Dark Bogart

 

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DARK PASSAGE-1947-Escape convict Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) is helped by painter Irene Janson (Lauren Bacall). It's all a mystery to him. She says she thinks he got a raw deal at his trial. Parry plans to have plastic surgery. He discovers that a woman (Anges Moorehead) who testified against him knows Irene and also a guy named Bob (Bruce Bennett). There are a few twists and turns and a nightmare sequence, but the strange part is the Parry character. The first part is shown from a POV shot, then he's seen with bandages. Finally, Bogart is seen and everything is revealed. Wonder how many name stars would have accepted this kind of role? 

Different type of film noir from co-writer- director Delmar Daves who made the equally mysterious THE RED HOUSE with Edward G. Robinson the same year. Co-writer David Goodis wrote the novel the film is based on. Years later when the ABC series “The Fugitive” debuted, Goodis sued the production company saying the TV show was based on his novel “Dark Passage”. The suit dragged on long after Goodis' death in 1967 and was finally settled in 1972. French new wave director Francois Truffaut based his film SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER on the Goodis novel “Down There”.

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Silent Tong

 

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THE TONG MAN-1919-Louie Toy (Toyo Fujita), antiques and opium dealer is assisted by his daughter Sen Chee (non-Asian actress Helen Jerome Eddy). Sen Chee is in love with Luk Chen (co-producer Sessue Hayakawa), Tong leader Bo Sing's most feared hatchet man. Chee convinces dad to hide sailor Lucero (Yutaka Abe), who murdered a man. Chen plans to return to China as a wealthy man but rival Tong leader Ming Tai (Marc Robbins) decides Toy must die for not paying him tribute. The assassins draw lots. Guess who gets to eliminate Toy? Chen of course. He sets up Toy for the kill but his love for Chee stops him. Later, Taj tells Toy he will have Chen killed if Toy agrees to let him marry Chee. Chee tries to kill herself and Lucero warns Chan he's marked for death. He rescues Chee and fights Toy who has a change of heart about the marriage. After Tai kills Toy himself and has Chee kidnapped, Chan and Lucero go for revenge. With a rooftop shootout/chase, an ax in the face and an unexpected happy ending. 

THE TONG MAN was a big hit when first released help by the free publicity that came from lawsuits brought on by many Chinese American communities aiming to ban the film from playing. Star Hayakawa was the US's first Asian film star. He and director William Worthington also made THE DRAGON PAINTER the same year.

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Super Not!

 

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THE SUPER-2017-After a woman is terrorized and killed in her apartment, Phil Lodge (Patrick John Flueger), an ex-police widower takes a job as a super in the same place. Another super, Walter (Val Kilmer) is into “Ukrainian psycho voodoo”. Lodge has two weird daughters. Rose (Mattea Conforti), the younger, seems to sense some kind of danger, the other, Violet (Taylor Richardson), is useless. Another super is Julio (Yul Vazquez). Tenants disappear but there's several twists to this story which are OK but the characters talk a little too much and German born director Stephen Rick blows the ending.

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Moon Over Amityville

 

 

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THE AMITYVILLE MOON-2021-In some kind of Catholic halfway house for girls, a furry humanoid creature is killing people. Everybody stands or sits around and talks. Detective Kimball (Trey McCurley) investigates and beats up guys at a bar. It seems to be related to the infamous house 40 miles from my home. 

Crappy shit where you are supposed to care about characters who shouldn't even be alive. Director Thomas J. Churchill made a few other movies with Amityville in the title and a documentary about Rowan Bolan.

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Hunter

 

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THE GOLDEN ARROW-1962-Hassan (Tab Hunter with a dubbed in voice) leads a band that kidnaps Jamila (Rossana Podesta; in HORROR CASTLE by the same director the next year), a princess and holds her for ransom. At night, he takes the ransom and the princess and makes his getaway. He abandons her in a market and is promptly arrested. 3 genies help him escape because he is actually the real sultan of Damascus. 

With a flying carpet, fire monsters and a serious story that switches to comedy whenever the genies show up. Low budget Italian “sword & sandal” production directed by Antonio Margheriti.

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Comedy Comp

 

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MGM's BIG PARADE OF COMEDY-1964-Compilation of comedy scenes from the studio starting in the silent era then talkies with parts featuring Marie Dressler, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Greta Garbo and others. It's also the only time you'll see Laurel & Hardy, Abbott & Costello, The Marx Bros, The 3 Stooges (with Ted Healy) & WC Fields in one film! One of 8 comedy compilation films director Robert Youngson made between 1957 and 1970.

