When screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides was asked about the complex layers of meaning running through his adaptation of Mickey Spillane‘s classic crime novel “Kiss Me Deadly,” he denied having any conscious intention of exploring the post-wwii anxieties that gave the film its jittery core. “People ask me about the hidden meanings in the script,” he told an interviewer. “About the A-bomb, about McCarthyism, what does the poetry mean, and so on. And I can only say that I didn’t think about it when I wrote it . . . I was having fun.” Bezzerides may have been just “having fun,” but in the process, he and director Robert Aldrich crafted one of the greatest noirs of all time, an apocalyptic detective story that looks into the heart of 1950s America and sees annihilation.
It’s one of several stone-cold masterpieces written by the novelist-turned-screenwriter, whose work is being properly acknowledged by the...
It’s one of several stone-cold masterpieces written by the novelist-turned-screenwriter, whose work is being properly acknowledged by the...
- 4/16/2024
- by Jim Hemphill
- Indiewire
May on the Criterion Channel will be good to the auteurs. In fact they’re giving Richard Linklater better treatment than the distributor of his last film, with a 13-title retrospective mixing usual suspects—the Before trilogy, Boyhood, Slacker—with some truly off the beaten track. There’s a few shorts I haven’t seen but most intriguing is Heads I Win/Tails You Lose, the only available description of which calls it a four-hour (!) piece “edited together by Richard Linklater in 1991 from film countdowns and tail leaders from films submitted to the Austin Film Society in Austin, Texas from 1987 to 1990. It is Linklater’s tribute to the film countdown, used by many projectionists over the years to cue one reel of film after another when switching to another reel on another projector during projection.” Pair that with 2008’s Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach and your completionism will be on-track.
- 4/21/2022
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
In the 1940s, actress Ida Lupino was one of Warner Bros.’ most reliable contract players, a performer who exuded a tough intelligence in terse genre movies like High Sierra and They Drive by Night. As independent-minded as her characters, Lupino irritated the front office with her refusal to accept sub-par roles and was eventually fired, a development that might not have been great for her bank account but which instigated her most fertile period as an artist. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, Lupino formed an independent production company and began directing her own pictures, some of which […]
The post Outrage, Morvern Callar, Man on the Moon: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Outrage, Morvern Callar, Man on the Moon: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/18/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In the 1940s, actress Ida Lupino was one of Warner Bros.’ most reliable contract players, a performer who exuded a tough intelligence in terse genre movies like High Sierra and They Drive by Night. As independent-minded as her characters, Lupino irritated the front office with her refusal to accept sub-par roles and was eventually fired, a development that might not have been great for her bank account but which instigated her most fertile period as an artist. Instead of waiting for the phone to ring, Lupino formed an independent production company and began directing her own pictures, some of which […]
The post Outrage, Morvern Callar, Man on the Moon: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Outrage, Morvern Callar, Man on the Moon: Jim Hemphill’s Home Video Recommendations first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/18/2022
- by Jim Hemphill
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The Oscar winning co-writer and producer of Brokeback Mountain takes us on a cinematic journey through her life, and talks about the pleasures of writing with Larry McMurtry and Joe Bonnano, and what Ken Kesey’s favorite movie was.
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Red River (1948)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Hud (1963)
Piranha (1978)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
They Drive By Night (1940)
Kings Row (1942)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
The Grapes of Wrath (1942)
Buffalo Bill (1944)
Laura (1944)
Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)
The Day of the Triffids (1963)
Moby Dick (1956)
Village of the Damned (1960)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
There’s Always Tomorrow (1956)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Brazil (1985)
Lost In La Mancha (2002)
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (1996)
The Fisher King (1991)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
A History of Violence...
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)
Red River (1948)
The Last Picture Show (1971)
Hud (1963)
Piranha (1978)
Battleship Potemkin (1925)
They Drive By Night (1940)
Kings Row (1942)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)
The Grapes of Wrath (1942)
Buffalo Bill (1944)
Laura (1944)
Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)
The Day of the Triffids (1963)
Moby Dick (1956)
Village of the Damned (1960)
Written on the Wind (1956)
Magnificent Obsession (1954)
There’s Always Tomorrow (1956)
All That Heaven Allows (1955)
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Brazil (1985)
Lost In La Mancha (2002)
The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (1996)
The Fisher King (1991)
Dr. Strangelove (1964)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
The Deer Hunter (1978)
The Godfather (1972)
The Godfather Part II (1974)
A History of Violence...
- 6/23/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
Ida Lupino was the first woman to direct a classic noir film. In fact, she was the only woman working within the 1950s Hollywood studio system to direct a feature and she directed seven features and more than 100 TV episodes. She was the only woman to direct episodes of the original “The Twilight Zone” series, as well as the only director to have starred in the show.
She was born in London on Feb. 4, 1918, during a German zeppelin bombing. Her father’s forbears were traveling players and puppeteers in Renaissance Italy. Later generations migrated to England in the 17th century. Her father, Stanley Lupino, was a noted comedian, and her mother, Connie Emerald, was an actress who was also descended from a theatrical family. A cousin, Lupino Lane, was an internationally popular song-and-dance man.
