News

Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection will collect six of the Master of Suspense’s classics on 4K Ultra HD + Digital: Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, North By Northwest, Psycho, and The Birds.

Releasing on November 26 via Universal, the six-disc set is limited to 5,150. It’s housed in premium book-style packaging featuring artwork by Tristan Eaton along with photos, bios, and trivia.

In 1954’s Rear Window, “A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.”

It’s written by John Michael Hayes (To Catch a Thief), based on Cornell Woolrich’s 1942 short story “It Had to Be Murder.” James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr star.

Rear Window special features:

Audio commentary by Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Well-Made Film author John Fawell Rear Window Ethics – 2000 documentary Conversation with Screenwriter John Michael...

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Killer Heat is a mystery crime thriller drama film directed by Philippe Lacôte from a screenplay co-written by Roberto Bentivegna and Matt Charman. Based on the 2021 short story titled The Jealousy Man by author Jo Nesbø, the Prime Video film is set on a Greek island and it follows the story of a troubled detective known as The Jealousy Man who is brought in to investigate the murder of one of twin brothers who were entangled in a love triangle. Killer Heat stars Shailene Woodley, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Richard Madden in the lead roles with Billy Clements, Manos Gavras, Abby Lee, Clare Holman, and Babou Ceesay. So, if you loved the intense story, thrilling mystery, and compelling characters in Killer Heat here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix...

The Birds officially turns 60 years old in 2023 from its release date on March 28, 1963. It’s an excellent film that blends dramatic stakes with Alfred Hitchcock’s masterful use of suspense, but does it belong in his top five most significant movies? It all depends on how we define that, which is why his longtime fans are only partially right that The Birds is a top-five Hitchcock film.

‘The Birds’ joins Alfred Hitchcock’s top 5 movies Tippi Hedren as Melanie Daniels | Universal Studios/Getty Images

Hitchcock directed The Birds from Evan Hunter’s screenplay based on Daphne Du Maurier’s story. It follows a wealthy San Franciscan named Melanie Daniels (Tippi Hedren) after she happens to meet the handsome Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a pet store. She decides to follow him home to a small Northern California town with two love birds in hopes of striking up a romance. Suddenly,...

The launch of innovative thrillers like “Glass Onion” and “Bullet Train” has re-ignited the love for this classic genre. These films are a potent concoction of action, suspense, crime, and sci-fi – prepared to keep viewers in an endless loop of anticipation (or fear).

IMDb makes it a breeze for thriller fanatics to find the cream of the crop. From award-winning classics like “Witness for the Prosecution” that form this genre’s identity to worldwide successes such as “Parasite.” It even includes two dark superhero movies from “The Dark Knight” franchise among its top-rated gems.

Ranked Best Thriller Movies [Sortable Table] Rank Title Year IMDb Metascore 18 Witness for the Prosecution 1957 8.4 76 17 The Lives of Others 2006 8.4 89 16 Rear Window 1954 8.5 100 15 Oldboy 2003 8.4 77 14 Psycho 1960 8.5 97 13 Aliens 1986 8.4 84 12 Parasite 2019 8.5 96 11 The Usual Suspects 1995 8.5 77 10 Léon: The Professional 1994 8.5 64 9 Memento 2000 8.4 81 8 Joker 2019 8.4 59 7 The Departed 2006 8.5 85 6 The Prestige 2006 8.5 66 5 The Silence of the Lambs 1991 8.6 85 4 Se7en 1995 8.6 65 3 The Dark Knight Rises 2012 8.4 78 2 Inception 2010 8.8 74 1 The Dark Knight 2008 9 84 More About the Best Thriller Movies List...

Click here to read the full article.

On August 4, 1954, Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Rear Window, starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly, was unveiled in New York at the Rivoli Theatre. The Paramount feature went on to nab four Oscar nominations at the 27th Academy Awards, including for directing. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

It is easy to review Rear Window for exhibitors. They should buy it and play it. They will make money with it and their audiences will be pleased by it, for, in addition to the Hitchcock mastery of suspense, it contains some very diverting comedy, an intriguing love story and a beautiful and practical female wardrobe created by Edith Head.

To review this film for Mr. Hitchcock’s fellow craftsmen in the motion picture industry is a little more than difficult. Years ago, he became master of telling the suspense story. But he’s...

Wendell Corey plays bank clerk Leon Poole whose mild-mannered demeanor disguises a ruthless killer. Joseph Cotten plays the detective who killed Poole’s wife and makes his own wife a target for the deranged Poole. Director Budd Boetticher and cinematographer Lucian Ballard took a break from sagebrush dramas to shoot this atmospheric crime picture on the mean streets of L.A. in just 15 days—those authentic locales and that harried schedule made this 1956 thriller even more riveting.