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Eddie Ruined Her

 

 (etsy)

YOU RUINED ME, EDDIE-1960-In Florida, spoiled rich girl Joan Denton (Jeanne Rainer) and laundry mechanic Eddie have been rollicking in the woods all summer and Joan is pregnant. Eddie is kind of a loser who won't take Joan for an abortion because he loves her, wants to marry her and wants a child. But she's too much of a snob. “I hate you! You're a hick!”. She tells her father but he thinks he can buy off Eddie who everyone thinks is crazy because he wants the baby. He's arrested on a phony robbery charge. Dad is devastated but Joan can only think of herself. He's also upset when Eddie is beaten in jail. Later Eddie escapes and Joanie, obviously nutty, goes after him with a gun. She wounds him and chases him through the forest in her robe and underwear. Copyright 1958. 

Also known as THE TOUCH OF HER FLESH, it was produced and directed by R. John Hugh made some other Florida based movies like NAKED IN THE SUN (1957) and FALL GIRL (1961).

 (themoviedb.org)

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Thailand

 

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CANNIBAL MERCENARY-2-1989-Leu (director Bin Banleurit) is once again coerced into leading a group of mercenaries against a drug lord named Bad Dog. He doesn't have a good record as everyone from his last mission died. Along the way, they pick up some strays including a woman with a baby. There's a lot of talking and one guy has a tongue session with a monkey. Everybody dies in the big shootout finale. What a bummer.

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I Run To Death…

 

 

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THE SEVENTH VICTIM-1943-Mary Gibson (Kim Hunter in her film debut) leaves a girls school to look for her elusive sister Jacqueline (Jean Brooks; THE LEOPARD MAN) in NYC. In a Greenwich Village restaurant, the owners tell her Jacqueline rented a room but never used it. She convinces them to unlock the room. Inside she finds a noose and chair. She goes to the police and then a lawyer, Gregory Ward (Hugh Beaumont) who just happens to be in love with Jacqueline. August (Lou Lubin), a shady PI says he knows where Jacqueline is but when they investigate, he's killed. 

Later Mary sees 2 guys toting August's corpse on the subway. Ward has secret dealings with Dr. Judd (Tom Conway), under whose care Jacqueline seems to be. Things get very mysterious after this. Judd acts strange, Jacqueline shows up then disappears and it turns out Ward is her husband. Then local Poet Hoag (Erford Gage) says he'll find Jacqueline. Mrs. Redi (Mary Newton), the new owner of Jacqueline's cosmetic shop, tells Mary her sister is the one who killed August and warns her to leave town. Later sis reappears to explain things. This leads to a cult of devil worshipers, betrayal, forced suicide and an enigmatic ending. Isabel Jewel and Dewey Robertson are also in it. 

This dark and mysterious Val Lewton production was the directorial debut of Mark Robson (BEDLAM, ISLE OF THE DEAD) who'd make THE GHOST SHIP for Lewton the same year. Tom Conway (the real-life brother of George Saunders) played the character of “Dr. Judd” a year earlier in CAT PEOPLE. Some have theorized he's reprising the same role here although Judd was killed in CAT PEOPLE. Actor Erford Gage was unfortunately killed in WW 2 in 1945. In the middle 1950's Hugh Beaumont played the father (his first name was Ward) on TV's long running “Leave It To Beaver”.

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Nazis in America

 

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NO ESCAPE-1943-Nazis in America break a forger Torgut Lane (Dean Jagger) out of jail. A guy named Gerard (Ian Keith) makes a deal with him and has his death faked. He's taken to a secret hideout inside a carnival run by Martin (John Carradine; in REVENGE OF THE ZOMBIES the same year) and Bergen (Sidney Blackmer). When he finds out they are Nazis he doesn't want to do their dirty work. He tries to escape but is whipped and his mother's life is threatened. He tries to convince his young “watchdog” Gordon (Bill Henry) to help him. He uses a woman named Helen (Mary Brian) to soften Gordon up. 

Small Monogram production with good cast directed by Harold Young (THE FROZEN GHOST, THE JUNGLE CAPTIVE (both 1945)). Spanky McFarland has a small role. Carradine also played a mean Nazi in HITLER'S MADMEN the same year. Aka I ESCAPED THE GESTAPO.

