Top Ten Tuesday – We Are Movie Geeks

Happy Birthday to Boris Karloff – Here Are His Ten Best Films

“I want friend like me.”

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

No other actor in the long history of horror has been so closely identified with the genre as Boris Karloff, yet he was as famous for his gentle heart and kindness as he was for his screen persona. William Henry Pratt was born on November 23, 1887, in Camberwell, London, England. He studied at London University in anticipation of a diplomatic career; however, he moved to Canada in 1909 and joined a theater company where he was bit by the acting bug. It was there that he adopted the stage name of “Boris Karloff.” He toured back and forth across the USA for over ten years in a variety of low-budget Theater shows and eventually ended up in Hollywood. Needing cash to support himself, Karloff landed roles in silent films making his on-screen debut in Chapter 2 of the 1919 serial The Masked Rider. His big break came when Howard Hawks cast him as a creepy convict in THE CRIMINAL CODE in 1930. Producers at Universal were looking for an actor to play the monster in their upcoming adaption of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Their main horror star Lon Chaney had died the year before and Bela Lugosi, starring in their hit DRACULA, turned down the role, so Karloff was offered the part. FRANKENSTEIN became an enormous success for the studio, and for its newest star whose name was not revealed until the final credits of the picture, and then only as “KARLOFF”. The role made Karloff a major box-office draw, the king of horror, heir to Lon Chaney’s throne, and he followed it up with THE MUMMY, THE MASK OF FU MANCHU, THE OLD DARK HOUSE, THE GHOUL, TOWER OF LONDON, and of course two sequels as the monster: BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and SON OF FRANKENSTEIN. His star never faded and for the next several decades he reigned as Hollywood’s undisputed horror king. In the 1960’s, he teamed up with Roger Corman , Vincent Price and Peter Lorre for THE RAVEN and with Price and Lorre again for COMEDY OF TERRORS. Karloff continued working up until the very end, even while physically impaired and infirm, often performing from a wheelchair or with a cane. His last involvement of consequence came in 1968 with the critically acclaimed TARGETS. Karloff was well known as a genuinely kind and gentle soul off the screen.

Boris Karloff appeared in over 200 films in his five decades as an actor and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:

10. THE DEVIL COMMANDS

One of Karloff’s least-known films until it became a staple of late-nite TV–and DVD – decades later, this taut thriller also boasts one of his most compelling performances. In THE DEVIL COMMANDS, Karloff portrays Dr. Julian Blair, at first glance a “mad scientist” type whose personal tragedy leads to experiments combining scientific method and the occult. But in Blair’s obsession to communicate with his dead wife, Karloff once again creates a character who is at once extremely sympathetic and a bit scary. And unlike similar roles requiring tons of makeup, here Karloff wears none, so the intensity of his anguish, and yes, his madness, becomes almost heartbreaking. Even though it was a Columbia B-feature, DEVIL COMMANDS rarely shows it. Director Edward Dmytryk (who later moved to the A-list to direct Bogie in THE CAINE MUTINY and Gable in SOLDIER OF FORTUNE), working with a solid supporting cast, fills the spare 65 minute running time with eerie narration and hypnotically creepy laboratory scenes. By the time the villagers storm the castle– I mean, home– of the scientist, we know we’ve been treated to Hollywood studio production at its best, with one of the great unsung performances by a screen legend.

9.THE SORCERORS

Boris Karloff was 80 in 1967 when he starred in THE SORCERORS, his last film shot in his native land of England. The story, adapted from John Burke’s novel, follows an aging couple, Marcus and Estelle Monserrat (Karloff and Catherine Lacey), inventors of a device that allows them to control the minds of others and vicariously experience the world through their eyes. They focus on a swinging young Londoner Michael (Ian Ogilvy) to experiment on. As the Monserrats play audience to his living scenarios, they soon add violence and crime to the mix. As Estelle goes crazy with power; she begins making Michael steal furs for her, then leads him to murder. Karloff’s Marcus is the film’s moral center and the actor delivers his last great starring performance. Ancient, arthritic, stumbling on a wooden cane behind white hair and wild eyebrows, he is sadly forced to watch as his device is perverted by the woman he loves. Despite the film’s low-budget, its hip psychedelic Swinging Sixties look provides some definite eye candy (and Susan George in a mini-skirt). The mix of 60’s period atmosphere and music with sci-fi concepts is exciting and the shocks are frightening. THE SORCERORS was directed by 23-year old Michael Reeves and while his next film, the Vincent Price classic WITCHFINDER GENERAL, is considered his masterpiece, THE SORCERORS is outstanding as well, though a bit tough to find (it’s MIA on DVD in the U.S.). In February of 1969, just nine days before director Reeves died of a (possibly intentional) drug overdose at age 25, Karloff passed away at 81.

8. THE RAVEN

“I like to torture!” says Bela Lugosi in THE RAVEN (1935), a great film full of painful devices, secret rooms, disfigured murderers and damsels in distress. Lugosi plays Dr. Richard Vollin, a famed plastic surgeon obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe. Boris Karloff is Edmond Bateman, a criminal that comes to Dr. Vollin for a change of appearance. Vollin disfigures him in order to blackmail him into helping torture another doctor. THE RAVEN runs just 61 minutes hardly lets up for a second, from the car crash which sets the plot in motion, to the exciting climax which takes place in Vollin’s torture chamber. Though the gruesome make-up gave Karloff another monstrous role, THE RAVEN really belongs to Lugosi and the great joy of the film is watching the glee with which the Hungarian actor relishes the sadism in the role. Whether pining for a lost love, skinning his nemesis alive, or using his devices like the pendulum and the room where the walls start closing in, Lugosi is arrogant, imposing, and insane and it may be his most unhinged performance. Karloff, unusually, is the weaker of the duo this time out. His Bateman is a slow-witted, relatively dim, character. It is sad that Lugosi’s career started its slow downfall after THE RAVEN and that he was overshadowed by his “rival” Karloff, due to his own limitations and poor career choices. Karloff would go on to star in another film called THE RAVEN in 1965 opposite Vincent Price and Peter Lorre, a Roger Corman-directed film that just barely failed to make this list.

7. THE MUMMY

Noted German cinematographer (METROPOLIS, DRACULA) Karl Freund made his American directing debut with THE MUMMY, a classic tale that, unlike Universal’s other monster films, had no literary origins. Influenced in part by its horror predecessors, but more so by the huge popularity of anything Egyptian at the time (the excavation of King Tut’s tomb had been completed just a few years earlier), THE MUMMY remains one of Karloff’s greatest roles. Already so popular he was billed on the movie’s poster by last name only (as “Karloff the Uncanny”), his performance as Imhotep is one of horror cinema’s most accomplished creations. Even hindered by strenuous full-body makeup that took up to 8 hours (!) to apply, Karloff’s physicality exudes an otherworldly menace in his scenes as the title character. And as the unbandaged Imhotep, his penetrating gaze and understated delivery overcome lesser but no less restricting makeup applications to make the character almost sad in his desperate attempts to reclaim his lost love. Due in large part to Karloff’s haunting portrayal, the Mummy character proved so popular that it spawned not only many sequels from Universal , but a Hammer Films series, an Abbot & Costello entry, several Mexican films (remember the Aztec Mummy?), and the recent trilogy.

6. BLACK SABBATH

Boris Karloff served as the master of ceremonies for the memorable 1963 anthology BLACK SABBATH and performed as a vampire in the film’s third and final vignette. In â€œThe Wurdulak“Â, Karloff is excellent as Gorka, the vampire-hunting patriarch in rural Russia who returns home just minutes after his self-imposed deadline for being allowed to live. But his family loves him too well to kill him, much to their peril, and they soon fall victim to his thirst. The suspense in this moody and atmospheric story, directed by Italian horror maestro Mario Bava (his sole collaboration with Karloff), builds steadily as it proceeds, and there is an ever-increasing sense of inevitable doom. Bava throws in a lot of mist, baying dogs, glowing color,and creaking doors here, all splendidly amplified at the proper moments to add to an increasing sense of claustrophobia. In his only role as a vampire,, Karloff created one of his more memorable characters which, at this late phase in his long career, demonstrated his professionalism and commitment to the horror genre. The DVD of BLACK SABBATH available from Anchor Bay is the original Italian language version (“I Tre volti della paura“, which means “The Three Faces of Fear” ) which not only has the three stories in a different order than the American release but the viewer is unable to hear Karloff’s real voice (dubbed here). But unlike the U.S. cut, it ends with Karloff atop a phony horse facade as Bava withdraws from a closeup to a startling wide shot of Karloff surrounded by props and a group of small Italian men waving phony tree branches past his face. Bava was offered BLACK SABBATH after the success of BLACK SUNDAY (1960), his first big hit for American International Pictures, and Karloff was part of the deal. BLACK SABBATH is almost 50 years old but it still has the power to terrify.

5. TARGETS

In TARGETS, his last American film role, Karloff comes the closest to playing himself. As the retiring (and similarly-named) horror actor Byron Orlok, Karloff radiates a warmth and sincerity in every scene, whether dealing with fans, friends, or snarky business people. Written (with uncredited help from Samuel Fuller) and directed (his debut) by Peter Bogdanovich, TARGETS is actually two stories that rather brilliantly converge at a drive-in theatre. In one half of the movie, Bogdanovich uses a stark, documentary-style– with no musical score – ”to portray the modern horror story of a Charles Whitman-inspired sniper killing random innocents. The other part of the film is more or less a loving tribute to Boris Karloff, using clips from his films CRIMINAL CODE and THE TERROR, along with references to his long and storied career. Much has been written about the film’s themes juxtaposing the greatest horror movie icon against the violent real-life monsters of today, but in the end, as the London Times stated, it’s a movingly appropriate farewell to a great star.

4. THE BODY SNATCHER

With this performance Karloff proved that he didn’t require an elaborate make-up job to portray a truly scary, sinister character. Of course he’s aided here by the inspired direction of Robert Wise and the expertise of producer Val Lewton ( this, along with Karloff inÂ ISLE OF THE DEAD and BEDLAM, would be the final jewels in Lewton’s horror legacy at the RKO Studios that began with THE CAT PEOPLE ). The film is based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson and very much inspired by the story of Burke and Hare, the legendary grave robbers. Karloff is John Gray, a cabman who moonlights as a procurer of corpses for medical study, exclusively for “old pal ” Dr. MacFarlane. Gray is seething menace as he taunts ‘Toddy’ on his nightly visits to the kindly physician’s practice. Seems Gray never gave up Toddy’s name when he was arrested and served time many years ago for his special services. Now the old ghoul will never let the doc forget it! And if there’s not enough of the newly deceased to collect, then John’s got no problem taking the initiative. In one of the great Lewton/ Wise sequences, Gray’s coach clip clops down the cobble road toward a blind street singer. Out of frame, the hoof beats stop, and her voice is abruptly silenced. Later the doc’s simple-minded servant Joseph ( Bela Lugosi ) unwisely decides to blackmail Gray. A friendly drink becomes a great cat-and-mouse game as Gray entertains Joseph by singing an old melody with a killer finish. This would be the last time the two horror icons ( and some say rivals ) would share the screen. Karloff would continue on through the horror rebirth of the 1960’s, while Lugosi, after donning his Dracula cape in ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN, would end his days as the big draw in Ed Wood, Jr. low-budgeters. The entire cast is superb, but this is a real showcase for Boris. In THE BODY SNATCHER, Karloff is the ultimate bogey man in one of his last truly great horror films of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

3. FRANKENSTEIN

Ah, the film classic that made Karloff an over night sensation ( this after more than 70 screen appearances ). And he’s not even listed in the cast credits ( ” The Creature…? ). No photos of him in makeup were released prior to the film’s opening save for a publicity still of Karloff ( his visage hidden by a burlap sack ) being lead to the set, hand in hand, by the guru of grease paint, Jack Pierce. And what an impact he made in the finished film after slowly turning to the camera ( followed by close-up jump-cuts ). No wonder there were reports of patrons fainting in the aisles. But then Karloff’s acting skills truly kicked in. He was able to connect emotionally with audiences. They looked past the putty and powder, the bolts and scars, and sympathized with this flat-topped, pathetic hulk. The monster reaches for the sunlight like a curious child before being tormented by the cruel Fritz. This was a creature more worthy of pity than fear. That is until he lashes at those who would harm him, to the point of punishing his creator, Henry Frankenstein ( Karloff’s so powerful that most people assumed that the monster’s name was simply Frankenstein ). With the film’s restoration in recent years, we see the monster’s despair at the conclusion of the lakeside scene with the little girl and her daisies. Director James Whale along with Pierce created an immortal movie monster and firmly placed Boris Karloff in the pantheon of screen icons.

2. THE BLACK CAT

This tale of American honeymooners (David Manners and Julie Bishop) trapped in the Hungarian home of a Satan- worshiping priest has nothing to do with Edgar Allen Poe’s story. THE BLACK CAT (1934) is about evil, madness, necrophilia, and obsession. It’s the first and best of the eight collaborations between Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi and both actors are at the top of their game here. This is one film where both actors dish out pure magic and madness for the fans, and there’s not one moment of disappointment anytime either of them are on screen. Every moment they are shown together is intense, whether it’s in the strange, cruel dialog or the brawl between the two in the finale. In 65 minutes, Edgar G. Ulmer proves his potential as a fantastic visual director (his next most famous film was the 1945 noir DETOUR). The introduction of Karloff and Lugosi’s characters (Hjalmar Poelzig and Vitus Werdegast – those names!) is brilliant, as are the secrets that are revealed as the film progresses. For a very long time, you’re not sure which one of them is good or crazy, or if both of them are in fact, completely insane. The scene of Karloff walking through his dimly lit dungeon lair underneath his mansion is the most eerie moment in THE BLACK CAT. The actor walks slowly, holding a black cat firmly in his arms petting it ever so gently, going up to each glass coffin staring at his female corpses as if they were the most beautiful forms of art ever conceived. With its unique art deco design and costumes, THE BLACK CAT is one of the very best from Universal’s Golden Age.

1. BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN

” Warning! The monster demands a mate “, so screamed the movie posters. But truthfully, audiences demanded a sequel to the 1931 classic. And boy, did Universal ( with original director James Whale at the helm ) deliver! Colin Clive was back as the tortured Dr. Henry Frankenstein, and, more importantly, so was his lumbering creation played by Karloff ( that’s how he’s listed in the credits, no Boris, but it’s quite a step up from ” ? ” ). The fire from the previous film’s finale has taken its toll on the creature, and makeup wizard Jack Pierce augments his classic original designs with several painful-looking burn scars. This may amp up the audience sympathies for the monster even as he murders an old enemy in the film’s opening scenes. Soon pathos is emphasized over horror as the creature embarks on a series of encounters in the forest ( particularly a long stay with a lonely, blind hermit who educates him ). This leads to another of the poster’s tag lines, ” The monster speaks ” ( supposedly Karloff was none too keen on this development ). Soon those pesky villagers and constables destroy his peace and capture him ( there’s much crucifixion imagery as he’s subdued ). Later he meets the delightfully wicked Dr. Pretorius ( the great Ernest Thesiger ) , who promises to make a mate for him if he helps persuade poor Henry to collaborate ( they even enjoy a couple of cigars ). Then the monster becomes an enforcer ( as he would continue to be in many lower-budgeted follow-ups ) until he meets his bride. Her rejection of him shocks the creature ( his attempts to connect with her by caressing her hand are heart-wrenching ). Ultimately his nobility shines through in the explosive final scenes. Although he would wear those bulky boots on screen one more time, BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN was Karloff’s greatest performance as the creature. And the film is on the short list of the very best sequels ever produced.

Happy 90th Birthday Clint Eastwood! Here Are His Ten Best Films as a Director

Happy Birthday to one of We Are Movie Geeks favorite stars. Clint Eastwood was born on this day in 1930, making him 90 years old today. Last year’s RICHARD JEWELL proved that he actor and two-time Oscar winning director hasn’t let his age slow him down a bit.

We posted a list of his ten best films as an actor on his last birthday, but this list is what the Geeks at We Are Movie Geeks think are his best out of 38 feature films as a director.

10. MYSTIC RIVER

MYSTIC RIVER (2003) told the story of three childhood friends, Jimmy, Dan & Sean, who drifted apart after a terrible tragedy & grew up in the same city. Destiny pitted them again & it’s brutal tragedy again. Jimmy’s 19 year old daughter murdered & Dave is the strong suspect. Sean is a cop trying to solve the crime before something unusual done by uncontrollable with situational fix. Its superb script & screen play & I must praise Dennis Lehane for it. But the real laudable act is done by old macho cowboy named Clint Eastwood. This is Clint Eastwood’s finest achievement as a director along with his other Oscar winning nuggets like Unforgiven & Million Dollar Baby. With awesome cast & finest performances of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins &Kevin Bacon he shapes a master crime thriller. Robbins and Penn both recieved Oscars for their roles. Marcia Gay Harden has done amazing justice to her role as psychologically confused wife of Tim Robbins. A must-see modern Greek tragedy.

9. A PERFECT WORLD

A PERFECT WORLD (1993)was Eastwood’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning UNFORGIVEN and was a complex, fascinating essay on the irreconcilable tension between being drawn to someone with charisma and being repulsed by someone, sometimes the same person, who is evil. Clint took a back seat to star Kevin Costner who played smart and charming as an escaped con/kidnapper. The little boy who he snatches grows to like his abductor, but the guy is a violent criminal. The ending was tough, because the movie is showing us the nastiness the guy is capable of and it’s hard to take. But it’s true to the lesson here: we admire people for their charms not their morals.