The post The Killer is Loose appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Antonio Campos, creator of the new HBO Max miniseries The Staircase, walks hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante through his favorite films noir.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Afterschool (2008)

The Devil All The Time (2020)

Rashomon (1950) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Typewriter, the Rifle & the Movie Camera (1996)

Raw Deal (1948) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

T-Men (1947) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies (1995)

House of Bamboo (1955) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

Pickup On South Street (1953) – Sam Hamm’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Naked Kiss (1964)

Reign of Terror (1949)

Detour (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Scarlet Street (1945)

The House on 92nd Street (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Barry Lyndon (1975) – Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

The Killing (1956) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary

Kiss of Death (1947) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Kiss of Death...

Let’s shout our approval of this foursome of vintage noirs, all of which have been scarce since Eddie Muller was old enough to rob candy stores. Three Paramounts and one Universal give us four notable directors and a gallery of attractive stars, including a swoon-worthy array of actresses: Marta Toren, Loretta Young, Susan Hayward, Gail Russell, Frances Farmer and Marina Berti. The selection includes one of the key ‘just prior to the official style’ titles, a thriller with supernatural overtones, a ‘woman in jeopardy’ story and a gangster tale reportedly inspired by Lucky Luciano.

Kino Noir Times Four

Blu-ray

Among the Living, Night Has a Thousand Eyes, The Accused, Deported

Kl Studio Classics

1941-1950 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / Street Date November 16, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / Separate Purchases / 24.95 each

Starring: Albert Dekker, Susan Hayward; Edward G. Robinson, Gail Russell; Loretta Young, Robert Cummings, Wendell Corey; Jeff Chandler, Marta Toren.

Directed by Stuart Heisler,...

“Murder Or Self Defense?”

By Raymond Benson

This compelling 1949 melodrama—it can’t quite be called film noir due to a lack of many of the traits associated with that cinematic movement—would have a field day in the era of #MeToo. It was made during 1948 (released in January ’49) while the Production Code was still in effect. While it was taboo to say that the protagonist, Dr. Wilma Tuttle (Loretta Young), is “sexually assaulted” by one of her students at the college where she teaches psychology (it’s obvious that this is what occurs in front of our eyes on the screen), it’s perfectly fine for the investigating homicide detective, Lt. Dorgan (Wendell Corey), to make harassing sexual innuendos and sexist remarks about the woman he suspects of murder, not only to her face but to all the other men in the room while she’s present. But it...

When not making tons of money collaborating with James Stewart, Anthony Mann directed some really grim westerns. This mini-epic spells out the ugly real-life Code of The West: seizing land and establishing private empires. Walter Huston’s T.C. Jeffords maintains his sprawling fiefdom through economic tyranny (he prints his own money and expects banks to accept it) — and by simple violence, murdering the people that have lived on ‘his’ land for generations. Barbara Stanwyck is the feisty heir who wages generational war on her piratical father. It’s the darkest and most subversive of Huac-era ‘noir’ westerns.

The Furies

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 435

1950 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 109 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date April 20, 2021 / 39.95

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Wendell Corey, Walter Huston, Judith Anderson, Gilbert Roland, Thomas Gomez, Beulah Bondi, Albert Dekker, John Bromfield, Wallace Ford, Blanche Yurka.

Cinematography: Victor Milner

Film Editor: Archie Marshek

Original Music:...

Rko polished Robert Mitchum’s post- pot bust image with this swell-guy romantic Christmas tale, placing him opposite the drop-dead desirable Janet Leigh. All the penniless Mitchum must do is win over Leigh’s son, get around her fiance Wendell Corey, and then make her forget her dead soldier husband. Plus keep up the Christmas spirit. Director Don Hartman pulls off a minor yuletide miracle with the most down-to-earth, pragmatic Christmas romance on record. Co-starring the 1949 line of super Lionel streamline electric trains!

Holiday Affair

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1949 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 87 min. / Street Date December 15, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Robert Mitchum, Janet Leigh, Wendell Corey, Gordon Gebert, Griff Barnett, Esther Dale, Henry O’Neill, Harry Morgan, James Griffith, Jimmy Hunt, Jack Kelly, Paula Raymond, .

Cinematography: Milton Krasner

Film Editor: Harry Marker

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by Isobel Lennart from a story by John D. Weaver

Produced and Directed by Don Hartman

“Baby,...

Universal’s top-of-the-line Alfred Hitchcock classics make the jump to Ultra HD in a worthy update. We’ve seen these before but they’re always different in a theatrical setting… and the quality is so amazing here, a big home theater setup can duplicate a theatrical experience. It might as well be a Robert Burks / John L. Russell cinematographer’s film festival too, or an ‘Editor George Tomasini Festival’ — that unheralded ace cut all four of these masterpieces. And fans of Psycho have an extra treat: a slightly longer original cut.

The Alfred Hitchcock Classics Collection Ultra HD

Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds

Blu-ray

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

1954-1963 / 1:85 widescreen / Street Date September 8, 2020 /

Starring: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, James Stewart, Kim Novack, Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Rod Taylor, Tippi Hedren.

