Stan Lee’s estate is one step closer to clearing up a messy legal battle involving accusations of exploitation and elder abuse by the comic book legend’s inner circle, with the settlement of a lawsuit against Lee’s former business manager, Jerardo “Jerry” Olivarez.
According to a court document filed on Monday, Lee’s estate moved to dismiss claims against Olivarez. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The settlement doesn’t include claims against Lee’s former attorney, Uri Litvak.
The four-year legal saga, sparked by The Hollywood Reporter‘s investigation detailing accusations of elder abuse, revolves around an ugly battle over Lee’s estate that includes his daughter, J.C., and people who allegedly manipulated her in efforts to exploit her famous father. Lee accused J.C., his only child and heir to his estate, of verbally abusing him. THR reported that J.C.’s outbursts turned...
According to a court document filed on Monday, Lee’s estate moved to dismiss claims against Olivarez. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The settlement doesn’t include claims against Lee’s former attorney, Uri Litvak.
The four-year legal saga, sparked by The Hollywood Reporter‘s investigation detailing accusations of elder abuse, revolves around an ugly battle over Lee’s estate that includes his daughter, J.C., and people who allegedly manipulated her in efforts to exploit her famous father. Lee accused J.C., his only child and heir to his estate, of verbally abusing him. THR reported that J.C.’s outbursts turned...
- 7/27/2022
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Mad Magician
Blu ray
Powerhouse Films/Indicator
1954 / 1.85:1 / 73 min.
Starring Vincent Price, Donald Randolph, Eva Gabor
Cinematography by Bert Glennon
Directed by John Brahm
For Vincent Price, revenge was a dish served cold and in 3-D. In 1954, just a year after his three-dimensional rampage in Andre DeToth‘s House of Wax, the actor returned in a virtual remake – the budget was lower and the black and white imagery couldn’t hold a candle to the rich WarnerColor but John Brahm’s The Mad Magician scares up some legitimate in-your-face fun.
Price plays Don Gallico, an undervalued inventor at Illusions, Inc., a full service shop for professional prestidigitators. It’s a dead end job in more ways than one and his newest creation could give him the break he’s waited for. His biggest obstacle is his own boss, a Dickensian villain named Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph) who’s managed...
Blu ray
Powerhouse Films/Indicator
1954 / 1.85:1 / 73 min.
Starring Vincent Price, Donald Randolph, Eva Gabor
Cinematography by Bert Glennon
Directed by John Brahm
For Vincent Price, revenge was a dish served cold and in 3-D. In 1954, just a year after his three-dimensional rampage in Andre DeToth‘s House of Wax, the actor returned in a virtual remake – the budget was lower and the black and white imagery couldn’t hold a candle to the rich WarnerColor but John Brahm’s The Mad Magician scares up some legitimate in-your-face fun.
Price plays Don Gallico, an undervalued inventor at Illusions, Inc., a full service shop for professional prestidigitators. It’s a dead end job in more ways than one and his newest creation could give him the break he’s waited for. His biggest obstacle is his own boss, a Dickensian villain named Ross Ormond (Donald Randolph) who’s managed...
- 3/21/2020
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Mike Hammer is in action again! Well, not exactly. Producer Victor Saville’s third go-round with Mickey Spillane’s famed character doesn’t do the franchise justice. Hammer-philes will be astounded by this thriller’s decidedly un-thrilling thrills: there’s little to connect the inexpressive nice guy Robert Bray with the super-popular, super-violent avenger of the books. Spillane’s original is abandoned in favor of a tame ‘who’s got the diamonds?’ storyline, with some compensation in a string of exciting ‘Hammer dames.’ I checked twice — Mike doesn’t shoot Any of them in the stomach.
My Gun Is Quick
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date March 24, 2020 / 24.95
Starring: Robert Bray, Whitney Blake, Patricia Donahue, Donald Randolph, Pamela Duncan, Booth Coleman, Jan Chaney, Genie Coree, Richard Garland, Charles Boaz, Peter Mamakos, Claire Carleton, Phil Arnold, John Dennis, Terence de Marney, Ray Kellogg.
My Gun Is Quick
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 91 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date March 24, 2020 / 24.95
Starring: Robert Bray, Whitney Blake, Patricia Donahue, Donald Randolph, Pamela Duncan, Booth Coleman, Jan Chaney, Genie Coree, Richard Garland, Charles Boaz, Peter Mamakos, Claire Carleton, Phil Arnold, John Dennis, Terence de Marney, Ray Kellogg.
- 3/3/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Doug Oswald
Jack Lemmon is cast against type with co-star Glenn Ford in “Cowboy,” a gritty western available on Blu-ray by Twilight Time. The movie has a rousing start with titles by Saul Bass accompanied by a title score composed by George Duning, setting the mood for this western directed by Delmer Daves. No stranger to westerns, Daves also directed Ford in “Jubal” and “3:10 to Yuma.” The drama in Daves’ westerns was atypical of the genre and unfolded in a more realistic way with no clearly defined hero or villain in an era where the western followed a typical story pattern with clearly defined depictions of heroism and masculinity. Daves was part of a change which redefined the western in the 50s and in some ways prepared us for the inside-out world of the spaghetti westerns to come in the 1960s.
Frank Harris (Lemmon) is a Chicago hotel...
Jack Lemmon is cast against type with co-star Glenn Ford in “Cowboy,” a gritty western available on Blu-ray by Twilight Time. The movie has a rousing start with titles by Saul Bass accompanied by a title score composed by George Duning, setting the mood for this western directed by Delmer Daves. No stranger to westerns, Daves also directed Ford in “Jubal” and “3:10 to Yuma.” The drama in Daves’ westerns was atypical of the genre and unfolded in a more realistic way with no clearly defined hero or villain in an era where the western followed a typical story pattern with clearly defined depictions of heroism and masculinity. Daves was part of a change which redefined the western in the 50s and in some ways prepared us for the inside-out world of the spaghetti westerns to come in the 1960s.
Frank Harris (Lemmon) is a Chicago hotel...
- 9/16/2019
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
It’s big, it buzzes, and it screams like a banshee. So why is the Mantis monster so ho-hum? Universal-International tries to squeak out another boffo big bug epic, but 1957 screens were already crowded with grasshoppers and scorpions — and the screenplay is derivative — and somebody allowed producer William Alland to throw in every stock shot that wasn’t nailed down.
The Deadly Mantis
Blu-ray
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 27.99
Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Harry Tyler.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter, Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Chester Schaeffer
Original Music: Irving Gertz, William Lava, Henry Mancini
Written by Martin Berkeley, William Alland
Produced by William Alland
Directed by Nathan Juran
I grew up partly in the Mojave Desert. Our red ants were aggressive (and they stung!), our grasshoppers big and strong, and our scorpions were as scary as the...
The Deadly Mantis
Blu-ray
1957 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 79 min. / Street Date March 19, 2019 / 27.99
Starring: Craig Stevens, William Hopper, Alix Talton, Donald Randolph, Pat Conway, Florenz Ames, Paul Smith, Harry Tyler.
Cinematography: Ellis W. Carter, Clifford Stine
Film Editor: Chester Schaeffer
Original Music: Irving Gertz, William Lava, Henry Mancini
Written by Martin Berkeley, William Alland
Produced by William Alland
Directed by Nathan Juran
I grew up partly in the Mojave Desert. Our red ants were aggressive (and they stung!), our grasshoppers big and strong, and our scorpions were as scary as the...
- 3/16/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
By Hank Reineke
Though Vincent Price would eventually garner a well-deserved reputation as Hollywood’s preeminent bogeyman, it was only really with André De Toth’s House of Wax (1953) that the actor would become associated with all things sinister. In some sense the playful, nervously elegant Price was an odd successor to the horror film-maestro throne: he was a somewhat aristocratic psychotic who shared neither Boris Karloff’s cold and malevolent scowl nor Bela Lugosi’s distinctly unhinged madness or old-world exoticism.
His early film career started in a less pigeonholed manner: as a budding movie actor with a seven year contract for Universal Studios in the 1940s, the tall, elegant Price would appear in a number of semi-distinguished if modestly-budgeted romantic comedies and dramas. His contract with Universal was apparently non-exclusive, and his most memorable roles for the studio were his earliest. In a harbinger of things to come,...
Though Vincent Price would eventually garner a well-deserved reputation as Hollywood’s preeminent bogeyman, it was only really with André De Toth’s House of Wax (1953) that the actor would become associated with all things sinister. In some sense the playful, nervously elegant Price was an odd successor to the horror film-maestro throne: he was a somewhat aristocratic psychotic who shared neither Boris Karloff’s cold and malevolent scowl nor Bela Lugosi’s distinctly unhinged madness or old-world exoticism.
