Cowboy in Sweden (1970)
|
 |
Directed by: Torbjörn Axelman
Cast:
Lee Hazlewood
Nina Lizell
Review:
In light of the current resurgence in Lee Hazlewood's popularity, including (finally) some rereleases, it's curious that his films remain unavailable.
After finally getting my grubby little hands on a copy of the COWBOY IN Sweden film, I realize how much of a shame it is that these films are not (or haven't yet) been made more available. The film itself serves as a fine, albeit sometimes bizarre, compliment to the album itself.
Primarily, this film is a music video featuring each of the songs from the album, another by Lee that didn't make it to the album, and a couple of obscure psychedelic bands. The natural beauty of Sweden serves as the setting for much of this film, although we do catch a glimpse of Lee in the studio at the start of the "Leather and Lace" segment.
As for Lee himself, the man is at the top of his game. In his black stetson and cowboy boots, he wanders about a series of dreamscapes and entertains with songs from the album (sometimes the mix is a bit different, too, which keeps things interesting). Lee is usually accompanied by at least one Swedish girl (total eye candy, of course). My favorite video in the collection, however, must be the uber-surreal "The Night Before". Remember the album cover? That image comes from this video. The video itself enacts the song, somewhat, only on a rocky beach. Including a long tracking shot of a Swedish girl dancing across the beach, the video capitalizes upon the hazy, dreamlike element of the song.
Between songs, sometimes, Lee tells a bit about Swedish culture. Nothing very profound... he speaks of the ever-changing weather, midsummer festivals (and how Sweden is dark for half of the year), The Nobel Prize (and how he should win one for "No Train to Stockholm"), Ingmar Bergman, etc. These scenes are usually infused with an element of comedy, contrasting to the seriousness of the music itself.
The other bands featured in the film are pretty typical for late-60's obscuro rock fare. In other words, they aren't great, but they do lend to a feeling of the times.
As hard as the film is to find, for Hazlewood fans, it is worth it to see the man in action on the coattails of arguably one of his finest albums. (imdb.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 60 minutes
Country: Sweden
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
Moonshine War, The (1970)
|
 |
Directed by: Richard Quine
Cast:
Patrick McGoohan - Frank Long
Richard Widmark - Dr. Taulbee
Alan Alda - Son Martin
Lee Hazlewood - Dual Metters
Melodie Johnson - Lizann Simpson
Will Geer - Mr. Baylor
Review:
I only watched this film because of Patrick McGoohan, but found it to be a particularly nice strange little film indeed. The Moonshine War is a simple story of a bunch of people trying to get their hands on some hidden whiskey during the last months of prohibition. And what a weird bunch they are. Richard Widmark plays a disgusting former dentist-rapist and McGoohan is at his most neurotic as a dirty G-man, with a weird growling accent. Tom Skerritt and Teri Garr can be spotted in small roles. The film is written by Elmore Leonard, from his own book. It is easy to see why Quentin Tarantino digs him. The scene where Dual (singer Lee Hazlewood) develops a liking for "that boy´s nice suit" could be straight from a Tarantino film. Just about every character in this film is greedy, selfish and freaky. Unfortunately Alan Alda is pretty bland as the central character. He is probably supposed to be likeable, but he just seems boring surrounded by the other oddballs. Alda is not the right man for the role. Also Richard Quine is not a very exciting director, and there are a couple of really awful bubblegum tunes on the soundtrack. The script and some great characters, however, make it a pleasure to watch. (imdb.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
Smoke (1971)
|
 |
Directed by: Torbjörn Axelman
Cast:
Lee Hazlewood ... Smoke
Christina Lindberg ... Annie
Axelle Axell ... Ms. Larsson
Ulf Brunnberg ... Eric
Lena Edling ... Gypsy
Synopsis:
Smoke (Lee Hazlewood) lives in a house with a group of young radicals, and has become the de facto leader of all radicals in the community. During their many late night rap & reefer sessions, Smoke goads the impressionable kids into replacing mere talk with violent actions. Once started, the violence spirals out of control with tragic results.
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 95 minutes
Country: Sweden
Language: English w/ Swedish subtitles, Swedish w/ English subtitles
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
27th Day, The (1957)
|
 |
Directed by: William Asher
Cast:
Gene Barry - Jonathan Clark
Valerie French - Eve Wingate
George Voskovec - Prof. Klaus Bechner
Arnold Moss - The Alien
Stefan Schnabel - Leader
Emil Sitka - Newsboy
Synopsis:
A locked-in-the-fifties science fiction film, The 27th Day begins with five different people from five different countries suddenly disappearing from view. They have been gently abducted by the agent (Arnold Moss) of a faraway dying planet, who gives each of the five earthlings a "killing capsule" that will destroy everything on Earth and allow the residents of the alien planet to re-colonize the planet--but which will be ineffective if not used after 27 days.