Cinematography: Robert Burks (3), John L. Russell (1)

Film Editor: George Tomasini (4)

Original Music: Franz Waxman, Bernard Herrmann

Screenwriters: John Michael Hayes,...

The murky crimes of sordid characters come to the fore in the wide-open Nevada spaces… producer Hal Wallis’ Technicolor noir concentrates on the possessive and perverse competition for Lizabeth Scott’s luscious blonde — the mother that wants to corral her, the gangster who thinks she’s an escape and the local hunk who wears a badge. Robert Rossen’s edgy screenplay depicts its violent action on a psychological level.

Desert Fury

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 96 min. / Street Date Feb 26, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, John Hodiak, Wendell Corey, Mary Astor, Kristine Miller, William Harrigan, James Flavin, Anna Camargo, Ray Teal.

Cinematography: Edward Cronjager, Charles Lang

Film Editor: Warren Low

Original Music: Miklos Rosza

Written by Robert Rossen from the novel by Ramona Stewart

Produced by Hal B. Wallis

Directed by Lewis Allen

As he was under contract to Hal Wallis, Burt Lancaster...

One of a number of Paramount noirs seemingly forever Mia on disc, Hal Wallis’ show reunites Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott with promising newcomers Kirk Douglas and Wendell Corey. It’s light on action but strong on character — and it contains a key scene in the development of both the noir style and the gangster genre.

I Walk Alone

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1947 / B&W / flat Academy / 97 min. / Street Date July 24, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey, Kristine Miller, George Rigaud, Marc Lawrence, Mike Mazurki, Mickey Knox, Gino Corrado.

Cinematography: Leo Tover

Film Editor: Arthur Schmidt

Original Music: Victor Young

Written by Charles Schnee, Robert Smith, John Bright from a play by Theodore Reeves

Produced by Hal B. Wallis

Directed by Byron Haskin

One reason we keep going to theatrical Noir festivals is that a substantial number of interesting classic-era features still haven’t surfaced on disc.

By John M. Whalen

In 1988 Oscar-winning screenwriter Stirling Silliphant (“In the Heat of the Night”, “The Poseidon Adventure”) got fed up with what he called “the eel pit of Hollywood,” and moved to Thailand to start a new life. According to the La Times, he’d grown tired of the power plays, the egos, the hypocrisy and the dictum that homage must be paid to the box office. He left and never came back.

Hollywood has always had its dark side-- just read “Hollywood Babylon.” Silliphant’s “eel pit” was never a more apt description than when, a few years later in 2015, the film industry was rocked by WikiLeaks release of some really nasty Sony emails that gave a glimpse into what powerful producers and studio execs really thought of some of their stars. Scott Rudin called Angelina Jolie a “minimally talented spoiled brat.” Clint Culpepper called Kevin Hart “a whore,...

Psycho killers long ago lost their novelty, but in 1956 Budd Boetticher and Wendell Corey gave us Leon ‘Foggy’ Poole, a screen original with limitless appeal. Imagine a time when ‘normalcy’ was so taken for granted that any weird behavior was enough to give us the chills? Foggy carries this crime potboiler with a refreshing new idea: his dangerous maniac looks more normal than normal people.

The Killer Is Loose

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1956 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 76 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / 29.98

Starring: Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey, Alan Hale Jr., Michael Pate, John Larch, Dee J. Thompson, Virginia Christine.

Cinematography: Lucien Ballard

Original Music: Lionel Newman

Written by Harold Medford, story by John & Ward Hawkins

Produced by Robert L. Jacks

Directed by Budd Boetticher

A smartly directed mid-fifties noir with a sensational central performance from the overlooked Wendell Corey, The Killer is Loose shows director Budd Boetticher at ease with a modest budget,...

What seemed too raw for 1955 still packs a punch, as Robert Aldrich takes a meat cleaver to the power politics of the old studio system. Monstrous studio head Rod Steiger has just the leverage he needs to blackmail frazzled star Jack Palance into signing the big contract. But will Hollywood corruption destroy them all?

The Big Knife

Blu-ray

Arrow Academy

1955 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 111 min. / Street Date September 5, 2017 / 39.95

Starring: Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen,

Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, Everett Sloane, Wesley Addy, Paul Langton, Nick Dennis.

Cinematography: Ernest Laszlo

Art Direction: William Glasgow

Film Editor: Michael Luciano

Original Music: Frank De Vol

Adapted by James Poe from the play by Clifford Odets

Produced and Directed by Robert Aldrich

Robert Aldrich’s 1940s film apprenticeship was largely spent as an assistant director for strong, creative filmmakers that wanted to do good personal work free of the constraints of the big studios.

Sunday’s Feud: Bette and Joan took us to the 1963 Oscars, where there was, remarkably, only a single contender in the category of Least Gracious Non-Nominee: a certain Miss Crawford. How ugly did it get? Pour yourself a stiff one — you’re going to need it if you plan to read on.

