Won't Get Fong Again

BLIND RAGE-1976-5 blind men are recruited by a mobster named Duran to rob a bank. They are a diverse group: Willie Black (D'Urville Martin), Lin Wang (co-writer Leo Fung), Hector Lopez (Darnell Garcia), Amazing Anderson (Dick Adair) and Ben Guevara (Tony Ferrer). A woman named Sally (Leila Hermosa) runs a school for the blind and teaches them how to commit the robbery and act as though they can see. They steal 15 million dollars and kill several people in the process. After finding a blind man's cane at the crime scene the police suspect blind men must have pulled the robbery! They arrest Ben and he rats out everyone. When the remaining gang tries to escape hiding in a gas truck, it crashes and explodes killing them all except Duran who took a different mode of transport. He escapes to LA but when he lands (top billed) Fred Williamson as Jesse Crowder (a character he'd played in several of his movies at the time) shows up and arrests him after chasing him down and beating him up! 

This odd but ultimately far-fetched crime drama was shot badly in the Philippines by Efren C. Pinon who had previously directed ENFORCER FROM DEATH ROW (also starring Fong).

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80 Steps To Newton

80 STEPS TO JONAH-1969-Chubby Wayne Newton plays Mark Winters, an itinerant worker involved in a car chase with police that ends in a crash. He's ok but the guy with him (Sal Mineo) dies. He's arrested but on his way to the hospital he jumps out of the ambulance and escapes into the Utah desert with his guitar in tow. After sleeping in a haystack he stumbles upon a special summer camp for blind children (including future TV kid stars Erin Moran and Brandon Cruz). The school is run by Tracey (Diana Ewing ) and Nonna (Jo Van Fleet, EAST OF EDEN). Using the name Jonah he becomes the resident handyman. R.G. Armstrong and Slim Pickens are the local police looking for him. Keenan Wynn is Barney Glover a gambling plainclothes detective. Nonna is just about the only person at the place who can see so she knows Jonah's secret. Butch Patrick (THE MUNSTERS) is a kid neighbor who can see.

Wayne and the kids sing "Tender Loving Care" while planting a garden. Meanwhile Tracey does a sculpture of Jonah and falls in love with him. She gets so excited she kisses the clay head! Newton croons several other songs (a couple which he co-wrote). Jonah does a lot of chores and the kids really like him but when he's shooting at a marauding mountain lion Kim (Moran) is accidentally shot in the leg. He fixes her and croons a song on the guitar. (Kim mentions something about strange noises right after this) From the weird bust Tracey made Glover deduces that Jonah is Mark and arrests him. A flashback which features Mickey Rooney as a drunk shows how Mark/Jonah/Newt was held up by knife toting Jerry (Mineo) and caused the car crash. Fortunately Mickey shows up in the present to exonerate Jonah so he can return to Tracey and the kids and build a merry go round.

This tearjerker, feel good movie was directed by busy TV director Gerd Oswald between making episodes of GENTLE BEN and IT TAKES A THIEF after working on THE OUTER LIMITS and movies like A KISS BEFORE DYING and AGENT FOR H.A.R.M.

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They Got The Clap!

DAMAGED LIVES-1933-The great Edgar Ulmer made this cautionary exploitation drama a year before his horror masterpiece THE BLACK CAT. 

Donald Bradley, a young businessman (Lyman Williams) gets a venereal disease from a one night stand with a woman he meets at a party. He gets married to his fiancee, Joan (Diane Sinclair) and passes it on to her. 

He visits the famous doctor Leonard (Murray Kinnell) who gives him a tour of patients who have long term disabilities from the effects of untreated VD. Madness, blindness, body sores are some of the results. Their family doctor (Jason Robards Sr.) tries to cheer them up but then he won't even let his young son kiss Joan. After she tries to commit suicide and take hubby with her they realize everything will be ok (the medical treatment cure them will take two years) and they live happily ever after. It's based on a French play. 

You can read more about the author of the play here:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Brieux

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