Without Pity (1948)

A young woman traveling to visit her brother In postwar Italy, befriends a black American serviceman who was wounded trying to stop a thief. After being questioned by the military, she is arrested for prostitution, being a woman on her own. Gangsters and other complications interfere with their budding relationship.

Film-noir has a complicated definition. My copy was recorded from TCM’s Noir Alley, so it’s noir, if an unconventional one. While our male lead is black (American John Kitzmiller), that doesn’t directly play into the story. This is about a US serviceman and an Italian civilian, not black and white.

Kitzmiller, for his part, was a trained Engineer and Army Captain during WWII, where he was awarded the Victory Medal. He fell in love with Italy, which he helped liberate, and stayed on after the war. He didn’t have much family back in the states and didn’t relish returning to American racism. He appeared in a fair number of Italian films but also appeared in a couple English language films, most notably Dr. No (1962). Depression and its faithful companion alcohol led to an early death.

Pretty Carla Del Poggio was wonderful as the angelic Angela. She was married to director Alberto Lattuada. Cute as a button Giulietta Masina has a secondary role. Husband Federico Fellini was a principal screenwriter. Pierre Claude who plays head gangster Pier Luigi has no other screen credits and no biographical information is known about him. He may have just been a walk-on.

Without Pity resembles Italian neorealism perhaps a bit more than American film-noir. The scratchy filmstock and naturalistic acting strongly gives that vibe. Banned in British and American occupied Germany because of the sometimes harsh depiction of the Allied occupation, it’s another grim and pessimistic tale for Noirvember. AMRU 4.

“Always together”

Black Gravel (1961)

Truck driver Robert steals road gravel from a US Air Force base in Germany and sells it on the black market. He has a chance run-in with an old flame, but unfortunately she is now married to an Air Force Major. Their lives become intertwined.

I found the story a little hard to follow at first. It was recently restored and the subtitles were sharp, but I felt I was missing a lot of nuance. Soon enough, though, I was fully immersed in the drama. The story winds in a somewhat nonlinear fashion, involving a few other characters, but eventually everything comes together, and not in a Hollywood ending sort of way.

Black Gravel was the first German noir to appear on TCM’s Noir Alley and I was fortunate enough to have recorded its first airing last January. The German title is Schwarzer Kies and I was a little iffy on it before watching. But Eddie Muller called it a masterpiece. Now that I’ve seen it, I tend to agree. AMRU 4.

Halloween (1978)

Little Michael Myers is sent away for murdering his big sister. After fifteen years of not communicating with staff, he escapes. Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is convinced he is returning to his home town to continue his murder spree.

I’ve seen Halloween but never uncut, and likely never all the way through. Recorded off of IFC, I did have to contend with commercials, which sometimes seemed to come every five minutes, but at least it was unedited.

Pleasence is great as the obsessive Loomis, convinced of Myers’ malevolence despite any explanation. His body of work is quite impressive. High budget and low, genre and main stream, he did it all. Although she had done some TV work (including 23 episodes of Operation Petticoat), this was Jamie Lee Curtis’ first feature film. She was the only teenager of the group of high-schoolers.

Like Friday the 13th young people are picked off one at a time. But very much unlike it, Halloween is a slow burn. We learn what Michael is capable of through the Loomis character, and our imagination does the rest. We actually get to know Curtis' Laurie character and feel her peril. The danger is real and the kills have real weight.

Halloween is more than a good slasher. It's a good film. It defined a sub-genre and has been copied for decades. AMRU 4.

The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959)

A ronin Samurai uses ruthless tactics to marry for money. When this doesn’t work out, he plots to kill his wife and upgrade to a richer bride. His dead first wife, however, has other plans.

The original title is “Tôkaidô Yotsuya kaidan” which I confused for Kwaidan (1964). Kaidan translates roughly to Ghost Story. Based on a kabuki play, the production retains a very stage-like feel. Some scenes were clearly filmed on location, while others did little to hide their stage origin.

There is no hint that our main character isn’t a terrible person. He hardly ever utters a line of dialog that doesn’t reveal his nature. His name is Iemon Tamiya, and because an uppercase I looks like a lowercase L, it seemed like people were calling him Lemon. He was kinda sour.

My main issue with The Ghost of Yotsuya is that the basic premise of the film is treated as a third act reveal. The story is well known in Japan, so there was no way to hide this spoiler, but for me it was a bit of a slog to watch to get to the predetermined conclusion. Visually interesting but otherwise unremarkable. AMRU 3.

Chamber of Horrors (1966)

Proprietors of a wax museum are hired to help capture a man who strangled a woman to death and then married her. Ministers are snitches.

More of a detective story than horror, the powerless police turn to amateurs to do what amounts to very basic police work. One of the police officers is played by Wayne Rogers of M*A*S*H fame. I thought this was a Vincent Price film, having a very Theater of Blood, House of Wax kind of title. But I think I was confusing it with The Haunted Palace.

Chamber of Horrors is a good looking, well executed, but fairly forgettable film. The investigation needed to be more inventive or the horror elements more horrible. An end scene hinted at a sequel or TV pilot but nothing came of it. What amounts to a fairly pedestrian horror film may have been a bit too suggestive for 60’s television. Hey, at least he waited until after the ceremony before asserting his conjugal rights. AMRU 3.

