David Lynch, the internationally acclaimed director of such diverse films as "Eraserhead", "Blue Velvet", "The Elephant Man" , "Mulholland Drive" and the creative force behind the classic T.V. series "Twin Peaks", has passed away at age 78.

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If you haven't had the opportunity to attend a screening of a classic movie accompanied by a live orchestra providing the original musical score, you don't know what you're missing. It's a truly thrilling experience, as this CBS News segment illustrates.

By Doug Gerbino

Laurel and Hardy first teamed up in early 1927 and quickly became a sensation, finishing the year at the height of their success. Their achievements in 1928 motivated the staff at Hal Roach Studios, including acclaimed director Leo McCarey, to enhance their efforts in support of the duo’s comedic brilliance. Whether creating chaos as a two-man band, feuding as a millionaire and his butler, or playing grave robbers for a mad scientist, Laurel and Hardy proved in their second year that they could capture audiences in the twilight of the silent era while building momentum for their seamless transition into “talkies” by 1929.

Although they are now synonymous with comedy, much of Laurel and Hardy’s early silent work exists only in fragments, with original negatives scattered worldwide and often in less-than-ideal condition. The Blackhawk Films restoration team devoted four years to assembling and meticulously comparing every surviving film element, frame by frame, to produce the highest-quality digital restorations possible. Today, these beloved shorts look as vibrant as they did nearly a century ago.

This impressive collection includes newly restored versions of their ten 1928 team films, along with additional works from Hal Roach Studios that highlight their final solo performances and the transition from silent films to synchronized sound and music.

Special Materials:

· Audio Commentary Tracks – For each film by historians and authors Randy Skretvedt & Richard W. Bann

· Exclusive, Rare Audio - Featuring Anita Garvin, Thomas Benton Roberts, and Hal Roach

· Additional Musical Scores – including original 1928 Vitaphone tracks on Habeas Corpus & We Faw Down

· Laurel & Hardy On-Location in Year Two – Video essay by John Bengtson on selected location exteriors

· Eve’s Love Letters (1927) – One of Stan Laurel’s final solo films

· Galloping Ghosts (1928) – Two surviving fragments of a rare solo Oliver Hardy comedy

· A Pair of Tights (1928) – A short starring Anita Garvin and Marion Byron

· George Mann’s Home Movies – From behind the scenes of Hal Roach Studios

Shorts on the Laurel & Hardy: Year Two set include:

Leave 'em Laughing, The Finishing Touch, From Soup to Nuts, You're Darn Tootin', Their Purple Moment, Should Married Men Go Home?, Early to Bed, Two Tars, Habeas Corpus, and We Faw Down

Each film includes a newly recorded score by some of today’s leading silent film composers, such as Andreas Benz, Neil Brand, Robert Israel, and Jean-François Zygel. This release has been curated by renowned film historians and Laurel and Hardy experts Randy Skretvedt, Richard W. Bann, Serge Bromberg, and Eric Lange.

As the "Grand Sheik Emeritus" of the founding chapter (or “tent”) of The Sons of the Desert, the International Laurel & Hardy Appreciation Society, I consider this collection—and its predecessor from last year covering 1927—a true treasure. These films have never looked as exceptional as they do in these Flicker Alley releases.

What fascinates me most is the transitional period in cinema history. The final two films in this collection originally premiered with sound-on-disc music and effects scores, designed for theaters equipped with the “Vitaphone” system. Their restored scores bring these silent films to life and offer a perfect bridge to 1929, which is expected to be next year’s release—marking the end of the silent era and the dawn of sound.

Click here to order from Amazon

By Adrian Smith

A young, impoverished scholar is saved from a gang of thugs by a beautiful, thoughtful woman with fantastical powers who then takes him home and offers to help look after him. Little does he know that she is in fact an immortal vixen who, along with her two equally beautiful sisters (although given what the pair of them get up to together when they think she’s not looking, I hope they’re not actually sisters), is trying to attain human form after a thousand years of spiritual meditation. Once her sisters find out about the scholar, they get extremely jealous and before you can say “love square”, there’s a whole lot of sex going on between all four of them, and this naive young man is going to struggle to get any studying done for quite some time.

Taking its inspiration from The Witches of Eastwick (1987) and the ‘Liaozhai,’ or ‘Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio,’ a large collection of supernatural stories published in the 1700s, where ghosts and foxes regularly interfere with the ordinary world, Erotic Ghost Story (1990) was one of the many adult-oriented films made possible by the introduction of the Category III rating in Hong Kong in 1988. Known as Cat III, this rating was the equivalent of the NC-17 in the States or the 18 in the UK and created a lucrative market for filmmakers who saw exploitation potential. Hong Kong audiences would eagerly attend midnight screenings of Cat III films to see nudity, softcore sex and graphic violence, often in the same film, usually held together with goofy comedy. A prime example, Erotic Ghost Story is a film in three acts; it begins with comedy, keeps audiences sitting up straight in their cinema seats with lots of sex and gorgeous leading ladies, and ends with an Evil Dead 2-style explosion of horror and supernatural madness.