In typical Cold War fashion, the representatives of the "good" countries (including Gene Barry) refuse to utilize the capsules, while the Soviets, (personified by Azemat Janti and Stefan Schnabel) intend to deploy the capsules for their own nefarious purposes. Their perfidy only results in the utter decimation of the USSR. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 75 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Amerika (1987) (TV)
|
 |
Directed by: Donald Wrye
Cast:
Kris Kristofferson
Sam Neill
Mariel Hemingway
Dorian Harewood
Ford Rainey
Christine Lahti
Cindy Pickett
Robert Urich
Kelly Proctor
Wendy Hughes
Graham Beckel
Lara Flynn Boyle
Armin Mueller-Stahl
Synopsis:
A seven-part miniseries set ten years after a hypothetical Soviet takeover of the United States. The story relates how the release of a political dissident from prison triggers strong reactions from his estranged family, his childhood friend (now a rising figure in the new regime), the leaders of the occupying forces, and the newly-formed underground movement seeking to oust the Russian invaders. (hollywood.com)
FIVE DVD Set
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 870 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Atomic City, The (1952)
|
 |
Directed by: Jerry Hopper
Cast:
Gene Barry - Dr. Addison
Lydia Clarke - Martha Addison
Michael Moore - Russ Farley
Nancy Gates - Ellen
Lee Aaker - Tommy Addison
Houseley Stevenson, Jr. - Gregson
Synopsis:
The city of the title is Los Alamos, where nuclear physicist Gene Barry lives and works. Terrorists kidnap Barry's son and demand that the physicist turn over the H-bomb formula. It's cat-and-mouse for a while, but when the FBI gets on the case, the criminals haven't got a chance. Outdated almost before its release, The Atomic City is still effective on a purely melodramatic level. There's a particularly tense climax played out along the mountain mesas surrounding Los Alamos.(allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 84 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Bamboo Saucer, The (1968)
|
 |
Directed by: Frank Telford
Cast:
Dan Duryea - Hank Peters
John Ericson - Fred Norwood
Lois Nettleton - Anna Karachev
Bob Hastings - Garson
Vincent Beck - Zagorsky
Synopsis:
A veteran cast gives the 1968 cheapie The Bamboo Saucer what little credibility it has. In his last role, Dan Duryea plays the head man of an expeditionary force in search of a missing UFO. Since the craft was last sighted in the mountains of Red China, the search takes on political significance. Duryea's American team is eventually forced to align itself with a similarly-purposed group of Soviet researchers (this being a 1968 film, the real bad guys are the Red Chinese). Lois Nettelton has some wonderfully campy moments as a Russian scientist. Bamboo Saucer was produced by Jerry Fairbanks, of "Speaking of Animals" and "Crusader Rabbit" fame. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 103 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Day Mars Invaded Earth, The (1963)
|
 |
Directed by: Maury Dexter
Cast:
Betty Beall - Judi Fielding
Lowell Brown - Frank
Troy Melton
William Mims - Dr. Web Spencer
George Riley
Gregg Shank - Rocky Fielding
Kent Taylor - Dr. David Fielding
Marie Windsor - Claire Fielding
Synopsis:
Those ever-sneaky Martians are at it again in this sci-fi horror outing that closely resembles Invasion of the Body Snatchers. This time, the crafty invaders are in the process of making exact doubles of an entire town and then killing the original models. The terrifying facts are discovered by a scientist working at Cape Canaveral who is trying to figure out why a recent Martian probe simply exploded after landing on the Red Planet. The fellow has been in Florida working on the project for so long that his wife in California is about to divorce him. Wanting to save his marriage and see his family, he goes home and suddenly ends up fighting for not only his own life, but for all Humanity. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 70 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Fearmakers, The (1958)
|
 |
Directed by: Jacques Tourneur
Cast:
Dana Andrews - Alan Eaton
Dick Foran - Jim McGinnis
Mel Tormé - Barney Bond
Marilee Earle - Lorraine Dennis
Veda Ann Borg - Vivian Loder
Joel Marston - Rodney Hillyer
Synopsis:
In this drama, a Korean war veteran, a victim of brainwashing while he was a POW, finally goes back to his home in Washington, DC, where he resumes his job at a public relations-opinion research firm. He soon discovers that his company is being run by communists after his partner mysteriously died. Now pro-communist propaganda seems to be their primary business. To stop them, the vet begins cooperating in a full-scale Senate investigation.
(allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 83 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Five Steps to Danger (1957)
|
 |
Directed by: Henry S. Kesler
Cast:
Ruth Roman - Ann Nicholson
Sterling Hayden - John Emmett
Werner Klemperer - Dr. Simmons
Richard Gaines - Dean Brant
Charles Davis - Kirk
Jeanne Cooper - Helen Bethke
Synopsis:
Five Steps to Danger was adapted from the novel "The Steel Mirror" by Donald Hamilton. When her scientist brother is killed in East Berlin, Ruth Roman finds herself in possession of a secret code, engraved on the back of a mirror. To prevent Ruth from delivering the secret information to the authorities, double agent Werner Klemperer has her committed to a mental institution. She finds an unlikely savior in the form of misanthropic drifter Sterling Hayden. Producer-director Henry S. Kesler also penned the numbingly complicated screenplay. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 80 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C- (From a somewhat worn 16mm print)
|
|
|
|
I Married A Communist (1949)
|
 |
aka "Woman on Pier 13"
Directed by: Robert Stevenson
Cast:
Laraine Day - Nan Collins
Robert Ryan - Brad Collins
John Agar - Don Lowry
Thomas Gomez - Vanning
Janis Carter - Christine
Synopsis:
There's propaganda aplenty in RKO's I Married a Communist, the first of producer Howard R. Hughes' many anti-Red broadsides. Robert Ryan plays shipping executive Brad Collins, whose youthful flirtations with certain left-wing causes have made him ripe for plucking by Commie cell leader Vanning (Thomas Gomez). Threatening to reveal Collins' "pinko" past, Vanning orders the executive to deliberately sabotage the shipping industry in the Frisco Bay area. Other characters essential to the plotline are Collins' wife Nan (Laraine Day), who knows nothing of her husband's politics, and his idealistic brother-in-law Don (John Agar) who spouts Marxist dogma at the drop of a hat. Apparently at a loss as to how to depict communist villainy, the screenwriters hark back on the gangster films of the 1930s, notably in the scene where a hapless stoolie (the inevitable Paul Guilfoyle) is taken for a ride. When the title I Married a Communist proved an audience turn-off during previews, the film was rechristened The Woman on Pier 13. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 73minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. (1951)
|
 |
Directed by: Gordon M. Douglas
Cast:
Frank Lovejoy - Matt Cvetic
Dorothy Hart - Eve Merrick
Philip Carey - Mason
James Millican - Jim Blandon
Richard Webb - Crowley
Synopsis:
