1) I Shot Jesse James (1948)
2) The Fly (1958)
3) The Baron of Arizona (1949)
4) The Steel Helmet (1950)
5) The Last Page (1952)
6) Witchcraft (1964)
7) The Last Man on Earth (1964)
8) It Happened in Athens (1962)
9)Five Gates to Hell (1959)
10) Battle of Bloody Beach (1961)
An under-rated actress.
1) China Gate (1957) - gets a terrific opportunity as a Eurasian hooked, super sympathetic.
2) Dressed to Kill (1980) - a splendid role, beautifully acted, gives it tragic dimension.
3) Big Bad Mama (1974) - glorious fun.
4) Rome Adventure (1962) - steals the movie.
5) Point Blank (1967) - very sympathetic, seems like a gangster girl. I prefer this to The Killers.
6) Pretty Babies All in a Row (1970) - wild movie, she fits in.
7) Sam Whiskey (1969) - fun Burt Reynolds film and she teams well with him.
8) The Chase (1966) - hectic, sprawling, entertaining.
9) Rio Bravo (1959) - too young for the Duke but fun, I wish Hawks had used her agaim.
10) Captain Newman MD (1964) - sure, why not.
Am reading Barry Diller’s excellent memoirs which discuss his time running Paramount in the 1970s which made me decide to compare his regime with the fabled Robert Evans regime that proceeded it. (These lists below attribute films to various regimes as well as I can... it's entirely possible some started development under other regimes)
So films from the Evans regime which film bros (deservedly) always bang on about...
Love Story, The Godfather Part 1 and 2, Harold and Maude, A New Leaf, Willy Wonka, Play It Again Sam, Lady Sings the Blues, Paper Moon, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Serpico, The Conversation, Daisy Miller, The Parallax View, Chinatown, Death Wish, The Longest Yard, Three Days of the Condor, Hustle, Italian Job, Medium Cool, True Grit, Goodbye Columbus, Rosemary’s Baby, The Odd Couple, Romeo and Juliet, Barbrella, if..., Oh what a Lovely War, Downhill Racer.
Great stuff.
But films from Evans regime which film bros forget he made (or blame on Charlie Bludhorn)...
The Molly Maguires, The Adventurers, Darling Lili, Friends, Little Fauss and Big Haley, Norwood, a weirdly large number of flop Neil Simon adaptations (Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Star Spangled Bannered Girl), Murphy’s Law, TR Baskin, Such Good Friends, Bad Company, The N***** Charley Films, Save the Children, Sterile Cuckoo, Hello Down There, My Side of the Mountain, Where’s Jack, Blue, No Way to Treat a Lady, 5 Card Stud, Skidoo, The Brotherhood, A Talent for Loving, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Scalawag, The White Dawn, Paint Your Wagon.
Not so great stuff. You just don't hear Peter Bart go one about these as much.
Films from the Diller regime which film bros go on about:
Saturday Night Fever, Bad News Bears, Marthon Man, King Kong, Mikey and Nicky (in its own way), Looking for Mr Goodbar, Saturday Night Fever, Pretty Baby, Grease 1 and 2, Heaven Can Wait, Foul Play, Days of Heaven, Up in Smoke, The Warriors, Escape from Alcatraz, Meatballs, North Dallas Forty, Star Trek 1 and 2, American Gigolo, Friday the 13th series, Urban Cowboy, Flying High 1 and 2, Ordinary People, Popeye, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Temple of Doom, Mommie Dearest, An Officer and.a Gentleman, 48 Hours, White Dog, Flashdance, Trading Places, Terms of Endearment, Uncommon Valor, The Keep, Footloose, Top Secret, Beverly Hills Cop, Witness.
Again, a great line up of films.
But there are films from the Diller regime which seem to be forgotten:
Won Ton Ton the Dog That Saved Hollywood, Lifeguard, Handle with Care, First Love, The One and Only, Going South, Oliver's Story, An Almost Perfect Affair, Prophecy, Bloodline, Sunburn, French Postcards, Nijinsky, Rough Cut, The Hunter, Coast to Coast, Going Ape, Dragonslayer, First Monday in October, Paternity, Ragtime, I’m Dancing as Far as I Can, Some Kind of Hero, Partners, Jekyll and Hyde Together Again, It Came from Hollywood, Ladies and Gentlemen the Fabulous Stains, The Man Who Wasn’t There, Racing with the Moon, Best Defence, River Rat, Thief of Hearts, Falling in Love, King David, Rustlers Rhapsody, Compromising Positions.
Don't forget the flops, that's all I'm saying.
It's so audacious that the essentially silly idea does work - combining a sniper with an old Karloff movie. Karloff is a joy. Peter Bogdanovich is a very awkward actor, like surprisingly so, but he adds to the film's charm. Tim O'Kelly really impresses. MVP though goes to Nancy Hsueh, who is warm, smart and lovely - a Polly Platt surrogate. Sam Fuller's storylining keeps the pace fast.
