William Hopper, the actor who played the stalwart private detective Paul Drake on the hit 1957 legal drama "Perry Mason," was a notoriously prolific smoker, often seen with a cigarette hanging from his lips on camera. In 1970, Hopper suffered a stroke and succumbed to smoking-related health issues a month later. He was 55 years old.
As Paul Drake, Hopper was a cynic, a more grizzled presence built to balance Perry Mason's serious intellect. He was the Dr. McCoy to Perry Mason's Spock. For those unfamiliar with the series, "Perry Mason" was about a Los Angeles defense lawyer, played brilliantly by Raymond Burr, who was always careful to investigate the clients he was hired to defend. Typically, innocent people came to Mason, and he was always curious about the details of their case. Mason would always face off against the L.A. District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman), who never won a case against him.
As Paul Drake, Hopper was a cynic, a more grizzled presence built to balance Perry Mason's serious intellect. He was the Dr. McCoy to Perry Mason's Spock. For those unfamiliar with the series, "Perry Mason" was about a Los Angeles defense lawyer, played brilliantly by Raymond Burr, who was always careful to investigate the clients he was hired to defend. Typically, innocent people came to Mason, and he was always curious about the details of their case. Mason would always face off against the L.A. District Attorney Hamilton Burger (William Talman), who never won a case against him.
- 4/13/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Erle Stanley Gardner’s brilliant and savvy criminal defense attorney Perry Mason has been on the case since 1933’s “The Case of the Velvet Claws.” The attorney describes himself in that first novel as a “lawyer who has specialized in trial work, and in a lot of criminal work…I’m a specialist on getting people out of trouble.”
Inspired by the famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers who only lost three of his 77 murder trials, Mason was featured in 82 novels and four short stories, six Warner Bros. murder mystery movies, a long-running radio series, the beloved 1957-66 CBS series starring Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale as his true-blue assistant Della Street, movies and a 1973-74 series with Monte Markham. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans” ) plays the latest incarnation in HBO’s stylish “Perry Mason” series, currently in its second season.
Set during the Great Depression, the HBO drama has a real “Chinatown” feel,...
Inspired by the famed Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Earl Rogers who only lost three of his 77 murder trials, Mason was featured in 82 novels and four short stories, six Warner Bros. murder mystery movies, a long-running radio series, the beloved 1957-66 CBS series starring Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale as his true-blue assistant Della Street, movies and a 1973-74 series with Monte Markham. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans” ) plays the latest incarnation in HBO’s stylish “Perry Mason” series, currently in its second season.
Set during the Great Depression, the HBO drama has a real “Chinatown” feel,...
- 3/20/2023
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Perry Mason is back on the case. Season 2 of HBO’s reimagined take on the classic legal drama premieres Monday, March 6, with Matthew Rhys again stepping into the title role. The Americans star has said he didn’t watch Raymond Burr’s iconic take on the character before season 1, which aired in 2020. But for many TV viewers, Burr is Perry Mason. The actor played the crusading defense attorney from 1957 to 1966, and again in a series of TV movies from the mid-80s through the early ‘90s.
Burr’s run as Perry Mason ended with this death in 1993. But are any other original Perry Mason cast members still alive?
‘Perry Mason’ star Raymond Burr died in 1993 Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, right, and Ray Collins as Lt. Arthur Tragg ‘in ‘Perry Mason’ | CBS via Getty Images
The Canadian-born Burr had a long career in Hollywood, including roles in classic films such...
Burr’s run as Perry Mason ended with this death in 1993. But are any other original Perry Mason cast members still alive?
‘Perry Mason’ star Raymond Burr died in 1993 Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, right, and Ray Collins as Lt. Arthur Tragg ‘in ‘Perry Mason’ | CBS via Getty Images
The Canadian-born Burr had a long career in Hollywood, including roles in classic films such...