As a child, she improvised and acted scenes with her younger sister, Rita, in a small...
She was born in London on Feb. 4, 1918, during a German zeppelin bombing. Her father’s forbears were traveling players and puppeteers in Renaissance Italy. Later generations migrated to England in the 17th century. Her father, Stanley Lupino, was a noted comedian, and her mother, Connie Emerald, was an actress who was also descended from a theatrical family. A cousin, Lupino Lane, was an internationally popular song-and-dance man.
As a child, she improvised and acted scenes with her younger sister, Rita, in a small...
- 11/10/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The AFI Fest is free! And it takes place in the heart of Hollywood at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. All you need is a ticket!SydneysBuzz is proud to be the official presenter of “The Hitch-Hiker” directed by Ida Lupino, one of the rare women directors in Hollywood in the 1950s and today being brought back to our collective consciousness by AFI!“The Hitch-Hiker”Ida Lupino
A deranged hitchhiker takes two all-American Everymen as hostages in the gripping film noir classic, “The Hitch-Hiker” by Ida Lupino, a pioneering director, writer, producer and actress who became the first woman to direct a film noir. She is one of a trio of diverse female trailblazers being celebrated in the 30th edition of AFI Fest presented by Audi. AFI Fest will also spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award® and Anna May Wong,...
A deranged hitchhiker takes two all-American Everymen as hostages in the gripping film noir classic, “The Hitch-Hiker” by Ida Lupino, a pioneering director, writer, producer and actress who became the first woman to direct a film noir. She is one of a trio of diverse female trailblazers being celebrated in the 30th edition of AFI Fest presented by Audi. AFI Fest will also spotlight Dorothy Dandridge, the first African American nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award® and Anna May Wong,...
- 11/1/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Chis Marker's Chat écoutant la musiqueThere are dog people and there are cat people, this we know, and there are even people who claim to be of both—though latent sympathies remain unspoken, like with a parent and which child is their favorite. With the Vienna Film Festival welcoming me with a tumbling collection of dog and cat short films spanning cinema's history—the Austrian Film Museum, an essential destination each year collaborating with the Viennale, is hosting a “a brief zoology of cinema” throughout the festivities—it is clear that filmmakers, too, have their preference. Silent cinema decidedly prefers the more easily trained and exhibited canine, with 1907’s surreal favorite Les chiens savants as a certain kind of cruel pinnacle. For the cats, Chris Marker, already the presiding figure over so much in 20th century art, I think we can easily claim is the cine-laureate. One need not know...
- 11/8/2015
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
(Region B) It's just like the film industry, I tell ya! Director Jules Dassin teams with writer A.I. Bezzerides for one of filmdom's strongest slams at the free market system. Trucker Richard Conte fights back when cheated and robbed by Lee J. Cobb's racketeering produce czar. Thieves' Highway Region B Blu-ray + Pal DVD Arrow Video (UK) 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 94 min. / Street Date October 20, 2015 / Available at Amazon UK / £14.99 Starring Richard Conte, Valentina Cortese, Lee J. Cobb, Barbara Lawrence, Jack Oakie, Millard Mitchell, Joseph Pevney, Morris Carnovsky Cinematography Norbert Brodine Art Direction Chester Gore, Lyle Wheeler Film Editor Nick DeMaggio Original Music Alfred Newman Written by A.I. Bezzerides from his novel Thieves' Market Produced by Robert Bassler Directed by Jules Dassin
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did Jules Dassin initiate his string of studio produced films noirs, each of which has a strong element of social criticism, if not outright condemnation of 'the system?...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Did Jules Dassin initiate his string of studio produced films noirs, each of which has a strong element of social criticism, if not outright condemnation of 'the system?...
- 11/3/2015
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Jennifer Jones, Humphrey Bogart, Gina Lollobrigida, Beat the Devil Humphrey Bogart on TCM: The Caine Mutiny, The Maltese Falcon, Sahara Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Bogart: The Untold Story (1996) Stephen Bogart hosts this one-hour special on the life and career of his legendary father, Humphrey Bogart. Dir: Chris Hunt. Cast: Stephen Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Robert Sklar. C-46 mins. 7:00 Am Bullets Or Ballots (1936) A cop goes undercover to crack an influential crime ring. Dir: William Keighley. Cast: Edward G. Robinson, Joan Blondell, Barton MacLane. Bw-82 mins. 8:30 Am San Quentin (1937) A convict's sister falls for the captain of the prison guards. Dir: Lloyd Bacon. Cast: Pat O'Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Ann Sheridan. Bw-70 mins. 9:45 Am King Of The Underworld (1939) A lady doctor gets mixed up with a criminal gang. Dir: Lewis Seiler. Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Kay Francis, James Stephenson. Bw-67 mins. 11:00 Am To Have And Have Not...
