(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Irma la Douce"
Where You Can Stream It: Prime Video
The Pitch: Jack Lemmon stars as by-the-book but naïve police officer Nestor Patou who starts a new beat in Paris' red light district. Being a vigilant lawman, he decides to round up all of the sex workers and arrest them, which in turn exposes the corrupt ring within the police force that allows this to usually go on unnoticed by the cops. Nestor is swiftly fired from the force and finds himself drawn to one of the sex workers, the titular Irma la Douce (Shirley MacLaine). After he dispatches her abusive pimp, the two end up moving in together, but Nestor is rather uneasy about Irma still providing service to other men for work.
The Movie: "Irma la Douce"
Where You Can Stream It: Prime Video
The Pitch: Jack Lemmon stars as by-the-book but naïve police officer Nestor Patou who starts a new beat in Paris' red light district. Being a vigilant lawman, he decides to round up all of the sex workers and arrest them, which in turn exposes the corrupt ring within the police force that allows this to usually go on unnoticed by the cops. Nestor is swiftly fired from the force and finds himself drawn to one of the sex workers, the titular Irma la Douce (Shirley MacLaine). After he dispatches her abusive pimp, the two end up moving in together, but Nestor is rather uneasy about Irma still providing service to other men for work.
- 1/21/2023
- by Mike Shutt
- Slash Film
Humble Marty Piletti finally gets to home video in its proper widescreen format. Paddy Chayefsky’s TV play-turned theatrical feature really shines in Kino’s new 4K remaster. The performances of Betsy Blair and especially Ernest Borgnine provide the gentle magic, as non-glamorous Bronx-ites learn that two lonely people can find romance. It’s a winning formula and a thoughtful meditation on social reality in the pursuit of happiness. With a new audio commentary by Bryan Reesman and Max Evry.
Marty
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 flat open matte / 90 94 min. / Special Edition / Street Date July 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Joe Mantell, Esther Minciotti, August Ciolli, Karen Steele, Jerry Paris, Frank Sutton, James Bell, Jack Klugman.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Directors: Ted Haworth, Walter Simonds
Editing Supervisor: Alan Crosland Jr.
Original Music: Roy Webb
Written by Paddy Chayefsky from his teleplay
Produced by Harold Hecht,...
Marty
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1955 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 flat open matte / 90 94 min. / Special Edition / Street Date July 19, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Joe Mantell, Esther Minciotti, August Ciolli, Karen Steele, Jerry Paris, Frank Sutton, James Bell, Jack Klugman.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Directors: Ted Haworth, Walter Simonds
Editing Supervisor: Alan Crosland Jr.
Original Music: Roy Webb
Written by Paddy Chayefsky from his teleplay
Produced by Harold Hecht,...
- 7/12/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Writer-director Billy Wilder’s favorite and perhaps best movie takes the leap to 4K, revealing even more beauty in the images of Joseph Lashelle and the designs of Alexandre Trauner . . . we all feel like we’ve lived in C.C. Baxter’s New York flat. Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘dirty fairy tale’ best expresses the difficulty of keeping both a job and one’s self-respect — fitting in a love life seems altogether too much to ask. It all comes down to Shirley MacLaine’s sweet smile and Jack Lemmon’s eagerness to be a ‘mensch’ — when he’s discovering that a moral compromise is like selling one’s soul.
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
The Apartment 4K
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1960 / B&w / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date March 15, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens,...
- 4/2/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Cluny Brown
Blu ray
Criterion
1946/ 1.33:1 / 100 min.
Starring Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones
Cinematography by Joseph Lashelle
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
The last film completed by Ernst Lubitsch before his sudden death in 1947, Cluny Brown is the life-embracing work of a determined romantic – unintimidated by poor health let alone the World War that raged during the movie’s production.
The story of an unvarnished beauty who finds happiness in a leaky faucet, Jennifer Jones plays Cluny, the low-brow but high-spirited plumber’s apprentice and Charles Boyer is her romantically inclined guardian angel, Adam Belinski.
Belinski is a penniless refugee who drops by a posh party in search of cash and is mistaken for the maintenance man – just as Cluny arrives to unclog the pipes and save the day. She celebrates with one too many beverages (“My first sink and my first cocktail… I feel… ‘chirrupy’”) and is banished by her class-conscious...
