Articles by Charlie Largent

CineSavant

Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker

As the love-starved auntie with romantic designs on her teenage nephew, Susan Tyrrell delivers a primal scream performance that would send the…

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Tormented

As a man bedeviled by the ghost of his jilted lover, Richard Carlson is feeling Tormented, and after a few minutes of…

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The Scarface Mob

The Great Depression made the high-rolling mobsters of the movies seem all the more glamorous; audiences not only sympathized with those sharp-dressed…

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The Panther Women – The Batwoman

A garden of unearthly delights, Famous Monsters of Filmland was the Cahiers du Cinéma for middle-school monster fans. But 1964’s July issue…

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To Die For

A wide-eyed kewpie doll with the disposition of Lady Macbeth, Suzanne Stone’s only friend is the lens of a television camera—when the…

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The Abbott & Costello Show – Season 2

Familiarity breeds contempt someone said, but in the case of Abbott and Costello, that familiarity was an essential part of their appeal.…

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The Whip and the Body

The title sequence of Blood and Black Lace may be Mario Bava’s defining moment. Staged in a shadowy fashion salon, the cast…

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Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe

Anthony Shelton’s book on Portuguese folk art, Heaven, Hell and Somewhere In Between, portrays the people of that historically unstable country as…

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The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming

Cape Cod can’t catch a break, before there were sharks, there were Russians. Though the Russians were considerably friendlier than the sharks.…

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio 4K

“It’s alive!” cried the alchemist when he saw his creation move for the first time—at least that’s what I’d like to think…

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The Prince and the Pauper

Errol Flynn is featured prominently on the poster but he doesn’t arrive till the 53 minute mark of 1937’s The Prince and…

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Cushing Curiosities

Severin Films’ new Blu ray release is called Cushing Curiosities for a reason. Ranging from a no-nonsense policier to a soft-core vampire…

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The Man in Half Moon Street

Just because a movie is in black and white doesn’t mean it has to be colorless, but such is the case with…

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The Conformist

While a would-be dictator dominates the breakfast bar of a Palm Beach golf club, Bernardo Bertolucci reminds us of a glamorous time—1938…

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Horrors of the Black Museum

A dull novelist but an inspired serial killer, Edmond Bancroft collects rare artifacts with that special someone in mind—just now he’s gifted…

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The Criminal Acts of Tod Slaughter

In 1934 a young filmmaker named George King jumpstarted his career with the help of Britain’s Cinematograph Films Act. The legislation required…

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Tod Browning’s Sideshow Shockers

1931’s Dracula remains Tod Browning’s most enduring film but it’s often been maligned for its leisurely pacing and stage-bound theatricality. Even fans…

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The Others 4K

If it’s possible for one movie to haunt another, then surely the spirit of Jack Clayton’s The Innocents walks alongside Alejandro Amenábar’s…

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Cujo 4K

If, as Charles Bukowski wrote, “Love is a dog from hell”, then Cujo qualifies as one of the great romantic films. Dee…

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Black Sabbath

Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were not generally known for their altruism but as founders of American International Pictures, they would occasionally…

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The Woman in Black

CineSavant Revival Screening – Halloween Edition Born and raised in Victoria’s England, Miss Jessel and Janet Goss were women who loved too…

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Don’t Look Now 4K

When is a ghost story not a ghost story? The question is at the heart of Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now and…

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The Trial

The funereal music warns us to turn back but the camera moves on, gliding toward the castle and up to a chamber…

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Spinout

Elvis Presley contained multitudes but he was most recognizable as the hillbilly genius of the recording booth and the walking-talking mannequin on…