The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967)

A nutty professor and his dim assistant (Roman Polanski) travel to a small village looking for a vampire. When a pretty village woman (Sharon Tate) is captured, our heroes go on a rescue mission.

Originally titled Dance of the Vampires, it was renamed and reedited when it came to America. Actors were dubbed and an animated segment was added to help explain the parts that were edited out. I didn’t see an animated segment so I presume I saw the European edit under the US title.

Ronald Lacey, famous as the disturbing Nazi (the one with the fancy coat hanger) from Raiders of the Lost Ark, plays a village idiot. Polanski first met Tate during casting. Two months after the film's release, they would be married. Eighteen months more and she would be dead.

The Fearless Vampire Killers has a strange, satirical tone. Actors wear expressive makeup and move at a frenetic pace. It gives the film a distinct style, much like a cartoon. It's not going to work for everyone, and it didn't quite work for me, but it was always interesting, visually if nothing else. AMRU 3.

Sugar Hill (1974)

When ruthless businessmen knock off a night club owner, his girl (Marki Bey) turns to voodoo for revenge.

Charles Robinson plays Fabulous, one of the top honkey’s top henchmen. He is better known (to me anyhow) as Mac from Night Court. He passed in 2021, 27 days before Markie Post. Only Dan Fielding and Roz are left.

Bey appeared in a handful of low budget films before doing a handful of TV appearances. She called it quits in her early thirties. She is pretty enough, but she lacks that Pam Grier charisma. Also, her character lacks agency. She is present for many of the kills but serves merely as bait. She doesn't even summon the zombies. She turns to Mama Maitresse for that.

Sugar Hill is a by-the-numbers blaxploitation revenge film with the added benefit of zombie mayhem. This film could have been just a series of revenge killings of the ruthless thugs, and it is. Unlike Kuroneko, the only questions are who will the zombies kill next, and how. But like the previous film, the undead are the good guys. AMRU 2.5.

Kuroneko (1968)

A group of Samurai happen upon two women in a small house, steal their food, rape, and murder them. The women soon return as vengeful ghosts, luring passing Samurai to their death.

The Japanese title is “Yabu no naka no kuroneko” which translates to “In the Grove of the Black Cat”. It taps into a Ryûnosuke Akutagawa story as well as the folklore of cats taking human form to avenge the wronged.

This film could have been just a series of revenge killings of the institutionally corrupt Samurai, but it’s more complicated than that. I won’t go into detail, but things become complicated.

There's not much else I can say lest I spoil. Kuroneko is a very satisfying watch. It’s beautifully photographed and the ethereal story draws the viewer in. It’s been on my radar for quite some time but schedules or circumstances always seem to conspire. I’m very glad to have finally seen it. AMRU 4.

Black Friday (1940)

When the kindly professor Kingsley is severely injured, the good doctor Sovac (Boris Karloff) secretly transplants the brain of a gangster to save his life. Also, he wanted to prove he could transplant a human brain. But definitely not because the gangster knew the location of a half million in stolen loot.

More Sci-Fi Noir than horror, it is categorized as such because Karloff and Lugosi appear. Well, Karloff appears quite a bit but Lugosi has a rather small role as a gangster. The real star is Stanley Ridges in the dual roles as Kingsley and the dastardly gangster Red Cannon. Ridges Jekyll and Hydes between the two roles with surprisingly little makeup change. Kingsley has a little gray hair, glasses, and a bit of a milquetoast, while Cannon looks younger and very much a take-charge character. One of the best dual role transformations I've seen.

The story is told in flashback as a reporter reads Doc Sovac’s journal while he walks to the electric chair. The working title of the film was Friday the 13th, because some important thing happens on that day. The accident, the transplant, the execution, I forget what.

Despite some good performances, Black Friday isn’t much of a film. The story is a bit sloppy with the details and is rather forgettable. AMRU 2.5. This is the fourth of eight Karloff/Lugosi collaborations. Have I found another list to complete?

Friday the 13th (1980)

Camp counselors hired to reopen a troubled summer camp are killed off one by one by an unseen assailant. Sh sh sh sh sh sh sh, ha ha ha ha ha ha.

I was too young to see the Halloween / Friday the 13th / Evil Dead generation of slashers when they were released, and really had no interest. It was the Guy in a Rubber Suit subgenre that interested me. Truth be told, I didn’t like being frightened. Maybe it was because I was somehow allowed to see Alien (1979). Not gonna lie, that film messed me up for a long time.

Friday the 13th is refreshingly free of subtext or narrative. It has been accused of being misogynistic but I don’t see it. If there is a deeper meaning, it’s that if you are hit in the face with an axe, you’re gonna die. Spoiler alert.

The biggest surprise is that there is no Jason in a Hockey Mask. That’s apparently a Part 2 invention. Also, Kevin Bacon is one of the counselors. Another was played by Harry Crosby, Bing’s kid. He has a total of five acting credits.

Friday the 13th is inextricably linked to Halloween, and widely recognized to be the lesser of the two films. That may be so, but I found myself enjoying it. Citizen Kane it is not, much of the acting is rather poor, but it gets a passing grade. AMRU 3.

What Else I Watched, 2025Q3

Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (1982)
I was a huge fan of Steve Martin from his stand-up days. I was in the theater to watch The Jerk first run. I also saw Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid, but I didn’t get it. I hadn’t seen the old movies and just didn’t find it funny. Forty three years later, I enjoyed how the old films (a couple of which I had only recently watched) were incorporated into a new narrative. I appreciated it much more this time, but I still didn’t find it very funny. AMRU 3.