- 3/5/2023
- by Megan Elliott
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Director Ron Underwood discusses a few of his favorite westerns with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Speechless (1994)
Heart and Souls (1993)
Stealing Sinatra (2003)
City Slickers (1991)
Tremors (1990) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Tourist Trap (1979) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary
The Seduction (1982)
Puppet Master (1989)
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
Capricorn One (1977) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Back When We Were Grownups (2004)
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)
Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Red River (1948) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Johnny Guitar (1954) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Searchers (1956)
Seven Samurai (1954) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Westworld...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Mighty Joe Young (1998)
Speechless (1994)
Heart and Souls (1993)
Stealing Sinatra (2003)
City Slickers (1991)
Tremors (1990) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
Tourist Trap (1979) – David DeCoteau’s trailer commentary
The Seduction (1982)
Puppet Master (1989)
The Boondock Saints (1999)
Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952)
Capricorn One (1977) – Larry Karaszewski’s trailer commentary
Panic In The Streets (1950) – John Landis’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Back When We Were Grownups (2004)
Tremors: A Cold Day in Hell (2018)
Tremors: Shrieker Island (2020)
The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing
Red River (1948) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary
Johnny Guitar (1954) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review
The Searchers (1956)
Seven Samurai (1954) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary
The Magnificent Seven (1960) – Jesus Treviño’s trailer commentary
The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Westworld...
- 2/1/2022
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Although only one of these 1950s B&w thrillers falls within a mile of a hard definition of film noir, all give us glamorous actresses in interesting roles. Claudette Colbert takes her turn at playing a nun, Merle Oberon tries a femme fatale role on for size and Hedy Lamarr does very well for herself as a man-hungry movie star. Kino gives all three excellent transfers, and one comes with an appropriately gossipy audio commentary.
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
Film Noir the Dark Side of Cinema II
Thunder on the Hill, The Price of Fear, The Female Animal
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951-58 / B&w / 1:37 Academy, 1:85 widescreen / 84,79,82 min. / Street Date May 12, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 49.95
Starring: Claudette Colbert, Ann Blyth, Robert Douglas, Anne Crawford, Connie Gilchrist, Gladys Cooper, Michael Pate, Phillip Friend; Merle Oberon, Lex Barker, Charles Drake, Gia Scala, Warren Stevens, Phillip Pine, Konstantin Shayne, Stafford Repp; Hedy Lamarr, Jane Powell,...
- 5/25/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
More than a movie star: America’s one female Hollywood director working in the 1950s receives a four-title boxed set well worth the investment — one noir mini-masterpiece is accompanied by a pair of independent social issue movies better than what the studios were turning out. It’s all thanks to Lupino’s fine dramatic direction. She emphasizes basic human values: cooperation over competition, and interior conflict. Her company ‘The Filmmakers’ lasted only about six years, but as an independent experiment it consistently turned out ‘special’ pictures anybody could be proud of.
Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection
Blu-ray
Not Wanted, Never Fear, The Hitch-Hiker, The Bigamist
Kl Studio Classics
1949-1953 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen (1) 1:37 Academy (3) / 91, 81, 71, 79 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Sally Forrest, Keefe Brasselle, Leo Penn, Hugh O’Brian, Joan Fontaine, Edmond O’Brien, Ida Lupino, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman.
Cinematography: Henry Freulich; Archie Stout; George E. Diskant...
Ida Lupino Filmmaker Collection
Blu-ray
Not Wanted, Never Fear, The Hitch-Hiker, The Bigamist
Kl Studio Classics
1949-1953 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen (1) 1:37 Academy (3) / 91, 81, 71, 79 min. / Street Date September 24, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Sally Forrest, Keefe Brasselle, Leo Penn, Hugh O’Brian, Joan Fontaine, Edmond O’Brien, Ida Lupino, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman.
Cinematography: Henry Freulich; Archie Stout; George E. Diskant...
- 10/8/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Ida Lupino was the first woman to direct a classic noir film. In fact, she was the only woman working within the 1950s Hollywood studio system to direct a feature and she directed seven features and more than 100 TV episodes. She was the only woman to direct episodes of the original “The Twilight Zone” series, as well as the only director to have starred in the show.
