Monday, March 31, 2025

Charles Bronson Stages a Breakout

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Charles Bronson as Colton. When her husband is framed for murder (by his grandfather, no less!) and tossed into a Mexican prison, Ann Wagner...
Monday, March 10, 2025

The Crime Doctor Solves the Millerson Case

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One of the more offbeat "B" detective series of the 1940s was the Crime Doctor. Based on a Max Marcin's successful radio serie...
2 comments:
Monday, February 24, 2025

The "How to Destroy a Monster According to the Movies" Quiz

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In this new quiz, we describe how a "monster" was killed in a specific movie and ask you to identify the film. As with all of quiz...
33 comments:
Monday, February 10, 2025

Randolph Scott Rides Alone

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Randolph Scott as Buchanan. The Ranown Cycle consists of six Westerns made between 1956 and 1960 that starred Randolph Scott and were di...
5 comments:
Monday, January 27, 2025

Revisiting The Red Shoes

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Moira Shearer as Vicky Page. Black Narcissus is my favorite Michael Powell-Emeric Pressberger film--and I also think it's their masterpi...
6 comments:
Monday, January 13, 2025

Corbucci's The Great Silence

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Jean-Louis Trintignant as Silence. The most acclaimed Spaghetti Western filmmaker not named Sergio Leone.  That's an apt description for...
2 comments:
Monday, December 30, 2024

The Eiger Sanction Is a Tough Climb

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The Eiger Sanction (1975). This action thriller, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, follows a former assassin who is coerced into one...
3 comments:
Monday, December 16, 2024

That's Dancing in Kiss Me Kate!

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Kiss Me Kate (1953) boasts a Cole Porter score full of familiar tunes and was made by MGM during the era when the studio was known for its l...
1 comment:
Monday, December 2, 2024

The Conversation and Repeat Performance

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Gene Hackman. The Conversation  (1974).  Francis Ford Coppola directed this overlong, but engrossing look into the life of an intensely priv...
1 comment:
Monday, November 18, 2024

All That Heavens Allows and Come September

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Rock and Jane in front of the picture window. All That Heaven Allows (1955). My second favorite Douglas Sirk film (after Imitation of Life ...
1 comment:
Monday, November 4, 2024

We Name the TV Characters...You Name the Series!

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We thought we'd try out a new game this month! For each numbered item below, we have listed three characters from the same TV series. Yo...
25 comments:
Sunday, October 20, 2024

Ghost Story--The Film Adaptation Dilemma

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Fred Astaire as a Chowder Society member. When I watch a film adaptation, I try to evaluate it on its own merits--as opposed to comparing th...
2 comments:
Monday, October 7, 2024

Roadgames: A Little Bit of Rear Window, a Dash of Duel

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Quid (Stacy Keach) with his harmonica. Directed by Hitchcock admirer Richard Franklin, Roadgames (1981) follows truck driver Patrick Quid (...
1 comment:
Monday, September 23, 2024

We Name the Cast...You Name the Movie!

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This is our second edition of this new game. Please let us if you enjoy playing it. For each movie below, we have listed three performers th...
33 comments:
Monday, September 9, 2024

Dick Powell Transforms His Career with Murder, My Sweet

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Dick Powell as Marlowe. My favorite fictional detectives are the erudite, snobbish Philo Vance and the sarcastic, sly Philip Marlowe. Both h...
1 comment:
Monday, August 26, 2024

Mandy and A Boy Ten Feet Tall

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Mandy Miller as Mandy . Mandy (aka Crash of Silence ) (1952). The lives of Christine and Harry Garland are thrown into turmoil when they dis...
Monday, August 12, 2024

Picnic and Written on the Wind

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Kim Novak and William Holden. Picnic  (1955).  Joshua Logan, who directed the stage version William Inge's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, ...
1 comment:
Sunday, July 28, 2024

We Name the Cast...You Name the Movie!

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This month, we're hosting a different game at the Café! For each movie below, we have listed three performers that appeared in it (not n...
27 comments:
Monday, July 15, 2024

The All-American and Yankee Pasha

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Publicity still with Mamie Van Doren & Tony Curtis. All American (1953). Tony Curtis headlines as Nick Bonelli, a star quarterback who ...
1 comment:
Monday, July 1, 2024

The Case for Anatomy of a Murder

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Stewart as Biegler pleads his case. Anatomy of a Murder  is the best courtroom drama ever made. Otto Preminger’s enthralling motion picture ...
7 comments: