
Night of the Demon (1957) Starring Dana Andrews and Peggy Cummins
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 29, 2019
There’s not a more fitting place to start a horror film set in England than with Stonehenge, those relics of old that we can easily imagine being hexed with pagan cults and rituals summoning some unknown evil into the world. Jacques Tourneur is no stranger to horror films and Night of the Dem read more

Nightfall (1957): Jacques Tourneur’s 50s Noir
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 25, 2019
To begin to compare Nightfall with Jacques Tourneur’s Out of The Past (1947), his film noir masterpiece from a decade earlier is a deeply unfair proposition from the outset. One could argue the films feel nothing alike — like apples and oranges — and they came into being in two ve read more

Great Day in The Morning (1956) and Owen Pentecost
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 23, 2019
The backdrop is important to understand where we’re at in America’s history. It’s the 1860s. We’re in the Colorado Territory but it’s the eve of the most egregious war that ever was fought on American soil. Already blood is boiling between diehard Northerners and the S read more

Stranger on Horseback (1955) with Judge Joel McCrea
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 21, 2019
I didn’t know my Grandpa too well because he passed away when I was fairly young but I always remembered hearing that he really enjoyed reading Louis L’Amour. It’s not much but a telling statement nonetheless. I’ve read and seen Hondo (1953), which stars John Wayne and Gerald read more

The Flame and The Arrow (1950): Italy’s Acrobatic Robin Hood
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 18, 2019
In the region of Italy called Lombardy, Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster) is a bit of an Italian Robin Hood. However, his acclaim as an outlaw is brought on by personal conviction and a blatant disregard for authority. Others are captivated by his lionhearted bravado and fearlessness that, even as a p read more

Colorado Territory (1949): High Sierra on Horseback
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 16, 2019
For me, it’s fascinating to consider directors who did not simply direct remakes but they actually reworked their earlier films. Prominent examples are, of course, Alfred Hitchcock, Yasujiro Ozu, Cecil B. DeMille, and Frank Capra, just to name a few. The reasons could range from any number of read more

Canyon Passage (1946): Ole Buttermilk Skies
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 14, 2019
Portland, Oregon 1856 could lead us to many places but in these circumstances, it guides us to an enterprising mercantile store owner named Logan Stuart (Dana Andrews). Though he’s the main driving force behind the story, there’s little doubt this is a tale of pioneering far grander tha read more

Gambit (1966): Please Don’t Tell the Beginning!
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 12, 2019
Gambit is a film that looks as if it could be so very cut-and-dried, a simple run through and reworking of what we’ve seen time and time again in the age of James Bond, heist films, and romantic thrillers. I’m not saying that still can’t be fun but at a certain point, the ideas ha read more

The Court Jester (1956): The Brew That Is True
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 10, 2019
Maybe I’m simply partial to Medieval forms of entertainment but it’s hard to imagine a finer vehicle for Danny Kaye than The Court Jester. It needs to be lithe enough to accommodate his goofy even acrobatic brand of song-and-dance buffoonery. What better arena for Kaye than the kingR read more

The Court Jester (1955): The Brew That Is True
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 10, 2019
Maybe I’m simply partial to Medieval forms of entertainment but it’s hard to imagine a finer vehicle for Danny Kaye than The Court Jester. It needs to be lithe enough to accommodate his goofy even acrobatic brand of song-and-dance buffoonery. What better arena for Kaye than the kingR read more

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947): Danny Kaye Does Thurber
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 8, 2019
In many ways, it seems short stories are the best sources for feature-length films because they allow the narrative to take the spark of an idea and extrapolate and mold it into something new and hopefully ingenious in its own right. Author James Thurber didn’t seem to think that was the case read more

The Boatniks (1970): A Balboa Island Sit-Com
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 6, 2019
I won’t make any pretense that The Boatniks is a great movie by any means but surely it speaks to some favorable quality when you enjoy something for its sheer goofiness, a certain sense of nostalgia, and the overall familiarity that pervades the material. Yes, it’s a long sitcom episod read more

He Ran All The Way (1951): John Garfield’s Final Film
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 3, 2019
We meet the belligerent two-bit criminal named Nick Robey (John Garfield) sleeping one off in the grungy apartment he shares with his acerbic mother. It’s not exactly the lap of luxury but it gives us some immediate insight into who he is. He’s an oafish, pitiful excuse for a human bein read more

The Breaking Point (1950): Updating Hemingway and Hawks
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jul 1, 2019
Michael Curtiz, to all those who revere him, has far more than Casablanca (1942) on his resume. It’s stacked with classics including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Mildred Pierce (1945), White Christmas (1954) and even a less-heralded picture like The Breaking Point. Those familiar with read more

Review: Network (1976)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 26, 2019
“We’re not talking about eternal truth or absolute truth or ultimate truth! We’re talking about impermanent, transient, human truth! I don’t expect you people to be capable of truth! But, you’re at least capable of self-preservation! That’s good enough!” read more

Review: Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 24, 2019
Fifty years on and Bonnie and Clyde remains a cultural landmark as the harbinger proclaiming a new American movie had arrived on the scene. As a cinematic artifact, it is indebted as much to the 60s themselves as it is the Depression Era where its mythical crime story finds its roots. The spark of read more

Bullitt (1968) (1)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 21, 2019
There was never a better city for crime pictures than San Francisco. Much of this reputation comes from Bullitt and the enduring cool of its hero Steve McQueen. He had many great films and he was a part of some truly epic ensembles including The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, but Bullitt i read more

The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) (2)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 18, 2019
To watch the original Thomas Crown Affair now is to see a film that is so completely and confidently of its time. It opens with a Bond-esque enigmatic title theme, “Windmills of The Mind,” playing against blocked split-screen images composing the credits. As such, it’s easily date read more

The Cincinnati Kid (1965) (3)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 16, 2019
The opening images of The Cincinnati Kid are nearly inexplicable but that doesn’t mean they can’t be fun. Steve McQueen brushes past a funeral procession of African-Americans complete with a groovin’ brass band. Then there’s a bit of a needless opening gambit where he’ read more

House of Strangers (1949)
4 Star Films Posted by 4 Star Film Fan on Jun 14, 2019
Joseph L. Mankiewicz will always hold the prestige of a writer over a director and yet working off a script by Phillip Yordan, he guides the picture with an assured hand. House of Strangers manages to be intermittently stylish and deeply evocative highlighted by fiery performances. Ironically, it b read more