Hackers (1995)
Hackers is a very influential film in the computer hacking world. It brings in real hacker culture material (the Hacker Manifesto) and includes an excellent demonstration of social engineering. However, it’s silly and the story makes no sense. AMRU 3.

The Philadelphia Story (1940)
One of the greatest screwball comedies and always a pleasure to revisit. Some elements didn’t age particularly well, but they are easily ignored.

The Great Buster (2018)
Compassionate documentary of Buster Keaton’s life. I had seen it before, but it was worth the re-watch. AMRU 3.

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
I watched this after seeing The Shootist and realized that I watched consecutive films where the main character goes to Nevada to die. Leaving Las Vegas is a tough watch but very much worthwhile. AMRU 4.

Saturday Night (2024)
A fictionalized account of the events leading up to the first episode of Saturday Night Live (then just called Saturday Night). A lot of SNL lore is included, even if the real events happened much later. I really enjoyed it. The performances were eerily spot-on. AMRU 4.

A Disturbance in the Force (2023)
A documentary about how the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special came about. New interviews with principal people and celebrities are interwoven with historical clips of many of the people responsible for this abomination. Quite entertaining. ARMU 4.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
An almost technically perfect film. The story is made up of puzzle pieces that perfectly fit together. Film nerds will spot many homages to classic films. Great all around. AMRU 5.

Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl (1982)
Filmed in 1980 at the famed Hollywood Bowl amphitheater, in between the release of The Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. The skits should be familiar to modern fans but many had not been seen outside of the UK at the time. I’ve long known about this film, but never could find a copy. AMRU 3.5.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

Young Martha Ivers (Janis Wilson) hates her domineering aunt (Judith Anderson) and in a fit of rage kills her. Years later, adult Martha (Barbara Stanwyck) is a successful business owner married to a childhood friend (Kirk Douglas), who knows her secret. When another childhood friend (Van Heflin) returns after many years, the couple conclude he is there to negotiate a price for his silence.

This is the first ever film role for Douglas as a scared little boy, quite against what would later become his type. This is the second appearance of Lizabeth Scott, playing the good but not too good girl. Judith Anderson is great as the Judith Anderson character. See Laura (1944) and Rebecca (1940). It’s a shame she didn’t have more screen time. Stanwyck reportedly exercised a lot of control on the set, perhaps realizing that her career was at an inflection point. She would turn the big four-oh a year later.

This film was adapted from a short story titled Love Lies Bleeding, which is a pretty awesome title. There are at least four other unrelated films with that title. I couldn’t find box office numbers but Strange Love apparently was a success despite the Strange Title.

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers is an interesting story that perhaps takes a little too long to resolve itself. Back in the day Noir films were simply called melodramas, and this film gets more than a little melodramatic. AMRU 3.5

Speedy (1928)

Dreamer Harold ‘Speedy’ Swift (Harold Lloyd) works in a malt shop, visits Coney Island, becomes a taxi driver, meets Babe Ruth, and saves his girl’s grandfather’s horse-drawn trolley business.

The trolley story line, ostensibly the film’s premise, doesn’t show up until about the half way point. Like most of his films, the rest is an excuse for Lloyd to perform his comedic bits and pad it out to 85 minutes. His propensity to lose his job facilitates his gags and explains his free time. The Coney Island section has a number of clever bits. At one point he gives his image in a fun mirror the middle finger. Apparently that was allowed back then.

Thugs want Grandpa’s trolley route and modernize it with electricity. They can do this if Grandpa fails to run his route. It’d be an awful shame if something unfortunate happened. The Babe is late for a game so it’s taxi driver Speedy to the rescue. I understand that Lou Gehrig can be seen in a crowd at some point, but I missed him.

Speedy is an effective, if disjointed, silent comedy. I don’t find Harold Lloyd as inventive as Buster Keaton nor as emotionally impactful as Charlie Chaplin, but he knew how to please an audience. AMRU 3.5.

Murder! (1930)

An actor in a local theater group is murdered and a fellow actress (Norah Baring) is convicted of the crime. Juror and famous thespian Sir John (Herbert Marshall) felt pressured to vote guilty and now wants to clear her name. She is so pretty, after all.

What follows is a better than fair police procedural, except instead of the police investigating, it’s the famous Sir John. He visits the crime scene, interviews witnesses and suspects, and uses his fame to subtly manipulate people into getting what he wants. If this were made in Hollywood a couple years later, I could see them wanting to make two 70 minute Sir John mysteries a year.

It’s revealed that Sir John had actually met the defendant when she came for career advice years earlier. I think even 95 years ago this would have invalidated him as a juror. Also interesting is that Norah and her character shared a last name. Character actress Una O’Connor appears in the earliest role I’ve seen her in. She was a fresh faced fifty year old. I was hoping for another memorable over-the-top performance, but she played it fairly straight.

One character is described as being “half-caste” which is olde-english for biracial, a terrible thing back in the day. However, this was a substitute because the filmmakers couldn’t imply he was the G-A-Y.

Murder! is a fairly entertaining story, even if it doesn’t feel very Hitchcock. It was his second fully sound feature and first successful one. AMRU 3.

High Society (1956)

A dumb guy who works at a service station becomes an unwitting accomplice … wait, no. Socialite Tracy Lord (Grace Kelly) is getting remarried and is worried that her ex-husband C.K. Dexter-Haven (Bing Crosby), in town for the Newport Jazz Festival, might spoil the mood. Additionally, Spy magazine sends a writer (Frank Sinatra) and photographer (Celeste Holm) to cover the event in return for not publishing a scandalous story about her father’s affair.

High Society is a remake to The Philadelphia Story (1940) and bares no resemblance to High Society (1955). The major beats of the story are more or less intact as is most of the memorable dialog. The biggest difference is VistaVision color and musical numbers padding the film to just under two hours. Also, much of the subtext that was revealed in the first act of the original is spelled out on the outset.

Changes were made from the original story, and I don’t take issue with any of them. The biggest change is the music, which works for some people. The star power is every bit the 1940 version, but the script was uniquely Kathrine Hepburn’s. Kelly, as wonderful as she was, feels miscast. Hepburn’s dialog coming out of Kelly’s mouth simply doesn’t land the same.

Lydia Reed was almost as charming as Virginia Weidler was as Tracy’s little sister, no small feat. It’s curious they didn’t have her sing “Lydia, the Tattooed Lady”. That feels like a missed opportunity. Louis Armstrong and his orchestra appear briefly. This was Kelly’s last film, as was Louis Calhern’s. He died on the set of his next film.

The Philadelphia story is widely regarded as the better film. Still, High Society was a box office success and not hard to watch. Still, I wish Kelly could have ended her Hollywood career on a higher note. AMRU 3.

Blow-Up (1966)

Needing a few more photos for a book he is working on, a fashion photographer (David Hemmings) goes to a park and happens upon a couple making a romantic rendezvous. He is spotted and the lady (Vanessa Redgrave) insists he hand over the negatives. He refuses. When the film is developed, Thomas(?) believes he sees evidence of a murder.

I don’t know what to make of this film. So much happens at the outset that has no bearing on the rest of the film. It's almost to the halfway mark before he gets to the park. And Hemmings makes for an incredibly unlikable protagonist. He is rude, arrogant, and, well, worse. He behaves quite illogically and at no point even considers calling the police. I could continue with plot issues (I’ve developed 35mm film and made prints) but I might actually be getting into spoiler territory.

IMDb labels Blow-Up as Giallo, which I can see. That explains the tone. Perhaps it's Giallo-adjacent. The surface reading of this film is fairly confounding and the ending is unsatisfying, but there is more here. I may need to give it another try, but for now AMRU 3.

Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

A new kid in town (James Dean) is arrested for public drunkenness and crosses paths with an outsider (Sal Mineo) and the girlfriend (Natalie Wood) of one of the school toughies. Events bring them together.

Perhaps the definitive 1950’s America film, it was released about a month after Dean’s death. This means two of his three starring roles were released posthumously. I have seen much of this film over the years but never all the way through. It was quite surprising.

While I don’t care much for some of his method scenes, his on-screen charisma is plain to see. I’ll put East of Eden onto my watchlist. Mineo was apparently quite popular in his time. Except for this role, it seems he is mostly forgotten today. He would be murdered by a random drifter. Wood, despite being the same age as her character (about 16), was considered to be too young. She did her hair and makeup to look older and earned the role, and a relationship with director Nicholas Ray. Ah, Hollywood!

Every character has a want. Dean’s Jim wants to understand what it means to be a man. He feels his father (Jim Backus) isn’t a real man because of how his wife treats him. How he let's her treat him. Yea, that part doesn’t age well. Mineo’s Plato wants to be part of a family. His dad left and his mom leaves him in the custody of the family maid much of the time. Wood’s Judy wants to be loved, specifically by her father. The script makes this crystal clear.

But the subtext is almost as clear. I’m getting into spoiler territory so I will mention that the actor who played Judy’s father was about four years younger than the director. This video does an excellent analysis. But see the movie first.

Dennis Hopper and Nick Adams were members of the gang. Edward Platt (Get Smart) is a cop with a sympathetic ear. If you don’t recognize Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III or the voice of Mr. Magoo, then shame on you. Dean goes all meta at one point by doing a Magoo voice.

The number of the cast that died young seems disproportionate. Platt and both of Judy’s parents before 60, Natalie Wood at 43, Mineo and Adams in their late 30’s, and James Dean at 24. Jack Grinnage, who plays Moose in the gang, is apparently still living.

Rebel Without a Cause is a fascinating watch. The events and performances are engaging, and the subtext, definitely intended by the filmmakers, adds another layer. AMRU 4.

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)

It is 1872 and Dracula (Christopher Lee) is finally vanquished. Unfortunately, a cultist collected his ashes and moved the stake that dispatched him to a churchyard. Fast forward one hundred years and Dracula must face the greatest horror: insufferable young people!

The movie jarringly transitions from a rural setting to mod London. The cultist’s heir (the appropriately named Johnny Alucard) involves his friends in a ceremony to bring Dracula back to seek revenge.

This film spends the bulk of its time with the crowd of hipsters rather than Lee and Cushing. At first glance we hate Alucard (Christopher Neame), what with his top hat, felt jacket, and ruffles. We eventually learn that he is a recent addition to the group of friends. Jessica (Stephanie Beacham) is the good girl of the group and target of Dracula, being granddaughter of Peter Cushing’s Professor Van Helsing and a direct descendant of the original Van Helsing.