8. RICHARD JEWELL

Hard to believe Clint Eastwood at age 88, brought the kind of drama and emotion to the big screen so well with last year’s RICHARD JEWELL (2019). It was based on the real events of the 1996 Olympic games bombing in Atlanta, GA which involved Jewell (likably played by Paul Walter Hauser) who first was a lifesaving hero only to later be looked at upon by the media and government as a possible suspect. Overall RICHARD JEWELL is heartfelt with emotion and drama showing how courage came to a common man and how will and determination put his name in the clear as the doubters didn’t destroy him. One of Clint’s best works in years.

7. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER

HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973) is probably Clint Eastwood’s darkest western and that’s saying a lot. The hero is a mysterious, ghost-like figure and he fights against the evil and corruption that infests a small town in the middle of nowhere. Eastwood is fighting a lone battle , and his only sidekick is the midget Mordecai, while almost all other inhabitants of the town of Lago are corrupted or/and cowardly. This is Clint Eastwood’s first Western film that he directed, and it’s clear and evident that the guy not only loves the genre that made his name, but he also knows what makes it work. When working for Sergio Leone, Eastwood was obviously taking notes because HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER oozes the mythical aura of many of Leone’s finest genre offerings.

6. THE MULE

Written by Nick Schenk and directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, THE MULE (2018) was inspired by a New York Times article “The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year Old Drug Mule” The Mule uses true events to frame a much more compelling story. THE MULE is a rich tapestry of triumph and tragedy, humor and sadness, and guilt and forgiveness. It’s difficult not to compare THE MULE with GRAN TORINO. We don’t see many elderly protagonists on screen anymore, and Eastwood seems to have carved a new niche for himself late in his career. Like the character of Walt Kowalski, Leo Sharp is an emotionally reserved and politically-incorrect elderly white man having a difficult time adjusting to the modern world. Both are Korean War veterans, and both experience the loss of a spouse. With what might be his last film, 88-year-old Clint Eastwood cements his place as one of the greatest actors and directors of our time.

5. MILLION DOLLAR BABY

One of the great qualities of Clint Eastwood’s directing career is his way of surprising moviegoers. A case in point can be found in MILLION DOLLAR BABY (2004). The screenplay by Paul Haggis based on the short stories of F.X. Toole seems to be the standard rags to riches sports flix this time set in the world of woman’s boxing. Clint gets some terrific performances out of Hilary Swank as the plucky, determined boxer Maggie Fitzgerald and Morgan Freeman as wise, world-weary ex- boxer Eddie “Scrap Iron” Dupris. Both actors were awarded Oscars for their work. Even with his great work behind the camera, Clint gives one of the best acting performances as Maggie’s tough, grizzled coach Frankie Dunn. Maggie works hard to finally convince Frankie that’s she worthy of his mentoring. After Frankie finally agrees there’s the expected grueling training sequences inter-cut with scenes of the two getting to know and respect each other. It’s shown that Frankie is estranged from his own children while Maggie’s family is un-supportive and highly dysfunctional. Soon Frankie and Maggie’s relationship grows into a father-daughter bond. As the film builds to the boxing movie cliche finale of the win at the big championship bout it takes a completely unexpected tragic turn and the bond between Frankie and Maggie is put to the ultimate test. MILLION DOLLAR BABY takes the sports movie and turns it into a tender, family drama and is one of Clint Eastwood all-time great cinema triumphs. BABY joined THE UNFORGIVEN as an Oscar winning Best Picture and another well deserved Best Director award winner for Eastwood.

4. THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES

“Well, you gonna pull those pistols or stand there whistling Dixie?” Eastwood starred in and directed, THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES (1978) and his direction shows him at a sort of tipping point between Sergio Leone and Eastwood’s own later films. Gigantic close ups of wet faces and glistening teeth alternate with grandiose high shots of galloping horses. Eastwood’s Josey Wales is his familiar Western figure, taciturn, slightly mean, given to spitting tobacco juice on dogs, full of provocative lines; Bounty Hunter: “A man’s got to make a livin” Josey: “Dying ain’t much of a living, boy”. When he tries to speak in ritualized and poetic English to the Comanches, while making a peace proposal, he fails. Perfumed speech is not his forte. And when he rides off into the sunset, it’s without any suggestion of remorse for the hundred or so dead bodies he’s left in his wake.

3. GRAN TORINO

“Get me another beer, dragon lady. This one’s empty!” is my favorite of many great lines from GRAN TORINO and the one that I growl at my wife daily. GRAN TORINO manages to list seemingly every slang word for every ethnic group that there is (it avoids the N-word, choosing “Spooks” instead). It has themes similar to Clint’s THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES in that both movies deal with an angry, lonely man gradually allowing people back into his life after bottling up his emotions for a long time following a trauma (both characters also spit beef jerky constantly and have to deal with a cantankerous old woman who doesn’t like them very much). It’s also a kind of urban Western update of THE SHOOTIST (directed by Clint’s old friend and mentor Don Siegel and John Wayne’s last movie) in that Clint’s dying character Walt Kowalski picks a fight with the evil local gang in the hope he’ll catch a bullet and go out in a blaze of glory rather than succumb to the slow agony of cancer (just like John Wayne did). If it’s his last acting role, like he’s said, Clint will have gone out with a blaze of glory himself.

2. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

When Clint Eastwood announced that while he would be making the film version of FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS by James Bradley and Ron Powers he then stated that he would also be working on a film which would tell the story of the battle from the Japanese side called LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (2006). this news caught many film-goers by surprise. This major World War II battle would be brought to the screens twice and the great All-American director Clint Eastwood would devote one version showing the view of our Pacific enemy. Not many thought he could pull this off, but FLAGS and LETTERS opened within months of each other in 2006 and while both enjoyed terrific notices, some critics and academy members thought that LETTERS was the superior film. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA focuses on the weeks leading up to and the days after the allied forces invading the island occupied by the Japanese forces. The conflict is seen primarily through the eyes of lonely soldier named Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) who just wants to return to his life at home as a baker and commanding officer General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) who spent time in the United States. The General has been given the hopeless task of defending the island after his superiors inform him that no food, or troops will be sent to help. He and his men are expected to die for the honor of Japan. The film shows the great importance of honor to these people. The soldiers are taught that being captured alive would bring shame to their family. In a horrific scene several soldiers discharge grenades they are holding rather than be taken. While sending letters back to his family, the General tries to stop some of the brutal measures inflicted on the foot soldiers from the other officers. As the end nears, Saigo will do anything to survive while the General reflects on the happy times he spent with the people who are now his enemy. This is a rare film about World War II told from a perspective not often presented and Clint Eastwood showcases his superb filmmaking skills in telling this engrossing story.

1. UNFORGIVEN

In many interviews Clint Eastwood has said that UNFORGIVEN is his Western swan song, and it’s that’s the the case heâ’s left the genre with an all time classic. Clint plays an outlaw named Bill Munny who has given up that life for his late wife and is struggling to make a go out of farming and raising his two children.When a group of prostitutes in the town of Big Whiskey offer a bounty on a cowboy who cut up one of their own, Bill feels he must take up his guns again. Picking up his old partner Ned Logan (Morgan Freeman) rides into the town, meets a young upstart named The Schofield Kid (Jaimz Woolett), and incurs the ire of the town sheriff Little Bill Dagget (an Oscar winning performance by Gene Hackman). “Little” Bill has no tolerance for bounty hunters and demonstrates by brutally beating English Bob in the town square. The script by David Webb Peoples is a thoughtful meditation on the consequences of revenge and violence. In one memorable scene Munny and the Kid have gunned down several of the thugs from the brothel incident. Gasping and shaking the Kid says,”They had it comin!” to which Munny soberly replies, “We all got it comin’, kid.” At the end of the movie, Clint dedicates the film to his two cinema mentors, Sergio Leone (FISTFUL OF DOLLARS) and Don Siegel (DIRTY HARRY). The Motion Picture Academy thought this film was in the same class as the films of those two great directors and awarded Clint a well deserved directing Oscar along with Best Picture.

Ten Classic Scary Movies For Halloween

I have known for years, many people will not watch black and white movies, of any kind. It has to be color and no older than 10 years, preferably movies made this year, or last year. I have had people look at me with astonishment when I tell them I not only watch black and white movies regularly but even silent movies. I’ve had people admit they didn’t know movies were being made in 1927, much less 1915.

So for this Hallowe’en, when movie geeks thoughts turn to scary movies here is my personal and eclectic list of great, old, scary movies, filmed in glorious black and white.

10. Nosferatu 1922

The Great Grand Daddy of all Dracula movies, and the template for every vampire movie ever made, the first, one of the best and still creepy, even if you’ve seen it repeatedly. A silent masterpiece by FW Murnau and with the incredible Max Schreck as Graf Orlock looking weasel faced and moving like a big rodent, this vampire is light years from Lugosi’s suave aristocrat or Christopher Lee’s super human woman magnet. Some of the camera tricks have not aged well, but there is nothing camp or silly about Nosferatu. Remade brilliantly by Werner Herzog with the incredible Klaus Kinski playing the Vampire King and the subject of Shadow of the Vampire, a movie about the making of Nosferatu that put forth the idea, what if Schreck was a real Vampire? But accept no substitutes. Radah and I got to see this at the Tampa Theater a few years ago for Hallowe’en, with live organ accompaniment, an unforgettable experience.

9. Haxan 1922

Another silent masterpiece Benjamin Christensen’s still controversial Haxan is deeply disturbing, still creepy and captured images unlike any other film made during the silent era, or any time later for the matter of that. Part documentary, part hallucinatory nightmare Haxan was recut and rereleased as Witchcraft Through the Ages with a music score and narration by the one and only William S Burroughs. Filled with nudity, demons, the very devil himself and horrifying scenes of accused witches on trial and being tortured into confessions, Haxan is one of a kind, and perfect for Hallowe’en.

8. Vampyr 1932

Only marginally a talking picture Vampyr is another one of a kind, deeply disturbing tale of Vampirism told in a hallucinatory, dream like way. Shot through gauze filters with a non actor in the lead role, Vampyr, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, is disorienting, creepy and leaves the viewer with a serious feeling of uneasiness. There are no jump out of your seat scares and yet, we are never really sure what in hell is going on; shadows dance on the walls without people being present, living person’s shadows get up and move on their own, point of view changes constantly, characters enter and exit without explanation. Most unsettling, we get an entire sequence of what it would feel like to be buried alive, the view from inside a coffin, while still alive, and being carried to a grave site, in the hypnotic thrall of a vampire. Be forewarned, some people don’t get it. Forest J Ackerman, editor of Famous Monsters of Film land, hated this movie, didn’t think it scary at all, or entertaining. It is referenced constantly throughout Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula, good enough recommendation for me.

7. Island of Lost Souls 1932

In the 1930s Universal Studios was considered the major producer of horror films. Their movies, if you are a serious movie geek like me, are so familiar they are probably not scary at all anymore. Despite Universal’s dominance of the genre other studios put out some great productions. Paramount Pictures, known for classy musicals produced one of the most disturbing horror movies of the 1930s, Island of Lost Souls, a movie that packed such a punch on its original release it was banned in England and other countries for years. And it still has a powerful, painful effect. Directed by Earl C Kenton and the first film version of HG Well’s Island of Dr. Moreau (Wells hated the film) Island of Lost Souls features an incredible performance by Charles Laughton, obsessed with creating men out of animals and operating on them without using anesthetic. His island is populated with these half man half animal hybrids, among them, most unforgettably Bela Lugosi as Sayer of the Law “What is the Law? Are we not men?” and someone named Hans Steinke as Ouran, another unforgettable character. It is not just the horror in the house of pain or the monstrousness of the animal men, there is a queasy, oppressive atmosphere in the whole film, the jungle itself seems to be alive, even more so than in King Kong. Criterion’s blu ray is incredible, bringing out details, especially in the makeup I had never noticed before.

6. The Black Cat 1934

Another one of a kind horror movie, although made by Universal, the Black Cat is unlike any other film in their various franchises, or any other movie ever made for that matter. Rather than a gothic castle The Black Cat is set in a futuristic house,(it even has digital clocks, in 1934!) built on a fortress from WWI, in the Bauhaus style, and that house is inhabited by Boris Karloff playing a thinly disguised version of Aleister Crowley. Bela Lugosi arrives with a young couple in tow(David Manners and Julie Bishop) who get sucked into the vortex of Karloff and Lugosi’s poisoned history. Lugosi and Karloff were in eight movies together, usually with Karloff in the lead role, once, in The Raven, it was Lugosi’s movie. Here they stand as co equal characters, both of them dangerous, both actors at the top of their form. And masterfully directed by Edgar G Ulmer, who somehow made a movie that deals with necrophilia, cannibalism, Satan worship and God knows what else in 1934! I have watched The Black several times, usually around Hallowe’en and it never fails to make me feel very ill at ease. This is seriously creepy stuff, especially when Lugosi decides it would be a swell idea to skin Karloff alive.

4. Black Sunday 1960

The official first movie directed by Mario Bava (he had a hand in several other films, without credit) Black Sunday still has the power to horrify and frighten. A witch (Barbara Steele) is tortured and put to death in a blasted looking landscape, where the sun never seems to shine. She vows revenge and comes back years later, along with her walking dead servant and proceeds to wreck all manner of carnage and mayhem. Her main concern is taking over the life of her look alike descendant (also Steele). Bava has several masterpieces on his resume, this is one of them. Drenched in gothic atmosphere, as only Bava could produce, Black Sunday is still genuinely scary stuff. The servant Javutich crawling up out of his grave is still the stuff of nightmares.

3. Psycho 1960

A game changer is ever there was, Hitchcock’s film was not just the template for every psychotic slasher movie that came out over the years it changed the way we see movies. If it’s a scary movie we expect that no one is safe. No one had ever killed off the major character in any movie previously, certainly not from a major film maker. And Hitchcock’s genius shines in every frame, no matter how many times it is seen the shower scene still is shocking, the entire movie has an uneasiness, even the mundane scenes at the beginning have an edge. And the famous all strings music by Bernard Herrmann can still put you in a nervous frame of mind. A classic and still scary after all these years.

2. Carnival of Souls 1962

A one of a kind regional movie, made by people who made classroom and training films, on a very low budget with non actors, except for the lead actress Candice Hilligoss, (who is brilliant.) Carnival of Souls is not terrifying, but again, it will put you in an uneasy frame mind that can last for days. A major influence on George Romero Carnival is yet another movie, even if you know the ending, is worth revisiting many times. All of the scenes at the old Salt Air Pavilion in Utah are literally haunting. A text book example of what can be done on a low budget, if you have some talent. I first saw Carnival of Souls on Zone 2 in 1965, a local St. Louis tv show with a Horror Host played by Jack Murdock , scared me half to death.

1. Night of the Living Dead

The other game changer on this list. We have George Romero and his underpaid crew to thank for all the zombie movies that have come out since 1968, including the Walking Dead. And yet another regional film made by people who made industrial and corporate training films, as well as sports documentaries, Night of the Living Dead may shock you, it may horrify you, so if you are the least bit faint hearted, well, we warned you!

And, as I said this is a very personal list, I have to give honorable mentions to the original The Haunting, The Thing From Another World, Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, all of the Val Lewton series made at RKO in the 1940s, The Mummy’s Hand, Bride of Frankenstein and, what the hell, I love them all, whether they are still scary of not!

And a very Happy Hallowe’en to you all!

Top Ten Tuesday – BABY DRIVER Opens This Week, So Here Are the Best Car Chase Movies of the 1970’s

There’s nothing like a good car chase in a movie. Maybe it’s the daring-do of the stunt drivers that makes you feel you’re in danger even though you’re comfortably in your seat, or the high stakes of the moment in which the characters we’re rooting for will either get out of the situation or have a gruesome finale, but an impressive car-chase scene can make even a mediocre movie a beloved classic. What makes a car chase legendary, you ask? They’re the ones that keep you at the edge of your seat and actually fit in with the rest of the plot.

Edgar Wright’s BABY DRIVER opens Wednesday, June 28th. Baby (Ansel Elgort), is an innocent-looking getaway driver who gets hardened criminals from point A to point B, with daredevil flair and a personal soundtrack running through his head. That’s because he’s got his escape route plotted to the beat of specific tunes that go from his well-curated iPod straight to his ears, and which translate into expertly timed hairpin turns, gear shifts and evasive maneuvers that leave his passengers on the ride of their lives. Wright claims BABY DRIVER was inspired by the great car chase movies of the ’70s, and for good reason. While the “Fast and Furious” movies have collectively taken the car chase to the next level, they don’t count. They’re far too CGI-enhanced. The 1970’s may have marked a new age in American cinema, but it was also a decade of movies filled with practical car chases that are still the best. Here are the 10 greatest car chase movies of that glorious decade.

10. RACE WITH THE DEVIL (1975)

RACE WITH THE DEVIL was an unforgettable hybrid of horror and car chases. Warren Oates and Peter Fonda (along with wives Loretta Swit and Lara Parker) hit the road in a mammoth state-of-the-art (for 1975) motor home with a horde of devil worshipers in hot pursuit. The satanic road rage on display in the stunt-filled highway climax is insane.