The real Matt Cvetic was a borderline alcoholic with a nasty disposition (he once allegedly beat his sister-in-law so badly she required hospitalization). But Cvetic was also a fervent anti-communist, and so, for a brief period in the early 1950s, he was a folk hero. I Was a Communist for the F.B.I. is the semi-true story of how Cvetic (played by Frank Lovejoy) renounced his friends and family and embraced the Red cause--on behalf of the F.B.I., for whom he was a volunteer undercover agent. The film recounts how Cvetic used his job as a Pittsburgh steelworker to contact various American Communist cell leaders, and how he exposed their insidious plans to overthrow the American government. Since the script infers that among the Reds' "subversive" plans was the Civil Rights Movement, I Was a Communist for the FBI is an embarrassing experience when seen today. Cvetic's memoirs were better dramatized by a 1951 radio series of the same title, starring Dana Andrews. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 83 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Journey, The (1959)
|
 |
Directed by: Anatole Litvak
Cast:
Yul Brynner - Maj. Surov
Deborah Kerr - Lady Diana Ashmore
Jason Robards, Jr. - Paul Kedes/Fleming
Robert Morley - Hugh Deverill
E.G. Marshall - Harold Rhinelander
Review:
Very literate, intelligent drama about a group of international travelers held virtual prisoners in the Hungary of 1956 by invading Russian Communist regime. Kerr and Robards play lovers, she a British baroness, he a Hungarian freedom fighter trying to do his bit for his country. Other New York theater stars of the period Anne Jackson & E G Marshall play an American couple traveling with their two young sons, including Ronny Howard in his screen debut. Jackson's character is hugely pregnant and not anxious to give birth in a soon-to-be communist country; she gives an impassioned plea in the third act of this film which presages the naturalistic acting styles we've come to know today from Redgrave, Fonda, & Streep. Leading the pack of Soviet wolves is Yul Brynner, magnificent as a commandant and at his sexiest since he played opposite Kerr in "The King and I". He is mean and nasty and terribly conflicted by his attraction to the lovely, patrician, & heroic Kerr. This is one of the great transition films of the latter part of the Golden Era of American film. Do not miss it. (imdb.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 125 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: A-
|
|
|
|
Kremlin Letter, The (1970)
|
 |
Directed by: John Huston
Cast:
Bibi Andersson - Erika
Richard Boone - Ward
Nigel Green - Janis
Dean Jagger - Highwayman
Lila Kedrova - Sophie
Michael MacLiammoir - Sweet Alice
Synopsis:
When American agents in Moscow try to recover a stolen letter implicating America in an anti-Red China plot, they discover a hornet's nest of treason, double agents, murder, and betrayal. The plot has as many switchbacks as a Formula One racetrack, and a pad and paper to keep track of the agents and their code names wouldn't hurt. Still, The Kremlin Letter is an interesting espionage movie with some good performances. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 125 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C+
|
|
|
|
Ladybug, Ladybug (1963)
|
 |
Directed by: Frank Perry
Cast:
Jane Connell - Mrs. Maxton
William Daniels - Mr. Calkins
James Frawley - Truck driver
Richard Hamilton - JoAnn's father
Kathryn Hays - Mrs. Forbes
Synopsis:
During the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, teachers at a secluded countryside elementary school are asked to walk their pupils home after a nuclear bomb warning alarm goes off. What they don't know is that, in fact, the alarm was tripped by accident and there is no danger; but the adults and children have by this point fully accepted the dread of the oncoming nuclear holocaust.
The anxiety builds as they are led home by their teachers along endless dirt roads and isolated fields. When the children gain access to a bomb shelter, they refuse entry to a less popular girl, claiming there isn't enough room. The child searches for a place to hide from the assumed oncoming attack. The result of undue panic and paranoia caused by the Cold War.
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 82 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: B&W
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B-
|
|
|
|
My Son John (1952)
|
 |
Directed by: Leo McCarey
Cast:
Helen Hayes - Lucille Jefferson
Van Heflin - Stedman of the FBI
Robert Walker - John Jefferson
Dean Jagger - Dan Jefferson
Minor Watson - Dr. Carvey
Synopsis:
Filled with the kind of Red Scare propaganda that must have delighted members of McCarthy's House Un-American Activities Committee, this drama chronicles the attempts of two All-American parents to save their son from the temptations of Communism. Unfortunately, they are too late. The arrogant and intellectual young man, a worker in a federal agency, returns home from a long absence spouting pro-Ruskie doctrine and deriding the beliefs of capitalism and US at every opportunity. Enraged at his son's mocking ways, he beans him with the family bible. Things get worse when an FBI agent shows up to tell the horrified parents that their son is an enemy spy. The mother blows a gasket and flies to Washington, DC where her son works to make him swear on the same book that the FBI agent is wrong. The son does so, but its a lie. The mother soon finds this out. She also learns that her treacherous son's girlfriend is a Commie. What's a mother to do?
Fortunately, before it is too late, her son realizes the error of his ways and tries to double-cross his Pinko superiors. Unfortunately, it is too late and they shoot him and just before he gaspingly dies upon the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he tapes his final confession and gives American youth everywhere a potent message about honor. The star of the film, Walker, best remembered for his gripping portrayal of a psychopath in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, died before production finished and so scenes from that film were spliced into My Son, John. (allmovie.com)
NEW UPDATED PRINT!
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 122 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: A-
|
|
|
|
Red Menace, The (1949)
|
 |
Directed by: R. G. Springsteen
Cast:
Robert Rockwell - Bill Jones
Hannelore Axman - Nina Petrovka
Shepard Menken - Henry Solomon
Barbara Fuller - Mollie O'Flaherty
Betty Lou Gerson - Yvonne Kraus
Lester Luther - Earl Partridge
Synopsis:
One of the most famous of the anti-communist tracts of the late 1940s, Republic's The Red Menace plays like a merciless lampoon of the genre when seen today. After a portentous introduction by one Lloyd G. Davies, described as a member of the Los Angeles City Council, the film concentrates on disgruntled ex-GI Bill Jones (Robert Rockwell). Having been victimized by crooked real estate agents, Jones turns to the government for help, only to come away empty-handed and mad as a wet hen. Obviously, the susceptible Jones is ripe for plucking by the American Communist Party. Using slogans, bribes and even sex to recruit disenfranchised souls like Jones, the dirty Reds hope to spread their poison to the entire U.S. of A. Fortunately, Jones and another commie dupe, schoolteacher Nina Petrovka (Hanne Axman), smarten up just in time.
The HUAC and Joe McCarthy needn't have searched so diligently for subversives: according to The Red Menace, all they would have had to do was arrest anyone wearing a baggy suit or sporting a bad haircut. Some modern-day viewers begin laughing the moment the opening title of Red Menace, wherein an animated octopus wraps its tentacles around the Free World, fades into view. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 87 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Shack Out On 101 (1955)
|
 |
Directed by: Edward Dein
Cast:
Terry Moore
Frank Lovejoy
Kennan Wynn
Lee Marvin
Synopsis:
It is all but impossible to dislike this ultra-cheap "Cold War paranoia" melodrama. Virtually the entire picture takes place on a single set, representing a rundown roadside diner. Lee Marvin plays the aptly named Slob, a lecherous short-order cook who lusts after shapely waitress Kotty (Terry Moore). Also interested in Kotty is a scientist known only as The Professor (Frank Lovejoy), who spends the better part of his free time at the diner's counter. It turns out that the Professor is a traitor, exchanging top-secret information with Slob, who's actually a commie agent. Only the Professor isn't a traitor, see, he's really . . . But why spoil the film for the uninitiated? For the record, Keenan Wynn and Whit Bissell are also in Shack Out on 101. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 80 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Split Second (1953)
|
 |
Directed by: Dick Powell
Cast:
Stephen McNally
Alexis Smith
Jan Sterling
Synopsis:
Actor Dick Powell made an impressive film debut with the taut atomic-age suspenser Split Second. Convicts Stephen McNally, Paul Kelly and Frank DeKova escape to a ghost town in the Nevada desert. Only it isn't exactly a ghost town, but a "dummy village" constructed for the purpose of A-bomb testing. The criminals hold several hostages, including reporter Keith Andes, nightclub singer Jan Sterling, selfish socialite Alexis Smith, her doctor-husband Richard Egan and her newest boyfriend Robert Paige.
Andes suspects that the deserted town is at Ground Zero of the latest bomb test, but he can't convince the convicts until it's almost too late. The best and most horrifying sequence occurs near the end, when the criminals, accompanied by the duplicitous Ms. Smith, discover that they're driving towards the A-bomb target instead of away from it. Novelist Irving Wallace collaborated on the script of Split Second with Chester Erskine and William Bowers. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Storm Center (1956)
|
 |
Directed by: Daniel Taradash
Cast:
Bette Davis - Alicia Hull
Kim Hunter - Martha Lockridge
Paul Kelly - Judge Robert Ellerbe
Kevin Coughlin - Freddie Slater
Synopsis:
Trouble brews when a widowed, small town librarian takes a stand against censorship. The trouble begins when the town fathers ask that she remove a book from the shelf because they deem it a pro-communist tract and fear it will taint susceptible young minds. She sees the idiocy of their request and defies them. They in turn fire her and replace her with her old friend and assistant. The town judge considers the whole mess a gross miscarriage of justice and demands a trial. This gives an ambitious young lawyer, the boyfriend of the new librarian the opportunity to do a little grandstanding by publicly proclaiming the highly-principled widow a communist. The poor woman suddenly finds herself the town pariah; her only remaining friend is a small boy she used to talk to in the library. He plays a key role in restoring her good name. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
To the Ends of the Earth (1948)
|
 |
Directed by: Robert Stevenson
Cast:
Dick Powell - Michael Barrows
Signe Hasso - Ann Grant
Ludwig Donath - Commissioner Lum Chi Chow
Vladimir Sokoloff - Nicholas Sokim
Synopsis:
The relatively relaxed movie censorship in the postwar years enabled Columbia to produce To the Ends of the Earth, a film which dealt with the previously taboo subject of drug smuggling. T-man Dick Powell is sent to several foreign locales to track down an Opium ring. The villains are subversives (Red? Fascist?) who plan to take over the world by hooking everyone on the "hard stuff." The film is chock full of mysterious European and Oriental types like Vladimir Sokoloff, Ludwig Donath and Fritz Leiber; even leading lady Signe Hasso speaks with an accent, which in 1948 was enough to immediately put her under suspicion. Lending credence to this sprawling adventure yarn is the presence of several actual treasury agents in bit parts, including commissioner Harry J. Anslinger. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 109 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Walk East on Beacon! (1952)
|
 |
Directed by: Alfred L. Werker
Cast:
George Murphy - Inspector Belden
Finlay Currie - Prof. Kafer
Virginia Gilmore - Millie
Karel Stepanek - Alex
Louisa Horton - Elaine
Peter Capell - Gino
Synopsis:
Louis de Rochemont, former March of Time producer whose "docudrama" films proved so popular in the 1940s, offers more of the same in Walk East on Beacon. Based on an article written (or ghostwritten) by J. Edgar Hoover, the film concerns the efforts by the FBI to plug up a dangerous security leak. Federal agent Belden (George Murphy) is assigned to locate the communist mastermind behind the leak, and to trace all avenues of informational access utilized by the Bad Guys. Finlay Currie co-stars as an Einstein-like scientist who is being blackmailed by the Reds into cooperating with them, while Karel Stepanek is slime personified as the top Eastern-Bloc spy. Largely filmed on location in New York, Walk East on Beacon makes good use of several Manhattan-based actors, few of whom were seen in films either before or since. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 98 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Alyssa Milano's Teen Steam (1988)
|
 |
Cast:
Alyssa Milano ... Herself
Tiffanie Poston ... Herself
Michelle Simms ... Herself
Christie Furuka ... Dancer
Cheryl Richardson ... Dancer
Synopsis:
Guys, if you can only own ONE VIDEO, this is the one.
TRUST ME. I have been addicted to Alyssa for over a decade, and this is the HOTTEST video she ever released (DANCE TILL DAWN Is a close second). She does these laughable workout routines, which if you try to duplicate will probably not grow your biceps or anything, but watch the scenes where she bounces up and down in incredibly tight and low cut spandex outfits over and over again in super slow mo and you'll get a whole different, and far superior, kind of workout. Alyssa was about 16 when she filmed this, before that... hairdresser cut her beautiful hair.