RelatedFeud Season 2 to Focus on Charles and Diana’s Royal Estrangement

‘All They Want Is A Catfight’ | As we began “And the Winner Is… ,” Olivia — still shooting that 1970s documentary — warned us that Oscar night was really the point of no return for Joan and Bette. If,...

On this day in showbiz history

The Story of Miss Lonelyheart from Péter Lichter on Vimeo.

1913/1914 Did you know that Detective Doyle (Wendell Corey) and Miss Lonelyhearts (Judith Evelyn) from Rear Window shared a birthday? Now you do! (Uff, I love Rear Window so much)

1942 Rings on Her Finger, a screwball comedy starring Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney opens in theaters

1948 Gentleman's Agreement wins Best Picture at the 1947 Oscars but the enduring statues from that year are surely Edmund Gwenn's Supporting Actor win as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street and the Cinematography and Art Direction wins for the astounding Black Narcissus. What a picture! 

1952 Vivien Leigh wins her second Best Actress prize at the 1951 Oscars for A Streetcar Named Desire. Absent from the ceremony, Greer Garson accepts for Vivien...

American Gods has found its Mr. Nancy.

Orlando Jones (Sleepy Hollow) has been tapped to play Mr. NancyAka the god Anansi on Starz’s American Gods, the network announced Wednesday. Based on Neil Gaiman’s novel and set to premiere in 2017, the Bryan Fuller-produced series follows Shadow Moon (The 100‘s Ricky Whittle) after he begins a job traveling as a bodyguard for the ambiguous Mr. Wednesday (Deadwood‘s Ian McShane).

Related Gillian Anderson Joins American Gods, Reuniting With Hannibal’s Bryan Fuller

Demore Barnes (12 Monkeys) has also joined the American Gods cast as Mr. Ibis.

Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets?...

Multi-platinum recording artist and actor Dwight Yoakam has been cast opposite Billy Bob Thornton in Amazon's upcoming original drama Goliath (formerly Trial), from executive producer David E. Kelley. Also joining the cast is Harold Perrineau. Yoakam will play Wendell Corey, who heads the giant aerospace company defended by powerful law firm Cooperman McBride, Borns Tech. Billy McBride (Thornton), takes on both of these "goliath" businesses in season one. Perrineau will…...

Multiple Grammy-winning recording artist Dwight Yoakam has been cast in Amazon original series “Goliath,” which was formerly known as “Trial.” Yoakam will play Wendell Corey, the head of a giant aerospace company defended by powerful law firm Cooperman McBride, Borns Tech. Billy McBride, played by Billy Bob Thornton, takes on both of these “goliath” businesses this fall in Season 1. The down-and-out lawyer is seeking redemption — his one shot depends on getting justice in a legal system where truth has become a commodity, and the scales of justice have never been more heavily weighted toward the rich and powerful. The series will reunite Yoakam.

Noir if I can help it! Sultry Lizabeth Scott out-'fatals' every femme we know in this wickedly ruthless tale of unadulterated female venality. Rough creep Dan Duryea meets his match, as do other unfortunate males that get between Liz and a plump bag of blackmail loot. The Film Noir Foundation's restoration is a valiant rescue job, for a worthy 'annihilating melodrama.' Too Late for Tears Blu-ray + DVD Flicker Alley / FIlm Noir Foundation 1949 / B&W / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date May 17, 2016 / 39.95 Starring Lizabeth Scott, Don DeFore, Dan Duryea, Arthur Kennedy, Kristine Miller, Barry Kelley Cinematography William Mellor Art Direction James Sullivan Film Editor Harry Keller Original Music Dale Butts Written by Roy Huggins from his story Produced by Hunt Stromberg Directed by Byron Haskin

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Who's doing good work for film preservation? The Film Noir Foundation has racked up some impressive rescues and restorations in the last fifteen years or so,...

Dr. DeMarco (John Carradine) has some time to kill after getting fired, and he uses that free time to create a monster capable of killing in The Astro-Zombies. Fans of the Ted V. Mikels movie are in luck, as Kino Lorber recently announced an upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of the 1968 film.

Kino Lorber announced The Astro-Zombies Blu-ray and DVD news on Facebook, revealing that the new release will feature a "brand new 2016 HD master." While an exact release date has yet to be revealed, the Blu-ray and DVD are expected to come out soon.

Written and directed by Ted V. Mikels, The Astro-Zombies stars Wendell Corey, John Carradine, Tom Pace, Joan Patrick, Victor Izay, and Tura Satana as Satana.

Synopsis (via Blu-ray.com): "After being fired from the Space Agency, the disgruntled (not to mention crazy) Dr. DeMarco creates an Astroman from a criminal's dead body. However, he loses control of his creation,...