Jessica was initially intended to be the Professor’s daughter (34 year age difference) but Peter visibly aged after his wife passed the prior year. He looked much older than his 59 years. A picture of his wife is seen on the Professor’s desk. Why Jessica was living with her grandfather was never addressed.

Lee called the script “appalling”, perhaps because of his reduced role. The group of friends aren’t terribly likable. It’s unclear if they were supposed to resonate with the hip mod crowd or serve as commentary about them. Also, the stake that killed Dracula earlier in the film was left in a rural churchyard. A hundred years later it is still there, undisturbed, and now inside the London urban area. There are details which shouldn’t be analyzed very much. And the scene where the professor makes the connection between Alucard and Dracula is silly. Here he claims to be an expert of the occult but apparently never watched Son of Dracula.

Dracula A.D. 1972 isn’t much of a film. Perhaps not appalling, but also not interesting. Hammer wanted another Dracula film and everyone just went through the motions. AMRU 2.5.

The Shootist (1976)

An aging gunfighter (or “shootist”, if you will) receives a bad prognosis and heads to Carson City to die. As people discover his identity, and his situation, a peaceful end was no longer in the cards.

A 69 year old John Wayne plays 50 year old JB Brooks, and 51 year old Lauren Bacall is his 40ish landlord. This wouldn’t be a problem except both leads already looked older than their stated ages. Even 68 year old James Stewart looked 80 plus. Ron Howard was about 21 playing a teenager. This isn’t a big knock but it was a distraction.

A bigger knock are the uneven performances. Harry Morgan just couldn’t deliver his lines with any conviction. That may say more about the lines than him, but they didn’t really work. Stewart, coaxed out of retirement, looked off of his game. And Ron Howard is apparently a terrible actor.

That all said, it’s a pretty interesting story. Also interesting is the story that Wayne, dying of cancer, chose this film to be his last to go out on. Unfortunately that story is also fiction. I understand that the Duke wasn’t diagnosed for another three years. However when pitching the film on Johnny, he did allude to a cancer diagnosis. Either way, it’s not why he wanted to do the film and he never intended it to be his last.

The Shootist was an interesting watch. Wayne’s performance was rather naturalistic and a refreshing change from his regular stock character style. A worthwhile watch, despite its flaws. AMRU 3.5.

Jewel Robbery (1932)

While a Viennese Baron is buying a diamond ring for his young wife (Kay Francis), the jeweler is robbed by a dashing jewel robber (William Powell). She is smitten and gets herself entangled in the affair.

Not a whole lot to this 68 minute romp but it is surprisingly charming and witty. It’s also loaded with pre-code banter. Powell (his character goes unnamed) offers cigarettes to his victims and we learn that they are something other than tobacco. Baroness Teri’s friend finds it scandalous that she is receiving a gift of jewelry from her own husband. The risque banter is almost non-stop.

Kay Francis was a pretty big star in the early thirties. When her box office began to teeter in the late 1930’s, she was relegated to lesser pictures or lesser roles. Her minor speech impediment didn’t help. She continued to work until the mid 1940’s then retired for good.

Jewel Robbery is a very by the numbers film. The rich woman falling for the suave jewel thief is almost a trope. I was half expecting that the story would go a step deeper and reveal a bigger twist, but it is what it is. The pre-code banter and Powell’s smooth performance, however, makes it memorable. AMRU 3.5.

Red Light (1949)

The reunion between trucking tycoon John (George Raft) and his army chaplain brother is cut short when father-brother is plugged as revenge against brother John. The secret to the killer’s identity is apparently inside a missing hotel bible. John puts his business on hold to locate the bible and exact revenge. Virginia Mayo is brought in to assist with the search.

The movie plays out with Raft’s John obsessively getting closer to the bible while the presumed antagonists slowly reveal their hand. Many of the conventions of film-noir are dispensed with. There is no love interest nor femme fatal. And the religious subtext feels out of place. More on that later.

All-around nice guy Gene Lockhart plays John’s faithful company guy. Gene's daughter June recently turned one hundred. Our prime suspects include Raymond Burr, playing to type, and Harry Morgan playing opposite. Lucy’s wacky neighbor Fred Mertz (William Frawley) has a small role.

Based on a short story titled “This Guy Gideon”, it was renamed Red Light because the producer liked it better. I’m not really sure how the new title fits into the narrative. Revenge is bad, so stop? The religious overtones are a bit much, so much so that TCM host Eddie Muller joked that it could be called Biblical-noir. And the Virginia Mayo character was inserted as if they wanted a love interest element, without actually having one. Also, the brotherly love angle bordered on becoming a creepy folger’s commercial.

Red Light is a bit of a disappointment. The tone was almost there but it falls short. If you watch noir and wish there were more bibles in it, maybe this is for you. For me, however, AMRU 2.5.

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) grows bored with her studies when she sees the White Rabbit (Bill Thompson). Curious, she decides to follow him down the rabbit hole. Thus begins her Adventures in Wonderland.

Loosely based on both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, it features the most characters of any Disney cartoon. It also differs from many Disney animated films in that there is no romance element. Nor is there really a hero’s journey. It’s just a series of crazy adventures. I found this refreshing.

Truth be told, I never read any part of Lewis Carroll’s books, so I can’t speak to how faithful the movie is in tone nor content. I do understand the doorknob character was invented by Disney. I started reading about Carroll's life but it went down a dark path rather quickly.