She was born in London on Feb. 4, 1918, during a German zeppelin bombing. Her father’s forbears were traveling players and puppeteers in Renaissance Italy. Later generations migrated to England in the 17th century. Her father, Stanley Lupino, was a noted comedian, and her mother, Connie Emerald, was an actress who was also descended from a theatrical family. A cousin, Lupino Lane, was an internationally popular song-and-dance man.
As a child, she improvised and acted scenes with her younger sister, Rita, in a small...
She was born in London on Feb. 4, 1918, during a German zeppelin bombing. Her father’s forbears were traveling players and puppeteers in Renaissance Italy. Later generations migrated to England in the 17th century. Her father, Stanley Lupino, was a noted comedian, and her mother, Connie Emerald, was an actress who was also descended from a theatrical family. A cousin, Lupino Lane, was an internationally popular song-and-dance man.
As a child, she improvised and acted scenes with her younger sister, Rita, in a small...
- 11/10/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The AFI Fest is free! And it takes place in the heart of Hollywood at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. All you need is a ticket!SydneysBuzz is proud to be the official presenter of “The Hitch-Hiker” directed by Ida Lupino, one of the rare women directors in Hollywood in the 1950s and today being brought back to our collective consciousness by AFI!“The Hitch-Hiker”Ida Lupino
A deranged hitchhiker takes two all-American Everymen as hostages in the gripping film noir classic, “The Hitch-Hiker” by Ida Lupino, a pioneering director, writer, producer and actress who became the first woman to direct a film noir. She is one of a trio of diverse female trailblazers being celebrated in the 30th edition of AFI Fest presented by Audi. AFI Fest will also spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award® and Anna May Wong,...
A deranged hitchhiker takes two all-American Everymen as hostages in the gripping film noir classic, “The Hitch-Hiker” by Ida Lupino, a pioneering director, writer, producer and actress who became the first woman to direct a film noir. She is one of a trio of diverse female trailblazers being celebrated in the 30th edition of AFI Fest presented by Audi. AFI Fest will also spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award® and Anna May Wong,...
- 11/1/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
HBO is said to be in talks with True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto and Robert Downey Jr., to reboot the Perry Mason TV series, with Downey in the title role. Variety reports the project is based on the feature film the star had previously developed at Warner Bros. If the project is ordered to series, Perry Mason would be Downey's second TV series role. He played Larry Paul on Ally McBeal in 2000 and 2001, and returned for the final two episodes, 2002.The original Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr, premiered in the fall of 1957 and ran for nine seasons before being cancelled by CBS in 1966. The cast also included: Barbara Hale, William Hopper, William Talman, Ray Collins, Wesley Lau, Richard Anderson, Michael Fox, Lee Miller, and Connie Cezon. According to the...
- 8/16/2016
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
The 1955 prison drama Big House U.S.A. is a gritty but forgotten crime tale about a desperate group of loathsome men played by an amazing cast of manly B-movie bad guys. Lon Chaney and Charles Bronson act alongside Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, and William Talman. They’re all villains who meet cruel but deserved ends and Big House U.S.A. is one of the most mean spirited prison escape/kidnap caper thriller ever made (and I mean that as a good thing).
Big House U.S.A.’s story begins with an asthmatic rich kid getting lost while attending a “mountain ranger” summer camp (locations filmed at Colorado’s Royal Gorge Park). Shady hiker Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) discovers the boy and pretends to help him, but really has decided to hold him for a half million dollar ransom and locks him in a forest lookout tower. The...
Big House U.S.A.’s story begins with an asthmatic rich kid getting lost while attending a “mountain ranger” summer camp (locations filmed at Colorado’s Royal Gorge Park). Shady hiker Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) discovers the boy and pretends to help him, but really has decided to hold him for a half million dollar ransom and locks him in a forest lookout tower. The...