Child actor Dickie Moore: 'Our Gang' member. Former child actor Dickie Moore dead at 89: Film career ranged from 'Our Gang' shorts to features opposite Marlene Dietrich and Gary Cooper 1930s child actor Dickie Moore, whose 100+ movie career ranged from Our Gang shorts to playing opposite the likes of Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, and Gary Cooper, died in Connecticut on Sept. 7, '15 – five days before his 90th birthday. So far, news reports haven't specified the cause of death. According to a 2013 Boston Phoenix article about Moore's wife, MGM musical star Jane Powell, he had been “suffering from arthritis and bouts of dementia.” Dickie Moore movies At the behest of a persistent family friend, combined with the fact that his father was out of a job, Dickie Moore (born on Sept. 12, 1925, in Los Angeles) made his film debut as an infant in Alan Crosland's 1927 costume drama The Beloved Rogue,...

'The Devil Strikes at Night,' with Mario Adorf as World War II era serial killer Bruno Lüdke 'The Devil Strikes at Night' movie review: Serial killing vs. mass murder in unsubtle but intriguing World War II political drama After more than a decade in Hollywood, German director Robert Siodmak (Academy Award nominated for the 1946 film noir The Killers) resumed his European career in the mid-1950s. In 1957, he directed The Devil Strikes at Night / Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam, an intriguing, well-crafted crime drama about the pursuit of a serial killer – and its political consequences – during the last months of the mass-murderous Nazi regime. Inspired by real events, The Devil Strikes at Night begins as war-scarred Hamburg is deeply shaken by the horrific murder of a waitress. Through the Homicide Bureau, inspector Axel Kersten (Claus Holm) begins an investigation that leads him to a mentally disabled laborer,...

Teresa Wright and Matt Damon in 'The Rainmaker' Teresa Wright: From Marlon Brando to Matt Damon (See preceding post: "Teresa Wright vs. Samuel Goldwyn: Nasty Falling Out.") "I'd rather have luck than brains!" Teresa Wright was quoted as saying in the early 1950s. That's understandable, considering her post-Samuel Goldwyn choice of movie roles, some of which may have seemed promising on paper.[1] Wright was Marlon Brando's first Hollywood leading lady, but that didn't help her to bounce back following the very public spat with her former boss. After all, The Men was released before Elia Kazan's film version of A Streetcar Named Desire turned Brando into a major international star. Chances are that good film offers were scarce. After Wright's brief 1950 comeback, for the third time in less than a decade she would be gone from the big screen for more than a year.

Lizabeth Scott dead at 92: Film noir star of the '40s and '50s Lizabeth Scott, a Paramount star in the 1940s usually cast as film noir heroines, died of congestive heart failure on Jan. 31, 2015, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Scott, born (as Emma Matzo) on Sept. 29, 1922, was 92. (See also: Lizabeth Scott photo at recent The Strange Love of Martha Ivers screening.) Among the two dozen film featuring Lizabeth Scott – whose hair-style and husky line delivery were clearly inspired by Paramount's own Veronica Lake (along with Warner Bros.' Lauren Bacall) – were the following: John Farrow's You Came Along (1945), with Robert Cummings. Lewis Milestone's The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946), with Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, and Kirk Douglas. Desert Fury (1947), with Burt Lancaster. Dead Reckoning (1947), with Humphrey Bogart. Pitfall (1948), with Dick Powell. Dark City (1950), with Charlton Heston. The Racket (1951), with Robert Ryan and Robert Mitchum.

Holiday Affair screens Saturday morning December 6th at St. Louis’ fabulous Hi-Pointe Theater (1005 McCausland Ave., St. Louis, Mo). The movie starts at 10:30am and admission is only $5.

Holiday Affair isn’t one of the better-known Christmas films of the ‘40s, and it’s not the fanciest either, as it was made on a fairly small-scale, but it’s extremely pleasant, and doesn’t shove the good cheer down your throat, as so many larger films do. It lets its modest story, concerning a young widow, her son, and the two men who court her during the holiday season, happen naturally, and its unforced quality is one of the most winning things about it.

Janet Leigh sparkles in the lead, and plays her peppy role in a slightly affected yet knowing manner that’s very accomplished for so young an actress (she was just 21). Robert Mitchum, as the beatnick guy who romances her,...

Women presidents at the Academy: Cheryl Boone Isaacs is only the third one (photo: Angelina Jolie, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Brad Pitt) (See previous post: "Honorary Award Non-Winners: Too Late for Gloria Swanson, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich.") Wrapping up this four-part "Honorary Oscars Bypass Women" article, let it be noted that in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' 85-year history there have been only two women presidents: two-time Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis (for two months in 1941, before the Dangerous and Jezebel star was forced to resign) and screenwriter Fay Kanin (1979-1983), whose best-known screen credit is the 1958 Doris Day-Clark Gable comedy Teacher's Pet. Additionally, following some top-level restructuring in April 2011, the Academy created the positions of Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, with the CEO post currently held by a woman, former Film Independent executive director and sometime actress Dawn Hudson. The COO post is held...