9. WHITE LIGHTNING (1973)

What list about 70s car culture would be complete without a couple of Burt Reynolds movies? The 1973 moonshine opus WHITE LIGHTNING was full of booze, broads, car chases, corruption and revenge — all the things that make life worthwhile. Burt Reynolds at his peak of awesomeness (and sans mustache) mostly drove a 1971 Ford Galaxie Custom 500 to take on on despicable redneck Sheriff Ned Beatty.

8. DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY (1974)

Basically a movie-long car chase, this 1974 drive-in standard takes Susan George, Peter Fonda, and Adam Roarke through miles of rural countryside and small town highways with local police, led by Sheriff Vic Morrow, in pursuit after they’ve robbed a grocery store. They start off in a 1966 Chevrolet Impala, which they eventually ditch for a 1969 Dodge Charger 440 to stay ahead of Morrow in his Bell JetRanger helicopter.

7.VANISHING POINT (1971)

The 1971 road movie VANISHING POINT directed by Richard C. Sarafian is notable for its scenic film locales across the American Southwest and its social commentary on the post-Woodstock mood in the United States. Barry Newman and his 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T take a journey across the country defying everything the authorities can throw at him in this cult classic.

6. THE DRIVER (1979)

Walter Hill’s THE DRIVER (which Edgar Wright claims as his primary inspiration for BABY DRIVER) gives us a number of lengthy car chases, including a thrilling and lengthy one near the beginning through the streets of Downtown LA. The Driver (Ryan O’Neal) steals a blue 1974 Ford Galaxie 500, which he promptly uses to escape the police with a crew of casino robbers on board. THE DRIVER is somewhat forgotten today, but well worth seeking out.

5. GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS (1974)

Amateurish, badly-acted and shot on the cheap, the original GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS (1974) is still perhaps the ultimate drive-in car chase movie. If that sounds like a backhanded compliment, then you don’t know the sheer visceral thrill of this great tire squealing, chassis-slamming, slice of outlaw auto cinema. The cult item features a 40-minute car chase that features every 60s and 70s muscle car you can imagine. Writer/Director H.D. Halicki was killed in an on-set accident while filming the sequel.

4. SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977)

Redneck bad boys were all the rage in 1977. Cars were still made in Michigan and CB radios were the hot technology with phrases like “10-4 good buddy” familiar expressions and SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT captured that side of American culture as well as any film. It was the directorial debut for former stuntman Hal Needham and was the first of nine stunt-filled collaborations with his pal Burt Reynolds.

3. MAD MAX (1979)

This low-budget, high-octane Australian thriller spawned three sequels, two of which (ROAD WARRIOR in 1982 and MAD MAX FURY ROAD in 2015) are action masterpieces. The Mad Max films show that stunts themselves would be nothing without a filmmaker behind the camera and George Miller, a doctor and film buff making MAD MAX, his first feature in 1979, showed he knew what cinema was all about. Max’s black Pursuit Special driven by Mel Gibson was a 1973 Ford Falcon.

2. THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)

Gene Hackman’s Popeye Doyle commandeers a civilian’s 1971 Pontiac LeMans in THE FRENCH CONNECTION which begins one of the greatest, most heart-pounding car chase sequences in movie history. Doyle is frantically chasing an elevated train, on which a hitman is trying to escape. The scene was filmed in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and is a masterpiece of editing for which Gerald Greenberg took home a well-deserved Oscar.

1. THE SEVEN-UPS (1973)

This 1973 follow-up to THE FRENCH CONNECTION (some of the same cast play different characters – plus Richard Lynch and Joe Spinell!) was the sole directing credit of FRENCH CONNECTION producer Philip D’Antoni. The movie is highlighted by one absolutely incredible car chase, occurring just past the halfway point which cranks up the films’ energy level to a high degree. This is old school stunt driving and editing at its finest. The driver in the 1973 Pontiac Grand Ville sedan pursued by Roy Scheider in his 1973 Pontiac Ventura Sprint coupe is Bill Hickman, who was also the wheelman in the chase scene in BULLITT!

There were of course great car chase movies before and after the 70’s. Harold Lloyd’s SPEEDY features an eye-popping chase through the streets of New York that was filmed way back in 1927 while Robert Mitchum delivered the high-speed goods in THUNDER ROAD back in 1958. Some think the wrong-way car chase on a Los Angeles freeway in William Friedkin’s TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985) outdid the chase sequence in his THE FRENCH CONNECTION. John Frankenheimer’s RONIN in 1998 was one of the last great car chase films before CGI took over, and of course THE ROAD WARRIOR and MAD MAX FURY ROAD are in a class by themselves, but the ‘70s is definitely when the car chase movie was at its peak.

VERTIGO Screens at The Hi-Pointe Saturday Morning – Here are Alfred Hitchcock’s Ten Best Movies

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

Alfred Hitchcock’s VERTIGO screens at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater this weekend as part of their Classic Film Series. It’s Saturday, March 11th at 10:30am at the Hi-Pointe located at 1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63117. The film will be introduced by Harry Hamm, movie reviewer for KMOX. Admission is only $5

This gives us a perfect excuse to re-run this top ten list so here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are Alfred Hitchcock’s ten best films:

FRENZY

FRENZY, Hitchcock’s next to last feature film from 1972, represented a homecoming of sorts since it was the first film completely shot in his native England since his silents and early ” talkies ” in the 1930’s. By dipping into the then somewhat new territory of serial killers, he took full advantage of the new cinema freedoms and truly earned his ‘ R ‘ MPAA rating. Perhaps ole’ ” Hitch ” wanted to give those young up-and-coming film makers a run for their thriller movie money ( take that Brian DePalma! ). Anthony ( SLEUTH ) Schaffer’s screenplay told of an innocent man ( Jon Finch ) on the run ( ala NORTH BY NORTHWEST ) after police believe him to be the notorious necktie rapist/strangler. Seems this fellow’s buddy ( Barry Foster ) made his pal’s ex-wife the latest victim in a very graphic murder in a horrific sequence early in the film ( supposedly Michael Caine passed on the role because of the extreme brutality ). But later in the story ” Hitch ” shows surprising discretion. The killer enters an apartment with another woman and the camera stays in the hallway as they close the door. Slowly the camera begins a long tracking shot down the hall ( we hear no sounds from the closed room ) and out into the busy, bustling street ( perhaps showing that life goes on). Very stylish, you old sneak! Later we get a taste of the master’s sense of humor as the police inspector talks about the case to his gourmet-wannabe’ wife ( her dishes just sound awful!) in a series of running gags ( literally ). Even more hilarious ( and gruesome ) is when the killer realizes that his latest victim grabbed his very personal lapel pin. He’s got to track down the produce truck that carries her corpse ( shades of THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY ) stuffed in a sack of potatoes! Though he neared the end of his career Hitchcock proved he could still leave movie audiences gasping! Look for him in an early scene amongst a crowd who spot a body floating in the Thames ( such a proper Englishman-he’s wearing his bowler ).

SABOTEUR

Though not his first movie in Hollywood, SABOTEUR (1942) was Hitchcock’s first fully American film (REBECCA and SUSPICION both took place in England), one that took its lead characters on a coast-to-coast trek, ending up at one of the most American sites of all: the Statue of Liberty. Robert Cummings is wrongly suspected of being the saboteur who blew up the plant where he worked. He then goes on a cross-country run from his enemies, encountering a beautiful girl, a traveling circus (the unforgettable bearded-lady), etc. The real Saboteur is Nazi spy Norman Lloyd (still with us at 97!) who has since disappeared from the factory. Going on the run Cummings follows a lead concerning Fry which leads him to the ranch of wealthy Otto Kruger who is mixed up with a bigger plot of Sabotage. SABOTEUR introduced many elements that would become Hitchcock staples: the “wrongly-accused man” theme; the innocent hero in pursuit of the real villain with the police on his heels; the cultured villain whose outward respectability masks evil; the reluctant or hostile blonde heroine; the use of important sites (the Statue of Liberty climax, the shoot-out at Radio City) for spectacular set pieces; and, of course, the dark humor. While history hasn’t revealed SABOTEUR to be among Hitchcock’s most popular films, it certainly belongs on this list and is the one most deserving of rediscovery.

VERTIGO

Let’s state this right from the top: VERTIGO is one of the greatest films ever made. It’s not simply hyperbole that notables such as Leonard Maltin and Martin Scorsese have called the film Hitchcock’s masterpiece.Â To paraphrase Scorsese, rarely have we seen the complexity of a man’s thoughts and feelings portrayed so beautifully and compellingly onscreen.Â Everything in VERTIGO – from the costumes to the location scenery to the performances of its lead actors is quite simply, perfect. Hitchcock had long wanted to film a story in the City by the Bay, and with the French novel FROM AMONG THE DEAD, he had the framework for his most personal and revealing film. The San Francisco backdrops contribute greatly to the overall dreamlike quality of much of the film, with the Spanish architecture, redwood forests, and of course, the Golden Gate. The plot of VERTIGO is famously convoluted, but suffice to say that Hitch had yet another morally ambiguous lead character in Scottie (the always solid Jimmy Stewart, here playing against his all-American every guy type), and a plethora of dualities in almost every character – and then some. Madeleine (the wonderful Kim Novak) is not really Madeleine, but Judy. And Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) wants to be Madeleine, but paints a portrait of herself as Carlotta. The old college buddy is really a calculating murderer. Hitchcock uses paintings, reflections, mirrors, and shadows to show us these dual personas constantly throughout the film. On its surface, VERTIGO is about trying to change someone you love. Haven’t we all tried this to some extent at some point in our lives? The danger, as it is here, is that it can become an obsession – this power we have to transform someone. To take the point even further, isn’t it the movies themselves which transform reality for us? It would also be easy to dismiss VERTIGO as one of the darkest and most cynical portrayals of romantic love ever filmed. But Hitchcock actually has a genuine affinity for romance. Look at the scene where Scottie finally molds Judy into the Madeleine he loves. As she enters the room, bathed in an ethereal light, Bernard Herrmann’s lush romantic score swells to a crescendo, and Scottie’s face transforms as he embraces her as Hitch shoots in a full 360 dolly (Notice how the background changes, reflecting Scottie’s memories.) Has there ever been a more beautifully rendered sequence showing a man and woman in love? Many directors would have ended the film right there, but of course, Hitch is not most directors. With its themes of the conflicts inherent in romantic love, its obsessive power to transform reality, and its dark impulses that we both fear and are drawn to, VERTIGO abides as a unique look into the mind of one very special genius.

REBECCA

Based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, REBECCA was Alfred Hitchcock’s first American film and won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1940, the only Hitchcock film to ever do so (though Best Director went to John Ford that year for GRAPES OF WRATH). We never see the title character in REBECCA, but we constantly feel her presence. Joan Fontaine stars as an unnamed woman who is the “companion” of a spoiled rich woman – Mrs. Van Hopper (Florence Bates). She meets Rebecca’s widower: the rich but brooding Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier). The two marry and he takes her to Manderley, his palatial estate in the English countryside. There, the second Mrs. de Winter must compete with the memory of Rebecca’s perfection, and cope with the menacing housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson). REBECCA is an eerie exercise in suspense, one of the more gothic and strange of Hitchcock’s films, as it deals more with psychological terror than the espionage thrillers he’d been making in England. REBECCA proved that a skilled director accustomed to making small pictures in England could embrace the Hollywood system and develop a big movie that would find favor with critics and audiences alike. Yet Hitchcock once told Francois Truffaut that his first American film,”is not a Hitchcock picture.” Apparently producer David O. Selznick, a legendary micromanager, insisted on being closely involved with the movie and producing a faithful adaptation of the book forcing Hitchcock to deliver a film that broke the mold of his British thrillers.

THE BIRDS

Hitchcock’s vision of the end of the world, or at least the end of humanity as its master, was a brilliant stamp on perhaps the single greatest decade of filmmaking by any one person in the history of cinema. Think about it – nearly every film on this Top 10 Tuesday list was made during the period from the early 1950s to 1963, when THE BIRDS was released. Tippi Hedren portrays Melanie Daniels, a Paris Hilton-like jetsetter who’s really a good girl at heart, if somewhat used to getting what she wants. And what she wants is Rod Taylor, in his best debonair yet macho guise, as Mitch. Melanie impulsively follows Mitch to his homestead of Bodega Bay, bringing along some caged songbirds, and coincidentally bringing on some wild bird attacks.(Mention should be made here of the Bernard Herrmann “score” for THE BIRDS – there are few actual bird sounds, only the electronic renderings of Herrmann, and no music.) You may provide your own interpretation of these events (Are the birds drawn to light? Are they some psychological manifestation of a mother’s jealousy? A romantic rival’s jealousy?= Or just some damn crazy birds?), or you can just enjoy the visceral ride of admiring a master craftsman. The famous setpieces in THE BIRDS – the schoolyard suspense, the attack at the party, the siege in the farmhouse, etc. are all prime examples of Hitchcock’s techniques for heightened suspense and making the macabre out of the mundane.Perhaps the best scene in the movie is the gas station sequence, where Melanie is trapped in a phonebooth (ah, the good old days of land lines!) and looks on helplessly as the birds begin their onslaught. When the inevitable explosion occurs, Hitch immediately cuts to a skyview, and we see the world as the birds see us – tiny, insignificant creatures amid burning petroleum that they have drained from the earth – a brilliant microcosm of the futility of human enterprise when faced with the forces of nature.

NORTH BY NORTHWEST

In NORTH BY NORTHWEST Hitchcock once again explored the theme of an innocent man on the run. Unlike his recent THE WRONG MAN, this reluctant hero was not trying to escape the police ( they don’t believe him ), but a group of ruthless spies! Making this film compelling ( and very entertaining ) is Cary Grant at his most charming as Roger O. Thornhill ( the O stands for nothing ), terrific location work, and Bernard Herriman’s pulse pounding score. Early on the baddies led by the sinister James Mason and his aide Martin Landau (something…odd…is going on between those two! ) force bourbon down Grant’s throat and put him behind the wheel of a car. The camera assumes the driver’s view as it careens down a dark country road. Later Grant’s framed for a killing as news cameras capture the murder ( look for the kid in the background plugging his ears before the gunshot ). Grant gets a brief rest as he boards a train and encounters Eva Marie Saint as a cool sexy blonde ( ” Hitch ” had a thing for that type..and locomotives! ). Later we see one of the most famous film images as Grant runs down a deserted field to escape a swooping crop dusting bi-plane. The thrill ride concludes with an incredible chase on Mount Rushmore! Hitchcock went all out to give movie audiences their money’s worth! Look for him just missing a bus right after the great Saul Bass opening titles.

STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

Hitchcock indulges his penchant for locomotives once again in the 1951 classic STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. One of his greatest thrillers begins innocently enough on board said train when tennis player Guy Haines ( Farley Granger ) has a casual conversation with one of cinema’s creepiest villains Bruno Anthony ( Robert Walker ). Both have people in their lives causing them problems. Bruno has a mean, tight-fisted father while Guy has a loose, shrewish wife who won’t grant him a divorce so he may marry a gorgeous US senator’s daughter Anne Morton ( Ruth Roman ). Hmmm, what if they did murders for each other? The police would never suspect. Guy light-heartedly agrees, but Bruno believes that it’s real and binding. He tracks down Mrs. Haines to a carnival and strangles her ( in a low angle shot we observe the killing through the woman’s discarded spectacles-this party gal wore glasses! ). Soon Bruno calls on Guy to keep his end of the deal or he’ll alert the authorities. What to do? Walker gives a mesmerizing performance as the dead-eyed murderer with serious parental issues ( foreshadowing Norman Bates? ). Strolling through the carnival he barely breaks his stride to pop the balloon of a passing youngster. Later Bruno attends Guy’s big tennis match. All eyes in the stands are on the back-and-forth moving tennis ball except Bruno. He fixes his steady, unmoving, unblinking stare on Guy. The suspense doesn’t let up through the wild climax as both men fight aboard a whirling, spinning out-of-control merry-go-round. The influence of this masterwork continues to this day in films ( the comedy THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN ) to a recent episode of TV’s ” Modern Family “. Watch for Hitchcock attempting to board the train toting a cumbersome double bass case ( ya’ know, a body could fit in that! ).

SHADOW OF A DOUBT

In SHADOW OF A DOUBT (1943) Teresa Wright plays Charlie, a small-town high-schooler in the sleepy burb of Santa Rose who enjoys an extended visit from her favorite uncle, also named Charlie (Joseph Cotten). The horrified Charlie eventually discovers that her beloved Uncle is a mass murderer, preying upon and killing wealthy old women. Thornton Wilder, Sally Benson, and Alma Reville (Mrs. Hitchcock) based their screenplay on a story by Gordon McDowell, who in turn was inspired by the real-life serial killer Earle Leonard Nelson, known as the “Merry Widow Murderer”. Joseph Cotten was deftly cast against type by Hitchcock, bringing a superficial cheerfulness to Uncle Charlie, which can turn on a dime to efficient cruelty. The structure of SHADOW OF A DOUBT is perfectly calculated, letting the viewer know early on just what kind of man Uncle Charlie really is, but providing tension through his devious charade as a gentle, kind man deserving of his family’s love, an unease which fuels the chilling cat-and-mouse game between Cotten and Wright that provides the film’s tense center. SHADOW OF A DOUBT is said to be Hitchcock’s personal favorite and it’s not difficult to see why: much like BLUE VELVET, it’s about the menace that lurks below every picturesque small town or, as Hitchcock himself claimed, “It brought murder and violence back into the house where it rightfully belongs.” Look for the master’s cameo playing poker on a train.