- 8/20/2015
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Famed producer Howard W. Koch directed a dozen or so motion pictures himself over the course of an illustrious career. None of his own directorial efforts would reach the prolific heights as items he produced (The Manchurian Candidate; The Odd Couple, etc.) and often seemed to be the types of B grade fare dumped into double feature matinees. His sophomore effort, Big House, U.S.A. promises to have all the makings of a hard boiled noir, headlined by a gnarly group of cinematic toughs and racing across events like kidnapping, murder, and prison escape to a grand shootout with breakneck speed. Unfortunately, this plays out like a wooden procedural cobbling together themes already overused by the time it was made.
Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) stumbles upon a helpless asthmatic boy lost in the woods of Colorado’s Royal George National Park. He’s aware the boy is the son of a very rich man,...
Jerry Barker (Ralph Meeker) stumbles upon a helpless asthmatic boy lost in the woods of Colorado’s Royal George National Park. He’s aware the boy is the son of a very rich man,...
- 8/4/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: Oct. 15, 2013
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy and William Talman hit the road in The Hitch-Hiker.
Directed and co-written by actress Ida Lupino (Private Hell 36), 1953’s The Hitch-Hiker is the only classic film noir crime drama to be helmed by a woman.
One of the more nightmarish motion pictures of the 1950s, the movie was inspired by the true-life murder spree of Billy Cook. Its tense story involves two men on a camping trip (Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy) who are held captive by a homicidal drifter (William Talman). He subsequently forces them, at gunpoint, to embark on a grim joyride across the Mexican desert, which doesn’t bode well for any of them…
The Hitch-Hiker was independently produced, which allowed Lupino and ex-husband/producer Collier Young to work from a treatment by blacklisted writer Daniel Mainwaring, and thus...
Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95
Studio: Kino Lorber
Edmond O’Brien, Frank Lovejoy and William Talman hit the road in The Hitch-Hiker.
Directed and co-written by actress Ida Lupino (Private Hell 36), 1953’s The Hitch-Hiker is the only classic film noir crime drama to be helmed by a woman.
One of the more nightmarish motion pictures of the 1950s, the movie was inspired by the true-life murder spree of Billy Cook. Its tense story involves two men on a camping trip (Edmond O’Brien and Frank Lovejoy) who are held captive by a homicidal drifter (William Talman). He subsequently forces them, at gunpoint, to embark on a grim joyride across the Mexican desert, which doesn’t bode well for any of them…
The Hitch-Hiker was independently produced, which allowed Lupino and ex-husband/producer Collier Young to work from a treatment by blacklisted writer Daniel Mainwaring, and thus...
- 10/2/2013
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Ann Blyth movies: TCM schedule on August 16, 2013 (photo: ‘Our Very Own’ stars Ann Blyth and Farley Granger) See previous post: "Ann Blyth Today: Light Singing and Heavy Drama on TCM." 3:00 Am One Minute To Zero (1952). Director: Tay Garnett. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Ann Blyth, William Talman. Bw-106 mins. 5:00 Am All The Brothers Were Valiant (1953). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger, Ann Blyth. C-95 mins. 6:45 Am The King’S Thief (1955). Director: Robert Z. Leonard. Cast: Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven. C-79 mins. Letterbox Format. 8:15 Am Rose Marie (1954). Director: Mervyn LeRoy. Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas. C-104 mins. Letterbox Format. 10:00 Am The Great Caruso (1951). Director: Richard Thorpe. Cast: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman, Carl Benton Reid, Eduard Franz, Ludwig Donath, Alan Napier, Pál Jávor, Carl Milletaire, Shepard Menken, Vincent Renno, Nestor Paiva, Peter Price, Mario Siletti, Angela Clarke,...
- 8/16/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
“Della, I’ve just run into something that’s a Perry Mason case if ever I saw one.”