Blu ray
Criterion
1946/ 1.33:1 / 100 min.
Starring Charles Boyer, Jennifer Jones
Cinematography by Joseph Lashelle
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
The last film completed by Ernst Lubitsch before his sudden death in 1947, Cluny Brown is the life-embracing work of a determined romantic – unintimidated by poor health let alone the World War that raged during the movie’s production.
The story of an unvarnished beauty who finds happiness in a leaky faucet, Jennifer Jones plays Cluny, the low-brow but high-spirited plumber’s apprentice and Charles Boyer is her romantically inclined guardian angel, Adam Belinski.
Belinski is a penniless refugee who drops by a posh party in search of cash and is mistaken for the maintenance man – just as Cluny arrives to unclog the pipes and save the day. She celebrates with one too many beverages (“My first sink and my first cocktail… I feel… ‘chirrupy’”) and is banished by her class-conscious...
- 9/17/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
One of the splashier WW2 combat sagas adapts Norman Mailer’s respected book but ends up a bona fide mess. Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson and Raymond Massey flail about in a compromised screen story, augmented with side-dish appearances by sultry Barbara Nichols and — even though she’s allowed to contribute almost nothing — famous ecdysiast Lili St. Cyr. Let the search for outtakes begin.
The Naked and the Dead
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date August 28, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey, Lili St. Cyr, Barbara Nichols, William Campbell, Richard Jaeckel, James Best, Joey Bishop, Jerry Paris, Robert Gist, L.Q. Jones, Max Showalter, John Beradino, Saundra Edwards, Lydia Goya, Val Hidey, Taffy O’Neil, Liz Renay, Grace Lee Whitney.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Arthur P. Schmidt
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Denis Sanders & Terry Sanders from the novel by Norman...
The Naked and the Dead
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 131 min. / Street Date August 28, 2018 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey, Lili St. Cyr, Barbara Nichols, William Campbell, Richard Jaeckel, James Best, Joey Bishop, Jerry Paris, Robert Gist, L.Q. Jones, Max Showalter, John Beradino, Saundra Edwards, Lydia Goya, Val Hidey, Taffy O’Neil, Liz Renay, Grace Lee Whitney.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Arthur P. Schmidt
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Denis Sanders & Terry Sanders from the novel by Norman...
- 9/1/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s lavish movie boils down to a dirty party joke, but they struck gold just the same. Audiences flocked to see Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine reunited in a fantasy Parisian red light district, in a show that looks like Disneyland for fans of Playboy cartoons.
Irma La Douce
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday, Bruce Yarnell, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney, Paul Dubov, Howard McNear, Cliff Osmond, Diki Lerner, Ruth & Jane Earl, Tura Satana.
Cinematography: Joseph La Shelle
Art Director: Alexander Trauner
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Marguerite Monnot, André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond from a play by Alexandre Breffort
Produced by Edward L. Alperson, I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder
Directed by Billy Wilder
Although there’s...
Irma La Douce
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 143 min. / Street Date July 17, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Lou Jacobi, Herschel Bernardi, Hope Holiday, Bruce Yarnell, Joan Shawlee, Grace Lee Whitney, Paul Dubov, Howard McNear, Cliff Osmond, Diki Lerner, Ruth & Jane Earl, Tura Satana.
Cinematography: Joseph La Shelle
Art Director: Alexander Trauner
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Marguerite Monnot, André Previn
Written by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond from a play by Alexandre Breffort
Produced by Edward L. Alperson, I.A.L. Diamond, Billy Wilder
Directed by Billy Wilder
Although there’s...
- 7/14/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The blacklist strikes back as both writer Ben Maddow and director Martin Ritt examine the booming ’50s phenomenon of The Suburbs. No money up front will get you into an ‘estate’ of your dreams, provided you’re white. Possibly a little too direct in its messaging of sickness in the American dream, much of what we see in the ticky-tacky subdivision of Sunrise Hills will ring true to those of us who lived it.
No Down Payment
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle, Robert H. Harris, Aki Aleong, Charles Herbert, Mimi Gibson.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Lois R. Loeffler
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Philip Yordan, front for Ben Maddow; from the book by John McPartland
Produced by Jerry Wald...