PSYCHO

Everyone remembers the film’s most famous scene: the oft-copied but seldom equaled artistry of the shower murder, with its nerve-wracking staccato string music, its implied nudity and stabbing, and its 78 separate edits. But what everyone does not realize is that this iconic sequence – one of the most famous in film history – was actually a creative response thought up by Saul Bass and Alfred Hitchcock to avoid censorship. In 1959, censorship (the Code) was still alive and well in Hollywood, movie ratings were still years away, and Alfred Hitchcock was at a crossroads in his career. With a string of box office hits and a popular hit TV show, Hitch was one of Hollywood’s most bankable and recognizable directors. But Hitch was also troubled by the critical and box office failure of VERTIGO, one of his most personal films. He felt that his next project should be something different other than the same big studio crowd-pleasers he had built his reputation on, so when he read a review of a new novel by Robert Bloch inspired by the real-life serial killer Ed Gein , Hitch was immediately attracted to the lurid subject matter, with its themes of transvestism, incest, necrophilia, and a dose of taxidermy. Hitch began story conferences with screenwriter Joseph Stefano (later to produce TV’s OUTER LIMITS), getting more and more excited at the prospect of filming cheaply, dealing with taboo subject matter, and – most importantly – killing off his leading lady in the first act. He decided to forgo the usual studio crew for one made up primarily from his TV show, which could shoot quickly and economically. With a few exceptions, such as visual consultant Bass and composer Bernard Herrmann, Hitch kept the production low-budget and under the radar. At a time when Technicolor had become almost commonplace, PSYCHO was shot in black and white for both artistic and cost-saving reasons. (Hitch once responded to a question of why he didn’t film in color with, – That would have been in bad taste.) In today’s horror climate of “torture porn” and overblown SAW-like deaths, it’s easy to forget how difficult it was to make a film like PSYCHO, breaking new ground in telling an adult story in adult terms. The problem of how to film a brutal murder without actually showing anything was just one of many hurdles Hitch had to solve. Setting the tone with its opening voyeuristic shot of a barely-clad couple in the throes of a passionate affair, PSYCHO portrayed an openness about sex that only foreign films at that time had shown.Hitch tread carefully with the censors, often asking for more than he actually wanted, but Stefano remembers that even such a mundane item as a toilet had never been shown onscreen in a major studio film, let alone a toilet flushing! Made at the peak of his genius, Hitchcock’s PSYCHO has rightly claimed its throne as Father (or Mother) of the modern horror film, influencing thrillers for decades and creating a new sense of realism that continues through the slasher films of today. Stripping the bleak essence of human nature to austere, colorless banality, PSYCHO would have assured Hitchcock’s reputation even if it were his only film.

REAR WINDOW

Only a master of suspense like Alfred Hitchcock could produce such a quintessential film on the subject of paranoia. There is no shortage of films about conspiracy theories and government coverups, but what of the paranoia that comes from us fearing the worst in each other? James Stewart delivers an uncharacteristically neurotic performance as a wheelchair bound photojournalist who believes he has witnessed a murder while spying on his neighbors from his apartment window. Hitchcock sets up a thrilling story with two distinct and opposing characters, but creates within the viewer uncertainty regarding who is right and who is wrong. REAR WINDOW pits the aggressive, short-tempered bully against the helpless, voyeuristic interloper. Shot almost entirely in one location, as only Hitchcock could do, the film maintains a level of excitement that seethes the potential danger of the story’s protagonist. REAR WINDOW would later inspire a television remake in 1998 starring Christopher Reeves and a modern retelling in 2007 called DISTURBIA.

SLIFF 2016 – TRIBUTE TO KING KONG Nov. 6th – Here are the Top Ten Giant Ape Movies of All Time!

A Tribute to King Kong takes place as part of the The St. Louis International Film Festival Sunday, Nov. 6 beginning at 6:00pm at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium. The first film screened will be the new documentary LONG LIVE THE KING, which explores the enduring fascination with one of the biggest stars — both literally and figuratively — in Hollywood history: the mighty King Kong. Produced and directed by Frank Dietz and Trish Geiger, the creative team behind the award-winning “Beast Wishes,” the documentary devotes primary attention to the 1933 classic, celebrating the contributions of filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, stars Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong, and Bruce Cabot, writer Edgar Wallace, and especially stop-motion innovator Willis O’Brien. But Kong’s legacy is also fully detailed: the sequel “Son of Kong,” the cinematic kin “Mighty Joe Young,” the Dino DeLaurentis and Peter Jackson remakes, even the Japanese versions by Toho Studios. Among the legion of Kong fans interviewed are “Simpsons” writer/producer Dana Gould, director Joe Dante (a former SLIFF honoree), and artist Bill Stout. This will be followed by the original KING KONG, the 1933 classic that introduced the giant gorilla to the awestruck world. Directors Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack helped pioneer the documentary form with “Grass” before edging toward narrative with the hybrid “Chang” (1927) and moving fully into fiction with “King Kong.” In the film — assuming any benighted soul actually requires a refresher course in its plot — hubristic wildlife filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) journeys to Skull Island in search of a legendary creature and finds even more than he hoped: a jungle teeming with prehistoric dinos and a monstrous ape. Capturing Kong and hauling him back to New York in chains, Denham intends to put the beast on display. To considerably understate the case, his plans go disastrously awry. Celebrated especially for the astonishing work of stop-motion innovator Willis O’Brien, “King Kong” quickly ascended to cinematic heights commensurate with those reached by its star on his climb to the top of the Empire State Building. Among the film’s many honors is the No. 43 spot on the American Film Institute’s list of the 100 greatest movies of all time. The event will be hosted by We Are Movie Geeks’ own Tom Stockman. Ticket information for the event can be found HERE.

But Kong wasn’t the only massive simian to grace the silver screen. Here’s a look at the ten best giant apes in the history of the movies.

HONORABLE MENTION: A*P*E

The ad campaign for the 1976 Korean film A*P*E warned “Not to be confused with KING KONG”. A captive giant ape, after escapes from a freighter and sets his destructive sights on Seoul, Korea where he falls for an American actress (Joanna Kerns ) filming a movie there. A*P*E was originally filmed in 3-D so there are countless shots of a man in a moth-eaten ape suit throwing Styrofoam boulders at the camera. He also engages in a pitiful skirmish with an obviously dead shark, flips to the bird to his attackers, and in one scene, sports high-top tennis shoes. The same stock destruction footage is repeated in A*P*E, one of the most dismal, if unintentionally funny monster movies of all.

10. KING KONG LIVES

Dino De Laurentiis waited ten years to produce a sequel to his poorly received but modestly successful King Kong remake and brought back director John Guillermin to helm King Kong Lives in 1986. The Jarvik Heart, a medical device making headlines at the time, became the springboard for the story which took place just after Kong’s fall from the World trade Center. He needs a blood transfusion to prevent his body from rejecting his mechanical ticker so a busty Lady Kong is transported from Skull Island to donate. The big guy falls hard for her and the hairy pair bound off into the mountains to make a Kong baby a team of hunters on their tail. The unbelievably goofy premise is played absolutely straight in King Kong Lives. Highlights include an absurd heart-transplant scene (by a team of doctors lead by Linda Hamilton) featuring surgical tools the size of trucks, and a battle with a pair of floppy rubber alligators. This sequel nobody asked for to the remake nobody liked was less offensive, faster-paced, and more fun than its predecessor.

9. QUEEN KONG

Queen Kong was a 1976 gender-switching British twist made to ride the coattails of the 1976 Dino de Laurentiis King Kong remake. A cigar-chomping Rula Lenska played filmmaker/adventurer Luce Habit who travels with blonde hippy Ray Fay (Robin Askwith, shaggy-haired staple of ‘70s British sex comedies) to the African island of Lazanga (Where They Do the Konga). The native girls there (including Blood from the Mummy’s Tomb star Valerie Leon in a red bikini) sacrifice him to the local simian goddess, Queen Kong complete with breasts and a hairdo. Queen Kong follows the 1933 film closely with with Queenie battling a T-Rex and pterodactyl with a hook for a leg before being transported to London for a climb up Big Ben and a tumble through the Tower of London while wearing a giant bra and panties. Queen Kong is riddled with absurd British clowning, a pair of silly musical numbers, and spoofs of Jaws and Airplane. One party lacking a sense of humor was Dino de Laurentiis himself who filed an injunction to prevent the release of Queen Kong. It went unseen until it’s unearthing by Retromedia DVD in 2002.

8. KONGA

Konga was a low-budget 1962 British film from American producer Herman Cohen. Michael Gough played Dr. Decker, a loony botanist who discovers a serum that causes his cuddly pet chimpanzee Konga to grow out of control. The monkey only reaches Kong-size dimensions in the final minutes of Konga, smashing out of the glass ceiling of Decker’s greenhouse in a memorable scene. The shabby gorilla suit in Konga was provided by George Barrows (the script never makes it clear why a chimp would grow into a gorilla) and it’s the same one used in Robot Monster (1953) and Gorilla at Large (1955). Its many flaws aside, Konga has always been good cheesy fun for bad movie fans who like laughing at inept films and even inspired its own Charlton comic book series.

7. KING KONG ESCAPES

King Kong vs. Godzilla was a hit in 1962 and Toho brought the slightly revised Kong suit was back five years later for King Kong Escapes which was not a sequel but a live action tie-in to the animated Saturday morning Rankin-Bass TV series King Kong, the first anime series commissioned by an American company. King Kong Escapes featured the cartoon’s villainous Dr. Who (no relation to the British time-hopper), who wants to capture Kong for his own evil plans. Kong battles it out with both a T- Rex and a giant sea serpent before engaging in a lively ape-to-robot confrontation with Mecha-Kong. The robot version of Kong is one of the film’s best elements, as its massive, impractical design cuts an impressive figure and it’s what most kids remember about King Kong Escapes.

6. THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN

The Mighty Peking Man (1977) was the Shaw Brothers of Hong Kong’s entry in the Kong bandwagon. A Chinese explorer in search of a legendary giant in the wilds of India finds not only the enormous ape-like caveman but his friend, a wild blonde female version of Tarzan. The Mighty Peking Man, aka Goliathon, featured some decent miniature effects and an expressive Yeti suit but is best remembered for leggy bleach-blond Swiss actress Evelyn Kraft as Samantha the jungle siren, speaking in fractured English dressed in a barely-there fur bikini.

5. SON OF KONG

In the wake of King Kong’s monstrous success, RKO quickly shot a sequel which was rushed into theaters before 1933 was over. Son of Kong picked up where the original film ended, chronicling Carl Denham’s (Robert Armstrong again) return to Skull Island, this time with brunette Helen Mack, searching for a hidden treasure he needs to pay off all the lawsuits that resulted from Kong’s New York City rampage. Junior Kong was blonde, smaller, and friendlier than his dad and Son of Kong was a much softer and more juvenile sequel, a comic fairy tale that ran a brief 70 minutes. It suffered from a lower budget than its predecessor and was not nearly the financial success. Willis O’Brien used parts of his original Kong models to create the son and while the animation is equally polished, Son of Kong is a smaller scale film in every sense.

4. KING KONG VS GODZILLA

In 1962, Japan’s Toho Studios purchased the rights to King Kong from RKO for King Kong vs. Godzilla, their first color film featuring their popular giant radioactive lizard. It was based on King Kong vs. Frankenstein, an idea Willis O’Brien had conceived as a sequel to King Kong with the big ape battling a creature assembled from parts of giant animals. Unable to find an American studio interested, the project was adapted by Toho who replaced Frankenstein with Godzilla. Fans of O’Brien’s stop-motion work on the original were reportedly horrified by the idea of the big ape being played by a Japanese guy in a suit. While the costume is pretty ragged and expressionless, King Kong vs. Godzilla always been a fan favorite, a big colorful boy’s fantasy with ambitious miniature work, Universal monster stock music, and giants grappling and tumbling like colossal wrestlers. One highlight is when King Kong picks Godzilla up by his tail and whips him around the air like a ragdoll and another is Kong’s lively tussle with an octopus.

3. KING KONG (2005)

King Kong has been officially remade twice. In 1976 Italian movie mogul Dino De Laurentiis unleashed his heavily promoted version starring Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and Jessica Lange as Dwan, to eager audiences. Though De Laurentiis bragged about the 50-foot robot ape artist/sculptor Carlo Rambaldi had constructed for the film, that prop was infamously underused and Kong was mostly played by Rick Baker in an elaborate suit, a development that angered both critics and the original film’s fans. With the exception of John Barry’s score, there is nothing noteworthy about the modestly successful 1976 version which climaxed with Kong battling helicopters atop the World Trade Center. Director Peter Jackson, hot off his Lord of the Rings trilogy got it right with his 2005 remake. Jackson who has stated that King Kong was the film that had inspired him to become a filmmaker, set his version in 1933 and cast Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow, Jack Black as Carl Denham and Adrien Brody as Jack Driscoll. The effects in this version were completely CGI, but it was made with respect for the original film, snatching bits of the corniest original dialogue verbatim, and even a few bars of Max Steiner’s score. Jackson cast himself as one of the biplane pilots and was in talks with Fay Wray to deliver the film’s last line (“It was Beauty killed the Beast.”) when she passed away in August 2004.

2. MIGHTY JOE YOUNG

The producer –director team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack attempted to recreate the magic of King Kong in 1949 with Mighty Joe Young, which followed the Kong story closely but this time with more humor, affection and a big ape that kids could see as a hero. Again Robert Armstrong leads a safari to an isolated land to find a new attraction and again discovers a giant ape attached to a young blonde (19-year old Terry Moore). The Golden Safari nightclub sequence in Mighty Joe Young is a colorful centerpiece, with voodoo dancers, Joe lifting Moore on a platform while she plays ‘Beautiful Dreamer’ on the piano, ten circus strongmen in leopard-skins who take on Joe in a tug-of-war, and a wild rampage after a trio of drunks go backstage to ply the already contentious ape with booze. Special effects master Willis O’Brien and his young protégée Ray Harryhausen succeeded in making Joe as much of a real character as Kong ever was, using technical advances to give the ape an even more expressive face and mannerisms. Mighty Joe Young failed to capture the box-office magic of its predecessor and a proposed sequel, Joe Meets Tarzan, was scrapped.

1. KING KONG (1933)

King Kong (1933) is a classic tale of beauty and the beast. An ancient animal lives on a mysterious land (Skull Island) that is hidden from the rest of the world. Carl Denham and his crew travel to the island and try and locate the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. This giant behemoth is dubbed King Kong, the monster whom the natives fear. The explorers have to cross a land that time really forgot. Dinosaurs and other strange creatures inhabit the terrain and pick off the humans one by one. Normally the beast would have nothing to do with the nosy visitors but he’s smitten by the lady in the group and saves the humans. His reward for being helpful is being chained up and dragged off to “civilization”. Will King Kong adjust to life in the city? Can he find love with a woman who’s a fraction of his size? The animation and special effects of the original 1933 King Kong left a legacy of their own within the film industry. Even 80 years later it is impossible to find a special effects artist or a director of effects-heavy films who does not list Kong as a key influence. The techniques developed for Kong are applicable to modern FX technologies. As far ahead of King Kong as digital effects seem, they might not have been possible without the ingenuity of animator Willis O’Brien. KING KONG is one of those few movies that come across as vividly the 20th time around as the first and there’s no doubt 80 years from now people will still be enjoying the awesome achievement that is King Kong.

Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten White People Doing The Right Thing

I think everyone in this country should be aware by now that our race relations are at an all time low. It seems every time we hear the news another black citizen has been shot by the police or police have been shot by someone angry about these shootings. It cannot continue. We as a nation cannot keep going down this road.

I have always sympathized with Black Americans. In fact as a Scot and Irish American I have always sympathized with anyone who ever got pushed around, starting with Native Americans, Asians, Jewish immigrants, women of any ethnic group, Hispanics from any country.

I also sympathize with the people who are tasked with law enforcement. It’s a tough job. I had some training in that area. A couple of years ago I was hired by a Security company and was trained in unarmed, and armed, uniformed security. I surprised myself by shooting very well at the gun range to get qualified to carry a firearm. But it was not a good fit. That gun hung heavy on my belt. As soon as I started wearing that security guard uniform I started getting feedback, negative feedback. The uniforms I was issued could never have been mistaken for real law enforcement. But I got negative feedback anyway, lots of it.

So I have always been emotionally effected anytime I see a white person doing the right thing in a movie towards a person of another ethnic group, including Black Americans, Native Americans or any other group.

Here are ten of my favorite such moments, although Hollywood has included many such scenes in many movies.

Red Tails 2012

The true story of the Tuskegee Airmen, black pilots with college degrees (there weren’t many in the 1930s and 40s) who trained to be fighter pilots during World War II. The USA needed all the help they could get in World War II, and the Government, and the military, reluctantly, very reluctantly allowed Black Americans to train in all the services, including being pilots in what was then called the Army Air Corp and later the Army Air Force. These pilots, it has been said, fought a war on two fronts, first against the Germans, on whom they unleashed all hell due to their frustration at living in a segregated country, and also against the white Military establishment who was, mostly, convinced that Blacks could not fly and shoot a weapon at the same time. The bigots were proved wrong, the Tuskegee Airmen, also known as Red Tails due to the distinctive markings on their planes, had the best record of any fighter group in the War. They never lost a bomber, which was their task as a fighter squadron, to protect bombers on their runs into Germany, their record was impeccable and they were highly decorated.

