[8] Socially-conscious filmmaker Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind, Judgment at Nuremberg) made an impact early in his directing career with this dramatic chase story of two escaped convicts evading authorities while chained together at the wrists. The twist? One prisoner’s white and the other’s black. This poetic plot point allows The Defiant Ones to address racism in America while also delivering as a tense cat …
[6] British men and women are held captive in segregated prison camps under the rule of a sadistic Japanese commander who vows to kill them all if Japan loses World War II. When the Brits secretly learn of the war’s end, they have to keep their Japanese torturers from finding out. They sabotage radio equipment and attempt to delay the mail. But when an American …
[6] William Wellman’s (Wings, The Ox-Bow Incident) final film is also his most autobiographical, combining his experiences as an American volunteer in the French Legion during World War I with the experiences of a friend who fell in love with a French sex worker. Lafayette Escadrille stars Tab Hunter as the pilot in love, an unruly youth who deserts the Legion and then fights to …
[5] Gordon Scott continues his reign in the famed loincloth in Tarzan’s Fight for Life. In this chapter of the ongoing series, Tarzan is trying to mediate between an English doctor building a hospital in the jungle and a jealous witch doctor who feels his power is being usurped. A young native chief’s life hangs in the balance and when the witch doctor steals the …
[6] Peter Cushing returns for Hammer’s first sequel to their highly successful Curse of Frankenstein. Cushing’s mad doctor escapes the guillotine and sets up camp in a new town, where he transplants the brain of his deformed assistant into a reanimated corpse. For campy horror fun, Revenge of Frankenstein begins and ends well, but the middle portion is pretty unremarkable — an uninspired rehash of …
[6] Frank Sinatra plays an unhappy writer and WWII veteran who has trouble readjusting to life in his scenic Indiana hometown. The screenplay, based on a novel by James Jones, gets lackadaisical in the middle, but Vincent Minnelli does a good job capturing both the quaint and stifling qualities of small-town life. Sinatra is good, but he’s easily outshined by his colorful costars. Shirley MacLaine …
[4] Montgomery Clift plays an eager journalist who risks losing his girlfriend after his editor nudges him into an affair with another woman. The dreary storyline struggles to rise above its theatrical roots and lead star Clift, whom I normally like, is dreadful in this whiny, wussified role. (He’s never been photographed worse, either.) The best thing about the movie is its supporting cast, including …
[6] On one hand, Arthur Penn’s take on Billy the Kid isn’t as whitewashed as other tellings. On the other hand, why should we care that some hot-headed simpleton ran out and got himself shot? Despite an admirable effort from Paul Newman, I couldn’t quite invest in the character as much as I’d have liked, but the movie still moves at a brisk pace and …
[7] If you’ve only seen James Cameron’s telling of the R.M.S. Titanic’s tragic 1912 sinking, you might be surprised how much that film owes to this earlier British version directed by Hammer and Amicus alum Roy Ward Baker (Scars of Dracula, Asylum) — set pieces and shots are eerily similar. A Night to Remember is a fast-paced thriller disaster movie that refrains from easy sentiment …
[6] A meteorite crashes to Earth, carrying a blob of jelly that grows exponentially by devouring everyone in its path. The original Blob movie is charming in a retro-gitchy way, even if you never buy then 28-year old Steve McQueen as a high schooler. I like the first half of the movie, while the Blob is still mysterious and no one believes what our teen-aged …
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