Silent But Great!

THE SEA HAWK-1924-Original version of the novel by Rafael Sabatini (who also wrote Captain Blood and Scaramouche) stars Milton Sills in the swashbuckling lead, who gets shanghaied by pirates after being betrayed by his own brother and kidnapped by Spaniards. He later meets up with The Moors and becomes the title character battling The Spanish in Gibraltar. This has been restored beautifully and TCM has shown it a couple of times.

Enid Bennett is the female lead and Wallace Beery has a standout role as a tough pirate captain. Lloyd Hughes is his brother. Lionel Belmore and Wallace McDonald are also featured. According to the entry the IMDB George O’Brien has a small role as a galley slave.

Star Milton Sills would have probably remained a star in talkies but he died suddenly of a heart attack at age 48 in 1930. Director Frank Lloyd made many silent films and later in the sound era won an Academy Award for DIVINE LADY in 1929. He also made the original MUNTINY ON THE BOUNTY, CAVALCADE and IF I WERE KING. He directed his last film in 1955 and died in 1960.

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Emma Mae in Black Sister's Revenge

EMMA MAE-1976-The seemingly shy, sweet Emma Mae (Jeri Hayes) comes to LA to live with her hip city oriented cousins. At a get together she proves she as tough as anyone else when she socks a guy. She falls for another guy at a party just before it turns into a riot. The guy seems ok but is really a dirt bag druggie.

After a riot at a party he and his friends are arrested for beating up two cops and sent to jail. Emma Mae tries to raise money for a lawyer by opening up a car wash but “the pigs” close her down. She decides the only way to get the money is to rob a bank. She gets help from an old revolutionary named Big Daddy (Malik Carter) who gives a great speech in one scene. The robbery is successful and she gets her man out of the slammer but he two times her the same night he’s sprung and she winds up kicking his ass with many well placed groin shots and returning to her home down south. It’s a pretty funny little drama but the acting especially by Hayes in the lead role isn’t very good. It’s also known as BLACK SISTER’S REVENGE.

This was director Jamaa Fanaka’s second feature. His next in 1979 would be the exploitation hit PENITENTIARY.


"Legend is always more romantic than truth"-Barnabas Collins

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Quickies

CELLO-2005-After a car accident a cello teacher has weird visions which seem to be connected to her autistic daughter and her new cello. A very strange and silent housekeeper hangs around and a former student stalks her. This very derivative Korean made horror film has some creepy moments but goes on too long.



CINDERELLA-2006-Korean made horror nonsense about plastic surgery, a young woman and her kind of psycho mom/surgeon. I found the whole thing rather confusing and drawn out and there’s really no pay off. But maybe it’s me…



DARKON-2006-This is a serious documentary about a live action role playing game called “Darkon”. A bunch of people dress in armor and fight wars. Some dress like elves. They all seem very into it and explain why they do it and how it makes them feel. Folks who like role playing games will probably get a kick out of it but I fell asleep.




SYMPATHY FOR THE UNDERDOG-1971-Violent gang war drama by “The King of Yakuza Films” Kinji Fukusaku. When a huge Tokyo Yakuza drives a gang in Yokohama out of its territory the gang reorganizes in Okinawa. Things don’t go that well however and by the end of the story literally everyone is dead!



ARK-2004-This is a computer generated sci-fi fantasy is much like the better known FINAL FANTASY. Two races The Storians and The Sevians wage an eternal battle on the planet Elseon. It was a Korean/USA co-production and has some great scenes. James Woods was the only voice actor I recognized.

"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous he will not bite you. That is the principal difference between dog and man"—Mark Twain

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Violent Playground

VIOLENT PLAYGROUND-1958-While a string of fires created by arson plagues a Liverpool community, a police Sgt. (Stanley Baker) tries to help a young brother and sister who are accused of shoplifting and kind of takes shine to their older sister (Anne Heywood). Their older brother (David McCallum who was in A NIGHT TO REMEMBER the same year) is the leader of a gang of teenage thugs with mental problems. At one point he does a wild weird dance.The local priest (Peter Cushing) tries to help too. Also with Tsai Chin and Michael Chow.

