Bushwhacked!

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THE BUSHWHACKERS-1951-After the Civil War ends Jefferson Waring (John Ireland) vows never to raise a gun against another man again. He heads west. Things aren't much better. He witnesses some homesteaders killed and their house burned down. Later he meets Peter Sharpe (Frank Marlowe), a newspaper publisher who let's him stay at his home but Sharpe's daughter (Dorothy Malone) has him arrested. The useless Marshall (Wayne Morris) and his dimwitted deputy (Norman Leavitt) lock him up. Sharpe clears him and gives him a job but Waring wants to leave town. He winds up in a fist fight with hired gun Tobin (Lawrence Tierney) and his thugs (one is Jack Elam). 

After he leaves, Waring runs afoul of arthritic wheelchair bound Artemis Taylor (Lon Chaney) and bitchy daughter Nora (Myrna Dell). They know the railroad is planning to buy up the surrounding land for a new line and Taylor wants to drive out the homesteaders before they find out it's valuable. Sharpe saw some surveyors and knows about it so Taylor orders his flunky Ding (William Holmes) to kill the rebel. Nora orders Tobin (who works for Taylor) to kill Ding too. There's a big botch up and Waring is wounded but not killed. He finds shelter with the homesteaders and tells them about the railroad. Nora plans to lead a gang to drive the settlers out once and for all. Sharpe prints an editorial that lays out Taylor's plan for everyone to see and is killed. Later when Nora leads her thugs to destroy the homesteaders they are caught in an ambush. Nora and her dad both die. 

This was the directorial debut for actor/stuntman Rod Amateau who went on to direct many TV shows (Burns & Allen, My Mother,The Car). This last movie was THE GARBAGE PAIL KIDS MOVIE in 1987. He co-wrote the screenplay with debuting writer Tom Gries who went on to write an early Bert I. Gordon movie KING DINOSAUR in 1955. 

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Betty Page

 

TEASERAMA-1955-Tame by today's standards this is a type of burlesque show shot on film by photographer Irving Klaw who directed and co-produced it (with his wife). The immortal Betty Page is the kind of hostess who when not dancing herself brings out the name cards introducing each act. Between strippers (including Tempest Storm), there's comedy by Joe E. Ross and another guy. Some of their jokes are funny!

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Hugo Haas Far To Go

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HIT AND RUN-1957-Rich gas station magnate Gus Hilmer (do it all director Hugo Haas) takes a liking to showgirl Julia (Cleo Moore) but Gus's mechanic/watchdog Frankie (Vince Edwards) doesn't like it. While trying to find Julia a car he mentions he was married once and will never marry again. Whammo! The next scene he and Julia are married. They seem relatively happy at first but Frankie doesn't like her, believing Julia married Gus for his money and gives his notice to Gus. Later, while Gus is at a party, Frankie puts the moves on Julia but she resists. Later Frankie confesses his love for Julia but she's not all that fired up to leave her husband and go away with a grease monkey . Eventually Julia gives in to his persistence. To show his love Frankie refurbishes an old car and takes Julia for a ride where he runs down Gus! After the funeral Julia says she sees Gus hanging around the house at night. 

Surprise! At the reading of Gus' will, his twin brother Dave (also Haas) shows up fresh from a stretch in San Quentin. This really gets on Julia 's nerves especially since he got half of his bro's estate and now lives in the same house. One night he tells Julia he knows about her and Frankie. He also knows Gus was killed but doesn't care. He hated his bro but it's obvious he has an ulterior motive. 

This triple threat little morality take from director/writer/producer Haas isn't the greatest but it kind of keeps you guessing till the conclusion. This was the seventh and last film the largely ignored Cleo Moore made with director Haas and also the last movie of her career. Despite looks and decent acting skills real fame seemed to eluded her so she quit show biz. In 1961 she married a millionaire land developer. She “died in her sleep” in 1973. She was 43. 

Czechoslovakian born Hugo Haas bummed around pictures beginning in 1925, even directing a few movies in his native land. In 1951 he caught the director's bug and began making his own movies. Most of his films are low budget moralistic dramas usually involving an older man with a younger woman and a story featuring a big plot twist. Almost completely forgotten today, his movies should be re-examined. HIT AND RUN also features Moore's sister Maria Lea and John Zaremba.