She looks incredible - does anything else matter? (amazon.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 45 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Warm-Up with Traci Lords (1988)
|
 |
Cast:
Traci Lords
Synopsis:
The post-porn actress becomes a physical fitness advocate, leading the viewer through this non-impact "Jazzthetics" workout designed to be completely safe with no stress on any body joints. An easy to follow, cardiovascular workout with emphasis on burning off cellulite. (rottentomatoes.com)
Made just after Traci turned 18, legend has it that most copies were sold to men who used it's exercises to increase wrist and grip strength.
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 50 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
13 West Street (1962)
|
 |
Directed by: Philip Leacock
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Walt Sherill
Rod Steiger - Detective Sgt. Koleski
Michael Callan - Chuck Landry
Dolores Dorn - Tracey Sherill
Kenneth MacKenna - Paul Logan
Synopsis:
Leaning heavily on violence to ostensibly deliver a pacifist message, this standard drama by Philip Leacock looks at the problem of teen gangs from a slightly different angle -- these teens are all wealthy. Everything starts off when aerospace engineer Walt Sherill (Alan Ladd) is accosted and severely beaten by a group of young punks. The victimized man decides to hunt down the thugs on his own, at first just for curiosity and then increasingly for vengeance. His actions spark retaliatory measures, and before the credits roll, the body count is elevated by a few more victims in what amounts to nothing more than a blood feud. In the end, justice of the legal and politically correct sort makes a token appearance. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 80 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Appointment with Danger (1951)
|
 |
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Cast:
Alan Ladd
Phyllis Calvert
Paul Stewart
Jan Sterling
Jack Webb
Review:
Al Goddard, (Alan Ladd) special investigator for the U.S. post office, is assigned to collar two criminals who've murdered a postal detective. Goddard must first locate the only witness to the crime, attractive young nun, Sister Augustine (Phyllis Calvert). Posing as a crook, Goddard gains the confidence of the murderers' boss Earl Boettiger (Paul Stewart), who has worked out a scheme to defraud the post office of one million dollars. Once they've tumbled to the deception, the crooks take Goddard and the nun prisoner, leading to a fight to the finish in a lonely industrial district. Appointment with Danger tends to draw chuckles rather than shivers nowadays, thanks to the casting of future Dragnet co-stars Jack Webb and Harry Morgan as the murderers -- and as icing to the cake, viewers are treated to a scene in which Webb bumps off Morgan! As a whole, the film, the last of Alan Ladd's series of film noir, is uneven and generally unsuccessful. However, it contains some crisp, tough dialogue and some terrific action sequences which make it worthwhile.(allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 89 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B+
|
|
|
|
Blue Dahlia, The (1946)
|
 |
Directed by: George Marshall
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Johnny Morrison
Veronica Lake - Joyce Harwood
William Bendix - Buzz Wanchek
Howard Da Silva - Eddie Harwood
Doris Dowling - Helen Morrison
Synopsis:
This neat, fast-paced perfectly cast film noir reflects the hard-boiled, grim wit of the author of its screenplay, Raymond Chandler. Johnny Morrison (Alan Ladd) returns from the war to find his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) having a party and in the arms of another man. Johnny and Helen have a terrible fight, and later Helen is found dead. Johnny must prove his innocence and he enlists the aid of Joyce Haywood (Veronica Lake), the ex-wife of Helen's lover. Pursued by the cops, and never sure if he is being set-up for the murder, Johnny finally solves the murder and clears his name. Alan Ladd is at his hard-boiled, no-nonsense best as Johnny and Veronica Lake is, as always, the perfect noir femme-fatale, mysterious and alluring. Nicely directed by George Marshall, the film moves with great pace to an exciting, satisfying conclusion. The screenplay, the only one written by Chandler directly for the screen, was nominated for an Academy Award. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 96 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Botany Bay (1953)
|
 |
Directed by: John Farrow
Cast:
Mark Stevens - Rocky Barnes
Edmond O'Brien - Dan Purvis
Gale Storm - Kate Mallory
Donald Buka - Richie Garris
Gale Robbins - Terry Romaine
Synopsis:
Framed for robbery, 18th century medical student Alan Ladd is sentenced to a New South Wales penal colony. En route to the prison, Ladd is tormented by sadistic ship's captain James Mason, while Mason's beloved Patricia Medina takes a fancy to the new prisoner. Once at the colony, Ladd is befriended by governor Sir Cedric Hardwicke, since the populace is in desperate need of a qualified physician. Mason's efforts to continue persecuting Ladd are foiled when Mason is killed by a group of disgruntled aborigines. Though it sounds a lot like Captain Blood, Botany Bay was based on a novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall (of Mutiny on the Bounty fame). (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 99 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Boy on a Dolphin, The (1957)
|
 |
Directed by: Jean Negulesco
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Dr. James Calder
Sophia Loren - Phaedra
Clifton Webb - Victor Parmalee
Alexis Minotis - Government Man
Laurence Naismith - Dr. Hawkins
Jorge Mistral - Rhif
Synopsis:
Italian screen goddess Sophia Loren made her American film debut with this glossy romantic adventure set (and partially filmed) on the Greek island of Hydra. Phaedra (Loren) is a female sponge diver who, while combing the waters, discovers the wreckage of a sunken ship with a number of fascinating artifacts, including a statue of a boy astride a dolphin. When Phaedra tells her boyfriend Rhif (Jorge Mistral) about the find, he is convinced that the statue is valuable, and he begins making plans to bring it to dry land for sale.
Looking for help, they approach Dr. James Calder (Alan Ladd), an American archeologist working on a project for a Greek museum. Calder wants the statue but can't pay for it -- he wants Phaedra and Rhif to donate it to his museum as a remarkable example of Greek statuary. This is hardly what Rhif had in mind, so he turns to Victor Parmalee (Clifton Webb), a wealthy American art collector intrigued by the statue and other valuables that might be in the ship. Rhif and Victor make plans to salvage the ship's contents and send them back to America, for which Rhif will be paid handsomely. But Phaedra finds herself attracted to Calder, especially after she is disgusted by Victor's blunt offer to make her his mistress, and she begins a romance with the principled American. Now Phaedra and Calder must try to rescue the ship's valuables before Rhif and Parmalee can get to them.