In one heart wrenching scene they are approached in the street by a white pilot, who calls them “colored boys” the Red Tails expect a fight, instead the white pilot renders them some respect, including a hand salute and invites them into a bar for a drink. The tension level rises in that bar but it is left unspoken that the Red Tails are there at a white officer’s invitation. Oh so briefly the color line is forgotten as white and black pilots, fighting the same war, have a drink and discuss their role in the biggest combat event in history.

The Tuskegee Airmen correct the use of the term “colored boys” and state that they prefer Negro. One of the black pilots advises the whites that white people “turn red when they are angry, green with envy or yellow when cowardly and have the nerve to call us colored people!”

The Tuskegee Airmen were so good at their task the bomber pilots asked for them to cover their back on bombing runs, the highest compliment I can think of.

My Favorite Year 1982

In one of the best comedies from the 1980s, or any decade really, the early days of television are recreated on a show that appears very much like the Sid Caesar show. A young man named Benji (Mark Linn Baker) a writer and would be comedian and hopeless movie geek (based on Mel Brooks the producer of the movie) is tasked with taking care of the week’s guest star Allan Swann, a washed up alcoholic Movie Star baring more than a passing resemblance to Errol Flynn as well as the actor portraying him, the legendary Peter O’Toole. (Although O’Toole denied he was anything like Alan Swann, yeah, right!)

At one point Swann accompanies Benji to the apartment he shares with his Mother, Lainie Kazan and her second husband, a washed up Filipino boxer named Rookie Carroca,(Ramon Sisson) a character whom no one seems to respect. Until the moment when the Big Shot Movie Star comes swaggering into the little apartment and focuses all his attention on “a lethal bantam weight named Rookie Carroca”! He even pronounces his name right, the only time it happens, it brings tears to my eyes every time! He even recalls a night he saw Rookie take Sailor Donovan down in San Diego in three rounds. No, “in two,” Rookie corrects him.

Swann renders that over the hill Filipino boxer some respect, something he doesn’t seem to have received since the night “Manny Serpa turned him into guava jelly at Madison Square Garden.”

Trust me on this, Filipinos are good people, I served with a good many of them during my time in the Navy (there he goes again!) And we don’t see many of them in our movies, and that is a shame, but what a great moment!

42 2013

The true story of Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player to get into the major leagues, this story is all about trying to get past skin color. Robinson played himself in The Jackie Robinson Story in 1950, a pretty good version on its own. In 42 Chadwick Boseman gives an incredible performance as a man who was tasked with “not fighting back” when every vile racial insult was hurled at him daily, probably hourly.

Many of his own team mates did not want him there, at first. It is a powerful moment when Pee Wee Reese (Lucas Black) puts his arm around Robinson in front of a stadium full of Redneck Crackers shouting every kind of abuse. Captured in a famous photograph it is a great moment.

Robinson is so good at the game that eventually the other players come around to respecting the rookie who broke the color line.

But much more heartbreaking is the moment when Robinson and his wife (Nicole Beharie) are approached on the street by one Redneck looking character (William Flaman) who ominously advises that he “has something to say” to Robinson. He then states that he “is pulling for you. You got the goods and any man with the goods deserves a fair chance. And a lot of people around here feel the same way I do!”

He even tips his cap to Mrs. Robinson as he walks away leaving Robinson and his wife looking as if they cannot believe what just happened, for that matter neither can we!

The Magnificent Seven 1960

An American remake of a Kurosawa masterpiece (Seven Samurai) The Magnificent Seven is pretty damn good in its own right. A once in a lifetime cast including Yul Brynner, James Coburn, Steve McQueen and Charles Bronson team up into a group of seven gunfighters who stand up for a village of Mexican campesinos who get raided periodically by a group of bandits led of Eli Wallach.

The Magnificent Seven is one of the great western’s in movie history, still a hell of a good show and has one of the best, most epic soundtracks ever, by the great Elmer Bernstein. All the actors are good, you expect good work from Brynner and McQueen, Charles Bronson and James Coburn but this may be Robert Vaughn’s best performance ever. But it’s Brad Dexter, of all people, who steals the whole show, wraps it around his gun hand and sticks it in his hip pocket in his death scene.

As good a Western adventure as The Magnificent Seven is it’s the idea of a small group of Anglo Americans standing up for a village of dirt poor Mexicans that makes it really something special. These guys are Magnificent and they, and the movie, treat the Mexicans with utmost respect.

What’s Love Got To Do With It? 1993

The crown jewel in movies that feature Nicheren Buddhism (a subject for a different Top Ten List) What’s Love Got To Do With It? tells the true story of how Tina Turner (Angela Bassett) hit rock bottom and put her life back together by chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (try it some time, it works!)

In a key moment Tina Turner not only gets the courage and strength to fight back against Ike Turner she runs away from him the night they are set to play a gig. She runs off with just the clothes on her back and very little money to a nearby hotel. Visibly beaten she runs in and asks for the manager. One hell of a Red Neck looking character (O’NeaL Compton: Attack of the 50 foot Woman 1993, Nell, Nixon, Deep Impact ) comes to the front desk. Tina explains who she is, that she has very little money but pleads for shelter. Tina, and we the viewers, fully expect to hear this guy say something along the lines of “Get this Negro wench out of my hotel!” Instead, when Tina starts to remove her jewelry to pay for a room he says “Miss Turner, that’s not necessary, don’t worry we’ll take care of you! It would be an honor!”

He tells one of the bell hops to “get Miss Turner a room and a Doctor!” It’s been said that great acting is when you can tell what a character is thinking. Compton (who has made a career out of playing country types, sheriffs, truck drivers and what have you, can be seen clearly thinking “if I ever get my hands on Ike Turner!” You can feel the rage, Compton is on screen for all of three minutes but this simple act of kindness by a white man towards a black rhythm and blues singer leaves a lasting impression. This was the turning point in Tina Turner’s life. And a great illustration of how Nicheren Buddhism can change a person’s life for the better. Check out SGI-USA on line if you want to learn more.

Invictus 2009

Invictus is a movie full of white people, living in a country famous for its official racist attitudes, pulling their heads out of their ass and doing the right thing.

Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) spent most of his life in prison in South Africa, because he did not want to live under South Africa’s miserable system of “apartheid” , which is actually pronounced “apart hate”. South Africa has a white minority, mostly Dutch, some English and Germans who kept the black majority, Native Africans, as a second class of servants and living in dire poverty.

After the end of apartheid and Black South Africans gained full citizenship Nelson Mandela became the first native Prime Minister of what had been one of the most racist countries on Earth. The first thing he did on being released from prison was to forgive his oppressors. After becoming Prime Minister his dream was a South Africa where all its citizens were on the same page.

The white minority fully expected to be either driven from the country or slaughtered, as happened in the Belgian Congo and other African countries after the end of colonialism. Did not happen, Mandela was more than aware the country could not function without the white minority, they knew the economy, the government, the bureaucracy, the new South Africa needed them.

As a means to bring all its citizens together Mandela asked the South African Rugby team to win the 1995 Rugby World cup. For South African whites Rugby is the national sport, black South Africans supported soccer, what the rest of the world calls football.

Mandela asks Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) captain of the team to win that cup. Pienaar has his doubts, his team has one black player, the only player black South Africans know and recognize.

The team visits the prison where Mandela spent most o f his life, they visit some of the black townships and view firsthand the wretched poverty.

They vow, as a team, to win that cup. Mandela’s security group enlists, reluctantly, the aid of the white security crew from the previous administration. Slowly but surely, black and white South Africans come to actually know and respect each other.

When the world cup game arrives, against New Zealand’s team, it is exhilarating to see that their team is fully integrated. Well over half the team is native Maoris. Their team does a Maori war dance before the game begins. Like Native Americans, Australian Aborigines or any other Native culture, it is a great honor to dance with the Maori.

In the stands White South African youths cheer when Mandela enters the stadium. Of course South Africa’s team wins, causing a lot of excitement for the whole country, just what Mandela had wanted. And we are excited as well, with the idea that if South Africa can make some effort to overcome its racist past, maybe we can too.

Race 2016

Another true sports story Race details the triumph of Jesse Owens (Stephan James) at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, known as the Nazi Olympics for Hitler’s faith that his Aryan youth athletes would dominate the games. Owens had the same struggles as other Black Americans in this same time period. Other athletes did not want him in the locker rooms, just getting him to the games was a problem. Even some Black Americans did not think he should go to those Olympic Games.

Improbably a German runner Carl ‘Luz’ Long (David Cross) openly befriends Owens in front of stadiums full of National Socialist true believers, Leni Riefenstahl’s documentary cameras (her documentary of these games is well worth seeing) and most wonderfully of all, in front of Uncle Adolf Hitler himself.

Owens put the lie to Nazi ideas of a “master race” and oddly enough Owens did not do so single handed. Other Black American athletes’ went to those games and some of them won medals. NPR did a nice story on that but for simplicities sake, as Hollywood often does, the movie’s focus is on Owens.

Carl Long’s insistence on treating Owens with respect and dignity back fired on him, as you would expect, at the film’s end we find out that Long was “enlisted” in the German Army and died on the Eastern Front.

Cool Runnings 1993

Another Hollywood movie about Black athletes going to the Olympics Cool Runnings is the Disney version (a VERY Disney version) of Jamaica’s unlikely goal of sending a bobsled team to the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988.

John Candy is a disgraced coach enlisted to try and get a bobsled team together in a country that has never seen snow. Good casting, by the way, Candy being Canadian would know quite a lot about winter sports.

Overcoming one set of obstacles after another the Jamaicans make it to Calgary, they don’t win any medals but they do manage to finish their run. Of course they are disrespected, wouldn’t you know, by the German team! Although virtually every one at those games, athletes and spectators alike, thought the Jamaicans’ presence very odd indeed.

When they manage to finish their run the German who has given them the most grief insists on shaking hands with one of the team and declaring “you did damn good Jamaica! We see you in four years, yah?”

I have worked with Jamaicans’ and have asked them about this movie, every one of them told me the same thing, virtually none of the movie is accurate about what happened, but they appreciate that the movie exists, at all! They also appreciate that Disney thought enough of the film to have its world premier in Kingston, Jamaica.

Schindler’s List 1993

The great epic of one white man doing the right thing, Oscar Schindler made a lot of money off the Nazis during WWII and at the same time saved the lives of a great many Jewish people who were in line for the gas chambers. One of many masterpieces on Steven Spielberg’s resume and filmed in immaculate black and white Schindler’s List is tough to watch, I have spent my life trying to get my head around the Holocaust, ever since I read the Trial of Adolf Eichmann when I was 12 years old.

And what a pity that there are some people who insist on denying it ever happened, despite museums full of evidence that it most assuredly did happen. When I was working as a security guard a couple of years ago I started at the St. Petersburg Holocaust museum and spent my first day touring the museum just to get the feel of the place. My museum habit has always been to read as much of the material posted at each exhibit as possible, since I had all day I read everything. There were many other saviors of lives besides Oscar Schindler. Our Holocaust museum has two walls dedicated to saviors including Raoul Wallenberg.

I would love to see a movie about Mr. Sugihara, a Japanese career diplomat assigned to the Japanese Embassy in Lithuania. A great many Jews managed to get there. Mr. Sugihara defied the Germans and his own government and wrote over 6000 visas by hand which got that many Jews out of Lithuania. His punishment? He was fired and sent home, he died peacefully in Japan in 1986. He is named Among the Righteous by the Israeli government for his actions, the only Japanese who is so honored. He deserves his own movie, as much as Oscar Schindler did.

Cookie’s Fortune 1999

Robert Altman has many masterpiece films in his career. Cookie’s Fortune was one of his last and best. A rich white woman, Jewel Mae “ Cookie” Orcutt (Patricia Neal) in a small Mississippi town commits suicide, for reasons of her own a relative(Glenn Close) wants it to look like murder. The only possible suspect is a black man, Willis Richland (Charles S Dutton). The only problem? None of the white people in town can believe he did it, not the Sheriff, not his deputies, nobody. All of the white people in town come to this man’s defense, and it’s believable! In the modern day south it’s easy to imagine such a thing happening. Not so long ago the black citizen may have gotten lynched just on a rumor of wrongdoing.

Especially fun is that Willis is, reluctantly, put into a cell, and the door is left open, local law enforcement knows he is not going anywhere. The white people in town bring him a tv, a comfy chair, homemade goodies, all very funny but also, again, it very well could happen.

I have to make several honorable mentions. Driving Miss Daisy 1989 for showing the friendship between a cranky old Jewish woman and her black driver and how they come to depend on each other. The Body Guard 1992 for presenting a romance between a white man and black woman without once mentioning race. Virtually all of John Sayles movies have white people trying to do the right thing especially Brother From Another Planet 1984 and Matewan 1987.

Monster’s Ball 2001 also deserves credit for presenting an interracial romance between two damaged people who really do need each other. Although I have talked about this movie with black friends who point out how easy it would be to fall for a black woman, who is Halle Barry! Also Green Mile 1999 for presenting a whole crew of white people trying to do the right thing for a black man condemned to “walk the green mile.” I like the movie but will always feel that a man like John Coffey, with what he is accused of, would have never went to trial in the 1930s, he would have been lynched on the spot.

And I have to mention Black Snake Moan 2006 a movie with the audacity to suggest that White people might actually learn something, especially life lessons, from Black people! Featuring an incredible performance from Samuel L Jackson (we expect no less at this point) Christina Ricci truly is amazing as about the nastiest little skank you could ever imagine, who somehow is still sympathetic and, yes, lovable. The music is great too.

In television a groundbreaking series was I Spy 1965 – 1968 which presented a duo of a black and white man functioning as a team and again, without making a big deal of race, at Bill Cosby’s request. Also Star Trek, which presented a multicultural crew of an intergalactic star ship, working in close quarters, in deep space, with no mention of race. This during the 1960s when race was very much a hot button issue.

I remember very well the civil rights era, I have always sympathized. I have told immigrants to this country my personal feelings about Black Americans, they are Americans, with all the rights of citizenship. And we are lucky to have them, for at least three major reasons. I am not a sports fan but obviously our sports teams are the best because of black athletes. American music is the best in the world, because of black musicians; I don’t want to think about a world without Louis Armstrong, Count Basie, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix or Niki Minaj. And the American sense of humor is both Black and Jewish. Some of the greatest comedians we have ever had come from both groups.

And they are just as good at the jobs all of us do, I have worked with Black police, administrators, machine operators, call center representatives, every job I have ever had I have worked with black people who do the job as well as anybody.

To sum up I thought we were finally getting beyond all this racial stuff that has plagued our country from the very beginning. I thought the election of Barack Obama to the Office of the President meant we were finally moving forward, no we took two steps, maybe more, back.

We are sliding down a very slippery slope. We very much need to learn to live with each other, respect each other, and yes, love each other, and I mean everybody, across the board, or we are in deep trouble. We really don’t have any other options.

Lee Marvin Died 29 Years Ago Today – Here Are His Ten Best Films

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

Lee Marvin rose through the ranks of movie stardom as a character actor, delivering mostly villainous supporting turns in many films before finally graduating to leading roles. Regardless of which side of the law he was on however, he projected a tough-as-nails intensity and a two-fisted integrity which elevated even the slightest material. Born February 19, 1924, in New York City, Marvin quit high school to enter the Marine Corps and while serving in the South Pacific was badly wounded in battle when a machine gun nest shot off part of his buttocks and severed his sciatic nerve. He spent a year in recovery before returning to the U.S. where he began working as a plumber. The acting bug bit after filling in for an ailing summer-stock actor and he studied the art at the New York-based American Theater Wing. Upon making his debut in summer stock, Marvin began working steadily in television and off-Broadway. He made his Broadway debut in a 1951 production of Billy Budd and also made his first film appearance in YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW in 1951. Soon Marvin began appearing regularly onscreen, with credits including a lead role in Stanley Kramer’s 1952 war drama EIGHT MEN OUT. After a string of villain roles, Marvin grew unhappy with studio typecasting and moved to television in 1957 to star as Detective Lieutenant Frank Ballinger in the police series M Squad, which lasted three seasons.

Marvin’s return to the big screen was in 1961 opposite John Wayne in THE COMANCHEROS and starred again with the Duke the next year in the John Ford classic THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE. In 1965 he appeared in a dual role as twin gunfighters in the Western spoof CAT BALLOU opposite Jane Fonda, a performance which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor (his first and last nomination). Next was THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) the biggest hit of his career and he followed that with such great films as POINT BLANK (1967), HELL IN THE PACIFIC (1968) and even sang in the 1969 western musical PAINT YOUR WAGON with Clint Eastwood (now considered a fiasco, it was actually a financial success and earned Marvin a Golden Globe nomination). Some of his best films from the ’70s were PRIME CUT, EMPEROR OF THE NORTH (both 1972), and THE ICEMAN COMETH (1973). Marvin slowed down in the ’80s but did star in Sam Fuller’s great WWII epic THE BIG RED ONE in 1980 and worked opposite Charles Bronson in the memorable DEATH HUNT in 1981. His final screen role was alongside Chuck Norris in DELTA FORCE in 1986. Lee Marvin died of a heart attack on August 29, 1987 at age 63 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Lee Marvin appeared in 61 films in his four decades as an actor, and here, according to We Are Movie Geeks, are his ten best:

Honorable Mention: THE BIG HEAT

After several small roles, Lee Marvin had his ‘Star is Born’ moment in Fritz Lang’s THE BIG HEAT (1953) where, as Vince Stone, the sadistic goon of ganglord Alexander Scourby, he mutilates Gloria Grahame’s face by throwing scalding coffee on it. It was such a cruel, violent, and unexpected outburst that shocked audiences (and critics) suddenly took notice of this rugged new actor and it led to further villain roles the next year opposite Marlon Brando in THE WILD ONE and Spencer Tracy in BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK. Marvin would go on from here and deliver a ream of brilliant gruff hard bastard performances. THE BIG HEAT is a tough, uncompromising drama starring Glenn Ford about one man’s crusade against corruption and the high cost his actions have on his own life and the lives of those around him. It’s a violent, fast paced story of an honest cop’s angry and vengeful struggle against the mobsters who killed his wife. Exciting and gripping throughout, the mean-spiritedness it depicts gives it a harder edge than most film noirs of its period.