Of the three sisters, Amy Yip is probably the best known to audiences in the West. Famed for her stunning looks, large chest (she was forever denying rumours that anything had been implanted) and sense of humour, she was a very popular star, appearing in just a few key Cat III classics like this film and then Sex and Zen, Robotrix and Erotic Ghost Story 2 (all 1991) before effectively retiring to become a business owner. There really was no other star quite like her, and it’s great to see her breakthrough role here, where shines above the rest of the cast, in part thanks to her contract clause that would not allow full nudity. The lengths the camera goes to show the audience almost everything without actually showing us anything is quite remarkable.

Erotic Ghost Story is hugely entertaining, and its popularity ensured two sequels in quick succession. They are thematic sequels with no actual plot connection, drawing again on ancient Chinese tales as well as eighties special effects horror cinema. In the first sequel Anthony Wong, another Cat III star, plays a virgin sacrifice-demanding demon who looks like a member of KISS, and features tons of dry ice, sexy women, bonkers horror freakouts and underwater kung fu. The second sequel, from just a year later, is about a man who enters a painting and finds himself in the afterlife where he must contend with yet another demon whilst also having copious amounts of sex. It’s a hard life for some.

This new Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy boxset from Imprint, limited to just 1500 copies, is a must have for any serious fan of Hong Kong cinema, or of unpredictable horror films, or of gorgeous naked women (or any combination of the three). The restorations for each film look terrific, with fabulous colours and pin-sharp imagery. It is pleasing to see that the negatives for these films, now over thirty years old (good grief, do I feel old), have been well taken care of. Each film comes with new commentaries from critics and historians, alongside a collection of exclusive new interviews with crew members and genre historians. Included on one disc is the 2018 documentary Category III: The Untold Story of Hong Kong Exploitation Cinema, which is an interesting introduction to this world of slightly unhinged Hong Kong film history. Aside from a couple of actors and Hong Kong directors however, most of the talking heads in the doc are middle-aged male white film critics and academics (and I say this as a middle-aged male white academic myself), and it is a shame that more people involved in making the films themselves, or at least more Hong Kongers, could not have been included. Despite that caveat, it is still recommended viewing if you want to put Erotic Ghost Story into context.

So, if you are looking for a spooky, funny, sexy time from an era when studios made films for grownups, you really should check out the Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy. And, in the meantime, if a beautiful, otherworldly woman in revealing attire floats towards you surrounded by dry ice, just be careful...

The Erotic Ghost Story Trilogy Blu-ray Region B boxset is available from Imprint. Click here to order.

Here's a rarity: original 1969 behind-the-scenes production featurette for "Paint Your Wagon". The quality is pretty lousy but it's still fun to watch and hear comments from the stars. Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg starred in the mega-budget musical that went down in flames at the boxoffice, but there's still plenty to like in the film including production designer John Truscott's amazing sets and Marvin's unexpectedly effective warbling of "Wanderin' Star".

By John M. Whalen

In 1958, Esther Williams was struggling to save her career. The era of the Technicolor “aquatic musical,” that had made her a big star at Metro Goldwyn Mayer for so many years, was over. After MGM let her go, she signed up with Universal-International to make more dramatic films sans water ballet. Her first outing with UI was “The Unguarded Moment” (1955), co-starring George Nader. It told the story of a high school teacher sexually assaulted by a student. It had nary a swimming pool in sight, but flopped, for various other reasons too numerous to mention here. (See my review of that film here on Cinema Retro). For her next film she put a toe back in the water with “Raw Wind in Eden” (1958), which was shot on location on an island off the Tuscan Coast. It had a swimming scene (without musical choreography), but it was another box office disaster. NY Times movie critic Bosley Crowther said it looked like “the producers lost the script and went right on shooting without it, making it up as they went along.” It was the end of her relationship with Universal.

“Raw Wind in Eden”’s script was written by the husband/wife team of Richard and Elizabeth Wilson (“Invitation to a Gunfighter” (1964)) and follows the misadventures of a fashion model named Laura. I have to stop here and note that after a thorough screening of the film and an AI search of the internet I can’t find any mention of Laura’s last name. Apparently, the screenwriters didn’t bother to give her one. Anyway, what we do know about her is that besides being a fashion model she’s also having an affair with some rich married guy, who seems reluctant to ask his wife for a divorce. So, fed up with him, she decides to fly off with one of her boyfriend’s playboy friends, a guy named Wally Drucker (Carlos Thompson), who owns a plane. Their intention is to fly to where there is a big party being held on a yacht owned by one of Wally’s friends. Instead they crash into an island in the Mediterranean where three people live by themselves: a mysterious man named Michael Moore (Jeff Chandler), an older man named Urbano Verno (Eduardo de Felippo), and his daughter, Costanza Verano (Rosanna Podesto). Laura is unhurt in the crash, but Wally is injured. Moore, a former World War II medic, patches him up.

Moore tells the new arrivals that it could take as long as five weeks before any help arrives to take them off the island. Of course, during that time various romantic relationships develop. Drucker gets interested in Costanza, and Laura finds the reclusive Moore of interest. In a strange development it turns out that there’s another guy on a nearby island, Gavino (Nik Battaglia), who wants to marry Costanza. Every so often he rides his power boat to the island and fires a few shots, then turns around when Moore fires back at him. Believe me, it’s all pretty lame.