No Down Payment
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1957 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date April 17, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Joanne Woodward, Sheree North, Tony Randall, Jeffrey Hunter, Cameron Mitchell, Patricia Owens, Barbara Rush, Pat Hingle, Robert H. Harris, Aki Aleong, Charles Herbert, Mimi Gibson.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Lois R. Loeffler
Original Music: Leigh Harline
Written by Philip Yordan, front for Ben Maddow; from the book by John McPartland
Produced by Jerry Wald...
- 4/28/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Savant’s vote for the best romantic comedy ever goes to a sordid fable about problems in the big city Rat Race: keeping both a job and one’s self-respect. Picking up where 1930s pre-Code movies left off, Billy Wilder and I.A.L. Diamond’s ‘how to succeed’ thesis divides people into two groups, Takers and those that Get Took. And yet the message it delivers is life & love- affirming.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
The Apartment
Blu-ray
Arrow Video USA
1960 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 125 min. / Limited Edition / Street Date December 12 (29?) (?), 2017 / Available from Arrow Video
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen, David Lewis, Hope Holiday, Joan Shawlee, Naomi Stevens, Edie Adams, Johnny Seven, Joyce Jameson, Willard Waterman, David White.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Daniel Mandell
Original Music: Adolph Deutsch
Written by I.A.L. Diamond and Billy Wilder
Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
… and it’s also the all-time champion New Years’ movie.
- 12/30/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
No, it’s not a the-day-after sequel to The Lost Weekend, but a class-act mystery-horror from 20th-Fox, at a time when the studio wasn’t keen on scare shows. John Brahm directs the ill-fated Laird Cregar as a mad musician . . . or, at least a musician driven mad by a perfidious femme fatale, Darryl Zanuck’s top glamour girl Linda Darnell.
Hangover Square
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1945 /B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date November 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Faye Marlowe, Glenn Langan, Alan Napier.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Harry Reynolds
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Barré Lyndon
Produced by Robert Bassler
Directed by John Brahm
Here’s a serious quality upgrade for horror fans. Although technically a period murder thriller, as a horror film John Brahm’s tense Hangover Square betters its precursor The Lodger in almost every department. We don...
Hangover Square
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1945 /B&W / 1:37 Academy / 77 min. / Street Date November 21, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Laird Cregar, Linda Darnell, George Sanders, Faye Marlowe, Glenn Langan, Alan Napier.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Harry Reynolds
Original Music: Bernard Herrmann
Written by Barré Lyndon
Produced by Robert Bassler
Directed by John Brahm
Here’s a serious quality upgrade for horror fans. Although technically a period murder thriller, as a horror film John Brahm’s tense Hangover Square betters its precursor The Lodger in almost every department. We don...
- 11/28/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
One of the best Hollywood historical epics takes Technicolor to Mexico for a Production Code version of La conquista: the Inquisition is still bad, but the Church is exonerated. Likewise with the invasion — Cesar Romero embodies a marvelous Hernán Cortés, substantially less murderous than the one we now know from accurate history books. Tyrone Power is the heartthrob hero and newcomer Jean Peters the lowborn girl who loves him. The magnificent scenery is matched by the music score of Alfred Newman.
Captain from Castile
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 137 Academy / 141 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb, John Sutton, Antonio Moreno, Thomas Gomez, Alan Mowbray, Barbara Lawrence, George Zucco, Roy Roberts, Marc Lawrence, Reed Hadley, Robert Karnes, Estela Inda, Chris-Pin Martin, Jay Silverheels, Gilberto González.
Cinematography: Arthur Arling, Charles G. Clarke, Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Barbara McLean...
Captain from Castile
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1947 / Color / 137 Academy / 141 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95
Starring: Tyrone Power, Jean Peters, Cesar Romero, Lee J. Cobb, John Sutton, Antonio Moreno, Thomas Gomez, Alan Mowbray, Barbara Lawrence, George Zucco, Roy Roberts, Marc Lawrence, Reed Hadley, Robert Karnes, Estela Inda, Chris-Pin Martin, Jay Silverheels, Gilberto González.
Cinematography: Arthur Arling, Charles G. Clarke, Joseph Lashelle
Film Editor: Barbara McLean...
- 10/28/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
"The Furniture," by Daniel Walber, is our weekly series on Production Design. You can click on the images to see them in magnified detail.
