Author Archives: chipkaufmann

Done with Hollywood by the mid 1950s, Fritz Lang returned to Germany and decided to remake THE INDIAN TOMB , a legendary German silent film from 1921 that he thought he was going to direct before producer Joe May (pronounced MY) decided to do it himself. Lang had co-written the script with future wife TheaContinue reading “FRITZ LANG’S INDIAN EPIC (1959): The New Blu-Ray Release Is Not As Good As The Fantoma DVDs”

UPDATE: 6/29/2022 I originally reviewed this movie back in 2009. It has taken it that long to get a Blu-Ray release and, I am sorry to say that it wasn’t worth the wait. Although it says the movie  was restored by the F.W. Murnau Foundation, it looks no different than the 2000 Image DVD. InContinue reading “THE INDIAN TOMB (1921): New Kino Blu-Ray Cannot Compare With Original 2000 Image DVD”

For many critics and viewers, it’s quite easy to pick on Lon Chaney Jr. (Lonster The Monster) outside of his Lennie Small in OF MICE & MEN and his WOLF MAN performances. Granted he lacked the range of his famous father but, like his father, he was essentially a character actor and he was definitelyContinue reading “INNER SANCTUM (1943-45): Enjoyable B Movie Mysteries With “Lonster The Monster””

By 1959 Universal (then Universal-International) was on the verge of closing down their B movie horror/sci-fi unit for good. Television had taken its toll on regular moviegoing audiences and the drive-in audiences were now mostly teenagers who were far more interested in each other than what was up on the screen. American International Pictures nowContinue reading “CURSE OF THE UNDEAD (1959): This Vampire Western Is Surprisingly Engaging”

That famous quote, which appears at the end of every Christopher Lee Fu Manchu movie, is particularly appropriate for this new double feature from Kino Lorber for the first two Fu Manchu films which were made in 1929 and 1930. Both movies were big budget affairs from Paramount and showcased future Charlie Chan star WarnerContinue reading “FU MANCHU DOUBLE FEATURE: “The World Shall Hear From Me Again””

TULSA is yet another Eagle Lion film that is ripe for restoration. It has existed for years in cheap public domain copies that range from OK to downright bad. This is even more apparent as TULSA is one of the very few Eagle Lion movies in color and three strip Technicolor no less. The colorContinue reading “TULSA (1949): The Film Detective Version Is The One To Get”

Flicker Alley and The Film Noir Foundation’s latest release focuses on two forgotten films from Monogram Pictures that were shot back to back in 1947. They feature the same director (John Bernhard), the same producer (Jack Wrather), the same cameraman (Henry Sharp) and the same leading man (Don Castle). Both clock in at 71 minutesContinue reading “THE GUILTY / HIGH TIDE: Grim Double Feature Is Film Noir Stripped To Its Essentials”

When BRIGHT LEAF was made in 1950, Gary Cooper’s career was in a slump. Between the end of World War II and his iconic, Oscar winning performance in HIGH NOON (1952), he appeared in a string of movies that underperformed at the box office considering his status as one of Hollywood’s major stars. As inContinue reading “BRIGHT LEAF (1950): Soap & Tobacco Don’t Mix”

Back in October 2017 Warner Archive Collection released a series of Noir double features to cash in on the growing interest in Film Noir. These titles were taken from the RKO, MGM, United Artists and Warner Brothers back catalogues all of which WAC now controls. Most had originally appeared back in 2007. These re-issues, thoughContinue reading “WHERE DANGER LIVES & TENSION Make For A Great Noir Double Bill”

The parade of Eagle-Lion Film restorations contiues with the Film Detective Special Edition of 1948s THE AMAZING MR X. This remarkable little movie, originally called THE SPIRITUALIST (which is a more accurate title), is full of surprises to delight the eye and the mind. The eye part is due to the gorgeous cinematography by theContinue reading “THE AMAZING MR X (1948) Is Truly Amazing”