Author Archives: chipkaufmann

I hesitated to purchase this set because, as a silent film enthusiast, I already have most of the films (11 of 14) in other collections. However I happen to be a fan of the Alloy Orchestra and that combined with a pristine, original title card version of Buster Keaton’s THE PLAYHOUSE (which looks gorgeous) andContinue reading “WILD & WEIRD: An Ideal Silent Movie Collection With Top Notch Alloy Orchestra Accompaniment”

I first saw Cinerama features on a boat trip to Europe in 1964. They were HOW THE WEST WAS WON, IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD, and my personal favorite THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM (I later saw KRAKATOA: EAST OF JAVA in a theater). It was a German liner that showedContinue reading “SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD: An Astonishing Look Back At A Very Different World”

SEARCH FOR PARADISE is the fourth of the Cinerama travelogue/documentaries and it doesn’t quite live up to its predecessors. The photography is stunning as you would expect and the travelogue narration of Lowell Thomas is not as parochial as in SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD, That being said, PARADISE is saddled with a bad caseContinue reading “SEARCH FOR PARADISE Is Not As Good As Its Predecessors”

Of all the so called “Poverty Row” studios that flourished in Hollywood from the 1920s through the 1940s, none was cheaper than PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation). They specialized in westerns, action melodramas, and horror pictures and never spent more than $100,000 on any film. Most of their movies were shot in a week or less.Continue reading “PRC’s STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP: Very Atmospheric Ghost Story On An Extremely Low Budget”

I’ve always had a soft spot for PRC Pictures. Producers Releasing Corporation was frequently referred to in most books about the Golden Age of Hollywood as “the lowest rung on the Poverty Row ladder”. While on the surface that statement is correct, PRC did manage to produce a number of memorable low budget offerings suchContinue reading “PRC’s Finest Hour”

As a true fan of Film Noir, no movie in this genre (no matter how cheap or how bad) is a waste of my time. However I must confess that I was completely unfamiliar with the character of Michael Shayne as I hadn’t read any of Brett Halliday’s books nor seen any of the moviesContinue reading “PRC’s Michael Shayne Mysteries are a Worthwhile Discovery”

Chances are this review may get lost among the other lighthouse titles such as Robert Eggars recent THE LIGHTHOUSE (2019) or Britain’s 2016 THE LIGHTHOUSE both of which are inspired by a real life tragedy from 1801. Those two movies have a contemporary edge (especially the former) but this LIGHTHOUSE (no THE) is a 1947Continue reading “PRC’S LIGHTHOUSE (1947) Shines Brightly”

Hats off to Kino Lorber for giving us a DVD version that does this film justice surpassing the earlier MGM release. There are two main reasons for this. 1) the carefully muted color that John Huston and Brit cameraman Oswald Morris devised to give the film a 19th century look (similar to a book illustration)Continue reading “MOBY DICK (1956): A Digital Release That Does John Huston’s Film Justice”

After the remarkable success of their first low budget effort, THE BLOB in 1958, producer Jack H. Harris and director Irwin S. Yeaworth put together an even better follow up in 4D MAN (1959). It did not achieve the success of its predecessor at the box office yet it would influence future shows like THEContinue reading “THE 4-D MAN (1959): A Low Budget Sci-Fi Flick That Has A Lot To Offer”

I’ll add my name to the long list of those asking for SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE to be released on DVD. It was made for a company called Cinema Center Films, one of a number of small independent firms that sprang up following the collapse of the Production Code in 1968. They shut their doors inContinue reading “SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE Finally Released On DVD”