This week I’d like to talk about gas lighting. That’s in addition to gaslighting, which is obviously related. Basically, I’d like to talk about the way that Gaslight (1944) uses gas lighting to distill the concept of gaslighting. It was so effective that “gaslighting” stuck, and has remained a popularly understood concept nearly 75 years after the film debuted.
Of course, these days the term has been almost completely divorced from memory of the original play or its various adaptations. The 1944 version is mostly remembered for winning Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar, and deservedly so. Her performance is astonishing, newly powerful with each successive viewing.
However, the film did win a second Oscar. Not for director George Cukor, who wasn’t even nominated. Nor for cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg,...
This week I’d like to talk about gas lighting. That’s in addition to gaslighting, which is obviously related. Basically, I’d like to talk about the way that Gaslight (1944) uses gas lighting to distill the concept of gaslighting. It was so effective that “gaslighting” stuck, and has remained a popularly understood concept nearly 75 years after the film debuted.
Of course, these days the term has been almost completely divorced from memory of the original play or its various adaptations. The 1944 version is mostly remembered for winning Ingrid Bergman her first Oscar, and deservedly so. Her performance is astonishing, newly powerful with each successive viewing.
However, the film did win a second Oscar. Not for director George Cukor, who wasn’t even nominated. Nor for cinematographer Joseph Ruttenberg,...
- 10/9/2017
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmExperience
A big welcome to UK disc purveyors Indicator, or Powerhouse, or how does Powerhouse Indicator sound? Savant’s first review from the new label is a favorite from the Columbia library. The extras are the lure: they company has snagged long-form, in-depth interviews with James Fox and director Arthur Penn. Everybody’s written about The Chase but here Penn tells his side of the story.
The Chase (1966)
Blu-ray + DVD
Powerhouse: Indicator
1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date September 25, 2017 / Available from Amazon UK / £14.99
Starring: Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, E.G. Marshall,
Angie Dickinson, Janice Rule, Miriam Hopkins, Martha Hyer, Richard Bradford,
Robert Duvall, James Fox, Diana Hyland, Henry Hull, Jocelyn Brando, Clifton James, Steve Ihnat
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Production Designer: Richard Day
Art Direction: Robert Luthardt
Film Editor: Gene Milford
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Lillian Hellman from the novel by Horton Foote
Produced by Sam Spiegel
Directed by Arthur Penn
Yes,...
The Chase (1966)
Blu-ray + DVD
Powerhouse: Indicator
1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date September 25, 2017 / Available from Amazon UK / £14.99
Starring: Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, E.G. Marshall,
Angie Dickinson, Janice Rule, Miriam Hopkins, Martha Hyer, Richard Bradford,
Robert Duvall, James Fox, Diana Hyland, Henry Hull, Jocelyn Brando, Clifton James, Steve Ihnat
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Production Designer: Richard Day
Art Direction: Robert Luthardt
Film Editor: Gene Milford
Original Music: John Barry
Written by Lillian Hellman from the novel by Horton Foote
Produced by Sam Spiegel
Directed by Arthur Penn
Yes,...
- 9/26/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Witness the ‘fifties transformation of the femme fatale, from scheming murderess to self-deluding social climber. Barbara Stanwyck redefines herself once again in Gerd Oswald’s best-directed picture, a searing portrayal of needs and anxieties in the nervous decade. With fine support from Raymond Burr, Virginia Grey and Royal Dano.
Crime of Passion
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 /
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Leslie Thomas
Original Music: Paul Dunlap
Original Story and Screenplay by Jo Eisinger
Produced by Herman Cohen, Robert Goldstein
Directed by Gerd Oswald
A key title in the development of the Film Noir, 1957’s Crime of Passion shows how much the style had departed from the dark romanticism and expressive visuals of the previous decade. The best mid-’50s noirs strike a marvelously cynical and existentially bleak attitude regarding crime and society.
Crime of Passion
Blu-ray
ClassicFlix
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 84 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 /
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Sterling Hayden, Raymond Burr, Fay Wray, Virginia Grey, Royal Dano.