- 8/18/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The case: courtroom movies are a crime against cinema. The accused? Matthew McConaughey's latest. Judge John Patterson will see you now
The arrival of handsome-super-lawyer flick The Lincoln Lawyer reminds me of an old bugbear: we need to crack down on courtroom movies and legal thrillers, and especially courtroom-showdown climaxes in otherwise non-legal movies. Getting the law involved just kills a movie stone dead every time.
In that last category alone there are dozens of movies that simply throw in the storytelling towel in the last act and allow their narratives to become enmeshed in the courtroom Sargasso of legal back-and-forth, declamatory utterances by the attorneys and whatever character-acting old geezer is today manning the bench. Films as diverse as Eureka, They Drive By Night and White Squall were all roaring along nicely until they screeched to a halt in courtrooms 20 minutes before their actual running-times expired.
Now, there...
The arrival of handsome-super-lawyer flick The Lincoln Lawyer reminds me of an old bugbear: we need to crack down on courtroom movies and legal thrillers, and especially courtroom-showdown climaxes in otherwise non-legal movies. Getting the law involved just kills a movie stone dead every time.
In that last category alone there are dozens of movies that simply throw in the storytelling towel in the last act and allow their narratives to become enmeshed in the courtroom Sargasso of legal back-and-forth, declamatory utterances by the attorneys and whatever character-acting old geezer is today manning the bench. Films as diverse as Eureka, They Drive By Night and White Squall were all roaring along nicely until they screeched to a halt in courtrooms 20 minutes before their actual running-times expired.
Now, there...
- 3/12/2011
- by John Patterson
- The Guardian - Film News
There are many actors who might get a 24-film set released which would make for a collection of great and/or important films, but few would be so filled with legendary efforts. This is not only true today, as The Humphrey Bogart Essential Collection makes its way to stores, but it will probably always be true. The combination of talent, charisma, and timing is unlikely to come together in such a way again, and no matter what actors come along, none of them will exist in the right decade.
Certain films may leap to mind, of course, like – Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, etc. – and these giants are wonderful to own, but the collection really gets its value from some of the films that aren’t on the short list of titles that everyone automatically thinks of when they hear his name.
Certain films may leap to mind, of course, like – Casablanca, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, etc. – and these giants are wonderful to own, but the collection really gets its value from some of the films that aren’t on the short list of titles that everyone automatically thinks of when they hear his name.
- 11/23/2010
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Kate Edelman Johnson is planning a return to "The Big Valley."
The producer is spinning a feature film out of the 1960s TV show co-created by her father, producer Louis F. Edelman, and writer A.I. Bezzerides. The Western series, which ran on ABC from 1965-69, starred Barbara Stanwyck as the matriarch of a ranching clan in the 1870s San Joaquin Valley. Lee Majors, Richard Long and Linda Evans were among the regulars.
Daniel Adams ("The Golden Boys") has written the screenplay and will direct. Johnson and Adams' Panther Entertainment will produce, with an April start date planned for principal photography in Michigan and New Mexico.
Brian and Ethan Gilmore of Capitoline Global Finance, Anthony Gudas of Tax Credit Finance and Scot Butcher are financing.
Edelman produced such films as "White Heat" (1949) and "You Were Never Lovelier" (1942) as well as such TV series as "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" and "The Danny Thomas Show.
The producer is spinning a feature film out of the 1960s TV show co-created by her father, producer Louis F. Edelman, and writer A.I. Bezzerides. The Western series, which ran on ABC from 1965-69, starred Barbara Stanwyck as the matriarch of a ranching clan in the 1870s San Joaquin Valley. Lee Majors, Richard Long and Linda Evans were among the regulars.
Daniel Adams ("The Golden Boys") has written the screenplay and will direct. Johnson and Adams' Panther Entertainment will produce, with an April start date planned for principal photography in Michigan and New Mexico.
Brian and Ethan Gilmore of Capitoline Global Finance, Anthony Gudas of Tax Credit Finance and Scot Butcher are financing.
Edelman produced such films as "White Heat" (1949) and "You Were Never Lovelier" (1942) as well as such TV series as "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" and "The Danny Thomas Show.
- 7/13/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Though the plot of the 1930 Western The Big Trail is one steady march from the banks of the Mississippi to Oregon territory, it's otherwise a film of false starts. Director Raoul Walsh, who enjoyed considerable success in the silent era, and experienced a second golden age from the late '30s on, thanks to films like They Drive By Night and White Heat, employed 70mm film and a then-new widescreen process called "Fox Grandeur," an early form of what would later be known as Cinemascope. As his star, he plucked from relative obscurity a baby-faced, wavy-haired young actor named John Wayne. Trouble was, with the onset of the Depression, few theaters had the technology to show the film as it was meant to be seen. The Big Trail flopped, and Wayne labored on in B-Westerns until Stagecoach made him a star in 1939. Did audiences miss much? Yes and...
- 5/21/2008
- by Keith Phipps
- avclub.com
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