This is a fairly serious look at teenage delinquency directed by Basil Dearden who went on to make THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN, THE MIND BENDERS, KHARTOUM and THE MAN WHO HAUNTED HIMSELF.

“No man is ever old enough to know better”…Holbrook Jackson

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Fish Out Of Water?

AMPHIBIAN MAN-1962-Interesting overlooked love story with Sci-Fi trappings from The former USSR. It is suppose to take place in Spain or Greece. I was a little confused by the characters’ names.

It all begins with the sighting of “a sea devil”, a mysteriously silver clad figure with a helmet and flippers. He saves a woman Gutiere from drowning and the girl’s father and her would be suitor plan to capture him.

Meanwhile a doctor (who one character refers to as “God”) lives in seclusion on a mountain. It turns out the sea devil is actually his son Ichtyandr who can breathe underwater thanks to an operation his father performed years before in hopes of creating a undersea community.

Ichtyandr and Gutiere of course meet and fall in love but not before he’s forced by the unscrupulous suitor to retrieve pearls from the ocean depth while Gutiere is held prisoner. At one point the doctor and a reporter (who knows the son’s secret) roam around in a car like sub that shoots harpoons!

It's very well done and the lighting and use of color are put to good effect. This was a huge hit in it’s homeland when first released but an American print that played on TV used a happier ending than the original one shown here. It’s based on a novel (written in the 1920’s) by the famous Russian author Aleksandra Belyaev who was probably inspired by Jules Verne. I’m not sure if the DVD is available in the US. The version I saw is from a Russia import (Thanks to Alex and Tony!).




"Why should I fear death? If I am, death is not. If death is, then I am not. Why should I fear that which can only exist if I do not? "-Epicurus

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Price Is Always Right

May 27 1911-October 25 1993

Dolemite Dies...

Article:

EUR has learned that after an extended illness, seminal comedian Rudy Ray Moore, better known as Dolemite, has died in Akron, Ohio. He was 81.

EUR was initially informed of the news by comedienne Luenell, a friend of the family.Moore, whose actual name was Rudolph Frank Moore, passed away Sunday from complications of diabetes, his only child and daughter, Yvette "Rusty" Wesson, told us.

According to Wikipedia, Moore is perhaps best known as Dolemite, the uniquely articulate pimp (“… rappin’ & tappin’ is my game!”) from the 1975 film "Dolemite," and its sequel, "The Human Tornado." The persona was developed during his earlier stand-up comedy records.



Rudy Ray Moore was also known as the "king of the party records" and released many comedy records throughout the 1960s and 1970s, developing a style even more rude and explicit than contemporaries like Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor. This kept him off of television and major films, but cultivated an enduring fan base. He also guested on Big Daddy Kane's CD Taste of Chocolate, released in 1990.The 2 Live Crew used Rudy Ray Moore's records as scratch samples on their early work; most notably on "Throw The Di*k."Moore starred in "Big Money Hustlas," a movie created by and starring the Insane Clown Posse, in which he played Dolemite for the first time in over 20 years.

In 2008 Rudy Ray Moore reprised the character Petey Wheatstraw for the song "I live for the Funk" Featuring Blowfly and Daniel Jordan. This marked the first time Blowfly and Rudy have collaborated on the same record together, and the 30 year anniversary since the movie was filmed.

Moore began his entertainment career as an R&B singer and continued singing through his comedy career. He developed an interest in comedy in the Army after expanding on a singing performance for other servicemen.Besides his daughter, Moore also leaves behind his 98 year-old mother Lucille. Although, Wesson couldn't tell us the exact dates, funeral services will be in Toledo, Ohio as well as Spokane, Washington where his mother and the rest of his immediate family lives.