I wish Bogdanovich had done more thrillers he could handle violence well. I mean, kids get shot. And watch their parents get shot. This film packs a bang, aside from sixties skivvies and deejays.
Entertaining book. I know a lot about PB, more than healthy but this had stuff I didn't know - mpostly unmade films in the 70s that actually sounded great esp Bugsy and some Howard Sackler scripts. There's probably too much on Robert Graves but it doesn't overdose on old Hollywood directors and discusses more post Golden era projects eg TV stuff. What a career he had. I wish he'd had another late period hit though.
In the early 1950s Columbia (and a few other Hollywood studios) used to like to team old stars with new stars. This one reunites Broderick Crawford and John Derek, who'd been in All the Kings Men together - though Derek had become a slightly bigger 'name' since.
It's directed by Phil Karlson who made Mask of the Avenger with Derek, and produced by Edward Small. Based on the novel 'The Dark Page" by Sam Fuller.
It's a decent thriller. Crawford kills his ex wife and Derek investigates it. Reed is the voice of reason. Derek is alright - someone like John Payne would've been better. Crawford is one note but has great presence. Stylish photograph. Well handled by Karlson.
Fuller complained about what was done to his book and I'm sure he would've done a better version but this was entertaining.
Maybe it's more naturally three and a half stars but considering the restrictions this is four star. Excellent debut from Bogdanovich, presented with, as Quentin Tarantino says, a puzzle... some footage from The Terror, a few days of Karloff.
Bogdanovich's luck was strong at this stage: he picked a great idea (to do something based on a spree killer), had Sam Fuller and Polly Platt in his corner to help him write the script (which I think gave him a false idea of his skill in that area).
Bogdanovich's acting is awkward - he had a lot on his plate - and the character should have been killed for shock value but his presence has film buff appeal. There's an Asian lead which might be more progressive if people didn't comment on the girl's Asian-ness all the time.
The director's style is apparent from the get go - long takes, languid takes, momentum that builds. People were idiots to say he was Ford/Hawks when he was his own man (or rather couple).
Dennis Hopper's attempt to be Jean Luc Godard isn't terrible but isn't a masterpiece. It's interesting. I love that Julie Adams got a big role.
It's pervy - Hopper has this Peruvian woman, Stella Garcia, who he takes by a waterfall, and struts around in a bikini and whines about wanting more clothes. People who worship 70s cinema never bring this up.
There's a lot of impro and Goddard style moments and cameos from people like Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson, Dean Stockwell.
It looks amazing. Those Peruvian locations are still a novelty. I think if this hadn't been made by a studio it would have been more accepted. Hopper clearly had talent.
One of the reason people love Sam Fuller is because he made films like this. A cheerful account of a real life swindler who almost got his hands on the whole of the Arizona. Because he's played by Vincent Price and the plan is so bold and Price puts in so much work that you really want it to take off.
Ellen Drew is sweet and lovely as the girl he, well, basically gaslights but then they genuinely fall in love so it's okay... dramatically it works I don't want to be a smart arse about it I just wanted to point it out.
James Wong Howe did the cinematography so it looks amazing. Reed Hadley is the deep voiced expert on forgery who goes after Price.
The story proceeds logically. It's not amazing (like a few Fuller movies I get the impression it's overpraised) but it is solid entertainment.
I always felt that Burt Reynolds might have sustained his regime as star had he worked with better directors. Because his filmography was littered with the work of journeymen - Hal Needham, Joseph Sergeant. And his career famously never recovered from turning down the role of the astronaut in Terms of Endearment from James L Brooks.
But maybe there is something to be said in his defence.
Burt didn't have great luck with A list directors. Look at the following:
* Stanley Donen - made a hash of Lucky Lady which had been a much-in-demand script
* Steven Spielberg - was to direct White Lightning but pulled out instead Sergeant did it and was rewarded with a big hit
*Sam Fuller - made Shark but Fuller took his name off the film
*John Boorman - helped make Reynolds a star with Deliverance - they were going to do another film together but Reynolds got sick... the film was Zardoz! Bullet dodged. Still it's a shame Reynolds didn't appear in The Emerald Forest.
*Peter Bogdanovich - the hottest director in Hollywood used Reynolds for two films, both big flops: At Long Last Love and Nickelodeon
*Don Siegel - directed Rough Cut which was a mess.
*Robert Altman - was meant to direct Heat and would have been perfect but pulled out.
*Michael Crichton - he'd made Coma, Westworld, The Great Train Robbery... but with Reynolds did Physical Evidence
*Blake Edwards - his two films with Reynolds, The Man Who Had Power Over Women and City Heat, were both disappointments.
*Bill Forsyth and John Sayles - a dynamic combination resulted in a good film, Breaking In, but no one cared.
So you can blame him for being wary.
He did work with some top directors with fine results - Boorman, Alan J Pakula, Norman Jewison, Robert Aldrich.
He fought with directors - John Alvidsen on WW and the Dixie Dance Kings, Dick Richards on Heat, Henry Winkler on Cop and a Half and PT Anderson on Boogie Nights.