Ed Wynn is quite memorable as the Mad Hatter. The character’s likeness was modeled on him. His line “Mustard? Don’t let’s be silly!” was ad libbed and Disney liked it so much he had the animators add it in. Later in his career, Wynn's son Keenan convinced him to move to dramatic acting.

Alice in Wonderland is a fun film. As someone who is less than enamored with Disney, I found this unconventional classic most enjoyable. AMRU 3.5.

This Gun for Hire (1942)

A hired killer (Alan Ladd) is double-crossed and sets out for revenge. Pretty Ellen (Veronica Lake) is caught in the middle. World War II propaganda is shoehorned in.

Here is the second of seven films that paired Ladd and Lake. Ladd was a talented actor with leading man good looks, but at only 5’6” there were few leading ladies he could play opposite. Lake, at 5’2” or shorter, fit the profile. Here they are not a romantic pair, Lake’s Ellen was with Detective Crane (Robert Preston).

A box office success, This Gun for Hire made Ladd a star, affording him the opportunity to take hero roles. Friends but not romantic in real life, Ladd and Lake had much in common. Both struggled with substance abuse and died at fifty.

Life has been (and will continue to be) busy, so it has been about a month since I saw this film. I did enjoy it but I had to do some reading to refresh my memory. Perhaps that in itself isn’t a great sign, but I did like it.. Anyhow, AMRU 3.5.

Murder She Said (1961)

Jane Marple (Margaret Rutherford) witnesses a murder from her train window but the police find no evidence. So she poses as a domestic in a fancy manor house and does some investigating.

Joan Hickson plays a cook in a very small role, and would later go on to play Miss Marple for the BBC. I recently watched all of those episodes which includes a version of this story.

In the original story (4:50 from Paddington) and the Hickson BBC version the witness on the train, the investigating domestic, and Miss Marple are three different people. Combining them into one character is classic Hollywood and a reasonable cinematic decision, I think. The love interest part had to be removed for obvious reasons.

Murder She Said is the first of four Rutherford Marple films, and a box office success. Despite the lack of mystery, I rather enjoyed it. It’s a fairly complex story and the filmmakers did a good job of condensing it into a 90 minute runtime without watering it down. Rutherford's force of nature is a very different Marple than Hickson's accidental helper, and I’ll likely see more of them. AMRU 3.

Act of Violence (1948)

Former POW Joe (Robert Ryan) stalks his war hero CO Frank (Van Heflin) because of things that happened during the war.

Young Janet Leigh is Hero Frank’s wife. She turned 21 while filming. Mary Astor has a small but interesting role as a helpful hooker. Six years after The Maltese Falcon, romantic lead roles are squarely in the past for her now.

I had only seen Heflin in Shane but Ryan will show up occasionally as a villain. Barbara Billingsley is uncredited in a voice only role. I didn't catch it so I can't confirm whether or not she was speaking jive.

Neither Heflin nor Ryan make for a traditional protagonist. As we learn about Frank’s history, it becomes problematic to root for him. And with Joe giving off Night of the Hunter vibes, he is a hard sell as well. It’s only Leigh’s Edith we really feel for. The studio wanted Gregory Peck and Humphrey Bogart in the lead roles. That would be an entirely different film.

Act of Violence is an unconventional and fascinating noir. I don't imagine that 1948 audiences were particularly keen to see war hero's depicted in less than glorious light, but this film successfully pulls off a story with complicated characters. AMRU 3.5.

What Else I Watched, 2025Q2

Bacall on Bogart (1988)
Lauren Bacall hosts a retrospective of Humphrey Bogart from an episode of Great Performances. A fairly interesting and compassionate review of the personal and professional life of the Hollywood legend. Much of it seemed familiar. I must have seen it before at some point. 3 / 5.

Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of Blackmail (2024)
An interesting analysis of Blackmail, Hitchcock and Britain’s first sound film. 3 / 5.

Like Father (2018)
Bride (Kristen Bell) is ditched by the groom on her wedding day so she goes on her honeymoon cruise with her estranged father (Kelsey Grammer). Essentially a rom-com but with father and daughter. Seth Rogen has a small part and it’s directed by his wife. Good parts, meh parts, somewhat predictable and fairly forgettable. 3 / 5.

Do The Right Thing (1989)
This film would probably benefit from a full review. There’s a lot to say and I simply wouldn’t be able to do it justice after just one viewing. Suffice it to say it was what I expected and not what I expected. It is both realistic and hyperstylized. Every white kid from the ‘burbs should see it. 4.5 / 5.

The Melies Mystery (2021)
An hour long look at the professional life of early film pioneer Georges Melies, and his contributions to cinema. Definitely worth seeing. 3.5 / 5.

Hercules (1997)
Youtuber Lindsay Ellis called Hercules a hot mess. A hero’s journey without a character arc. She’s wrong. It’s a Rom-Com with action sequences, and it’s pretty good. 3.5 / 5.

The Princess Bride (1987)
Every scene sizzles, every performance is on point, and the script is pitch perfect. If you don’t like this film then we can’t be friends. 5 / 5.

My Little Chickadee (1940)

Flower Belle Lee (Mae West) is kicked out of town because she was seen cavorting with a masked bandit. On a train she pairs up with a con man (W.C. Fields) who scams his way into being named sheriff of the next town over.

