Movie review - "The Man from Colorado" (1948) **1/2

 Harry Cohn supposedly assigned Charles Vidor to this to torment him - maybe, as Vidor always wanted to leave Columbia, but it was a class "A" Western in colour with two big-ish stars, Glenn Ford and William Holden, and a lot of psychology.

The story is of interest with Ford suffering badly from PTSD post Civil War and getting over keen as a judge, and his fellow officer Holden as a marshall. The film can't quite get its story right - the elements are there (they both love Ellen Drew, there's a solid subplot about mistreatment of veterans) but the action doesn't build. Holden and Ford needed to be in more confict sooner. It doesn't happen to the last bit. And even then the film feels reluctant to have Holden and Ford do a showdown - they keep using third parties.

Quite a big role for Jerome Courland as a southerner. It's a film that tries but pulls its punches. Right wing screenwriter Borden Chase did the story - presumably left wing Ben Maddow wrote the anti miner stuff.

Movie review - "Run for the Roses" (1977) *

 Dull boy and horse story with some pretty Kentucky scenery. Henry Levin got this job because he did April Love. The pace is sluggish everyone seems bored.

Ida Lupino was going to be in this then dropped out and was replaced by Vera Miles. Stuart Whitman is there. Sam Groom. Lisa Eilbacher! The film avoids conflict.

Occasionally of interest. Documentary style footage of a horse race and horse operation. A fire sequence.

But it's pretty dull. The producers were crooks, that's of interest. 

 

Movie review - "The Devil's Mask" (1946) ***

 Lovely photography, mood, and story telements - shrunken heads, butlers killed, women going mad, leopards.

But the problem is the same as The Uknown  the third in the I Love Mystery series - this was the second - in that the two leads are shoehorned in. The heroes are really Anita Louise (woman investigating death of her father whose head may have been shrunk) and Michael Duane.

Still, a kiler leopard gets you a lot of points. 

Movie review - "Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die" (1966) **1/2

 Silly Eurospy spoof from Dino de Laurentiis which gives you everything you need from a Bond spoof - mad villain (Raf Vallone) with outlandish plan, hero agent (Mike Connors), female lead (Dorothy Prvine), exotic locations (Brazil).

Connors is a little dull as a hero but he's offset by Provine and Terry Thomas in an outrageous rip off of Lady Penelope and Parker from Thunderbirds - they're a lot of fun.

Critical reception was hostile, in part I think because so many films like this were then being made. But the time of this genre has passed so we can appreciate that Provine never got another role this fun, and Connors didn't get another chance to run around Brazil, nor did Terry Thomas to play a skilled secret agent. 

Movie review - "Crime and Punishment USA" (1959) **1/2

 Launched George Hamilton. Roger Corman had money in it. Interesting rather than good. Good things about it - photography, ambition. Felt a little like Night Tide  - low budget, jazz, art hosue links. George Hamilton's performance and character all over the shop - sometimes arrogant, other times idiot, sometimes sympathetic. Why does Mary Murphy's hooker go near him?

Best moments are when the cop interrogates him. Also the creepy guy who leches after Hamilton's sister is effective. But the film is tonally inconsistent. And has too many characters to service - the sister, the mother, the guy, Hamilton's friend. It feels undefrcooked. 

Still, worth watching. 

Movie review - "The Unknown" (1946) **1/2

 The last in the I Love a Mystery trilogy has many wonderful things - splendid photography, sets, Old Dark House atmosphere - and starts very well, but there's not enough plot to justify a feature. Also the two leads, the investigators, don't need to be in the film, they feel shoehorned in. The film gets off to a flying spooky beginning but becomes bogged down.

There's a lot of hammy Southern acting which is part of the fun. 

Movie review - "Scout's Honor" (1980) **

 Henry Levin died of a heart attack on the last day of filmng apparently. The film is dedicated to him. I wish it was better. This is dull and slow. Set up has potential - high falutin Katherine Helmond is assigned to manage a scout troupe including Gary Coleman. But Coleman's mischeviousness is restrained, Helmond pulls back. There's no villain, no stakes. The last half hour they're stuck in a cave. There's no life, no vivacity, no fun. 

Coleman still has a lot of charisma. He deserved a better vehicle as did Helmond. I probablt would have liked it was an eight year old because I loved Coleman.