10. PRIME CUT

Michael Ritchie was certainly an odd choice to direct a film about Irish mobsters starring the iconic Lee Marvin. Ritchie built a career crafting a series of near-perfect films that examined the social and political aspects of competition (THE CANDIDATE, SMILE, SEMI-TOUGH, BAD NEWS BEARS). While PRIME CUT is an entertaining but somewhat cliched gangster film, it is remembered today only for some great imagery and for the feature film debut of future Oscar winner Sissy Spacek. Marvin plays Nick Devlin, an enforcer for the mob who is sent to Middle America to reign in an insubordinate crime boss (a gleefully malevolent Gene Hackman). Unfortunately, these two have a history that (of course) involves a woman (the beautiful Angel Tompkins), so things head south real fast (as they say in farm country). Marvin here proves that he was one of the coolest anti-heroes ever, rivaling Eastwood’s or Bronson’s calm exterior that could explode with violence at any moment. PRIME CUT is betrayed by an episodic, hackneyed script with scenes that have no payoff (a young man leaving his family, Hackman’s weird brother, etc.), while other scenes border on parody (Spacek recounting how she used to snuggle with her girlfriend at the orphanage sounds like something from Penthouse Letters). But the opening sequence is both gruesome and funny, as easy listening music plays while cattle (and one unlucky human) are literally led to slaughter, intercut with some meatpacking scenes. The sex slavery storyline is revealed casually in a sequence that’s shocking even by today’s standards (the film contains copious amounts of nudity) but also emphasize the movie’s themes of man’s status as an animal. Utilizing the wide open spaces of Midwestern farmland, Ritchie juxtaposes images of clean-cut, blonde, overall-clad farm boys armed with shotguns hunting human prey– through a vast field of sunflowers! In the film’s most famous sequence, Marvin and Spacek run from a deadly combine hay-baler through bright golden wheatfields in broad daylight (the machine ends up destroying an automobile which leads to a nice visual joke). And the climax is all-out mayhem at the hands of Marvin/Devlin and a submachinegun, as only the man with the steely blue eyes can dispense it.

9. DEATH HUNT

Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson had interesting parallel careers that intersected several times including right at the beginning. They both made their big screen debuts in the 1951 military comedy YOU’RE IN THE NAVY NOW (Bronson had several lines. Marvin had none). They both had bit roles the next year in DIPLOMATIC COURIER and in 1958 Bronson made a guest appearance on an episode of Marvin’s TV cop show M-Squad. Marvin would go on to win an Oscar for best actor in 1965’s CAT BALLOU while Bronson would be accused of being a non-actor, a ‘wooden indian’ who nonetheless managed to coast on his brooding charisma to the top of the international box-office. THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967) was one of the biggest hits of both men’s careers and two unrelated episodes of the TV western The Virginian each actor had guest-starred in were strung together and released theatrically as THE MEANEST MEN IN THE WEST later that year to make it look like they had teamed up yet again (scenes were awkwardly edited to make it look like they’re interacting). In 1981, the actors worked together one last time for the snow-bound action adventure DEATH HUNT. Loosely based on a true story, it’s the tale of mysterious lone trapper Albert Johnson (Bronson) who’s killed some people in a dispute over dogs. This triggers a massive manhunt by the Mounties, led by hard-bitten Sergeant Ed Millen (Marvin) through the unforgiving Canadian Yukon wilderness. DEATH HUNT is simple blood and thunder stuff, with a rugged supporting cast (Ed Lauter, Carl Weathers) and a handful of violent action sequences well-directed by Peter Hunt, a highly-regarded British film editor who had helmed the 007 classic ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE. Marvin and Bronson’s gruff charisma bounce off each other nicely though they only share a couple of scenes and director Hunt shows great skill as looks, nods and raised eyebrows show the two men’s grudging, mutual respect. Angie Dickinson plays Sgt. Millen’s girlfriend and will appear two more times on this top ten list.

8. ATTACK

It’s unsurprising that Robert Aldrich directed three of the films in this top ten list as so many of his films, VERA CRUZ (1954), FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (1965), THE LONGEST YARD (1974), depict an isolated a group of rugged men in a self-contained and threatening universe. (WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE and KISS ME DEALY showed off his diversity), so it’s natural that he worked so well with a physical actor like Lee Marvin. Their first collaboration was ATTACK! (1956), a dark and cynical look at men at war and is one of Aldrich’s very best films, bearing his personal signature in a portrait of infantry warfare set in Belgium circa 1944. Scripted by James Poe (husband of Barbara Steele!) and based on the play The Fragile Fox by Norman Brook, ATTACK! is an intimate battle saga centering on the craven Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert), a coward who has achieved his rank due to family connections, specifically his father’s political power. In a strong supporting performance, Lee Marvin plays Colonel Bartlett, an officer who’s aware of Cooney’s incompetence but overlooks the problem in order to promote his own personal ambition and tasks him with setting up artillery observation posts in a strategic, heavily bombarded area. However, the platoon, led by Lt. Costa (Jack Palance), feels victimized, resents the situation and vows to take revenge. Though Marvin’s character is not part of the ultimate conflict, ATTACK! features a number of memorable scenes which combine physical action, superb dialog and emotion perfectly. One scene in which a mortally wounded Lt. Costa prays that God will let him live long enough to kill Cooney is gut-wrenching. The dynamic between Palance and Albert is similar to that of Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger in PLATOON thirty years later. ATTACK! Is one of the toughest and most realistic films about WWII combat from the the 1950s.

7. THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE

By 1962 television was the main showcase for stories of the old west. This is when the greatest director of those tales, John Ford, made his last truly classic Western motion picture: THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE starring Marvin as the title character. He had played several cowboy villains on the screen before, but Valance may be his most memorable. In his first scene Valance orchestrates a stagecoach robbery and has to be restrained by his toadies Lee Van Cleef and Strother Martin before he kills lawyer Jimmy Stewart with his heavy, silver bullwhip . Every time Valance sees his victim he calls him “dude” in a gutteral, taunting growl. Marvin plays an evil, sadistic bully who intimidates everyone in the small town ( including Andy Devine’s ineffectual sheriff ) except for John Wayne’s Tom Doniphon. There’s a terrific stare down between Marvin and Wayne in the diner where Stewart works. Gunplay is averted, but it’s clear that Valance is a mad dog that needs to be put down. When the newspaper office is trashed and the editor beaten, Stewart’s had enough. In one of the greatest screen showdowns he faces off against the brute who gleefully ‘licks his chops” at the chance to finish off the “dude”. Well, I guess the title kind of gives it away. Still there’s secrets and mysteries behind it that are well worth exploring. As the newsman says at the film’s climax, ” When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!”.

6. EMPEROR OF THE NORTH

This slice of Depression-era Americana is one of Lee Marvin’s best but least-known films. The movie opens with a lyrical shot of a train chugging through some beautiful Midwestern countryside, smoke billowing behind, mellow country tune playing on the soundtrack. However, this Norman Rockwell-esque vision soon gives way to a scene of brutal murder at the hands of a superbly menacing Ernest Borgnine. Borgnine, often cast as a heavy later in his career, here plays one of his best bad guys as ‘Shack’ – captain of a legendary train on which no hobo or drifter ever gets a “free ride”. Shack enforces this simple rule with a variety of deterrents, such as chains, lead weights, and sledge hammers. Marvin portrays ‘A- Number 1’, a seasoned, veteran hobo who is smart, strong, and pragmatic. He sums up his philosophy of life nicely as a rail-hopping metaphor:”Don’t ever grab unless you’re sure you can hold on, [because] you ever let go, she’ll throw you under.” Part of the fun of EMPEROR is knowing, almost from the first frame, that these two grizzled men are heading for a grand showdown. Director Robert Aldrich is mostly known for his tough guy films (KISS ME DEADLY, DIRTY DOZEN, LONGEST YARD, etc.), and EMPEROR is no exception. The movie expertly builds to the final confrontation, which takes up nearly the entire second half (including an awesomely suspenseful imminent train collision). Also thrown in are atmospheric and flavorful set pieces such as hobo camps and trainyards where some great character actors have names like Hogger and Cracker, and a buddy subplot with Marvin mentoring a young wannabe, rather annoyingly played by Keith Carradine. The film can also be seen as a commentary on the state of things in America, then and now–the characters and even the trains could symbolize different aspects of society or government. But it is Marvin’s persona, in one of his best performances, that is the core of the film. Violent and cynical, witty and playful, philosophical and resigned, Marvin displays all of this and more, delivering some of the best lines of his career. The train is “my hotel,” he tells Carradine, “The stars at night — I put them there!” This rough and rugged film (devoid of women except for one brief humorous scene) is truly an underrated classic.

5.CAT BALLOU

In 1965 Lee Marvin had already made a name for himself on screen as a great Western villain most notably in 1962’s THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERY VALANCE. Perhaps he thought that it was time to poke some fun at that image by taking on a duel role in director Elliot Silverstein’s comedy-oater . That’s right, a duel role! Marvin is the evil hired killer Tim Strawn, dressed in black and sporting a silver fake nose. After gunning down Catherine ” Cat” Ballou’s daddy she sends for legendary gunfighter ( he stars in pulp novels! ) Kid Shelleen (also Marvin). He has one of the greatest movie entrances ever as he arrives via stagecoach ( in the luggage compartment). Thanks to his love of the bottle, Shelleae’s is far from his gun slingin’ best ( “He missed the barn!”). In those dark politically incorrect days you could still derive humor from the tipsy. Whether he’s about to fall off his galloping steed or ripping the towel off a pompous rich bather, Shelleen is a hoot! He’s even better when he straightens himself up ( with the help of trainer Tom Nardini ) and has a showdown with Strawn. After that Shelean strikes a classic pose as he and his horse lean against a building after a boozy night. CAT boasts a bouncy title tune performed by roving narrators Nat King Cole and Stubby Kaye and an incredibly cute Jane Fonda, but it’s Marvin that makes it a classic. The Motion Picture Academy thought so and awarded him the Oscar for Best Actor.

4.THE BIG RED ONE

In his last decade as a movie star, the 1980’s, Marvin made just a handful of films. Sam Fuller’s 1980 epic war film stands out as one of the best of either man’s screen careers. Real life WWII vet Marvin plays the grizzled GI who’s only referred to as the sergeant ( we never hear his full name ) who leads an ever dwindling squad including Robert Carradine’s aspiring writer ( a surrogate for Fuller? ) and Mark Hamill ( in between his first two Star Wars gigs ) as a cartoonist through the last battles of the European combat theatre. Marvin’s terrific as the gruff, fatherly figure trying to keep these young men alive. His most memorable scenes, though, may be away from his boys. He’s introduced in a tense battlefield showdown with an unseen enemy at the start of the movie. Later the sergeant befriends a young refugee after a grueling fire fight. When the boy puts a helmet on his head, so he can play “soldier”, the sergeant gently takes it off and sadly tosses it aside. He’s seen too many young men, not much older than this boy, march to their deaths. In the film’s final sequence the sergeant desperately tries to save the life of an enemy soldier he had just shot. Seems the war had ended just moments before. With very little dialogue Marvin conveys such much of this weary fighting man’s emotion using only his tired, red eyes. We had gotten to see Marvin’s tough side many times before, but here we get a rare glimpse at his tender side.

3.THE DIRTY DOZEN

In THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the biggest boxoffice hit of his career, Lee Marvin played WWII Major John Reisman (a role turned down by John Wayne), leader of the unusual and top-secret mission to take twelve soldiers convicted of felony offenses, either serving prison sentences or condemned to death, and turn them into a unit capable of a tough suicide mission: attacking a chateau in France that’s a gathering for a large group of Nazi officers.THE DIRTY DOZEN remains one of the most popular and enduring war films of all time (a reputation that not even three crappy made-for-TV sequels, one starring Marvin, in the late ’80s could taint). Its enduring legacy comes partly from its ensemble cast, several of them actual combat veterans, which includes Charles Bronson, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, and Clint Walker. But the film’s main appeal is Robert Aldrich’s direction, which delivers entertaining, big-scale action and macho posturing. With so many great actors competing for screen time, it’s an impressive feat for anyone to catch the audience’s attention. Given the prominence of his role, Marvin, who always gave 100% to any performance, certainly does. The actor’s legendary screen presence allows him to command the viewer’s attention any time he’s on screen. Other standouts include an understated Bronson, a despicable Savalas and wild-man John Cassavetes, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work as Franco, the most outspoken of Reisman’s convicts. THE DIRTY DOZEN easily stands the test of time, as entertaining today as I’m sure audiences found when it was released in 1967. The nature of war has changed, but the impact of THE DIRTY DOZEN has not.

2.THE KILLERS

THE KILLERS (1964) was based on a short story by Ernest Hemingway filmed previously in 1946. It was originally intended as a TV movie but when producers saw the opening scene where Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager, as two contract killers, walk into a school for the blind and cold-bloodedly murder John Cassavettes, they decided a theatrical release more appropriate. The story’s told mostly in flashbacks as an investigation by these hit men of why their target, a former race car and getaway driver, didnâ€™t run when he had the chance. This leads to a hidden million dollar stash from a heist years before by a mail robbery gang led by Ronald Reagan (in his last film – looking presidential despite bad hair and a nasty moment slapping Angie Dickinson silly!). Marvin was excellent in perhaps is most iconic role as Charlie Strom, a growling killing machine in a tailored suit and shades. He steals the show as the brains behind the assassination outfit, but he’s so confounded by the willingness of Cassavettes to meet his ultimate fate that his curiosity leads to his own. He and Gulager almost anticipate Travolta and Jackson’s similarly argumentive pairing in PULP FICTION thirty years later especially in a scene where they bicker over who is going to finish their steak first. Marvin is the perfect thinking man’s hit-man, never wasting a word, thinking ahead and planning his moves. He garners respect even when brutalizing a blind librarian. Director Don Siegel would go on to DIRTY HARRY among others and does a nice clean job setting THE KILLERS in a brightly lit, cheery L.A. that’s at odds with the grim story. It’s a film noir without the noir and one of the best crime films of the ’60s.

1. POINT BLANK

One of the most influential films of the 1960s, director John Boorman’s take on the crime thriller is perhaps Lee Marvin’s best film. Based on the novel THE HUNTER by Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake), Marvin plays Walker (no first name, “not even for his wife”), a man betrayed during a heist by his good friend Reese and wife Lynne (screen debuts of John Vernon and Sharon Acker). Years later, Walker returns to exact his revenge, and reclaim his cut of the loot–the rather mundane amount of $93,000 – with the help of sister-in-law Chris (Angie Dickinson, who has never been sexier). Boorman tells this story using nearly every cinematic tool at his disposal. Rapid edits and jump cuts not only change locations but whip us from past to present. Sound effects overlap from one scene to the next, and dialogue or sounds from a previous scene play over an entirely different scene. Colors change throughout from muted, washed-out hues to bright, vibrant shades as the movie becomes more exciting or violent (note that even Marvin’s hair color changes!). In one striking sequence (which predates a similar one in Kubrick’s 2001), Walker goes from room to room as the decor changes, leaving us questioning both time and reality. Add in some great dialogue (mostly lifted right from the book), a tense musical score by Johnny Mandel, and a veteran cast (Keenan Wynn, Carroll O’Connor, Lloyd Bochner), and you have a constantly inventive film that’s full of surprising touches. Dickinson plays a tough cookie very well–when she finally loses it and starts beating on Walker, it’s a classic scene. Marvin met Boorman in England while shooting DIRTY DOZEN and became intrigued by the character of Walker. According to Boorman, Marvin had a great deal of creative input into the film and its structure, and Boorman believed Marvin saw some of himself in the story of a man seeking to reclaim his own humanity. One ongoing debate about POINT BLANK is whether the entire film is a dying man’s dream. Whether that’s true or not, it is definitely the stuff that dreams are made of for true lovers of cinematic masterpieces.

Lee Marvin made so many great films and runner-ups for this list would have to include THE WILD ONE, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK, DELTA FORCE, and HELL IN THE PACIFIC. Here’s a wonderful illustration of Lee Marvin by our friend Paul Daly. More of Paul’s artwork can be seen on Facebook HERE

Top Ten Tuesday – THE TOP TEN BLACK DRESSES IN THE MOVIES

The Little Black Dress—From Mourning to Night is a free exhibit currently at The Missouri History Museum (Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri). The exhibit runs through September 5th.