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Minor Minotaur

 

 

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MINOTAUR-2006-This mythological drama begins with a prologue about a queen who mated with the god Minotaur and had the baby cut out of her stomach. A guy named Theo (Tom Hardy; VENOM (2018)) lives in a village ruled by his father (Rutger Hauer) where human sacrifices are made. Theo still mourns for his lost, sacrificed love. An oracle with leprosy (Ingrid Pitt) tells him his beloved Fion is not dead but held prisoner in a labyrinth and he must kill “the beast” to free her. An evil prince (Tony Todd) wants to sacrifice Theo and his friends but the princess Raphaella (Michelle Van Der Water) has other ideas. 

The Minotaur is a pretty bad effect. Not a man-bull but a snarling 4-legged kind. Todd gets props for his performance, but his scenes almost seem like part of another story. Film in Wales and Luxembourg by Jonathan English (IRONCLAD (2011)).

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Poor Patty

 

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THE SHAME OF PATTY SMITH-1962-Average girl Patty (Dani Lynn) is raped by three grease balls while her boyfriend Allan (Carlton Crane) is forced to watch (off screen). Then an on-screen narrator (Frank Biro) tells us this is a movie about illegal abortion. Patty doesn't want to tell the police or see a doctor. It's obvious her boyfriend just wants to get away from her. Her roommate Mary (Merry Anders) sends her to a doctor later on, who tells her she's pregnant. He can't help because abortion is illegal. Another doctor says he can do it for $600, but she gets fired from her job. She goes to a priest for help but he condemns her. A Swedish doctor tells her abortions are legal in Sweden. Then Allan puts her on to sleaze rag Colbert (Bruno VeSoto) who says he can get someone who can do it for $200 but she has to pawn her gold cross. She gets the abortion from an “unemployed pharmacist” and winds up in the hospital. Dr. Miller (J. Edward McKinley) and Lt. Powell (Jack Haddock) investigate and close down the illegal clinic. Despite that, it ends tragically.

 I wasn't really prepared for the seriousness of this low budget, pro-abortion, anti-illegal abortion black & white drama. This is the only film directed by Austrian born Leo Handel, the executive producer of PHANTOM PLANET (1961).

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More TV

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GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS-1968-Buz Nichols (Tom Pace), shady criminal type meets Michele (Leslie McRae), a waitress at a greasy spoon working with her drunk father (Victor Izay). They hit the road and go to Las Vegas where Buz says his dancer/sister Joanie (Bara Brynes) will get Michele a job. Along the way, they pick up Critter (Jody Daniels), a philosophical hippie, trying to escape the draft. A love triangle develops. Later they meet sis Joanie who works for the sleazy self-important club owner Leo McCabe (Mark Herron). He also supplies Joanie with pills and plans to replace her with Michele. Meanwhile, Buz pushes dope for McCabe and Critter washes floors. Buz gets involved in stealing drugs from a jail and then murder and Joanie has a breakdown. Critter brings all the sleazy thugs down, romances Michele and returns to be drafted while crooning a song. 

Funny low budget love story/crime drama from co-producer/director Ted V. Mikels who made the infamous ASTRO-ZOMBIES the same year (also with Pace). Mikels regular William Bagdad also has a role. Lead actress McRae was also in Mikels' BLOOD ORGY OF THE SHE DEVILS (1973) and HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS (1970) and THE FEMALE BUNCH (1971), both for Al Adamson, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO COUNT DRACULA (1971) and DEATHRACE 2000 (1975). Grimy bad guy Mark Herron was married to Judy Garland at the time.

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Living It Up at The Hotel Acacia

 

 (themoviedb.org)

HOTEL ACACIA-2019-A stupid man grooms his son to take over a special government project: a hotel that is supposed to take care of immigrants but in fact "tenants" are fed to a monster that also likes to impregnate women. This Philippine film directed by Bradley Liew is very boring, confusing and didn't make much sense to me.

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Marx Brothers Circus

 

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AT THE CIRCUS-1939-Jeff Wilson (Kenny Baker),owns a circus where his girlfriend Julie (Florence Rice) does a musical number with a horse. He owes a guy named Carter (James Burke) 10 thousand dollars but he plans on paying off. His assistant/buddy Tony (Chico Marx) thinks Jeff's in trouble, so he sends for lawyer J. Cheever Loophole (Guess Who?). Carter conspires with trapeze artist Peerless Pauline (Eve Arden) to ruin Jeff. Carter sends strongman Goliath (Nat Pendelton; also in HORSE FEATHERS) and midget, the professor (Jerry Maren) to steal Jeff's money. Tony and the strongman's former assistant Punchy (Harpo Marx) investigate. Groucho sings “Lydia,The Tattooed Lady”. Loophole goes to Newport to romance the wealthy Mrs. Dukesbury (Margaret Dumont), Jeff's aunt. Later, Loophole plots to have Jeff's circus replace an orchestra lead by famous French conductor Jardinet (Fritz Feld).

