All aboard for terror! Drop anchor on suspense! Prepare to walk the plank of total madness! Man the lifeboats…for mystery! It’s the most dangerous freaking crossing ever! Because the ship’s doctor is not adverse to slapping the taste out of unruly female passengers’ mouths! Continue reading “Dangerous Crossing (1953)”
Category: Classic
Double Indemnity (1944)
You don’t have to go any further than the opening credits of this one to know that it’s one of the titans of film noir. Based on a novel written by James M. Cain (The Postman Always Rings Twice), the film was directed by Billy Wilder (Sunset Boulevard) with a screenplay by Wilder and Raymond Chandler (The Big Sleep). The only thing you may wonder about is that it stars Fred MacMurray. If you only remember Fred from his days inventing Flubber and advising My Three Sons what to do about their gender confusion, you’ll be pleasantly surprised that Fred makes a very convincing murderer, schemer, and dude who was a little too smart for his own good. Continue reading “Double Indemnity (1944)”
Roughly Speaking (1945)
Any doubt you may have had that you were in for one of those multi-generational epics about some woman who was either tough as nails and persevered through years of hardship or how she became tough as nails as a result of said hardship is laid to rest as soon as you get a gander at the Bride of Frankenstein coiffeur that adorns star Rosalind Russell for the second half of this too lengthy endeavor about not very much. Continue reading “Roughly Speaking (1945)”
Return to Peyton Place (1961)
When Peyton Place came out, it quickly surpassed The Bible as America’s favorite book. And it was easy to see why. You had your white trash rapes, your repressed blonde hussies slapping their hormonal blonde hussy daughters, your sensitive male who had all the answers, and even World War II! Continue reading “Return to Peyton Place (1961)”
Peyton Place (1957)
Peyton Place is a laughably silly soaper that dates rather badly with its meager attempts to be risqué by frequently referencing how everyone in town constantly thinks about sex.
For instance, Lana Turner (Cass Timberlane, By Love Possessed) is a pent up cauldron of middle aged lust who just can’t admit that the progressively wimpy new high school principal is all that she needs to unleash her long repressed inner-hellcat. Her lover has been dead for something like sixteen years and she now believes (as she so eloquently put it during a shouting match with Principal Rossi in her kitchen) that men are all about pawing women and only want one thing. She also proclaims that men are “dirty” which is probably true since I thought that scene was pretty freaking hot! Continue reading “Peyton Place (1957)”
Von Ryan’s Express (1965)
I’ll give it to this movie – it was full of surprises that even a seasoned veteran of these “action packed POW escape” films couldn’t have planned for. The movie springs its biggest one on us right at the beginning. We’re in Italy and an American bomber crashes. I wasn’t surprised that the downed pilot was Frank Sinatra what with him being the star and all. What I was surprised about was how old he was. Once I got a gander at his craggy features I began to realize why it took so long to win World War II – all the soldiers went to bed after having dinner at 4:00 in the afternoon! Continue reading “Von Ryan’s Express (1965)”
I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955)
So was this movie supposed to give me a drinking problem or something? As I watched Susan Hayward pretending to have a seizure that practically screamed “I liked to thank the Academy and also Lillian Roth for having such a crappy life” I was thinking about how much more entertaining this would all be if I was as wasted as the main character was throughout the film. Continue reading “I’ll Cry Tomorrow (1955)”