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Leslie Thomas
Original Music: Paul Dunlap
Original Story and Screenplay by Jo Eisinger
Produced by Herman Cohen, Robert Goldstein
Directed by Gerd Oswald
A key title in the development of the Film Noir, 1957’s Crime of Passion shows how much the style had departed from the dark romanticism and expressive visuals of the previous decade. The best mid-’50s noirs strike a marvelously cynical and existentially bleak attitude regarding crime and society.
- 9/16/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Barns are a-burning, Paul Newman is recommended to Joanne Woodward as ‘a big stud horse’ and Lee Remick oozes sexuality all over Martin Ritt’s CinemaScope screen. William Faulkner may be the literary source, but this tale of ambition in the family of yet another southern Big Daddy is given the faux Tennessee Williams treatment — it’s a grand soap opera with a fistful of great stars having a grand time.
The Long, Hot Summer
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date August 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Richard Anderson
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Maurice Ransford, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor: Louis R. Loeffler
Original Music: Alex North
Written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. from stories and a novel by William Faulkner
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Martin Ritt
Time...
The Long, Hot Summer
Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1958 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date August 14, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick, Angela Lansbury, Richard Anderson
Cinematography: Joseph Lashelle
Art Direction: Maurice Ransford, Lyle R. Wheeler
Film Editor: Louis R. Loeffler
Original Music: Alex North
Written by Irving Ravetch, Harriet Frank Jr. from stories and a novel by William Faulkner
Produced by Jerry Wald
Directed by Martin Ritt
Time...
- 8/22/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
This past weekend, the American Society of Cinematographers awarded Greig Fraser for his contribution to Lion as last year’s greatest accomplishment in the field. Of course, his achievement was just a small sampling of the fantastic work from directors of photography, but it did give us a stronger hint at what may be the winner on Oscar night. Ahead of the ceremony, we have a new video compilation that honors all the past winners in the category at the Academy Awards
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
Created by Burger Fiction, it spans the stunning silent landmark Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans all the way up to the end of Emmanuel Lubezki‘s three-peat win for The Revenant. Aside from the advancements in color and aspect ration, it’s a thrill to see some of cinema’s most iconic shots side-by-side. However, the best way to experience the evolution of the craft is by...
- 2/6/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Dana Andrews movies: Film noir actor excelled in both major and minor crime dramas. Dana Andrews movies: First-rate film noir actor excelled in both classics & minor fare One of the best-looking and most underrated actors of the studio era, Dana Andrews was a first-rate film noir/crime thriller star. Oftentimes dismissed as no more than a “dependable” or “reliable” leading man, in truth Andrews brought to life complex characters that never quite fit into the mold of Hollywood's standardized heroes – or rather, antiheroes. Unlike the cynical, tough-talking, and (albeit at times self-delusionally) self-confident characters played by the likes of Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and, however lazily, Robert Mitchum, Andrews created portrayals of tortured men at odds with their social standing, their sense of ethics, and even their romantic yearnings. Not infrequently, there was only a very fine line separating his (anti)heroes from most movie villains.
- 1/22/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Horton Foote, Lillian Hellman and Arthur Penn's All-Star vision of an Ugly America found few friends in 1965; now its overstated scenes of social injustice and violence are daily events. Marlon Brando leads a terrific cast -- Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Angie Dickinson, Robert Duvall! -- to endure the worst Saturday ever to hit one cursed Texas township. The Chase (1966) Blu-ray Twilight Time 1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date October 11, 2016 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95 Starring Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, E.G. Marshall, Angie Dickinson, Janice Rule, Miriam Hopkins, Martha Hyer, Richard Bradford, Robert Duvall, James Fox, Diana Hyland, Henry Hull, Jocelyn Brando, Clifton James, Steve Ihnat Cinematography Joseph Lashelle Production Designer Richard Day Art Direction Robert Luthardt Film Editor Gene Milford Original Music John Barry Written by Lillian Hellman from the novel by Horton Foote Produced by Sam Spiegel Directed by Arthur Penn
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson...
- 10/29/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
From the factory-like offices of the 1960s to the endlessness of the internet in the 21st century, The Apartment is an evergreen classic that endures to remind us that a little companionship can go a long way.
Billy Wilder made a career out of making timeless classics. From the noir groundbreaker Double Indemnity to the boundary-pushing comedy Some Like It Hot, his run cemented him as an all-time great. But it's his five-time Oscar winning film The Apartment that unsentimentally tackled love, sex, and loneliness in modern America without knowing it would stay modern for at least fifty more years.