The love scenes between Sophia Loren and Alan Ladd presented something of a problem for director Jean Negulesco and his crew -- Ladd was 5' 4" and Loren was 5' 8", requiring him to stand on a box for two shots; for a scene where the two walked together along the beach, the crew dug a trench for Loren to walk in, so Ladd would appear taller. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 120 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops, Widescreen
Print Quality: B- (Slightly fuzzy)
If you would prefer a somewhat sharper fullscreen version of this film, please mention it while ordering. |
|
|
|
Calcutta (1947)
|
 |
Directed by: John Farrow
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Neale Gordon
Gail Russell - Virginia Moore
William Bendix - Pedro Blake
June Duprez - Marina Tanev
Lowell Gilmore - Eric Lasser
Synopsis:
Alan Ladd stars in Calcutta as devil-may-care pilot Neale Gordon. With his equally fearless partners Pedro Blake (William Bendix) and Bill Cunningham (John Whitney), Gordon handles the air-freight route between Calcutta and Chungking. When Cunningham meets his death at the hands of jewel smugglers, Gordon vows to play judge and jury and bring the criminals to justice himself. Among the suspects are the film's two gorgeous leading ladies, sweetie-pie Virginia Moore (Gail Russell) and sultry nightclub singer Merina Tanev (June Duprez). Once Gordon figures out who his real friends are, he relies on his fists to mete out retribution, resulting in one sequence that's guaranteed to raise the hackles of every feminist in the crowd. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 83 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
Chicago Deadline (1949)
|
 |
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Cast:
Alan Ladd
Donna Reed
June Havoc
Irene Hervey
Arthur Kennedy
Synopsis:
Tough reporter Ed Adams (Alan Ladd) wants to get the full story behind the apparent suicide of a young woman. It seems that the girl left behind a notebook with a list of seemingly unrelated names. Adams tracks down each one of the persons cited in the notebook, slowly but surely putting the pieces together. Once the basic mystery is solved, however, there's one surprising loose end left to be tied up. June Havoc co-stars as Leona, self-styled best friend of the decedent, who helps Adams in his quest. As the victim, Donna Reed appears exclusively in flashbacks. Based on a story by veteran suspense scrivener Tiffany Thayer (of Thirteen Women fame). (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 86 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
Glass Key, The (1942)
|
 |
Directed by: Stuart Heisler
Cast:
Brian Donlevy - Paul Madvig
Veronica Lake - Janet Henry
Alan Ladd - Ed Beaumont
Bonita Granville - Opal Madvig
William Bendix - Jeff
Richard Denning - Taylor Henry
Synopsis:
Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key, a tale of big-city political corruption, was first filmed in 1935, with Edward Arnold as a duplicitous political boss and George Raft as his loyal lieutenant. This 1942 remake improves on the original, especially in replacing the stolid Raft with the charismatic Alan Ladd. Brian Donlevy essays the role of the boss, who is determined to back reform candidate Moroni Olsen, despite Ladd's gut feeling that this move is a mistake. Ladd knows that Donlevy is doing a political about-face merely to get in solid with Olsen's pretty daughter Veronica Lake.
It is Ladd who is left to clean up the mess when crime lord Joseph Calleila murders Olsen's wastrel son Richard Denning and pins the rap on Donlevy. As Ladd struggles to clear Donlevy's name, he falls in love with Lake--when he's not being pummeled about by Calleila's psychopathic henchman William Bendix. Far less complex than the Dashiel Hammett original (and far less damning of the American political system), The Glass Key further increased the box-office pull of Paramount's new team of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Great Gatsby, The (1949)
|
 |
Directed by: Elliot Nugent
Cast:
Alan Ladd
Betty Field
Ruth Hussey
Barry Sullivan
Howard Da Silva
Shelly Winters
Synopsis:
This second film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's definitive jazz-age novel The Great Gatsby stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, is a successful bootlegger with aspirations of being accepted in the highest social circles of Long Island. Once he's done this, Gatsby devotes his time to winning back the love of his former lady friend Daisy (Betty Field), now married to boorish "old-money" millionaire Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan). Gatsby's obsession with rekindling old flames results in disillusionment and, ultimately, tragedy. Sidelines observer Nick Carraway, the narrator of the original Fitzgerald novel, is expertly played by MacDonald Carey, while Shelley Winters makes an excellent impression as Buchanan's slatternly mistress Myrtle Wilson. Cast as Myrtle's dour optometrist husband is Howard Da Silva, who essayed a minor role in the 1974 remake of Great Gatsby. That 1974 version has unfortunately kept the 1949 Gatsby from being released to television. (allmovie.com)
"A Great Cast... A Great Novel... A Great Motion Picture!"
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 91 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black & White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Iron Mistress, The (1952)
|
 |
Directed by: Gordon M. Douglas
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Jim Bowie
Virginia Mayo - Judalon de Bornay
Joseph Calleia - Juan Moreno
Phyllis Kirk - Ursula de Veramendi
Alf Kjellin - Philippe de Cabanal
Synopsis:
Though its title would seem to indicate a medieval swashbuckler, The Iron Mistress is actually based on the life of American frontiersman Jim Bowie. Alan Ladd stars as the fearless, knife-wielding Bowie, who is first seen arriving in New Orleans to sell a supply of lumber. Bowie falls in love with duplicitous Creole lass Judalon de Bornay (a brunette Virginia Mayo), who inspires him to increase his riches and political power. When Bowie doesn't move up the ladder of success fast enough to suit her, the fickle Judalon weds another. Bowie eventually finds happiness in the arms of Ursula de Veremendi (Phyllis Kirk), the daughter of Texas' vice-governor. The film tactfully ends long before Bowie's rendezvous with destiny at the Alamo. The Iron Mistress is based on the novel by Paul I. Wellman; the highlight of the novel, a fierce knife-and-rapier duel, is faithfully recreated here. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Color
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Island of Lost Souls (1932)
|
 |
Directed by: Erle C. Kenton
Cast:
Charles Laughton - Dr. Moreau
Bela Lugosi - Sayer of the Law
Richard Arlen - Edward Parker
Leila Hyams - Ruth Thomas
Kathleen Burke - Lota, the Panther Woman
Alan Ladd - Ape Man
Synopsis:
An obsessed scientist conducts profane experiments in evolution, eventually establishing himself as the self-styled demigod to a race of mutated, half-human abominations. Despite the more graphic fright movies of recent vintage--including at least two remakes of this title--this film retains its ability to horrify even the most discriminating of fans, and remains possibly the greatest and most shattering monster movie ever made, with perhaps the finest career performance from an almost-unrecognizable Bela Lugosi. (imdb.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 71 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Lucky Jordan (1942)
|
 |
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Cast:
Alan Ladd - Lucky Jordan
Helen Walker - Jill Evans
Sheldon Leonard - Slip Moran
Mabel Paige - Annie
Marie McDonald - Pearl
Lloyd Corrigan - Ernest Higgins
Synopsis:
Lucky Jordan (Alan Ladd) is a tough but good-natured New York racketeer who tries to finagle his way out of Army service. Despite his efforts, Jordan is drafted, but soon goes AWOL, with a lovely USO worker (Helen Walker) dogging his heels. She tries to arouse Jordan's patriotism, but he is unmoved until a gang of enemy spies beat up an old lady con artist (Mabel Paige) whom Lucky regards as a surrogate mother. Using his underhanded "street smarts," Jordan rounds up the spies and agrees to complete his military servitude. Lucky Jordan was one of several wartime films in which otherwise larcenous individuals are redeemed by channelling their talents for the good of Uncle Sam. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 84 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
Cause For Alarm (1951)
|
 |
Directed by: Tay Garnett
Cast:
Loretta Young
Barry Sullivan
with Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer
Review:
CAUSE FOR ALARM boasts a fine leading lady in the talented Loretta Young who is believable in the everywoman role she plays here. Barry Sullivan as her sick and mentally unbalanced husband George Jones hits just the right note as well. While the film is somewhat dated in terms of the here and now, it has some very gripping and suspenseful moments especially involving the very real panic surrounding the letter George sent the district attorney due to his psychotic delusion that his wife and his doctor (her old friend) were plotting to kill him. In fact the ending here does cast a little doubt in the viewer's mind making this film even more intriguing. Any fan of suspense thrillers should enjoy this one. (imdb.com)
"This Girl Is In Trouble!"
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 74 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Framed (1947)
|
 |
Directed by: Richard Wallace
Cast:
Glenn Ford - Mike Lambert
Janis Carter - Paula Craig
Barry Sullivan - Stephen Price
Edgar Buchanan - Jeff Cunningham
Karen Morley - Mrs. Price
Kenneth MacDonald - Policeman
Harry "Snub" Pollard - Dishwasher
Synopsis:
A man down on his luck runs afoul of a beautiful but dangerous woman in this superior low-budget film noir. Mike Lambert (Glenn Ford), while trained as a mining engineer, has fallen on hard times and is driving a truck when his rig breaks down in a small town. He soon meets the seductive Paula Craig (Janis Carter) at a cafe and is quickly drawn into her web of larceny. Paula encourages her lover, Stephen Price (Barry Sullivan), to rob the bank that he manages, then kills Stephen and takes the ill-gotten money. Paula confesses the killing to Mike and begs him to run away with her, claiming she murdered Price in a fit of passion while she was drunk. Mike considers her offer until he learns that his close friend Jeff Cunningham (Edgar Buchanan) has been accused of killing Stephen -- and that Paula intends to pin the robbery that Stephen committed on Mike. Femme Fatale Janis Carter originally studied to be a classical musician before her career as an actress took off, while Edgar Buchanan's big break would come 16 years down the road, when he was cast as "Uncle Joe" on the television series Petticoat Junction. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 82 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Gangster, The (1947)
|
 |
Directed by: Gordon Wiles
Cast:
Barry Sullivan - Shubunka
Belita - Nancy Starr
Joan Lorring - Dorothy
Akim Tamiroff - Nick Jammey
John Ireland - Karty
Leif Erickson - Beaumont
Charles McGraw - Dugas
Shelley Winters - Hazel
Elisha Cook, Jr. - Oval
Synopsis:
Having struck gold with the previous season's Dillinger, the King Brothers returned to Monogram as producers of The Gangster. Adapted by Daniel Fuchs from his own novel Low Company, the film stars Barry Sullivan as flint-faced racketeer Shubunka. Shown to be a product of the slums, Shubunka spends his adulthood in pursuit of power and riches, with no time for friendship or romance. Wounded in a gangland shootout, Shubunka ruminates on his past, present and (unlikely) future, wondering if it's all been worth it.
Promoted as a "psychological" drama, The Gangster has plenty of gunplay and bloodshed to satiate action fans, and a surfeit of sex appeal in the form of gangster's moll Nancy (played by Monogram's resident skating star Belita). Prominent in the supporting cast is the ineluctable Sheldon Leonard as Shubunka's chief rival, delivering a subtler variation on his patented tough-guy screen persona. The Gangster was directed by Oscar-winning art director Gordon Wiles, later a mainstay of such TV series as Land of the Lost and Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 84 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Great Gatsby, The (1949)
|
|
|
Directed by: Elliot Nugent
Cast:
Alan Ladd
Betty Field
Ruth Hussey
Barry Sullivan
Howard Da Silva
Shelly Winters
Synopsis:
This second film version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's definitive jazz-age novel The Great Gatsby stars Alan Ladd in the title role. Jay Gatsby, formerly Jake Gatz, is a successful bootlegger with aspirations of being accepted in the highest social circles of Long Island. Once he's done this, Gatsby devotes his time to winning back the love of his former lady friend Daisy (Betty Field), now married to boorish "old-money" millionaire Tom Buchanan (Barry Sullivan). Gatsby's obsession with rekindling old flames results in disillusionment and, ultimately, tragedy. Sidelines observer Nick Carraway, the narrator of the original Fitzgerald novel, is expertly played by MacDonald Carey, while Shelley Winters makes an excellent impression as Buchanan's slatternly mistress Myrtle Wilson. Cast as Myrtle's dour optometrist husband is Howard Da Silva, who essayed a minor role in the 1974 remake of Great Gatsby. That 1974 version has unfortunately kept the 1949 Gatsby from being released to television. (allmovie.com)
"A Great Cast... A Great Novel... A Great Motion Picture!"
