the psychic typewriter works by revealing Joyce's assistant hiding in the huge fireplace. Soon after Poirot is attacked and nearly drown in a bowl of water. Shortly after that Joyce is tossed off a balcony and dies impaled on the lance of a statue. Poirot locks everyone in until the police can get there. A storm is delaying them until the rough water in the canal is passable. Poirot gets his little grey cells going to solve the mystery.
I found it an entertaining mystery and of the same quality of his previous two Poirot films. The story changes most of the details from the novel which takes place in the UK. I'd still watch the movie again sometime. Good thing since I bought the Blu-ray.
Seksmisja 1984 Written by Juliusz Machullski, Jolanta Hartwig and Pavel Hayný, directed by Julliusz Machulski. A Polish SF movie.
Two men volunteer to test a space travel hibernation device. Instead of waking up 3 years later they're revived 53 years later. The world as they know it is gone, ruined by the a man destroying virus created by the man who created the hibernation device. Since women are all of the human race left they've created test tube babies to increase the population. They all live underground as the surface is damaged and unlivable.
The two men are locked up and their fate is being decided on by the government. Shortly after being allowed some freedom the ruin their freedom with their stupidity. Just being there they damage the society. Eventually they get one lady on their side and she helps them escape the underground bunker. They tell her they would like to die free than be stuck down underground. Lucky for them there's a nice surprise on the surface.
It's all pretty silly and much more interesting than I was thinking it might be from the box. I enjoyed it but I'm not sold on getting a copy for myself. I'd take a download if I find one.
The Man Who Laughs 1928 Based on the Victor Hugo novel The Man Who Laughs, screenplay by J Grubb Alexander, Walter Anthony, Mary McLean and Charles E Whittaker, directed by Paul Leni. A silent film with synchronized soundtrack and sound effects.
In a complicated story that smiley guy hooks up with that blind lady. That's Conrad Veidt and Mary Philbin. It's 17th Century England where they are, there's plenty of miserable times before Conrad's life turns around.
It's a movie I wouldn't usually bother with but I usually like Conrad Veidt. He's fine here. I've seen a handful of his movies but hardly any of his silent films. You can check it out on YouTube. It's a film that recently became Public Domain.