 (imdb)

 

The wild finale includes an escaped gorilla (Charles Gemora), Dukesbury shot from a cannon and half the cast on a trapeze! Director Edward Buzzell does a fairly good job and would direct the brothers' next feature GO WEST.

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On Yer Marx

 

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A DAY AT THE RACES-1937-Judy (Maureen O'Sullivan) is having trouble running her sanitarium because it's in debt. Her chauffeur is Tony (Chico Marx). She gets really mad when her radio singer boyfriend Gil Stewart (Alan Jones) buys a racehorse. His jockey is Stuffy (Harpo Marx). Hypochondriac Mrs. Upjohn (Margaret Dumont) agrees to help out when she hears Dr. Hackenbush (Groucho Marx) is coming (he's actually a veterinarian). Mr. Morgan (Douglas Dumbrille; later in THE BIG STORE with the brothers) wants her place and has a corrupt business Mgr. Whitmore (Leonard Ceeley) try and get it. Later Hackenbush is pursued by floozy Flo (Esther Muir) who tries to get Hackenbush in trouble with Mrs. Upjohn but Tony & Stuffy save him with a hilarious wallpaper act. There's more outrageous comedy when Morgan brings in a specialist (Sig Ruman) to examine Upjohn. 

This seventh madcap Marx Brothers comedy was directed by Sam Wood who had already worked with the brothers on the classic A NIGHT AT THE OPERA in 1935 (which also featured Jones, Dumont and Ruman). He went on to direct many more films including GOODBYE MR. CHIPS (1939), KITTY FOYLE (1940) and THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942). Executive producer (and Marx Brothers supporter) Irving Thalberg died during production. Groucho (who didn't care much for director Wood) later said that with Thalberg's death he lost interest in making movies. 

DAY is also the only Marx Brothers film to get an Oscar nomination (for choreography!). 37 years later Groucho received a honorary Oscar. Despite having a lot of music several songs were cut including Groucho's “Dr. Hackenbush”!

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More Marx

 

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HORSE FEATHERS-1932-Fourth zany Marx Brothers comedy takes place in Huxley college where Professor Wagstaff (Groucho) has just become president. (“I'm against it”) He's concerned because his son (Zeppo!) is hanging out with a college widow (Thelma Todd in her second Marx outing) and Huxley hasn't won a losing football team. From the urging of his son, he tries to recruit 2 football players (Nat Pendelton & James Pierce) from a speakeasy and winds up with Harpo and Chico. Uproarious, hysterical football game is the highlight.

 Also with Richard Landau,Bobby Barber, Vince Barnett and Syd Saylor but unfortunately no Margaret Dumont. 

This is director Norman Z. McLeod follow up to the Marx Brothers last film, the equally hilarious MONKEY BUSINESS. Writers on his included Harry Ruby, Bert Kalmar and SJ Perelman.

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Harpo, Groucho, Chico and Zeppo

 

MONKEY BUSINESS-1931-This, the third Marx brothers movie is a hilarious chaotic comedy set partially aboard a steamship. The 4 brothers are stowaways (first seen in barrels singing “Sweet Adeline”) trying to avoid the captain (Eddie Baker), his first mate (Tom Kennedy) & crew while crossing paths with 2 feuding gangsters Alky Briggs (Harry Wood) and Joe Helton (Rockcliffe Fellowes). Zeppo hooks up Helton’s daughter, Mary (Ruth Hall). Groucho tries romancing Brigges’ wife (Thelma Todd) several times. Somehow Brigges winds up using Groucho and Zeppo as part of his gang! And then Helton hires Harpo and Chico as bodyguards! After they get off the boat, Helton throws a huge party where Brigges has Mary kidnapped and the brothers go into action! Bess Flowers, Bobby Barber and Billy Barty (as a kid) all have uncredited roles. 

Norman Z. McLeod also directed the brothers in HORSE FEATHERS the next year. He later directed many other comedy stars like WC Fields, Bob Hope, Harold Lloyd, Danny Kaye and did the “Topper” series.

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