The Little Black Dress – a simple, short cocktail dress—is a sartorial staple for most contemporary women. Prior to the early 20th century, simple, unadorned black garments were limited to mourning, and strict social rules regarding mourning dress were rigidly observed.Featuring over 60 dresses from the Missouri History Museum’s world-renowned textile collection, this fun yet thought-provoking exhibit explores the subject of mourning, as well as the transition of black from a symbol of grief to a symbol of high fashion. You’ll also see fascinating artifacts—from hair jewelry to tear catchers—that were once a regular part of the mourning process. Plus, you’ll have the chance to share your own memories of your favorite little black dress and even get the opportunity to design your own dress! (details on the exhibit can be found HERE)

A good dress does more than look pretty on screen. It creates some of cinema’s best moments.The movies have always influenced style and fashion, so we decided, to tie into the exhibit, that it would be fun to list the ten most iconic black dresses in film history (and the actresses who rocked them).

10. Clara Bow in IT (1927)

Coco Chanel introduced her famous ‘Little Black Dress’ in the mid-1920’s. Before then, women only wore black for mourning. It was after the premiere of the 1927 silent hit IT, that the black dress became acceptable evening wear. IT is beloved by silent movie fans, but remains popular with a wider audience and continues to be culturally relevant because of costume design that was influential both then and now. IT helped pave the way for black to become the beauty basic it is today. The film starred Clara Bow as a shop girl who is asked out by the store’s wealthy owner. As you watch the silent film you can see the excitement as she prepared for her date with the boss, her girlfriend trying hard to assist her. She was trying to use a pair of scissors to modify her dress in order to look more “sexy”. This movie did a lot to change society’s mores as there was only a few years between World War I and Clara Bow, but this movie went a long way in how society looked at itself. Clara was flaming youth in rebellion. the personification of the flaming Roaring Twenties, and the title “IT” was as a euphemism for “sex appeal”. Travis Banton was the star costume designer at Paramount during the studio’s heyday of glamour and sophistication in the 1930’s and was well-known for designing costumes for Mae West and Marlene Dietrich.

9.Marilyn Monroe in THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)

Not an iconic dress (in fact, no costumer designer is even listed in the credits), but THE ASPHALT JUNGLE is notable in that it’s the film that introduced audiences to Marilyn Monroe (not her first film appearance but her first substantial part). She played Angela Phinlay, a “keptie” (kept woman) who appears in a this sexy black dress. Marilyn stole every scene she was in despite not even being listed on most opening night posters. Marilyn didn’t like wearing black in films, and later in her career, when she had more control over her wardrobe, she was rarely seen in it.

8. Liza Minnelli in CABARET (1972)

Okay, Liza does not wear a black dress in CABARET – but she did rock this iconic black ensemble. The outfit — a bowler hat and vest (with no shirt) atop hot pants, garters, stockings and boots — was heightened by its blackness against Minnelli’s ultra-white skin and siren-red lipstick. To achieve the authentic look of pre-Hitler Berlin’s “divine decadence,” director-choreographer Bob Fosse chose a German production designer and costumer. Charlotte Flemming had grown up in the Weimer Berlin of the movie’s setting and spent her entire career in the German film industry. She never “went Hollywood.” Minnelli, of course, was born there, the daughter of Judy Garland and director Vincente Minnelli.

7. Bette Davis in NOW VOYAGER (1942)

NOW VOYAGER (1942) was a fashion film if ever there was one, and one which emphasized the power of clothes. After all, the sack-like dresses that the troubled Charlotte Vale (Bette Davis) wears reflect her psychological state, and as she is transformed from browbeaten nervous wreck into a worldly woman with a newfound confidence. Her outfits – designed by the great Orry-Kelly (who was the head costume designer at The Muny Opera in St. Louis in the early 1930’s) goes from dowdy spinster to chic fashion-plate. So much so that she attracts a suave man on her maiden voyage as a new woman. In NOW VOYAGER , Davis played Charlotte Vale, a frumpy spinster who lives under the control of her cantankerous mother. With the help of a kindly psychiatrist, she has a mental and physical makeover and becomes a glamorous woman who is able to help out the similarly oppressed young daughter of the man she loves. Davis led the way for actresses who “ugly up” as a fast track to Oscar nomination, starting the film in sensible lace-ups, glasses and beetle-brows. Her transformation resulted in stunning chiffon gowns and glittering capes which prove that nobody needs to show a lot of flesh when a 1940s number with a gathered waist and shoulder pads will do the job. To play Charlotte before her transformation, Davis asked Orry-Kelly to pad her figure to suggest extra weight, then she had makeup artist Percy Westmore give her thicker eyebrows. Her look in the film was a compromise. Originally she had wanted a more extreme look, but Wallis considered it too grotesque. Orry-Kelly was the chief costume designer for Warner Bros. Studios from 1932 to 1944. He worked on more than 300 films during his career.

6. Joan Crawford in MILDRED PIERCE (1943)

Joan Crawford was always known for her broad shoulders, a style that was displayed to perfection in MILDRED PIERCE, the 1943 film that won the actress her only Oscar. Housewife Mildred Pierce moves from aprons to fur coats after her husband leaves her and she opens a successful restaurant. Joan played the title character, a selfless mother who does everything she can to provide for her two kids, but her oldest daughter Veda (Ann Blyth) is an ungrateful brat who looks down on Mildred for making her way up in the world through simple hard work and dedication. She doesn’t, however have any problem spending mom’s money, and after a while starts smoking and speaking in pretentious French phrases. Everybody sees that the daughter is bad news, but Mildred assures them: “You don’t know what it’s like being a mother. Veda’s a part of me. Maybe she didn’t turn out as well as I hoped she would when she was born, but she’s still my daughter and I can’t forget that.” During filming, director Michael Curtiz fought with the actress over her wardrobe. She was told to buy clothes “off the rack” to look like the working mother the film was about. But Joan refused to look dowdy, and had Warner Bros. costumer Milo Anderson fit the waists and pad out the shoulders. Anderson was a top wardrobe designer at Warner Brothers from 1933 to 1952 and worked on costumes for such classics as ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938), TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944), and YANKEE DOODLE DANDY (1942).

5. Grace Kelly in REAR WINDOW (1954)

Alfred Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW (1954) is not only a masterpiece of suspense; it’s also something of a fashion show with Grace Kelly’s Lisa Freemont trotting out one gorgeous summer ensemble after another for both our and James Stewart’s delight. After all, as James Stewart’s character Jeff Jefferies points out – this is the Lisa Freemont “who never wears the same dress twice”. The costumes in REAR WINDOW were designed by that doyenne of movie designers, Edith Head, who was nominated for 28 Oscars and won 8 times. According to Jay Jorgensen’s book, Edith Head – The Fifty Year Career of Hollywood’s Greatest Costume Designer, Hitchcock’s directive to Ms. Head was that Grace “was to look like a piece of Dresden china, nearly untouchable”. And yet, for most of the movie, it’s Lisa who is trying to seduce the incapacitated (with broken his leg) Jeff … For her second seduction scene – where she’s thwarted by Stewart’s obsession with his neighbors and the possibility that one of them has bumped off his wife – Lisa is a vision of sophistication in a black chiffon dress and ever-present pearls, a triple strand necklace.

4. Anita Ekberg in LA DOLCE VITA (1960)

There is sexy, and then there is Anita Eckberg, whose voluptuous figure splashing around the Trevi Fountain in Rome in Federico Fellini’s 1960 masterpiece LA DOLCE VITA, while wearing that bellissima black dress, was the ultimate symbol of male fantasy. The film won the Academy Award in 1960 for Best Costumes, thanks in large part to the black sleeveless gown that Miss Eckberg displayed in that famous scene. Costume designer Piero Gherardi worked in neo-realist Italian cinema from 1954 to 1971, notably on four key films by Federico Fellini. LA DOLCE VITA, 8 ½ (1963 – which also won him the Oscar), NIGHTS OF CABIRIA (1957), and JULIET OF THE SPIRIT (1965).

3. Rita Hayworth in GILDA (1946)

Before there was bad girl nightclub singer Jessica Rabbit there was Gilda, a bad girl nightclub singer played by Rita Hayworth in the 1946 film of the same name. Wearing a black strapless dress, Gilda ends her marriage to casino owner Ballin Mundson (George Macready) with a striptease to the song “Put the Blame on Mame.” That little number was so explosively sexual that the name Gilda was written on the first nuclear bomb tested after World War II. In GILDA, Hayworth was the ultimate femme fatale, the woman every man wanted to have. The role sealed Hayworth’s status in Hollywood, and gave her an unforgettable movie legacy. According to the posters, ‘There never was a woman like Gilda’, and clearly, there was never a wardrobe like hers either. Designed by Jean Louis, her costumes cost $60,000 dollars, and it was money well spent. The movie was a critical and commercial success, no doubt thanks to Gilda and her perpetual near nakedness – for despite that pricy wardrobe, a surprising amount of Gilda was on show. Jean Louis designed a wardrobe that allowed Gilda to flash her shoulders, and hinted at her bosom through translucent tops. Hayworth’s beauty was the stuff of pin-up legend and in 1949 her lips were voted the best in the business by the Artist’s league of America. Asked what held up the famous black satin dress, Hayworth answered “two things”.

2. Audrey Hepburn in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961)

There’s almost no black dress more iconic than the French designer Hubert De Givenchy’s sheath that Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn, wore to go window shopping at her favorite jewelry store in BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961). Paired with a pearl necklace, long black gloves, a tiara, a pair of dark sunglasses and a cup of deli coffee, Hepburn’s look continues to define New York (and Hollywood) chic. Givenchy made two versions of the famous black gown gown: one which was completely straight and was for the actress to wear as she stood still outside Tiffany’s, and one which had a slit so she could walk in it. She’s glimpsed wearing the same dress again a few scenes later. Indeed, one of the surprises about BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S is that there aren’t that many different dresses – the same ones pop up more than once, but with different accessories. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S is undoubtedly the film which cemented Audrey Hepburn’s status as a style icon and linked her forever more in the fashion-conscious public’s mind thanks to De Givenchy, who had previously dressed her for SABRINA and FUNNY FACE.

1…….And Your Little Dog Too !!!!!

It’s Vincent Price Week in St. Louis! Here Are His Ten Best Films

Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love was reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown back in May of 2011 (for summary of all the Vincentennial activities go HERE). One of the guests of honor at Vincentennial was Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price. Because of their close relationship and her access to his unpublished memoirs and letters, Victoria Price was able to provide a remarkably vivid account of her father’s public and private life in her essential book, Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography, originally published in 1999. In 2011, her biography of her father was out of print. but now it’s been re-issued and Victoria will be in St. Louis this weekend (October 9th – 10th) for three special events. In addition to the biography, she will also be signing the 50th anniversary re-issue of her parents best-selling cookbook ‘A Treasury of Great Recipes’, for which she, and Wolfgang Puck, have written new forwards.

Friday October 9^th at 7pm: Victoria Price will be in St. Louis to celebrate the 50th Anniversary re-issue of her parents best-selling cookbook A Treasury of Great Recipes. She will be hosting an intimate gathering in the ‘Pac Man Room’ at Blueberry Hill for a talk about her dad, his ties to St. Louis and her parent’s cookbook. She will also be selling and signing copies of both the cookbook and Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography, the biography she wrote about her dad. Tom Stockman from We Are Movie Geeks will be moderating the discussion. Free “Franken-weenies” will be served while supplies last (from a recipe in the cookbook).Those who purchase a book at this event will be entered into a drawing to have drinks with Victoria at Blueberry Hill that evening after the signing and enjoy some one-on-one time with the author and designer. A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE.

Saturday October 10^th at 10:30am: HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL will be screening at The Hi-Pointe Theater as part of their Classic Film Series. Vincent Price’s daughter, Victoria Price, author of ‘Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography’ will be on hand at the Hi-Pointe to introduce the film . After the movie, Victoria will participate in a Q&A, then sign and sell copies of her book as well as the 50th anniversary re-issue of her parents best-selling cookbook ‘A Treasury of Great Recipes’. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is the 1959 tale of eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren (Price) and his fourth wife (Carol Ohmart), Annabelle, who invite five people to their house on Haunted Hill for a “haunted house” party. Whoever will stay in the house for one night will earn $10,000 (a whopping sum in 1959!). As the night progresses, all the greedy participants are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, skeletal apparitions, blood dripping from the ceiling, a severed head, and a vat of acid in the cellar. HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL is the renowned work of producer and director William Castle, beloved for his signature-style fright-filled films and delivering ‘the gimmick’ to the horror genre. Admission is only $5.00. A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE.

Saturday, October 10^th at 6:30pm: Tenacious Eats presents five courses and five cocktails themed to the Vincent Price masterpiece THEATRE OF BLOOD with special guest of honor Victoria Price! Recipes will be featured from Victoria’s parents’ best-selling cookbook “A Treasury of Great Recipes” which is being re-issued for its 50th Anniversary. Cookbooks will be available for purchase that evening. This event will take place at St. Louis Banquet Center located at 5700 Leona. Get ready for a creepy good time! Live music and cash bar begin at 6:30pm. The meal will be preceded by live music and an hour of Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness. Clementine’s Microcreamery will be providing some delicious Blood Pudding. The event will be co-hosted by Victoria Price and We Are Movie Geeks‘ Tom Stockman, director of the 2011 event Vincentennial, the Vincent Price 100th Birthday Celebration. A Facebook invite for this event can be found HERE.

In 2011, we asked Victoria to write a testimonial about her famous father toasting him on the centennial of his birth, and here’s what she wrote:

When I was a little girl, I believed that to come from St. Louis made you a member of a very desirable club.

I got this impression because whenever my dad met someone from his hometown, he greeted him or her as though he had just found a long-lost friend. Immediately they would discuss where they had “gone to school,” which I later learned did not mean college, as it did everywhere else in America, but rather high school. They would then talk about all the places they loved – Forest Park, the Muny, the St. Louis Art Museum, the Arch, Cahokia Mounds, the Mississippi – and, finally, of course, each would wax nostalgic, for what seemed an inordinately long time, about the food! When the reminiscences came to end, they would part, friends for life. And all because they both came from St. Louis.

Growing up in Los Angeles, no one – least of all me – expressed this kind of pride of place. And I never heard people who came from other places ramble on with this kind of rapture about their hometowns. St. Louisans always seemed to find one another, which stood in marked contrast to most of the transplanted Los Angelenos I knew, who would go to great lengths not to be associated in any way with Peoria or Dubuque or wherever it was from whence they hailed.

The bottom line was that my dad loved being from St. Louis. He couldn’t have been prouder to be a hometown boy who made good. He always remembered his youth with joy – whether it was discovering arrowheads at the Cahokia Mounds, rooting for the perpetual underdog Browns, or buying his first piece of art at age 12 (a Rembrandt etching) from a local gallery. He was a proud alum of Country Day, and remained friends with many of his schoolmates for life – most notably, fellow art collector Buster May. He loved returning home to visit his parents, to perform at the Muny, to chat with Country Day students – and mostly to eat the food! Certainly my father’s love of food, which would lead him to author a cookbook Saveur Magazine would call “one of the 100 most important culinary events of the 20th century,” was nurtured in St. Louis.

So, it goes without saying, that he would have been overjoyed and deeply touched by the fact that St. Louis is throwing him his 100th birthday party. (And he was a man who loved to celebrate his birthday!) I am so grateful to everyone for putting on this wonderful Vincentennial! And I hope that, in celebrating his 100th, his fellow St. Louisans can discover not only more about Vincent Price, but also experience some of my dad’s joy in being from what he considered the best hometown in the world!

For fun, we at We Are Movie Geeks though we’d share our Top Ten “The Best of Vincent Price” article that we originally posted back in May of 2011 for the Vincentennial

Top Ten list written by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

10. LAURA (1944)
“I shall never forget the weekend Laura died”, is the first line, intoned by a somber Clifton Webb, of LAURA (1944), a glossy and gripping story of murder among the elite. Vincent Price often said that his favorite of the films in which he appeared was director Otto Preminger’s 1944 film noir, and most movie buffs who don’t like horror are quick to agree. As noirs go, it’s less a dark and dirty crime drama than most, more reliant on character and script, but it really is a classic and Price’s oily supporting performance is nothing short of sublime. The film pits gruff police detective, Mark McPhereson (Dana Andrews) against smug and cultured columnist, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). McPherson has been assigned to investigate the murder of Laura Hunt (a simmering Gene Tierney). Through a series of interviews conducted with potential suspects, McPherson builds his profile of the dead girl – all the while falling under the spell of her striking portrait. But the puzzle unravels when the murder victim materializes in a bizarre twist of fate that forces McPhereson to re-think his entire case. Vincent Price plays Laura’s fiancee, silver-tongued do-nothing gigolo Shelby Carpenter who gets mixed up in the mystery and is too charming for his own good. LAURA has an incredible adult script (the screenplay was nominated for an Oscar) with a fascinating story filled with unnerving plot angles, twists galore and hints of necrophilia and homosexuality. The film’s dialogue is particularly well done: intelligent, humorous at times, and enhanced by the snappy delivery and exchanges between all the actors. David Raksin’s grand musical theme has become a standard.