The Apartment was released in the summer of 1960. And with the new decade brought a new shift in the United States in the way we approached sex in film and culture. The Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes referred to as “The Hays Code”) was loosening its grip, and the cultural...
Billy Wilder made a career out of making timeless classics. From the noir groundbreaker Double Indemnity to the boundary-pushing comedy Some Like It Hot, his run cemented him as an all-time great. But it's his five-time Oscar winning film The Apartment that unsentimentally tackled love, sex, and loneliness in modern America without knowing it would stay modern for at least fifty more years.
The Apartment was released in the summer of 1960. And with the new decade brought a new shift in the United States in the way we approached sex in film and culture. The Motion Picture Production Code (sometimes referred to as “The Hays Code”) was loosening its grip, and the cultural...
- 9/7/2016
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Collin Llewellyn)
- Cinelinx
The character setup in this classy noir potboiler couldn't be better, with Ida Lupino a sensation as the mountain lodge chanteuse who knows her way around men. For its first two acts the show is all but perfect. Road House Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 95 min. / Street Date September 13, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Celeste Holm, Richard Widmark, O.Z. Whitehead, Robert Karnes, George Beranger, Ian MacDonald, Ray Teal. Cinematography Joseph Lashelle Film Editor James B. Clark Original Music Cyril J. Mokridge Written by Edward Chodorov, Margaret Gruen, Oscar Saul Produced by Edward Chodorov Directed by Jean Negulesco
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
For the first two-thirds of Jean Negulesco's Road House I thought I was seeing one of the best films noirs of the late 1940s, and even when it sagged at the end it came up with a pretty good score.
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
For the first two-thirds of Jean Negulesco's Road House I thought I was seeing one of the best films noirs of the late 1940s, and even when it sagged at the end it came up with a pretty good score.
- 8/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Otto Preminger looks at police corruption and comes up with a classy noir starring Dana Andrews as a rogue cop and Gene Tierney as the woman whose father he accidentally frames for murder. With Karl Malden, Gary Merrill and velvety-slick B&W cinematography by Joseph Lashelle. Where the Sidewalk Ends Blu-ray Twilight Time Limited Edition 1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 95 min. / Ship Date February 9, 2016 / available through Twilight Time Movies / 29.95 Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Gary Merrill, Bert Freed, Tom Tully, Karl Malden, Ruth Donnelly, Craig Stevens. Cinematography Joseph Lashelle Art Direction J. Russell Spencer, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Louis R. Loeffler Original Music Cyril J. Mockridge Written by Ben Hecht, Robert E. Kent, Frank P. Rosenberg, Victor Trivas from the novel Night Cry by William L. Stuart Produced and Directed by Otto Preminger
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Want to see an example of a gloriously polished studio production, a film noir...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Want to see an example of a gloriously polished studio production, a film noir...
- 2/21/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Though it’s a famously compromised vision, to be sure, director John Cassavetes’ third film, A Child is Waiting, represents an important cinematic juncture. Meant to highlight society’s cruelty exacted upon handicapped children via behind-the-scenes details of a new cutting edge school run by an objective physician, the film’s noble ambitions were unfortunately marred by creative forces in disagreement.
After the fallout of his experiences with studio filmmaking, Cassavetes wouldn’t return until 1968 with the landmark Faces, and thus begin building a filmography earning him the moniker ‘father of independent cinema.’ And yet, there’s a scarred, dignified beauty about this troubled motion picture, perhaps as easily identifiable as the warring schools of thought amongst its main protagonists in the film.
A box office failure, it received a cool critical reception, disowned by its director after he was fired in post-production by producer Stanley Kramer. It’s unavoidable...
After the fallout of his experiences with studio filmmaking, Cassavetes wouldn’t return until 1968 with the landmark Faces, and thus begin building a filmography earning him the moniker ‘father of independent cinema.’ And yet, there’s a scarred, dignified beauty about this troubled motion picture, perhaps as easily identifiable as the warring schools of thought amongst its main protagonists in the film.
A box office failure, it received a cool critical reception, disowned by its director after he was fired in post-production by producer Stanley Kramer. It’s unavoidable...
