Karel Reisz’ epic biography of Isadora Duncan—an American dancer whose European exploits made her a political lightning rod—stars Vanessa Redgrave, no stranger to controversy herself. Told mostly in flashback as Duncan dictates her memoirs, the 1968 film co-stars James Fox and Jason Robards. Redgrave won just about every best actress award under the sun save…
One of the bigger interplanetary spectacles of the 50s, and one of the last films shot in 3-strip Technicolor, Universal’s “Supreme Excitement of Our Time” brought out the sense of wonder in a generation of cold war tykes while scaring them half to death with the unlikely but cool “Mutants”: “similar to the insect life…
“They’re restless tonight,” mutters the insane Dr. Moreau about the vengeful natives on whom he’s been doing presciently Mengele-like experiments. Philip Wylie was one of the screenwriters who adapted H.G. Wells’ anti-vivisectionist screed, which was remade in 1977 and 1996, with uncredited ripoffs in 1959 (Terror is a Man) and 1973 (Twilight People). For a…
All of us at Trailers from Hell mourn the untimely passing of TFH Guru Par Excellence Michael Schlesinger, a devout film aficionado devoted to extolling the virtues of the movies we all love, and who helped rescue a number of them from obscurity and/or decomposition. Michael left us with several unaired TFH commentaries, which we’ll…
It helps to be an Elvis fan, but this 1957 deliquency drama (his third acting role) is still one of The King’s better movies, from the “serious” period before The Colonel pimped him out to Sam Katzman.
It all comes together memorably in this, the Jewel in the Crown of the Ray Harryhausen/Charles Schneer mythological adventures. An uncommonly literate and intelligent script (by Jan Reed and Beverley Cross) and brisk direction by Don Chaffey that showcases Ray’s FX brilliance make this an enduring classic. Bernard Herrmann’s music score is one of his…
After warning us that everything there is to say about Steven Spielberg’s seminal summer blockbuster has pretty much already been said, Josh manages to find a few things to talk about anyway.
All That Jazz, director Bob Fosse’s ode to Bob Fosse, is one of the most kinetic, technically dazzling movie musicals ever made. The film, a thinly-veiled autobiography of Fosse himself, might be remembered as an ego-driven series of Fellini-esque set pieces were it not for the shrewd casting of affable, streetwise Roy Scheider as Joe…
About a young aboriginal girl raised by European parents, director Charles Chauvel said the inspiration for his 1955 film came from Merian C. Cooper, a producer who knew his way around the backwaters. Although popular in Australia as the first domestic movie filmed in color, Jedda did not fare well in the US or UK where…
Written and directed by Arthur Barron, this bittersweet high school romance won over some pretty hard-bitten critics upon its release in 1973. Robbie Benson plays the love-shy Jeremy and Glynnis O’Connor is the young ballet student who breaks the ice (she also sings the title tune). The movie was co-produced by Elliot Kastner who knew…
Jesus Christ Superstar, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s rock opera about the final week in the life of Jesus, first appeared as a studio recording in 1970 before being given a fully-fledged production on Broadway in 1973. Norman Jewison’s film arrived soon after, allowing the show’s music to come full circle as it routinely…
A pre-Rocky John Avildsen directed this grungy NY indie that was conceived as an exploitation film but evolved into something more immediate and disturbing. Peter Boyle, in his breakthrough role as a hippie-hating hardhat, teams up with ad exec Dennis Patrick, who has just accidentally killed his daughter’s drug-dealer boyfriend. Boyle and Patrick are terrific…
Joe Dante visits the Severin Cellar and finds some old friends. Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing are on the menu, so join us, won’t you? And here’s a handy run-down of the treasures to be found, courtesy of Blu-ray.com. Joe Dante Enters the Severin Cellar
The three principals of John and Mary — stars Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow, plus director Peter Yates — were all coming off monster hits, The Graduate, Rosemary’s Baby and Bullitt. That they chose to follow those pop culture bombshells with this relatively low key love story says something about Hollywood clout. Barely remembered today,…
Henry Silva’s gaunt face and implacable demeanor made him the perfect villain for a host of films in the 50’s and 60’s but it wasn’t until Johnny Cool that he was awarded leading man status. William Asher (Muscle Beach Party) directed this visceral revenge thriller and cast his then-wife, Elizabeth Montgomery, opposite Silva’s malevolent hitman. Produced…
Robert Taylor is Johnny Eager, a bad-guy turned good in Melvyn LeRoy’s 1942 noir about a double-dealing racketeer who’ll step on anyone to get what he wants. That includes Lana Turner as his eager-to-please lover and Van Heflin as Johnny’s right-hand man and only friend. Heflin won an Oscar for his trouble.
Nick Ray’s wild “revisionist” western must be the most critically dissected Republic Picture ever. Pure fifties hysteria with Mercedes McCambridge at her most terrifyingly overwrought. Great cast and terrific score by Victor Young.
An exploitation picture staple was the cutdown feature version of the 12-chapter serial, but they were seldom directed by filmmakers as distinguished as Fritz Lang, who fled Hitler to become a Hollywood success. But in 1960 AIP bought two elaborate 1957 German-made Lang adventures and combined them into one hectic movie.
A sleek and smart sci-fi thriller that vanished into the cosmos due in part to the supernova that was 2001. Known as Doppelgänger in its original British release, the film starred Roy Thinnes as an astronaut with space-time continuum problems. Directed by Robert Parrish, the film was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson of Supercar fame – which explains the…
Francois Truffaut’s poignant portrait of a twenty year menage a trois outraged US censors. The cineaste director’s self-described “perfect hymn to love, and perhaps even to life” made him an international sensation and was star Jeanne Moreau’s favorite of her films.
One of Marlon Brando’s greatest performances. Joe Mankiewicz’s 1953 prestige MGM version of the classic is still one of the best film treatments of Shakespeare and saw a lot of 16mm classroom use during the 60s and 70s. It’s still a lot of fun seeing familiar character pros like John Hoyt and Douglas Dumbrille spouting…
Paula Dupree, Universal’s favorite ape woman, returns in this 1945 follow-up to Captive Wild Woman with Vicky Lane replacing Acquanetta as the shape-shifting glamour girl. Otto Kruger clocks in as a mad scientist looking to experiment on Paula while lab assistant Rondo Hatton has a different experiment in mind. Removing the recycled footage in Harold…
Akira Kurosawa’s lavish period drama was finally able to complete production after George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola convinced 20th Century Fox to fund the remainder of the film when Toho could not. The director’s epic went on to be one of his most successful films, bringing in nearly $25 million at the box office…
A kinder, gentler Dirty Dozen, the screwball nature of Brian G. Hutton’s Kelly’s Heroes is best summed up by Jack Davis’s typically Mad poster art. Clint Eastwood plays an army grunt with his eye on a cache of German gold who receives able assistance from a motley crew of misfits including Telly Savalas, Don Rickles and…
Before Broken Lizard and the Farrelly Brothers there was/were The Zuckers (plus Abraham) to burst the bounds of taste and political correctness with this often-imitated smorgasboard of skits, parodies and general silliness. Samuel L. Bronkowitz’s valedictory triumph was directed by TFH Guru John Landis.
Edward G Robinson was reluctant to play another gangster but John Huston talked him into it. In Maxwell Anderson’s 1939 play the gangsters are Mexican banditos, the war is the Spanish Civil War and the Humphrey Bogart character is a tortured deserter who‚ gets killed in the end.‚ Claire Trevor’s Oscar-winning gun moll role was…