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 91 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black & White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Miami Story, The (1954)
|
 |
Directed by: Fred Sears
Cast:
Barry Sullivan - Mick Flagg
Luther Adler - Tony Brill
John Baer - Ted Delacorte
Adele Jergens - Gwen Abbott
Beverly Garland - Holly Abbott
Dan Riss - Frank Alton
Synopsis:
In this Miami-set crime drama, a secret society of residents united against the ever-encroaching Mafia, hire a reform mobster to help them stop the violence by exposing the Mafia to public scrutiny. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 75 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
No Questions Asked (1951)
|
 |
Directed by: Harold Kress
Cast:
Barry Sullivan - Steve Kelyer
Arlene Dahl - Ellen Sayburn
George Murphy - Inspector Matt Duggan
Jean Hagen - Joan Brenson
Richard Anderson - Detective Walter O'Bannion
Synopsis:
Steve Keiver, young lawyer working for an insurance company, hears his boss remark that he'd pay a large sum "no questions asked" for return of stolen property to avoid paying a much larger claim. On his own initiative, Steve arranges such a deal, earning a nice commission. But he catches the eye of gangsters who think he's the ideal middleman for future similar deals...many of them. As Steve is drawn in deeper, the police take an interest in him, and he's ripe for a doublecross (imdb.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 81 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Purple Gang, The (1959)
|
 |
Directed by: Frank McDonald
Cast:
Barry Sullivan
Robert Blake
Elaine Edwards
Synopsis:
Although this story of the making of a gangland hoodlum reflects only some of the real history of the Detroit Purple Gang in it, the violence portrayed is completely truthful. The sense of reality here is increased by the use of newsreel footage. Robert Blake is "Honeyboy" Willard, a juvenile delinquent always in trouble for petty thefts and similar deeds. (The actual Purple Gang started that way just before 1920, led by the youthful Bernstein brothers.) Cop Bill Harley (Barry Sullivan) is convinced that Willard's violent side can only be tamed by a stint behind bars. Opposing him is a social worker who wants to use modern methods of therapy to correct the teen's problems. When the social worker is found brutally murdered, the cop knows that Willard is responsible. He decides to stick with the case -- in spite of the fact that the gang eventually has a lot of city and union brass in its pocket. Just as a note, the gang got their name because one citizen commented that they were tainted, like the purple color of bad meat. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 85 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Suspense (1946)
|
 |
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Cast:
Belita - Roberta Elba
Barry Sullivan - Joe Morgan
Bonita Granville - Ronnie
Albert Dekker - Frank Leonard
Eugene Pallette - Harry
George E. Stone - Max
Edith Angold - Nora
Synopsis:
If Republic's skating star Vera Hruba Ralston could go "dramatic", so too could Monogram's skating star Belita. Produced by the enterprising King Brothers, Suspense takes place in an ice-skating emporium owned by Frank Leonard (Albert Dekker). No-good heel Joe Morgan (Barry Sullivan) not only strongarms Leonard into sharing the establishment's profits, but also tries to move in on Leonard's wife Roberta (Belita).
The plot thickens when Leonard is apparently killed by Morgan, only to return from the dead! But what really does Morgan in is his own checkered past, as personified by his vengeful ex-sweetheart Ronnie (Bonita Granville, in a truly offbeat characterization). Belita's ice-skating solos (staged by Nick Castle) and Philip Yordan's overly complicated script tend to weigh down the proceedings; still, Suspense deserves to be seen, if for no other reason than its dazzling opening sequence. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: B
|
|
|
|
Unknown Man, The (1951)
|
 |
Directed by: Richard Thorpe
Cast:
Walter Pidgeon - Dwight Bradley Mason
Ann Harding - Stella Mason
Barry Sullivan - Joe Buckner
Keefe Brasselle - Rudi Wallchek
Lewis Stone - Judge Holbrook
Eduard Franz - Andrew Jason Layford
Synopsis:
Highly respected defense attorney Dwight Bradley Mason (Walter Pidgeon) is able to clear young Rudi Wallchek (Keefe Brasselle) of a murder rap. When it's all over, however, Rudi lets slip a careless comment which leads Mason to believe that his client was guilty after all. Using the evidence at hand, the attorney retraces his steps, only to discover that one of the town's leading citizens is a criminal mastermind. The solution to this ethical dilemma is straight out of the "postman always rings twice" school of crime fiction. Even after justice has been served, however, Mason's conscience dictates that everyone responsible for all previous legal miscarriages be punished -- including himself! (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 86 minutes
Country: USA
Language: English
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C (some pixelation)
|
|
|
|
A Girl in Every Port (1928)
|
 |
Directed by: Howard Hawks
Cast:
Victor Mclaglen
Robert Armstrong
Louise Brooks
Natalie Joyce
Bit Parts:
Sally Rand
Myrna Loy
Review:
The rampant male chauvinism in A Girl in Every Port might be hard for contemporary audiences to stomach, but fans of director Howard Hawks will be delighted. Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong play Spike and Salami, two sailors who become close pals but only after dukeing it out over a dame. Together, Spike and Salami travel all of the world in search of women and adventure and women. Their friendship is sorely tested when Spike decides to settle down to marry French fortune hunter Marie (Louise Brooks), but eventually Salami convinces his pal that this "skirt" just ain't worth it. Famed exotic dancer Sally Rand co-stars as one of the heroes' many sexual conquests. A Girl in Every Port was remade two years later as Goldie, with Spencer Tracy, Warren Hymer and Jean Harlow. (allmovie.com)
DVD Format: NTSC
Region: 0 (all region)
Runtime: 62 minutes
Country: USA
Language: Silent with English intertitles
Subtitles: None
Color/BW: Black and White
Sound Mix: Mono
DVD Features: Chapter Stops
Print Quality: C
|
|
|
|
|