We begin with one of the best theme songs (by Fred Steiner) outside the big screen. Perry Mason (1957-66) stars Raymond Burr as the man himself, a Los Angeles defense attorney who is always engaged by an innocent suspect in a murder case. He’s aided by investigator Paul Drake (William Hopper) and assistant Della Street (Barbara Hale). Mr. Mason then digs deeply into four others related to the case and goes through the trial for long enough until true culprit to confess from the gallery. If you’re looking for calls of “Hearsay!” or “Character Evidence!” you’ve missed your mark. If courtrooms actually practiced in this fashion, I daresay there’d be a backlog deeper than it already is. Instead, we’re typically treated to something like a half measure...
We begin with one of the best theme songs (by Fred Steiner) outside the big screen. Perry Mason (1957-66) stars Raymond Burr as the man himself, a Los Angeles defense attorney who is always engaged by an innocent suspect in a murder case. He’s aided by investigator Paul Drake (William Hopper) and assistant Della Street (Barbara Hale). Mr. Mason then digs deeply into four others related to the case and goes through the trial for long enough until true culprit to confess from the gallery. If you’re looking for calls of “Hearsay!” or “Character Evidence!” you’ve missed your mark. If courtrooms actually practiced in this fashion, I daresay there’d be a backlog deeper than it already is. Instead, we’re typically treated to something like a half measure...
- 2/4/2013
- by Jason Ratigan
- JustPressPlay.net
“I’m gonna kidnap a kidnapper for the money he kidnapped for.”
Ever lie in bed at night and wonder if an old movie exists where Lon Chaney takes a blowtorch to Charles Bronson’s face? Well it does and it’s the 1955 prison drama Big House U.S.A., a gritty but forgotten crime tale about a desperate group of loathsome men played by an amazing cast of manly B-movie bad guys. Chaney and Bronson act alongside Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, and William Talman. They’re all villains who meet cruel but deserved ends in Big House U.S.A., one of the most mean-spirited prison escape/kidnap caper thriller ever made (and I mean that as a good thing). I saw it on TV when I was very young and its vicious violence stayed with me for decades until I was finally able to see it again thanks...
Ever lie in bed at night and wonder if an old movie exists where Lon Chaney takes a blowtorch to Charles Bronson’s face? Well it does and it’s the 1955 prison drama Big House U.S.A., a gritty but forgotten crime tale about a desperate group of loathsome men played by an amazing cast of manly B-movie bad guys. Chaney and Bronson act alongside Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, and William Talman. They’re all villains who meet cruel but deserved ends in Big House U.S.A., one of the most mean-spirited prison escape/kidnap caper thriller ever made (and I mean that as a good thing). I saw it on TV when I was very young and its vicious violence stayed with me for decades until I was finally able to see it again thanks...
- 12/20/2012
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Not too long ago I asked the Sound On Sight staff to choose their ten favourite films of all time. The result led to mixed reactions (both by staff and readers), and some angry feedback. But how could any of us select only ten films from the thousands we’ve seen and walk away happy with the results. The fact is, of all the films which received a vote, it was those more widely available who made the cut. In other words, films such as The Godfather and Pulp Fiction stood a greater chance of receiving more ballots than say, obscure foreign gems.
My biggest disappointment with the picks, although only ten films were spotlighted, was the lack of votes for films directed by women. Could it be that none of us here at Sound On Sight valued great directors such as Claire Denis, Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman or Lina Wertmüller?...
My biggest disappointment with the picks, although only ten films were spotlighted, was the lack of votes for films directed by women. Could it be that none of us here at Sound On Sight valued great directors such as Claire Denis, Agnès Varda, Chantal Akerman or Lina Wertmüller?...
- 9/26/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
The Hitch-Hiker
Directed by Ida Lupino
Written by Ida Lupino and Collier Young
U.S.A., 1953
How is it that when topic of film noir comes up, most of the names connoisseurs and fans bring up are of the men who partook in the development of this fabled, legendary genre? Is it that the women were less important? Did they not feature as prominently in front of or behind the camera as the boys? While those hypotheses are partly true, lest that encourage people to honestly believe that the woman of the American movie industry in the 40s and 50s did not influence the quality of such films. True enough, what instantly recognizable names some would rattle off are those of actresses primarily who played the femme fatales or the wives and girlfriends of the doomed protagonists. Ida Lupino was one, co-starring in one of this reviewer’s all time favourite movies,...