His early film career started in a less pigeonholed manner: as a budding movie actor with a seven year contract for Universal Studios in the 1940s, the tall, elegant Price would appear in a number of semi-distinguished if modestly-budgeted romantic comedies and dramas. His contract with Universal was apparently non-exclusive, and his most memorable roles for the studio were his earliest. In a harbinger of things to come,...
- 1/30/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
The Mad Magician
3-D Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 72 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Donald Randolph, Lenita Lane, Patrick O’Neal, Jay Novello, Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Tom Powers, Lyle Talbot.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Editor: Grant Whytock
Original Music: Arthur Lange, Emil Newman
Written by: Crane Wilbur
Produced by: Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Twilight Time, bless ’em, hands us another treat to go with their 3-D discs of Man in the Dark, Miss Sadie Thompson and Harlock Space Pirate 3-D — and this time it’s a fun bit of 1950s horror — with a hot pair of short subject extras.
There have been plenty of theories as to why horror films became scarce after WW2; it’s as if the U.S. film industry took a ten-year break from the supernatural, and partly...
3-D Blu-ray
Twilight Time
1954 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 72 min. / Street Date January 10, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor, John Emery, Donald Randolph, Lenita Lane, Patrick O’Neal, Jay Novello, Corey Allen, Conrad Brooks, Tom Powers, Lyle Talbot.
Cinematography: Bert Glennon
Editor: Grant Whytock
Original Music: Arthur Lange, Emil Newman
Written by: Crane Wilbur
Produced by: Bryan Foy
Directed by John Brahm
Twilight Time, bless ’em, hands us another treat to go with their 3-D discs of Man in the Dark, Miss Sadie Thompson and Harlock Space Pirate 3-D — and this time it’s a fun bit of 1950s horror — with a hot pair of short subject extras.
There have been plenty of theories as to why horror films became scarce after WW2; it’s as if the U.S. film industry took a ten-year break from the supernatural, and partly...
- 1/13/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The Mad Magician (1954)
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor
Writer: Crane Wilbur
Director: John Brahm
Synopsis (From Sony):
Vincent Price plays Gallico the Great, an inspired inventor of magic acts who longs to perform his creations himself. When he finally gets his chance, the production is closed by Gallico’s cruel manager, who wants a rival magician to perform Gallico’s greatest trick, The Lady and the Buzz Saw. An enraged Gallico turns into a homicidal maniac, taking out his victims with the same methods he used to create his illusions.
Review:
The Mad Magician is one of those movies where a man is wronged in the worst imaginable ways, and he goes off the deep end, and you don’t blame him. Matter of fact, you’ll root for him. Losing his hard work to his manager is really just the tip of the iceberg; something of...
Starring: Vincent Price, Mary Murphy, Eva Gabor
Writer: Crane Wilbur
Director: John Brahm
Synopsis (From Sony):
Vincent Price plays Gallico the Great, an inspired inventor of magic acts who longs to perform his creations himself. When he finally gets his chance, the production is closed by Gallico’s cruel manager, who wants a rival magician to perform Gallico’s greatest trick, The Lady and the Buzz Saw. An enraged Gallico turns into a homicidal maniac, taking out his victims with the same methods he used to create his illusions.
Review:
The Mad Magician is one of those movies where a man is wronged in the worst imaginable ways, and he goes off the deep end, and you don’t blame him. Matter of fact, you’ll root for him. Losing his hard work to his manager is really just the tip of the iceberg; something of...
- 10/5/2013
- by Eric King
- The Liberal Dead
Toronto -- Nearly a year and a half after his arrest on the way home from the 2007 American Film Market, California authorities have dropped all federal bank fraud charges against former Peace Arch Entertainment CEO Gary Howsam.
The Toronto-based film producer on Tuesday said the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California dismissed all charges regarding film finance dealings Howsam and partner Harel Goldstein had with the Comerica Bank of California in 1999 and 2000.
Howsam faced one count of bank fraud and six counts of allegedly falsifying international film distribution agreements to secure $7 million in bank loans from Comerica.
But before his case could go to trial, Howsam's defense team, led by Donald Randolph of Randolph and Associates in Santa Monica, uncovered evidence that the government's star witness, his former partner Goldstein, lied when implicating Howsam in a ruse to deceive Comerica.
"We compiled a dossier against him (Goldstein...
The Toronto-based film producer on Tuesday said the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California dismissed all charges regarding film finance dealings Howsam and partner Harel Goldstein had with the Comerica Bank of California in 1999 and 2000.
Howsam faced one count of bank fraud and six counts of allegedly falsifying international film distribution agreements to secure $7 million in bank loans from Comerica.
But before his case could go to trial, Howsam's defense team, led by Donald Randolph of Randolph and Associates in Santa Monica, uncovered evidence that the government's star witness, his former partner Goldstein, lied when implicating Howsam in a ruse to deceive Comerica.
"We compiled a dossier against him (Goldstein...
- 4/28/2009
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Former Peace Arch Entertainment CEO Gary Howsam has been indicted by a federal grand jury for creating a ruse that included falsifying international distribution agreements in order to secure $7 million in financing for the film "Going Back".
The eight-page indictment filed Nov. 20 lists seven counts against Howsam for fraud. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for each count, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Howsam's attorney, Donald Randolph, could not be reached for comment. Shortly after his client's arrest, he said the government's case "is an accusation and nothing more. What actually occurs in these cases will play itself out in a period of months."
As CEO of Canadian indie film company Greenlight Film & Television, Howsam is accused of partnering with international sales agent Hilltop Entertainment to create fake and forged documents that appeared to be real international distribution deals with foreign companies for "Going Back".
The companies Howsam claimed were on board for international distribution include Television Francaise 1, Tele-Munchen, Eagle Pictures, Gaga Media and Filmax/Sogedasa.
The eight-page indictment filed Nov. 20 lists seven counts against Howsam for fraud. He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for each count, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Howsam's attorney, Donald Randolph, could not be reached for comment. Shortly after his client's arrest, he said the government's case "is an accusation and nothing more. What actually occurs in these cases will play itself out in a period of months."
As CEO of Canadian indie film company Greenlight Film & Television, Howsam is accused of partnering with international sales agent Hilltop Entertainment to create fake and forged documents that appeared to be real international distribution deals with foreign companies for "Going Back".
The companies Howsam claimed were on board for international distribution include Television Francaise 1, Tele-Munchen, Eagle Pictures, Gaga Media and Filmax/Sogedasa.
- 11/27/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As CEO of Greenlight Film & Television, Gary Howsam created false contracts with international distributors in order to secure more than $7 million in film loans from Comerica Bank, according to an affidavit filed by an FBI special agent investigating the bank fraud allegations against the producer.
Howsam was arrested Monday during the American Film Market and placed on administrative leave from his position as CEO of Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment. He was released later in the day on $500,000 bond, surrendered his passport and was fitted with an electronic monitoring device. He remains under house arrest at a friend's home in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Howsam's attorney, Donald Randolph of Santa Monica, said the affidavit "is an accusation and nothing more. What actually occurs in these cases will play itself out in a period of months."
Howsam was arrested on one count of bank fraud involving financing for the 2001 film "Going Back". His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 3. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.
Howsam joined Toronto-based Peace Arch in 2003.
According to the court papers filed Monday by Special Agent Jennifer Teasdale, Comerica loaned Greenlight more than $35 million between November 1999 and October 2000 for the production of six films.
Teasdale's affidavit claims that in order to secure international distribution rights, Greenlight partnered with Los Angeles-based Hilltop Entertainment and Harel Goldstein, who owned a third of Hilltop. For "Going Back", Howsam estimated the film's budget to be $4 million-$4.5 million and was banking on a deal that Goldstein was working on with a German conglomerate that would generate $3 million-$3.5 million for the film.
Howsam was arrested Monday during the American Film Market and placed on administrative leave from his position as CEO of Toronto-based Peace Arch Entertainment. He was released later in the day on $500,000 bond, surrendered his passport and was fitted with an electronic monitoring device. He remains under house arrest at a friend's home in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Howsam's attorney, Donald Randolph of Santa Monica, said the affidavit "is an accusation and nothing more. What actually occurs in these cases will play itself out in a period of months."
Howsam was arrested on one count of bank fraud involving financing for the 2001 film "Going Back". His arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 3. If found guilty, he faces a maximum of 30 years in federal prison.
Howsam joined Toronto-based Peace Arch in 2003.
According to the court papers filed Monday by Special Agent Jennifer Teasdale, Comerica loaned Greenlight more than $35 million between November 1999 and October 2000 for the production of six films.
Teasdale's affidavit claims that in order to secure international distribution rights, Greenlight partnered with Los Angeles-based Hilltop Entertainment and Harel Goldstein, who owned a third of Hilltop. For "Going Back", Howsam estimated the film's budget to be $4 million-$4.5 million and was banking on a deal that Goldstein was working on with a German conglomerate that would generate $3 million-$3.5 million for the film.
- 11/8/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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.