Danielle Darrieux turns 97: Darrieux has probably enjoyed the longest film star career in history (photo: Danielle Darrieux in ‘La Ronde’) Screen legend Danielle Darrieux is turning 97 today, May 1, 2014. In all likelihood, the Bordeaux-born (1917) Darrieux has enjoyed the longest "movie star" career ever: eight decades, from Wilhelm Thiele’s Le Bal (1931) to Denys Granier-Deferre’s The Wedding Cake / Pièce montée (2010). (Mickey Rooney has had a longer film career — nearly nine decades — but mostly as a supporting player in minor roles.) Absurdly, despite a prestigious career consisting of more than 100 movie roles, Danielle Darrieux — delightful in Club de femmes, superb in The Earrings of Madame De…, alternately hilarious and heartbreaking in 8 Women — has never won an Honorary Oscar. But then again, very few women have. At least, the French Academy did award her an Honorary César back in 1985; additionally, in 2002 Darrieux and her fellow 8 Women / 8 femmes co-stars shared Best Actress honors...

The File on Thelma Jordon

Written by Ketti Frings

Directed by Robert Siodmak

USA, 1950

Cleve Marshal (Wendell Corey), assistant district attorney, arrives at the office of colleague and close friend Miles Scott (Paul Kelley) as the latter converses on the phone with Cleve’s wife Pamela (Joan Tetzel). The Marshals are experiencing rocky waters in their marriage, what with Cleve intentionally ducking frequent visits with his influential father-in-law, with whom he shares a strained relationship, a strain which has now soured life with his wife. His attempt to leave the frying pan lands him straight into the fire, however, as later that night, while drunk, Cleve is visited in the office by a beautiful woman named Thelma Jordan (Barbara Stanwyck). The visitor, under the impression that Cleve is actually Miles, explains that she and her wealthy aunt are regularly visited by burglars at night. This proves too great an opportunity for dissatisfied,...

Desert Fury

Written by A.I. Bezzerides and Robert Rossen

Directed by Lewis Allen

USA, 1947

Perception plays a spectacularly large role in how people behave and process information. Everything one does or chooses to do is at least partly a function of one’s perceived reality. Sometimes, one believes to be doing the right thing whereas they are doing the wrong thing and vice versa. It is but one of the many aspects to human cognition that makes life that much more complicated. It stands to reason that perception can influence how one watches a movie and accepts its terms. These nebulous ideas greatly influence many aspects of the 1947 romance thriller Desert Fury, from what the characters believe to be doing to how the viewer ultimately accepts or rejects the film as a whole.

Chuckawalla, Nevada is home to many people from different walks of life. There is the Haller family,...

Who needs new movies? In this week’s issue of the magazine, our critics show us what’s in their personal collections of old culture, much of it you might’ve missed. All of it is available online, somewhere. Herewith, David Edelstein and Bilge Ebiri’s list of 30 great movies you probably haven’t seen, plus Edelstein's list of 20 commercially unavailable movies you can only watch online (and only if you know where to look). 1950s 1. The File on Thelma Jordon (1950) In Robert Siodmak’s underrated noir melodrama, Barbara Stanwyck seduces and lures unsuspecting, desperate assistant D.A. and family man Wendell Corey into doing her bidding. 2. Battle Cry (1955) Tough-guy director Raoul Walsh’s emotionally exhausting, earnest World War II epic, focusing on the Marines in the Pacific, is beautiful, almost Dickensian in its expansiveness. 3. The Sound of the Mountain (1954) One of the great Japanese master Mikio Naruse’s most...

Blu-ray & DVD Release Date: May 28, 2013

Price: DVD $24.95, Blu-ray $29.95

Studio: Olive Films

Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey get deceptive in The File on Thelma Jordon.

The 1950 film noir drama The File on Thelma Jordon is directed by noir veteran Robert Siodmak (The Dark Mirror).

In the film, Barbara Stanwyck (1953′s Titanic) is the titular Thelma Jordon, a woman who seduces the married Assistant District Attorney (Wendell Corey, Hell’s Half Acre) and pulls him into a web of theft and murder. When her aunt’s mansion is burglarized and the woman is murdered, Thelma calls the Assistant Da to help her cover up evidence that may incriminate her. When she emerges as the prime suspect, the infatuated Assistant Da tries to sabotages the prosecution.

Featuring gorgeous cinematography by George Barnes (Spellbound) and a alluring score by Victor Young (The Quiet Man), the movie makes its DVD and Blu-ray premiere with this release.