Directed by Ida Lupino
Written by Ida Lupino and Collier Young
U.S.A., 1953
How is it that when topic of film noir comes up, most of the names connoisseurs and fans bring up are of the men who partook in the development of this fabled, legendary genre? Is it that the women were less important? Did they not feature as prominently in front of or behind the camera as the boys? While those hypotheses are partly true, lest that encourage people to honestly believe that the woman of the American movie industry in the 40s and 50s did not influence the quality of such films. True enough, what instantly recognizable names some would rattle off are those of actresses primarily who played the femme fatales or the wives and girlfriends of the doomed protagonists. Ida Lupino was one, co-starring in one of this reviewer’s all time favourite movies,...
- 9/15/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Armored Car Robbery
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Written by Earl Felton, Gerald Drayson Adams et al.
U.S.A., 1950
The subject of a common argument amongst film lovers pertains to a given movie’s length. Was the movie too short, too long or just the right length? The easy answer is, naturally, that it depends on the film and what story the screenwriter and director want to tell. Said easy answer is but an open door to many other directly related questions, the most crucial being ‘How well do the screenwriters and director go about telling said story during the specified running time?’ That is where the real debate lies. Movie A required more time to flesh out character arcs, to which one can reply that, on the contrary, movie A is long enough as is. The shorter the film, the more economical the creators must be, although if done right,...
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Written by Earl Felton, Gerald Drayson Adams et al.
U.S.A., 1950
The subject of a common argument amongst film lovers pertains to a given movie’s length. Was the movie too short, too long or just the right length? The easy answer is, naturally, that it depends on the film and what story the screenwriter and director want to tell. Said easy answer is but an open door to many other directly related questions, the most crucial being ‘How well do the screenwriters and director go about telling said story during the specified running time?’ That is where the real debate lies. Movie A required more time to flesh out character arcs, to which one can reply that, on the contrary, movie A is long enough as is. The shorter the film, the more economical the creators must be, although if done right,...
- 7/7/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Pahrump - Call it Hof Vegas. Dennis Hof of HBO’s Cathouse no longer wants me to warn readers that his Bunny Ranch empire is in only Reno and not Las Vegas. He’s bringing his style of adult fun to the outskirts of Sin City. He called up the hotline from the middle of Crystal, Nevada to spread the news. The sounds of hammering and drills came from his end of the phone.
“We’re moving around here and getting some things done,” Dennis Hof said. “I bought two 35 year old rundown, rat trap brothels. What you’re buying is the licenses.”
The two old names were Cherry Patch Ranch and Mabel’s Whore House. The new places are Love Ranch and Dennis Hof’s Cathouse. “Those are name that are synonymous with good times.”
There are no good times for the former owner. He got arrested for bribing a county official.
“We’re moving around here and getting some things done,” Dennis Hof said. “I bought two 35 year old rundown, rat trap brothels. What you’re buying is the licenses.”
The two old names were Cherry Patch Ranch and Mabel’s Whore House. The new places are Love Ranch and Dennis Hof’s Cathouse. “Those are name that are synonymous with good times.”
There are no good times for the former owner. He got arrested for bribing a county official.
- 11/16/2010
- by UncaScroogeMcD
The past several years have seen a resurgence in interest in the Film Noir genre, not just in recreations via a host of films, but in the classics that started it all. That interest has spawned a series of releases on DVD, and The Film Noir Classic Collection Vol. 5 is filled with treats.
You might expect that we would be reaching by the time we got to the fifth installment, a set with eight films, but in some sense the opposite may be true here.
While not the biggest names in the genre, the set gives us some true favorites, as well as some great actors.
Cornered (1945):
From England to continental Europe to Buenos Aires, ex-rcaf pilot Dick Powell stalks the Nazi collaborator who murdered his bride. But one fact constantly surfaces during his quest: no one can describe the mysterious man. Joining Powell in the film shadows are...