- 12/1/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Murder mysteries are so commonplace on TV that each week offers seemingly dozens of them on police procedural series and detective shows. But in the movies, whodunits are surprisingly rare, and really good ones rarer still. There's really only a handful of movies that excel in offering the viewer the pleasure of solving the crime along with a charismatic sleuth, often with an all-star cast of suspects hamming it up as they try not to appear guilty.
One of the best was "Murder on the Orient Express," released 40 years ago this week, on November 24, 1974. Like many films adapted from Agatha Christie novels, this one featured an eccentric but meticulous investigator (in this case, Albert Finney as Belgian epicure Hercule Poirot), a glamorous and claustrophobic setting (here, the famous luxury train from Istanbul to Paris), and a tricky murder plot with an outrageous solution. The film won an Oscar for passenger...
One of the best was "Murder on the Orient Express," released 40 years ago this week, on November 24, 1974. Like many films adapted from Agatha Christie novels, this one featured an eccentric but meticulous investigator (in this case, Albert Finney as Belgian epicure Hercule Poirot), a glamorous and claustrophobic setting (here, the famous luxury train from Istanbul to Paris), and a tricky murder plot with an outrageous solution. The film won an Oscar for passenger...
- 11/28/2014
- by Gary Susman
- Moviefone
After success in the American theatre, a few acting roles on the screen and a series of false starts as a movie director, Otto Preminger, the Austrian protege of Max Reinhardt, suddenly revealed himself as a master when he took over the direction of this classic thriller from Rouben Mamoulian in 1944. It's basically a B-feature whodunnit posing the question: who murdered the beautiful New York advertising executive Laura Hunt? But the film is raised to classic status by the witty script, David Raksin's score, Joseph Lashelle's subtle monchrome photography, and the way Preminger is more concerned with exploring the perversity of its generally dislikable characters (including the homicide detective) than in creating suspense. Preminger made darker, more characteristically noir films than this, but his only movie that's as good, or perhaps better, is Anatomy of a Murder.
CrimeDramaThrillerPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
CrimeDramaThrillerPhilip French
guardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
- 2/26/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Jane Greer, Out of the Past Today is neither Jane Greer's birth nor death anniversary. Even so, Turner Classic Movies is devoting Saturday evening/night to the dangerously seductive star of a number of (mostly) Rko productions of the late '40s and early '50s. And who's complaining? Unfortunately, Out of the Past, perhaps Greer's best-known film and performance, is already in the past. It was shown earlier this evening. Right now, TCM is showing Don Siegel's Mexico-set crime drama The Big Steal, featuring Greer, her Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum, William Bendix, Patrick Knowles, and silent-film veterans Ramon Novarro and Don Alvarado. Next comes my favorite Jane Greer performance, as the good girl gone bad — or bad girl attempting to go good — in John Cromwell's The Company She Keeps. This all-but-forgotten little melodramatic gem is a must for another reason as well: Lizabeth Scott,...
- 6/26/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
I watched Martin Ritt's The Long, Hot Summer (1958) hoping - like Joanne Woodward's Clara Varner - to get lost in Paul Newman's dazzling blue eyes. Sadly, Orson Welles' prosthetic nose proves to be the major distraction in this would-be steamy melodrama filled with mindless chatter and annoying Deep Southern accents.
In 1958, Newman was arguably at the height of his matinée idol beauty. It was the year he played Billy the Kid in Arthur Penn's The Left Handed Gun and also impressed as the alcoholic Brick Pollitt in Richard Brooks' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Like the formerly mentioned Tennessee Williams play, The Long, Hot Summer is set in Mississippi and features an overbearing patriarch who's obsessed with perpetuating his dynasty.
Burl Ives' Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof did at least have that gaggle of "no-neck monsters" to coo over.
In 1958, Newman was arguably at the height of his matinée idol beauty. It was the year he played Billy the Kid in Arthur Penn's The Left Handed Gun and also impressed as the alcoholic Brick Pollitt in Richard Brooks' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Like the formerly mentioned Tennessee Williams play, The Long, Hot Summer is set in Mississippi and features an overbearing patriarch who's obsessed with perpetuating his dynasty.
Burl Ives' Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof did at least have that gaggle of "no-neck monsters" to coo over.
- 2/1/2011
- by Daniel Green
- CineVue
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.