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Jingo!

 

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BLACK OAK CONSPIRACY-1977-Tedious hillbilly nonsense inspired by TV's The Dukes of Hazzard with a arrogant trouble making Hollywood stuntman Jingo Johnson (co-scripter Jesse Vint) going back to his hometown to visit his mom in a nursing home and uncovering a land grab conspiracy by weaselly land developer Harrison Hancock (Robert F. Lyons),who's also sleeping with Jingo's ex- girlfriend Lucy (Karen Carlson), and his not so nice father (Douglas Fowley) who he's not sleeping with. Sheriff Otis (Albert Salmi) is in cahoots with them. Lucy's father (Seymour Cassell) helps Jingo out. In the end the sheriff goes crazy and tries to blame some killings on Jingo but in a weird finale in a rock quarry Jingo triumphs and wins back his ex. 

With a quick exploding head, nudity and Phil Every doing the theme song. Filmed in Oklahoma by former actor Bob Kelljan who earlier had made the two Count Yorga movies and SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM.

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TV Triangle

 

 (imdb)

BEYOND THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE-1975-Radar maker Harry Ballenger (Fred MacMurray) investigates the stories involving The Bermuda Triangle after his two friends disappear. Mutual friend Jed Horn (Sam Groom) has a motorboat everyone likes and he tries to figure out what happened while smoothing out his relationship with the nanny (Donna Mills) of his young daughter (Dana Plato). Harry thinks there's a space warp that people are passing into. 

Boring made for TV drama slightly enhanced by MacMurray's performance. Director William Graham worked a lot in TV but also directed Elvis Presley in his last film role CHANGE OF HABIT.

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Pop!

 

                                                                                                                     

POP GEAR (GO GO MANIA)-1965-This technicolor music revue begins with The Beatles performing "She Loves You" before an audience of screaming hyperventilating teenage girls. Future perverted piece of shit Jimmy Savile (host of "Top of The Pops" at the time) introduces the first 15 acts from 1965, including Billy J. Kramer, The Animals (doing "House of The Rising Sun"), The Fourmost, The Rockin' Berries, The Honeycombs (with Honey Lantree on drums), Sounds Inc., Peter & Gordon ("World Without Love"), Matt Monro, Herman's Hermits, ill fated Tommy Quickly (managed by Brian Epstein), Billie Davis, The Spencer Davis Group (with Steve Winwood on guitar) and The Nashville Teens ("Tobacco Road"). The second half of acts from 1965 has no introductions and include The Rockin' Berries, Matt Munro ("For Mama"), The Four Pennies (doing a version of "In The Pines", here called "Black Girl"), Sounds Inc., The Nashville Teens, The Honeycombs, The Animals ("Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood") and Matt Monro (doing the title song). It ends with the Fab Four doing "Twist & Shout". Only they play live. It was directed by Frederic Goode.

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Killer Bunnies!

 

NIGHT OF THE LEPUS-1972-A rancher Cole Hillman (Rory Calhoun) is over run by rabbits. He asks a college prof. Elgin Clark (Deforest Kelly) to help. Clark calls in environment friendly husband and wife scientists Roy and Gerry Bennett (Stuart Whitman & Janet Leigh) who decide to do a hormone experiment on the bunnies. Unfortunately their little daughter Amanda (Melanie Fullerton) switches the test subject hare with a regular one which escapes literally down the rabbit hole. After a truck driver and a miner are mutilated by giant bloodthirsty rabbits they also terrorize the daughter. The old sheriff (Paul Fix) investigates after a family of campers is killed. They dynamite the mine the rabbits are hanging out in but that doesn't do much good. The hungry hares go on a rampage scaring horses and cattle and bloodily killing townspeople. 

Very strange Bert I. Gordon like horror film was produced by AC Lyles and is not as bad as it's been written about. It also features familiar character I. Stanford Jolley in his last feature role. Director William Claxton does an acceptable job of mixing real blown up rabbits with close-uos of fake ones while throwing in some bloody scenes to make you forget how ludicrous the plot is. It's based on a novel by Australian writer Richard Braddon. To read about the novel go here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_of_the_Angry_Rabbit

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