We here at ComicMix celebrate all manner of pop culture from today’s obvious hits to the arcane wonders of yesteryear. every now and then we get a notice about something that seems just outside our realm of interest but there’s a thing or two that grabs us. Something like an unaired pilot to the legendary Dr. Kildare series is one of those things. Not only that, but the series gave us Richard Chamberlain as a star (long before he was resurrected for Leverage). The show not only boasted an impressive guest cast, as noted below but it featured some of the best writers working in television including a pre-Star Trek Gene Roddenberry. So, here’s the press release for those who remember and remain interested:

Warner Archive Collection continues to unveil some of the finest series in television history with its release this week of Dr. Kildare: The First Complete Season.

The authors wish to acknowledge with gratitude the venues in which some version of this article previously appeared: Cinema Scope 24 (Fall, 2005), Trafic 62 (Summer, 2006), and the late and twice-lamented The New-York Ghost (Dec. 26, 2006).

In the Place of No Place

Every movie contains its alternates, phantom films conjured variously by excess or dearth: textures and movements that carry on their own play apart from the main line of the narrative, an obtruding performance or scene, an unexplained ellipsis or sudden character reversal, the chunk life of an object seizing the frame in an insert whose plastic beauty transcends its context.

Though the extremes of pure narrative economy (in which each detail exists purely for transmission of plot) or utter dispersal (in which no piece connects to any other) can never exist, we can tentatively use the concepts as limit-cases to differentiate films which make room for their phantoms (or, in the worst case,...

The dead of summer is probably the best time to kill your bed-sick wife. No one will judge you. It's too damn hot out! We can't all live through it. (R.I.P. Celeste Holm.)

Rear Window is, among other superlatives, the perfect August movie. Just as Alfred Hitchcock opens the curtains on the lives of wheelchair-confined photographer L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart), his terribly gorgeous model girlfriend Lisa Fremont (Grace Kelly), and wisecracking home-care nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter), we're already ankle-deep in the acrid stank of August. The neighbors in our hero's Greenwich Village apartment complex are sweaty, stir-crazy, and easily seen through their agape windows, and it's not long before L.B. "Jeff" Jeffries finds himself whipping out his binoculars and spying on his fellow tenants' mundane existences. Isn't that what we're all doing right now? Blasting the air conditioner, creeping onto Facebook, and hoping to find out...

First Commentary by Adam-Troy Castro

Rear Window (1954). Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by John Michael Hayes, from the story by Cornell Woolrich. Starring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Raymond Burr, Thelma Ritter. 112 minutes. *** 1/2

Rear Window (1998). Directed by Jeff Bleckner. Screenplay by Larry Gross and Eric Overmyer, from the story by Cornell Woolrich. Starring Christopher Reeve, Darryl Hannah, Robert Forster. 89 minutes. **

Other Related Films: Too many ripoffs and homages to count, among them Disturbia (2007), which is so similar to Woolrich’s story that the owners of the film had to go to court to get a ruling that they hadn’t violated Rear Window’s copyright.

This one’s an oddity, folks: a remake that was actually based on a breathtakingly brilliant idea for a variation on a movie that was a classic to begin with, that nevertheless utterly failed to live up to its promise.

The source was the...

If you’ve hunted around for movie bargains, you’ve probably seen some of Mill Creek Entertainment’s 50-Movie Packs on DVD. Apart from other great releases by Mill Creek, these packs are phenomenal boons to cinephiles looking to collect older titles.

There are three new packs available, and I want to not only let you in on a discount code, but I have one of the packs available for you to win.

I know a lot of people may be quick to overlook these packs, and not every movie included stands out as a major value, but there are some great titles in each of them, and fans of the genres will be pleasantly surprised by what they get out of the deal. I have to admit that there is something about seeing a 50-movie pack, especially when it doesn’t cost a couple of hundred dollars, or more,...

Shrewd film producer behind School for Scoundrels and Night of the Demon

Hal E Chester, who has died aged 91, was a juvenile actor, then a producer of low-budget movies in Hollywood, before he moved in 1955 to Britain, where he set up his own production company to take advantage of the lower costs of filming. Over the next 15 years he turned out a wide range of pictures, which often featured American stars such as Mickey Rooney, Dana Andrews, Yul Brynner and Paul Newman. For a period he specialised in British comedies. The first and best of these was School for Scoundrels (1960), loosely based on the popular Gamesmanship books of Stephen Potter. The impressive cast included Alastair Sim, Terry-Thomas and Dennis Price, with Ian Carmichael as the intrepid hero trying to impress Janette Scott.

Small, dynamic and fast-talking, Chester was perhaps a typical example of the shrewd and ambitious Hollywood producer. He...

This is part of Fred Zinnemann Week, hosted at Shadowplay.

I've found that, for some people, the classic-status ubiquity of certain scenes in From Here to Eternity or High Noon, plus the damned aura of taste and quality which surrounds an AFI-favored filmmaker like Fred Zinnemann, can be intensely off-putting. I've also found that I prefer some of the director's less celebrated works. In other words, I think he deserves his high reputation, but perhaps for reasons and films that aren't so well-trodden.

