Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin
Isaiah 30:1
Isaiah 30:1
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List of Movie Reviews
BAD BOY:
Audie Murphy's first leading role. It's a good one!
Murphy plays Danny Lester, an eighteen year old juvenile delinquent who has gotten into trouble once too often. He and an associate assault and rob at gunpoint some gamblers at a high stakes poker game at the hotel where he works. His buddy escapes but Lester caught by Lloyd Nolan who coincidentally plays Marshall Brown who owns and maintains the Variety Club Boys Ranch. The judge, wonderfully played by Selena Royale, sentences him to reform school, and when he’s of age, twenty years in the state pen. Marshall Brown, called Coach by the boys, intercedes in Lester's behalf. The judge is skeptical and tells him the boy is hopeless,. Brown replies: ‘there are no hopeless boys your honor, only people who grow hopeless about them.” The judge gives him six months to rehabilitate Lester.
Danny Lester, with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas must learn how to become a productive member of society. We’ve seen this plot as far back as, Boys Town, with Spencer Tracy, Angels With Dirty Faces, with the Dead End Kids, and James Cagney, and as a sub-plot in, They Made Me A Criminal, also with the Dead End Kids but this time with John Garfield. To read the full review click here. Thanks.
Danny Lester, with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas must learn how to become a productive member of society. We’ve seen this plot as far back as, Boys Town, with Spencer Tracy, Angels With Dirty Faces, with the Dead End Kids, and James Cagney, and as a sub-plot in, They Made Me A Criminal, also with the Dead End Kids but this time with John Garfield. To read the full review click here. Thanks.
THE SWEETNESS OF ELLEN CORBY AND THE GREATNESS OF JOHNNY CARSON
This is a clip of Ellen Corby (Born To Kill, The Dark Corner, Cornered) on the, Johnny Carson Show. She had just won her third Emmy for her portrayal of Grandma Walton, in The Waltons. Ms. Corby comes across as we all imagined her to be; sweet, humble, an unassuming polite genteel person. The clip also shows what made Johnny Carson the best ever late night host. (Sorry, Steverino but I still love ya).
Soft spoken, reserved people don’t often make for the best guests, and can tax a host’s interviewing skills. My attention was caught when Carson interrupted her. He did it a second time and the reason became obvious. Carson tactfully led the interview onto a different path and put her more at ease. The second time led her to tell a story with great relish that obviously meant a lot to her. She started the interview a bit reticent but at the end it got to where one might think she’d never stop talking, and that was great.
As for Johnny Carson? We’ll never see anyone close to him again. The staff had done their homework on this plain looking character actor as much as they would a big time celebrity. Johnny changed and knew it would be something she would love to talk about. Johnny did not interrupt as she she went into detail. It may be me, but I sensed not only a respect from Mr. Carson for her career in show business but also for her as a human being.
As for Ms. Corby? When given the chance she displayed bona fide acting chops. Check her out in, Illegal, and especially in, The Strangler, as Victor Buono’s harridan of a mother. Her legacy after a fifty plus year career, that began as an unpaid script clerk, is that today even the most casual movie film fan will blurt out, “There’s Ellen Corby,” or there’s, “Grandma Walton,” when seeing her in one of the hundreds of her appearances. Good for her.
Soft spoken, reserved people don’t often make for the best guests, and can tax a host’s interviewing skills. My attention was caught when Carson interrupted her. He did it a second time and the reason became obvious. Carson tactfully led the interview onto a different path and put her more at ease. The second time led her to tell a story with great relish that obviously meant a lot to her. She started the interview a bit reticent but at the end it got to where one might think she’d never stop talking, and that was great.
As for Johnny Carson? We’ll never see anyone close to him again. The staff had done their homework on this plain looking character actor as much as they would a big time celebrity. Johnny changed and knew it would be something she would love to talk about. Johnny did not interrupt as she she went into detail. It may be me, but I sensed not only a respect from Mr. Carson for her career in show business but also for her as a human being.
As for Ms. Corby? When given the chance she displayed bona fide acting chops. Check her out in, Illegal, and especially in, The Strangler, as Victor Buono’s harridan of a mother. Her legacy after a fifty plus year career, that began as an unpaid script clerk, is that today even the most casual movie film fan will blurt out, “There’s Ellen Corby,” or there’s, “Grandma Walton,” when seeing her in one of the hundreds of her appearances. Good for her.
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A Lawrence Tierney Twin Bill
THE DEVIL THUMBS A RIDE |
THE HOODLUM |
A movie with Lawrence Tierney as a murderer holding three hostages sounds like a can’t miss movie, doesn’t it? Wrong. The Devil Thumbs A Ride, runs for sixty-two minutes which is fine for a B movie. However, a B movie must have little, if any, fat and it must adhere to a basic story line. There is little time for sub-plots nor an abundance of character and supporting actors. The film must follow the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle...
The movie doesn’t know what it wants to be. There are elements of comedy that don't succeed at all. The film breaks every rule needed (in my humble opinion) to make a good B movie. Throughout the movie we wait for Tierney to explode but instead he’s like the proverbial check in the mail. CLICK FOR FULL REVIEW |
The Hoodlum is text-book on how to make an effective B movie in a short amount of time.
Director Max Nosseck doesn’t waste a minute of the sixty one in this fine B movie. Tierney plays Vincent Lubeck and through a series of flashbacks we see him progress from a vicious, anti-social juvenile punk into a sociopathic, unrepentant low life. Nossek’s, The Hoodlum, is not pretty, but The Hoodlum sucessfully portrays a harsh and brutal man from an equally brutal and harsh environment. CLICK FOR FULL REVIEW |
MOVIES
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The Killing is considered one of the best films about a heist. The Killing interweaves the heist within a top notch noir. It has a femme fatale, a chump, murders, double-crosses, intimidating psychopaths, great dialogue and fantastic cinematography. |
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Harry Quincey (George Sanders) lives with his spinster sister, Lettie (Geraldine Fitzgerald) and widowed sister Hester (Monya MacGill). His reserved staid life is thrown askew by Doeborah Brown(Ella Raines). She is an urbane, free spirit who is as open as Quincy is reserved. She is also the perfect counterpoint to his devious, obsessive, hypochondriac younger sister.
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This film is about the search to find a serial killer who calls himself The Judge. He kills only when it rains. He strangles his victims from behind, except for when he kills facing them. There appears to be no rationale in how he chooses his victims. He mails cryptic letters by cutting and pasting words from different magazines onto a sheet of paper. He says he has been anointed to rid the earth of the vermin, the unwashed, the evil, or any reasonable facsimile thereof.
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A Cry In The Night can be said ushers out the old and brings in the new. This film acknowledges that the patriarchal crime/police film, so dominant in cinema for three decades, is on the way out to be replaced by a kinder genre of film. We see this wink and a nod to the end of an era when police Sgt. Edmond O'Brien sits on the couch with a nice glass of beer turns on the TV, turns it off disgustedly and says, "Another cop picture."
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Johnny Mack Brown-1904-1974. All-American HB at Alabama, Cowboy Actor. When my Dad was a kid growing up on E. 113th in NYC, he wanted to be a cowboy and Mr. Brown was his favorite. This is for you, Dad. Miss you.
Robert Praino. Born in Manhattan, grew up in Hackensack, living in Gulfport.
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