9. THE TINGLER (1958)
During the 50’s and 60’s one man was known in Hollywood for gimmicks that made his thrillers unique. That man was producer/director William Castle. He was a master of promotion refer to as ‘ballyhoo’. Castle began his career making low budget ‘B’ pictures for Columbia. In 1958 he left the studio to make MACABRE. Castle came up with a gimmick to attract people to the theatre. Each person who purchased a ticket was issued an insurance policy for $1000 against death by fright. And for good measure he hired ‘nurse’ to patrol the lobby. For his next picture he cast Vincent Price in 1959’s THE HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL. Of course Castle needed a different gimmick, Instead of insurance, he presented this film in ‘Emergo’. At one point in the film a skeleton would swoop over the audience. Columbia was aware of the big box grosses for these inexpensive films and welcomed Castle back . For his return he came up with ‘Percepto’ to hype THE TINGLER. Once again Price starred, this time as Dr. Warren Chapin who’s studying the effects of fear on human beings. He believes a creature he dubs ‘The Tingler’ emerges from the spine at times of extreme terror. Only a scream would suppress it. Also in the cast as his aide David was Daryl Hickman, whose brother Dwayne ( TV’s Dobie Gillis ) would costar with Price in DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINES in 1965. For most of the film Price plays the role of a kindly physician until he conducts a fear experiment on his cheating spouse. Later Price has a wild, crazed scene during an experiment on himself. In order to experience pure fear he injects LSD that David Picked up at a pharmacy! Later he must wrestle with a slithering Tingler that he had extracted from a deceased woman. The highlight of the film is near the finale when that Tingler gets loose in a film showing an old silent film (perhaps inspired by the real Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax in L.A. ). The screen goes blank as the shadow of the creature crawls past while Price implores the audience to scream for their lives. Then ‘Percepto’ begins as patrons in certain wired seats get a slight electric jolt. In 1993 Joe Dante directed MATINEE, a lovely tribute to these popcorn flicks featuring St. Louisian John Goodman as a Castle-inspired character. If that peaked your interest, don’t miss a chance to experience this bit of showbiz history. And you’ll have even more admiration for Price as he delivers this loopy dialogue with a straight face.

8. THEATRE OF BLOOD (1972)
In the early 1970’s Vincent Price’s career was at a high point. The Doctor Phibes films were unexpected hits. How would he capitalize on these? In 1973 he took on a role in a film with a similar plot structure. In fact, many fright film fans consider THEATRE OF BLOOD an unofficial finale in a Phibes trilogy. Produced by United Artists rather then American International BLOOD differed from the Phibes film in that it was set in modern times and boasted one of the most prestigious casts that Price ever worked with. Price portrays Edward Lionheart , a stage actor thought to be dead , who returns to murder the critics that denied him a thespian award. Many of Britain’s finest stage and screen actors appear to be having a blast as the victims. The members of the Critic’s Circle are Michael Hordern, Robert Coote, Jack Hawkins, Arhur Lowe, Robert Morley, Dennis Price, Harry Andrews, Coral Browne, and Ian Hendry (his character is the only critic who has some sympathy for Lionheart ). Diana Rigg plays Lionheart’s daughter Edwina, a movie make up artist. Hendry and Rigg were both part of the TV series ‘The Avengers’, he in the first episodes as Dr. David Keel and she achieving worldwide fame later as Emma Peel. Speaking of TV, in 1989 Ms. Rigg would take over hosting duties from Mr. Price on the PBS ‘Mystery!’ series. In later years Price would refer to BLOOD as his favorite horror film for several reasons. The ingenious script has Edward dispatching the critics in murder scenes inspired by deaths in Shakespeare’s plays. This gave Price a chance to recreate several of the classic roles. He also gets to assume several disguises: a bobby, French chef, swishy hairdresser, and a masseuse who tricks Hawkins into believing his wife ( played by the British Marilyn Monroe, Diana Dors ) is having an affair a la ‘Othello’. Price may also have had a soft spot for this film as he met the woman who would be his last wife, Coral Browne. The film has some great comic relief from Milo O’Shea and Eric Sykes as investigating officers who seem always two steps behind Edward. The film has great location work ( nothing was shot on studios sets ), brisk direction, and a witty script that blends suspense and humor. Vincent Price is a delight in this, perhaps, his last great horror film.

7. THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964)
Even though Richard Matheson’s novel I AM LEGEND has been filmed three times (officially), only one of the film versions worked with a script by Matheson himself (though billed as -‘Logan Swanson’). Originally a Hammer Film property (how great would that have been?), Matheson’s script was eventually sold to Lippert Productions and made cheaply in Italy with an Italian cast and crew, as THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964). For its bankable American star, Vincent Price was cast as the lead. Price was at the peak of his popularity from a series of brilliant Edgar Allan Poe adaptations directed by Roger Corman (the producers wisely emphasized the horrific elements of Matheson’s story with Price’s image in the advertising). But in LAST MAN Price delivers one of his best performances as the only ‘human’Â left after a biological plague has decimated the population. Whether he’s dealing with feelings of loneliness and grief, or simply displaying human pettiness, Price imbues the film with a sense of quiet despair. Price appears in nearly every frame of the film, and dominates the story with his great persona. Today, despite its low budget and black & white cinematography, with its remarkable opening scenes of death and desolation, and of Price nightly withstanding the siege of ‘vampires’, the film is viewed as a highly influential (George Romero cites it as an inspiration) and memorable version of the famous tale.

6. THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971)
The unique touch of cult director Robert Fuest is evident throughout THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES (1971) and its equally entertaining sequel DR. PHIBES RISES AGAIN (1972). The bizarre, absurdist set design, the operatic musical score, and the grand performance by star Vincent Price all combine to create a truly surreal horror masterpiece. It is a testament to Price’s epic screen presence that he dominates the film without uttering a single word of dialogue! (Neither does his assistant, the beautiful Vulnavia). It’s true that he does speak offscreen through a microphone, but he carries both films by expressing his character mostly through action and facial features. Whether he’s playing his pipe organ with great flourish, displaying his whimsical glee at the fate of his enemies, or grimly resigning himself to the burning obsession which drives him, Price, even hidden underneath HOUSE OF WAX-inspired makeup–showcases yet again his ability to dominate a film. He is also obviously having great fun here under the guidance of Fuest, whom Price called “one of the best directors I’ve ever worked with.” A further multitude of riches await the fan in DR. PHIBES as well. Caroline Munro, in what must surely be her briefest film role ever, plays Phibe’s dead wife, and is shown only in still photos wearing snazzy 1920s outfits or as a lifeless body. The SAW film series owes DR. PHIBES a great debt, as several of the death sequences (especially the climactic ones) are very intricate mechanisms in which the victim decides his own fate. The film was also the only screen pairing of Price and the great Joseph Cotten, even though the men were lifelong friends from their days in Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre Company.

5. CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR (1950)
Many works of fiction have been said to be ahead of their time. In the world of motions pictures few are more prophetic than the 1950 comedy classic CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR. By that year, mind you, quiz shows were popular on radio and that young upstart television, but by the end of the decade these programs would inspire a national craze ( and a scandal later depicted in Robert Redford’s film QUIZ SHOW ). CAESAR foreshadows all this while showcasing some delightful performances by actors generally not known for big screen comedies. The plot centers on an unemployed genius Beauregard Bottomley played by one of Hollywood’s most celebrated leading men, Ronald Colman. He was best known then for roles in THE PRISONER OF ZENDA, LOST HORIZON, and RANDOM HARVEST, but today he may be best known as the vocal inspiration for cereal pitch man ( er..bird ) Toucan Sam. Beauregard shares a modest LA bungalow with his sister Gwenn played by Barbara Britton ( who later co-starred in TV’s Mr. and Mrs. North) who teaches piano and the film’s title character Caesar, a parrot with a taste for booze ( his exclamations, such as “get loaded!”,and “How about a short one?” are provided Looney Tunes’ man of a thousand voices Mel Blanc ). One evening the Bottomleys view a few minutes of a game show on a TV in a store’s window display. It’s ‘Masquerade for Money’ sponsored by My Lady Soap ( the soap that sanctifies ) and hosted by Happy Hogan ( Hmmm wonder if Stan Lee saw this? That name was given to Tony Stark’s driver/bodyguard in his Iron Man comic book stories a decade alter ) played by Art Linkletter who would soon have a huge TV hit with his transplanted radio show People Are Funny. Beauregard dismisses it until the unemployment office sends him to the My Lady Soap headquarters for a job interview with the company president Burnbridge Waters by Vincent Price. Price had been making films for twelve years, but this film shows a zany, comic style not yet seen on screen. When Waters concentrates he goes into a trance and almost becomes a wax figure. He’s arrogant, pompous, and dismissive especially with his squad of yes men ( which include Ed Wood regular Lyle Talbot, who played Lex Luthor in the serial ATOM MAN VS. SUPERMAN and Commissioner Gordon in the serial BATMAN AND ROBIN, and John Hart who would replace Clayton Moore as TV’s Lone Ranger for one season). Leaving Waters’s office after losing out on the job and being insulted, Beauregard decides to go on the My Lady sponsored quiz show. There he easily answers the questions, but refuses the prize money. He wants to return on the next show and go double or nothing. Waters is delighted when this turns into a ratings ( and soap sales ) bonanza, but is horrified when his questions cannot stump Beauregard, who intends to keep earning money until he owns the company. A rattled Waters sends Hogan out to romance info from Gwenn and he hires intellectual femme fatale Flame – Neill played by Celeste Holm ( the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma had won a supporting Oscar for GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT three years ago and was about to be seen in ALL ABOUT EVE ) to distract Bottomley. I don’t wish to reveal much more or spoil the film’s great humor and surprises. The main reason to see is the delightful performance of Mr. Price. His droll wit would come through in his later work, but here he’s a whirling dervish of mirth-an inspired comic villain. A few years later Price and Colman would spar again in Irwin Allen’s campy THE STORY OF MANKIND, but here in CHAMPAGNE FOR CAESAR the laughs are intentional., and very, very plentiful.

4. THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (1964)

The famous AIP Corman-Poe series of films concluded with a great one-two punch: THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and THE TOMB OF LIGEIA, both released in 1964. Corman had wanted to do RED DEATH immediately after the success of the first film in the series, HOUSE OF USHER. However, he had second thoughts when he realized the similarities between the story elements for RED DEATH and Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL, which had just been released a few years earlier. Since he did not want to appear to be copying Bergman, he decided to delay the project. This was a fortuitous choice, as THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH benefited from the wait by acquiring a larger budget, location shooting in England, and Corman’s experience on the previous Poe pictures. Drawing not only on Bergman, but also on the work of Hitchcock and German expressionist films, Corman created one of his greatest cinematic works of art. Working with the outstanding cinematographer Nicolas Roeg (later a unique & talented director in his own right), Corman used subdued primary colors (blue, yellow, white) to create a nightmarish quality that permeates the film. The color red does not appear until later, which makes its use all the more shocking. The sets (allegedly left over from bigger productions like BECKET and A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS) are amazing, and enhance the atmosphere even further. Shooting in England also allowed Corman to draw on the talented pool of actors there, such as Jane Asher, Patrick Magee, and Hazel Court. The real star of RED DEATH is, of course, Vincent Price, portraying the personification of evil, Prospero. Aside from the grand and sometimes witty dialogue, Price imbues Prospero with subtle shades of character. We can sometimes glimpse the depths of depravity lurking just underneath the urbane princely exterior, or the nearly hidden stirrings of conscience that he constantly subjugates to the power and corruption of his devil-worshipping personality. Of all the Corman-Poe films, RED DEATH was not Price’s favorite (he liked LIGEIA more), because he felt the story strayed too far from the original Poe material (even though it also contained elements from Poe’s Hop Frog). But in terms of sheer cinematic perfection, with its tone of impending dread, use of color, great performances, and visual style, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH remains Corman’s masterpiece.

3. THE TOMB OF LIGEIA (1964)
The final entry in Roger Corman & Vincent Price’s six-film cycle of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, THE TOMB OF LIGEIA was never a favorite to kids because of its lack of overt horror elements and its focus on gothic romance. The years have been very good to LIGEIA, now considered to be the most ambitious and mature film in the series and Price himself is on record as saying it was the best of his eight Corman collaborations. Price played British aristocrat Verden Fell, who believes his wife Ligeia, who’d committed suicide, will return from the grave and that her spirit has entered a cat. He meets Lady Rowena (Elizabeth Shepherd), her spitting image, and the two marry, opening the doorway for Ligeia’s revenge. Corman and crew returned to England after filming the previous entry, MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH there, filming LIGEIA at the crumbling Castle Acre Priory in Norfolk, and the film benefits from the lack of stagy, claustrophobic studio sets that marked the rest of the series. In fact, the first twenty minutes takes place in the bright outdoors and that Fell has a medical aversion to sunlight seems appropriate, almost like they were cleverly building on what had gone on in the previous films. Elizabeth Shepherd was a beautiful and talented actress who had been hired to replace Honor Blackman on “The Avengers” TV series as the first Emma Peel but was fired and replaced with Diana Rigg before audiences were able to see her in action. Her Rowena is more fleshed out than any female character in the Price/Corman/Poe series. Unlike the morose, downcast women of the earlier films, Ms Shepherd wears a smile throughout much of the proceedings that grows more sinister as the story progresses, though her character isn’t immune from the same fate as most Poe women. It’s mostly a two-person drama and Ms Shepherd holds her own against Price, who’s at his most anguished. Screenwriter Robert Towne, who would go on to win an Oscar nine years later for CHINATOWN, provided a genuine, if suggestive, ghost story with a sense of realism missing from the earlier Poe films. Corman employed Arthur Grant, longtime director of photography for many Hammer horror films, including THE CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF and FRANKENSTEIN MUST BE DESTROYED and Grant utilizes the English countryside in ways he did not for Hammer.

2. WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968)
It’s likely that Vincent Price never delivered a better performance than the one he gave in WITCHFINDER GENERAL (1968), the fact-based story of infamous witchhunter Matthew Hopkins and the barbaric acts he practiced in mid-17th century England. Price completely jettisoned his usual campy theatrics in favor of an appropriately low-key, sinister, and menacing depiction of a purely evil man who hides behind a mask of religious allegiance. Price plays Hopkins as an unmerciful fiend with a genteel manner and an appetite for torture, especially burning. The movie is cruel in its violence but also intelligent and effective and Price is relatively restrained in a complex role as a man who whose mission is to achieve confessions and take the lives of those marked as Satan’s helpers. Price regarded his performance here as the finest of his horror movie career. Director Michael Reeves and Price famously battled on set over the actor’s approach to playing Hopkins, and Price eventually agreed that Reeves was a genius and his insistence that Price subdue his performance was the right one. Reeves was just 25 when he directed WITCHFINDER GENERAL, his fourth film, but was no stranger to working with major horror stars. He previously had helmed CASTLE OF THE LIVING DEAD (1964) with Christopher Lee, THE SHE-BEAST (1966) with Barbara Steele, and THE SORCERERS (1967) with Boris Karloff. Price and Reeves were scheduled to re-team the following year for THE OBLONG BOX but Reeves was found dead of a barbiturate overdose in February of 1969 (some sources claim it was suicide). WITCHFINDER GENERAL is an extremely sadistic movie, but its details are based on fact. The Civil War in 17th century Britain was horrific and left people hungry and desperate. Accusing a neighbor of witchcraft had the instant benefit of claiming the property they left behind. Locals were eager to help Hopkins, even when he asks that the daughters of the men he imprisoned be brought to his bedchamber. The real-life Hopkins lived a long life and died of natural causes but the film gives him a bloody death, even though it’s unsatisfying to its young hero (played by Reeves regular Ian Ogilvy) who ends the film with the haunted refrain “You took him from me!”. When American International released this film in the U.S. in 1968 they changed the title to CONQUEROR WORM and tried to pass it off as one from their Edgar Allen Poe series by adding a few lines from the author’s abstract poem of that title. WITCHFINDER GENERAL is not only one of Vincent Price’s very best films but the black-hearted Mathew Hopkins is one of cinema’s most frightening villains.

1. THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM (1962)
Not much of Edgar Allen Poe’s short story which shares its title is on screen besides the eponymous torture device, but thanks to a deft screenplay by Richard Matheson, a pitch-perfect performance by Vincent Price, sure handed direction by Roger Corman, and the inspired casting of Barbara Steele, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is an epic helping of gothic grand guignol that deserves its place on the top of this list. Vincent Price’s Don Medina is a much more lively than his Roderick Usher form the previous year. Price was often accused of overacting, but his frantic scenery-chewing was the correct style for this material. The casting of the otherworldly Barbara Steele shows that American International was properly impressed with her horror debut in the previous year’s BLACK SUNDAY (as they should have been), the Italian film they distributed and this was her stateside debut. Steele is something to behold in THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, slinking and smirking like a deranged cat around the torture chamber, driving Price and the audience to delirium. Steele wasn’t long for Hollywood though. She fled the set of an Elvis film the next year and returned to Europe where she starred in a string of unparalleled gothic horrors. Corman’s camera stays in time to the berserk performances of his two horror stars, as he experiments with odd lens techniques and hallucinatory framing and you’d never guess that THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM was shot on for only $200,000 as it is consistently dazzling to look at with spooky color camerawork by Floyd Crosby and imposing art design by Daniel Haller. Stock footage of the climactic torture sequence would later find its way into the 1966 spy spoof DR. GOLDFOOT AND THE BIKINI MACHINE, which also starred Vincent Price as well as GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI (also 1966). THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM is a fantastic and fascinating viewing experience that just keeps getting better with age.

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