One of Fred Z.'s undoubted attributes was an eye for acting talent. If he had only introduced Brando, Clift and Steiger to the screen, he would deserve to be remembered, but in fact he directed the first films of Julie Harris, Brandon De Wilde, Tony Franciosa, William Hickey, Don Murray, Claude Akins, Shirley Jones and Meryl Streep. And he directed early film appearances of Jessica Tandy,...

I’ve been collecting the condensed Super-8 Sound editions of movies for about 15 years now and am always thrilled when some odd title pops up for sale that I had no idea was ever released in the format. The Beast Must Die, The Klansman, and To The Devil A Daughter are a few of the titles that never appeared in the Castle Films (or any other) catalog, but I’ve managed to unearth, released on some obscure film labels (often in Europe – Grizzly, Star Crash, Hard Times, and Mandigo are other oddball titles I’ve found dubbed into German). I host the monthly Super-8 Movie Madness show at The Way Out Club here in St. Louis the first Tuesday of every month where I show about 14 of these films from my vast collection. The hard-drinking crowd of movie buffs always appreciates films with the cheesiest aesthetics and there are few movies cheesier than Astro Zombies.

Kirk Douglas on TCM: A Letter To Three Wives, Mourning Becomes Electra Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 8:00 Pm The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946). Years after a murder drove them apart heiress tries to win back her lost love. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Judith Anderson. Bw-116 mins. 10:00 Pm Out Of The Past (1947). A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll. Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming. Bw-97 mins. 11:45 Pm I Walk Alone (1948). An ex-convict discovers the world of crime has changed drastically since he went up the river. Dir: Byron Haskin. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey. Bw-97 mins. 1:30 Am A Letter To Three Wives (1949). A small-town seductress notifies her three best friends that she has run off with one of their husbands. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.

Montgomery Clift, I Confess Montgomery Clift on TCM: A Place In The Sun, The Heiress, Raintree County Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 6:00 Am Raintree County (1957) In this sumptuous Civil War story, a willful southern belle goes mad out of fear that she may be part black. Dir: Edward Dmytryk. Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Eva Marie Saint. C-173 mins, Letterbox Format. 9:00 Am Lonelyhearts (1958) A sensitive young reporter assigned to write an advice column gets caught up in his readers' lives. Dir: Vincent J. Donehue. Cast: Montgomery Clift, Robert Ryan, Myrna Loy. Bw-103 mins. 11:00 Am The Big Lift (1950) Two Air Force sergeants find love while flying the Berlin Airlift. Dir: George Seaton. Cast: Montgomery Clift, Paul Douglas, Cornell Borchers. Bw-118 mins. 1:00 Pm Red River (1948) A young cowhand rebels against his rancher stepfather during a perilous cattle drive. Dir: Howard Hawks. Cast: John Wayne, Montgomery Clift,...

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Naughty v. Nice)

Cartoon Network, 7:30 Pm Et

The grumpy recluse has the "wonderful, awful idea" to steal Christmas from the Whos of Whoville (before Jim Carrey stole it all from him).

Miracle on 34th Street (Classic Cheer)

AMC, 8 Pm Et

An adwoman's (Maureen O'Hara) lawyer boyfriend (John Payne) tries to prove that Macy's Santa Claus (Edmund Gwenn) is the real thing.

Holiday Affair (Sugarplum Romance)

TCM, 8 Pm Et

A war widow (Janet Leigh) is torn between a boring boyfriend (Wendell Corey) and a romantic ne'er-do-well (Robert Mitchum).

What else is showing this season? See our The 12 Flavors of Christmas - 2010 Holiday TV Movie Guide.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 12/18/2010 by reelz

Maureen O'Hara | Robert Mitchum | Wendell Corey | Edmund Gwenn | Janet Leigh | John Payne | How the Grinch Stole Christmas! | Miracle on 34th Street | Holiday Affair...

Fred Claus (Laughing All the Way)

Max–East, 7:15 Pm Et

The yuletide season brings headaches for Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti), who bails out his ne'er-do-well brother Fred (Vince Vaughn) and puts him to work in his factory.

Holiday Affair (Sugarplum Romance)

TCM, 10 Pm Et

A war widow (Janet Leigh) is torn between a boring boyfriend (Wendell Corey) and a romantic ne'er-do-well (Robert Mitchum).

Jingle All the Way (Mistletoe & Mayhem)

ABC Family, 10 Pm Et

Two fathers (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad) will stop at nothing to score a hot Christmas toy, the "Turbo Man" action figure.

What else is showing this season? See the complete Holiday TV Movie Guide: The 12 Flavors of Christmas.

And if you're wondering what to buy the movie lovers on your shopping list, check out our Holiday Gifts store.

Next Showing:

Link | Posted 12/17/2009 by reelz

Arnold Schwarzenegger | Paul Giamatti | Vince Vaughn | Robert Mitchum | Wendell Corey | Janet Leigh | Sinbad...