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THE WHISTLE AT EATON FILES (1951) is a real time capsule of turn of the 20th century America and that is its greatest asset. Shot almost entirely in the town of Portsmouth, NH and a couple of other New England locations, it gives us the look and feel of what is was like back then.Continue reading “WHISTLE AT EATON FALLS: Long Lost Labor Docu-Drama Makes A Triumphant Return”

It has been over 70 years since the last Eagle-Lion film was made and the company was quickly forgotten as almost all of their movies became public domain property. Thanks to the recent renewed interest in American Film Noir, the company has been resurrected and several of their best titles are now available in qualityContinue reading “REPEAT PERFORMANCE: In Praise Of Eagle-Lion Films”

Of the nine films featured in this collection, I had only seen two (TROLLENBERG TERROR, BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE) and read about two others (HOUSE IN MARSH ROAD, CURSE OF THE WRAYDONS). The remaining five movies I had never heard of which isn’t surprising as they weren’t shown on American TV until recently. There areContinue reading “RARITIES FROM RENOWN PICTURES”

My wife and I have recently been working our way through the films of Lizabeth Scott, one of our favorite Noir actresses, starting with our personal favorite THE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS. Others we have viewed include STOLEN FACE, TOO LATE FOR TEARS, PITFALL, DARK CITY, and now DEAD RECKONING. Of that group, we foundContinue reading “DEAD RECKONING: Pretty Good Noir Let Down By Rambling Screenplay”

THE MECHANIC is the best of the 6 movies that Charles Bronson made with director Michael Winner. They were filmed between 1972 and 1985. It was the second film made right after CHATO’S LAND and just before THE STONE KILLER (1973). The notorious and wildly successful DEATH WISH (it spawned two sequels) would follow aContinue reading “THE MECHANIC (1972): Flawed But Fascinating Charles Bronson Flick”

I love Philip Marlowe movies. I especially love those from the 1940s when Raymond Chandler was still new and the Marlowe character was a hot property. Dick Powell got it started in 1944 for RKO with MURDER, MY SWEET (changed from FAREWELL MY LOVELY so his 1930s fans wouldn’t think it was a musical). It’sContinue reading “THE BRASHER DOUBLOON: 1947 Philip Marlowe B Movie Is Pretty Good”

I first saw THE TELL-TALE HEART in the mid 1960s on one of those ubiquitous late night horror shows. In my hometown of Greenville SC. It was called INFERNO with the tagline “The meeting place of the Supernatural AND the Unknown”. The print was rather murky but several scenes stood out such as the murderContinue reading “THE TELL-TALE HEART Is A Forgotten Gem That Should Be Better Known”

Having been successful with their Gothic horror film BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE, Robert S. Baker & Monty Berman next attempted to produce a black & white science fiction movie patterned after Hammer’s QUATERMASS series. Those movies dealt with alien invasions from outer space and how they were successfully thwarted. Once again they hired Hammer freelanceContinue reading “TROLLENBERG TERROR/THE CRAWLING EYE Is Pretty Good Until The Very End”

After the success of their Hammeresque Gothic horror film BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE, Robert S. Baker, Monty Berman, and their Tampean Productions decided to tackle the story of Jack The Ripper. The story had been cinematically told a number of times before most notably in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1927 THE LODGER and John Brahm’s 1944 remake.Continue reading “JACK THE RIPPER (1959) Is Still Solid Entertainment”

British filmmakers Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman were among the first to try and duplicate the success of Hammer Films’ horror pictures and they did quite well. One of the reasons is that they used Jimmy Sangster, the same screenplay writer that Hammer did. He would write four of their five genre films. AnotherContinue reading “BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE: Ersatz Hammer Horror From The Baker/Berman Team Is Surprisingly Good”