West and Fields were huge stars in the 1930’s and this stands as their only collaboration. They did not get along. Credited as co-writers, she wrote her lines, he wrote his, and they didn’t speak when not filming. West, whose particular charms were greatly hampered by the enforcement of the motion picture production code, was on a decline. She would appear in only one more film before a brief revival in the 1970’s. Fields, on the other hand, was at the top of his game. However, drink was catching up with him and starred in only two more pictures before dying of a stomach hemorrhage. He was 66.

B movie veteran Dick Foran plays one of Flower Belle’s many love interests. Seventeen years her junior, he’s the good guy we expect her to land with. Also in the mix is Margaret Hamilton, the wicked witch herself. Here she plays the town busybody. The meek Donald Meek also has a small roll.

While Fields’ humor survives intact, the Hays code simply couldn’t tolerate West’s brand of innuendo. The end result is, pardon the expression, a rather flat performance. My Little Chickadee is interesting because of the leads, and not an unpleasant watch, but lacking in humor and fairly forgettable. AMRU 2.5.

Svengali (1931)

A foreign music teacher (John Barrymore) in Paris uses hypnotic powers to control the beautiful young Trilby (Marian Marsh) and make her a star.

Dirty and devious, the Rasputinesque Svengali comes from the 1894 novel Trilby. This was at least the third film adaptation. Originally a jewish stereotype, there is no hint of that in Barrymore’s performance. He is said to be from “someplace like Poland” and speaks German, French, and Italian phrases.

The teenaged Marsh was quite charming as ingenue Trilby. Her "nude" scene caused quite the stir, but she was wearing a body stocking.  She didn’t manage to have much of a career and was all but retired before the age of 30. She appeared in The Black Room (1935) but I have no recollection of her performance. There’s a deep-dive in there someplace.

Barrymore is yet another great what-if’s of Hollywood. Had he been born ten years later and not taken to drink he could have been the king of Hollywood. His performance here was masterful. Comic, sometimes menacing, and surprisingly sympathetic. I ponder what could have been. He also appeared in Rasputin and the Empress (1932), but it was brother Lionel who got the title role.

Svengali is a surprisingly good film powered by great performances. It could, however, have benefited from a musical score. The only music was diegetic. AMRU 3.5.

Blackmail (1929)

Pretty blonde Alice ditches her boring Scotland Yard boyfriend for a dapper artist. That doesn’t exactly go as planned and she finds herself being blackmailed. Cop boyfriend investigates.

For a film called Blackmail, the blackmail element is rather minimal and introduced very late in the story. Most of the movie is of the events leading up to it. But it's adapted from a play of the same name, so I suppose there’s nothing for it.

This is Britain's first talkie, sort of. It started as a silent feature but certain scenes were reshot with audio for theaters wired for such. Pretty Anny Ondra, the first Hitchcock Blonde, had a thick Czech accent so she was dubbed, Lina Lamont style. I sadly recorded the silent version.

The Hitchcock style really starts to show through here, more so than even The Lodger. And the plot is quite good: A man investigates the murder of a man that his girlfriend (perhaps fiancee) is suspected of killing.

Blackmail is pretty good but Hitchcock would do his best work fully in the sound era. I would have liked to have seen the “talkie” version, but I don’t expect it would have been much better. AMRU 3.5.

Ladies of Leisure (1930)

Awkward rich man (Ralph Graves) escapes a party and happens upon a “party girl” (Barbara Stanwyck) who is escaping a boat party she was “working”. He decides to hire her as a model. Will love bloom?

The movie jumps through hoops to establish that Stanwyck’s Kay isn’t a prostitute, despite all evidence. The source play was named “Ladies of the Evening” after all. And Kay’s third act “I know what kind of woman I am” declaration doesn’t read very much like an acknowledgement of class status. Still, nobody is under any illusions. This is unsurprisingly the catalyst of the “crisis climax” beat in the Rom-Com formula.

This was thirty two year old Frank Capra’s fourteenth film, but he had not yet hit his stride. It Happened One Night was four years and nine films off. Sound film was still very new and they hadn't quite gotten the hang of it. A silent version of this film was also produced. 

Ladies of Leisure is a pleasant enough watch. Capra was still Capra and Stanwyck was always Stanwyck, but had I not taken notes directly after watching, I might have forgotten about this film. Watch it to see a very early Stanwyck performance, but there is little else to recommend it. AMRU 3.

Phantom Lady (1944)

Handsome engineer Scott (Alan Curtis) goes out on the town alone and meets a pretty woman (Fay Helm). She agrees to accompany him to a show but insists they don't exchange names. When he returns home he finds that his wife has been murdered. When nobody seems to remember his unnamed alibi, the cops finger him for the murder.

This is that rare noir whose protagonist is female, the plucky and decidedly non-fatal Carol (Ella Raines). She is sweet on her newly single boss and never questions his innocence. Old Friend Elisha Cook Jr makes an appearance as a cool-daddy-o jazz drummer. His drumming was so good that they would make sounds even when he wasn’t striking them. This makes our eleventh visit.

For about a year prior to starting this blog I watched a large number of old films, this being one of them. I was mostly unimpressed back in aught-8 but always intended on returning to it. Finally I have and I think I regarded it a little better. When Carol gets closer to our mystery lady she is referred to as Miss Terry. That's pretty amusing. 

Phantom Lady is a fairly well-regarded if somewhat forgettable noir. It also has a serious plot flaw that nagged at me for much of the film. I’ll say no more on that, but it’s not mentioned in the IMDb Goofs section. That said, I'm definitely glad I revisited this film. AMRU 3.

Agatha (1979)

In 1926 mystery writer Agatha Christie disappeared causing a media sensation. When she was discovered after eleven days she claimed not to remember anything of what happened. As the opening crawl says, this is a speculative story about a very real mystery.

Agatha’s (Vanessa Redgrave) marriage to husband Archie (Timothy Dalton) is falling apart and, after ditching her car, checks into a spa using her husband’s girlfriend’s last name. Fictitious reporter Wally (Dustin Hoffman) is on the case.

What follows was certainly not what actually happened. My guess is Agatha, under serious emotional distress, experienced a well deserved nervous breakdown. She pushed her troubles out of her mind, consciously or otherwise. And what better place to do this than a spa. Well, maybe not the spa in the film. That place looked dreadful.

Redgrave’s frightened and vulnerable glances contrast with the impeccably dressed and supremely confident Hoffman. Wally was initially intended to be a tall, blonde Englishman but when Hoffman became involved, he changed to, well, Dustin Hoffman. His role in the film was also greatly expanded.

I’ve been on a sizable Agatha Christie kick lately and I figured I needed to watch this before my DVR deleted it on me. Agatha was reasonably watchable, but with the potential of a mystery about a mystery writer, and two of the top acting talents of the day, this should have been better. Both actors may have been miscast but did what they could with the material. AMRU 3.

What Else I Watched, 2025Q1

I'm still evaluating if I want to do these posts, but until I decide I should just get on with it.

Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
I had heard this version was superior to the classic original, but I was surprised how much better. It is an impressively smart, well acted, and engaging film. Perhaps the best heist film I've ever seen. AMRU 4.5.

The Hangover (2009)
Still pretty funny but the humor didn’t hold up to a second viewing as well as I hoped.

Blue Velvet (1986)
I had only seen two films by David Lynch, Eraserhead and the misguided Dune. Blue Velvet was, well, weird. Lynch is among the most original filmmakers of all time. I'll pick off his filmography over time.

Double Indemnity (1944)
I’m a sucker for Billy Wilder dialog, even when it's corny to capacity. I will never tire of his top five films.

Bob le Flambeur (1956)
Slower burn than how I remember, but still fascinating. And it's good to see a classic film that isn't handcuffed to the production code. Another great heist film.

Only five non-blog films this quarter? I almost included another until I realized it fits my date restriction, just barely. See a trend yet?

Call Her Savage (1932)

Wild child Nasa (Clara Bow) leads an eventful life. So did Clara, come to think of it.

The film begins as a terrible western. A wagon train is led by a man who is spending time with his girlfriend rather than his wife and family. They are attacked by Indians and their bad luck is blamed on his wicked ways. The worst part is that his behavior will cause his young daughter to also be wicked. It’s in the bible, you can look it up.

Clara Bow became a huge star after 1927’s It and lived a wild Hollywood lifestyle. Things started to fall apart with the advent of sound cinema and the press taking a more moralistic stance on her behavior. She took some time off for a well deserved nervous breakdown and returned with Call Her Savage. It was a critical and box office success and completed her return to Hollywood royalty. She would appear in one more film before retiring.

Bow’s former lover and matinee idol Gilbert Roland appears as Moonglow, a half Indian. Thelma Todd plays Nasa’s romantic rival. Pretty, charming, and funny, she is best remembered as appearing in other people’s films, most notably the Marx Brothers. Her star was on the rise when she was found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning at age 29. Ruled a suicide but was it murder?

Call Her Savage is Bow thumbing her nose at her detractors. Heralded a triumph in its day, it is merely watchable now, mostly because of its "pre-code" elements. Filmmakers initially struggled making dialog sound natural in the early talkie era, and this is on full display here. Also, Bow’s acting style was stuck in the silent era. I’m curious how she would have evolved had she stuck around another ten years. AMRU 3.

Death on the Nile (1978)

An odd collection of people embark on a luxury cruise down the Nile river. Most have an antagonistic connection to the lovely Linnet Ridgeway. I hope she enjoys the cruise.

This follow-up production to Murder on the Orient Express swaps in Peter Ustinov for Albert Finney for the role of Hercule Poirot. Finney found the makeup uncomfortable and the train too hot, so filming in Egypt was out of the question. Ustinov went on to play the role five more times, three being in TV movies.

Like Orient Express, and the Kenneth Branagh versions, we have a star studded cast. David Niven, Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Maggie Smith, and Olivia Hussey are traveler suspects. Mia Farrow was delightfully hysterical. Davis was quoted as saying "In the older days, they'd have built the Nile for you. Nowadays, films have become travelogues, and actors stuntmen." I can’t help but hear that in her voice.

The wife an I seem to watch a lot of crime mysteries, and recently been going through the Miss Marple’s from the 1980s, so this fit in nicely. It's interesting that Marple is turned into TV shows and Poirot into feature films. Mostly. I'll keep an eye out for the Margaret Rutherford films.

Death on the Nile is an excellent mystery with fantastic performances. It's a bit long but well worth the time. It deserves a rewatch. AMRU 4.

"What the hell is going on?
We're going through your private papers, sir, isn't that obvious?"