You might expect that we would be reaching by the time we got to the fifth installment, a set with eight films, but in some sense the opposite may be true here.
While not the biggest names in the genre, the set gives us some true favorites, as well as some great actors.
Cornered (1945):
From England to continental Europe to Buenos Aires, ex-rcaf pilot Dick Powell stalks the Nazi collaborator who murdered his bride. But one fact constantly surfaces during his quest: no one can describe the mysterious man. Joining Powell in the film shadows are...
- 7/28/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Film Noir Classic Collection: Vol. 5, has dusted off eight films of the celebrated genre and adapted them to DVD format. Collections like these, which bring older films to newer light, are godsends regardless (to a degree) of which films are selected, because as timeless as some of these stories and performances might be, the barrier of being stuck in an old format can bury them forever. And these stories deserve to be told. If you watch a few well made noir thrillers you will no doubt see the seeds that were planted in the heads of crime-thriller filmmakers the likes of Martin Scorsese or Michael Mann. Though there are better films in the noir genre that this collection could have culminated, there are also a lot worse. Any fan of noir films or old mysteries and thrillers will be pleased at what this box set has to offer.
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
Desperate (1947)
Directed...
- 7/20/2010
- by Ryan Katona
- JustPressPlay.net
There seems to be no exhausting the raw eyeball pleasure to be had from old-fashioned handmade (or semi-handmade, or whatever) animation, and we may be well living through a pop renaissance of it.
The eruptions below the Pixar/Dreamworks budget tier have been spectacular and international, beginning perhaps with 2003's "The Triplets of Belleville," learning from Miyazaki, Oshii, Aardman and the Quays, moving on to Kim Moon-saeng's "Sky Blue," machinima, "The Corpse Bride," "A Scanner Darkly," "Persepolis," "Coraline," "Waltz with Bashir," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Mary & Max," "Sita Sings the Blues," "Fear(s) in the Dark," "The Secret of Kells," and now the Belgian nonpareil "A Town Called Panic."
The variety of toolboxes and styles at work seem limitless (the seductive but uniform look of pure 3D computer animation is getting tiresome just as other approaches proliferate), but it's the personal engagement that makes most of the films sing.
Many of...
The eruptions below the Pixar/Dreamworks budget tier have been spectacular and international, beginning perhaps with 2003's "The Triplets of Belleville," learning from Miyazaki, Oshii, Aardman and the Quays, moving on to Kim Moon-saeng's "Sky Blue," machinima, "The Corpse Bride," "A Scanner Darkly," "Persepolis," "Coraline," "Waltz with Bashir," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Mary & Max," "Sita Sings the Blues," "Fear(s) in the Dark," "The Secret of Kells," and now the Belgian nonpareil "A Town Called Panic."
The variety of toolboxes and styles at work seem limitless (the seductive but uniform look of pure 3D computer animation is getting tiresome just as other approaches proliferate), but it's the personal engagement that makes most of the films sing.
Many of...
- 7/20/2010
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
Ever lie in bed at night and wonder if an old movie exists where Lon Chaney takes a blowtorch to Charles Bronson’s face? Well it does and it’s the 1955 prison drama Big House U.S.A., a gritty but forgotten crime tale about a desperate group of loathsome men played by an amazing cast of manly B-movie bad guys. Chaney and Bronson act alongside Broderick Crawford, Ralph Meeker, and William Talman. They’re all villains who meet cruel but deserved ends and while Big House U.S.A. is one of the most mean spirited prison escape/kidnap caper thriller ever made (and I mean that as a good thing) it is Not available on DVD.
Big House U.S.A.’s story begins with an asthmatic rich kid getting lost while attending a “mountain ranger” summer camp (locations filmed at Colorado’s Royal Gorge Park). Shady hiker...
Big House U.S.A.’s story begins with an asthmatic rich kid getting lost while attending a “mountain ranger” summer camp (locations filmed at Colorado’s Royal Gorge Park). Shady hiker...
- 8/26/2009
- by Tom
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
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