There is a mystery at the core of this goofiness. Who is Michael Moore and why is he living in seclusion on a Mediterranean island? And why did he scuttle the yacht that brought him here? The solution is provided at the end, but you’ll be unlikely to care much by then.

This is not to say that there isn’t entertainment to be found on Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray edition of “Raw Wind in Eden.” First, of course, there is Esther wearing outfits suitable for the tropical climate and having a last cinematic swim. She was still in great shape. But the real gems are to be found in the audio commentary provided on a separate audio channel by film historian David Del Valle and movie historian/filmmaker Daniel Kremer. Perhaps the highlight of their conversation is their discussion of Esther Williams’ claim in her autobiography that her co-star Jeff Chandler was a cross-dresser. She had an affair with him during the filming of “Raw Wind in Eden” and claimed that he liked to wear her dresses. Del Valle and Kremer strongly doubted there was any truth to that accusation. Del Valle says he thought it was very cruel of her to put that in her book, even if it was true. He said that Jane Russell who had costarred with Chandler in “Foxfire” (1955) said she had never heard anything about that. But according to Del Valle, Williams’ autobiography contains many such accusations against the men she worked with on and off the screen— including Johnny Weissmuller, who played Tarzan of the Apes! What? Come on, now! Cheetah never said anything about that.

There are a lot of other insights and stories about what happened behind the scenes during filming that you’ll probably enjoy more than the film itself—especially if your one of the many surviving Esther Williams fans out there. Restored from a 2K Master, the movie looks good in vibrant Technicolor and widescreen. Also included are over half a dozen previews for other Williams and Chandler films. If you’re looking for a film with a good plot and believable characters, this one is probably not for you. But if you want to relax and enjoy the sheer nuttiness of it all, and at the same time experience a period of time when one kind of moviemaking was fading and another kind was moving in, you could do worse.

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(John M. Whalen is the author of "This Ray Gun for Hire...and Other Tales". Click here to order from Amazon.)

By  John M. Whalen

In 1955, Esther Williams, the star of films like “Million Dollar Mermaid,” and “Dangerous When Wet”, suddenly found herself out of work when MGM ended her contract. The era of the “aquatic musical,” which she was famous for, was over. So, Esther went to work at Universal-International and focused on more dramatic roles. It wasn’t a successful move. She made only two films for them. The first, “The Unguarded Moment,”(1956), was a noirish tale about a high school teacher sexually harassed by a student. “Raw Wind in Eden (1958)” was about a fashion model who crash lands on a Mediterranean island. I’ll be reviewing that one separately.

In “The Unguarded Moment”, Esther plays school teacher Lois Conway, who starts working in Ogden High School, which is in a typical 1950s “Leave It to Beaver” neighborhood- with the slight caveat that there’s a serial killer in the vicinity. She starts receiving mash notes from an anonymous student on the first day of school. Lois, who frankly, seems not very bright in light of the dumb things she does during the course of the story, first accuses a perfectly innocent boy of writing the note, which results in embarrassment to both her and the student. The notes continue until she receives one that asks her to meet the mystery stalker in stadium locker room that night at nine. Of course, she never considers calling the cops and decides to show up at the rendezvous in order to confront him. Things get nutty in the dark of the gymnasium but she manages to fight him off and her attacker runs out into the headlights of an oncoming car. We see it is a student named Leonard Bennett (John Saxon in his first major role)—the school’s most popular student and star athlete. Esther recognizes him but still fails to identify him to the cops who find her coming out of the stadium all disheveled and with a torn dress. She doesn’t want to turn Leonard in. After all he’s just a kid, not a criminal. Maybe she can help him. Naturally, they’re more suspicious of her than anyone else and she becomes topic number one at the school.

Now the police are involved and the cop in charge of the investigation is Mr. Bland of the 1950s himself, George Nader, playing Lieutenant Harry Graham. He’s frankly annoyed by Lois’s seeming naiveté and lack of cooperation in regards helping identify the suspect, especially since there’s already been one murder. But he is also aware that she’s a pretty good-looking babe, and that body! Also in the cast in a key pivotal role is an actor who probably appeared in at least 10,000 TV shows and films back in the Fifties and Sixties. Edward Andrews plays Leonard Bennet’s father, in one of the weirdest portrayals of a father ever given--even by Universal-International standards. In one creep-out scene, for instance, he enters his son’s bedroom and tells him for the 500^th time how his mother left them years ago and he has made sure that every trace of her was scrubbed out of the house. He keeps Leonard on a tight leash and forbids him to go out with girls. He reminds Leonard they don’t need women in their lives, and tells him: “We’ve built something really good here. If you do anything to hurt it I’ll break every bone in your body.” Not exactly Father of the Year.

“The Unguarded Moment” was directed by Harry Essex (“Tammy and the Doctor,” and a lot of TV work), and written by Herb Meadow (“Have Gun-Will Travel),” Lawrence B. Marcus (“The Stunt Man,” 1980), and Rosalind Russell (“Auntie Mame”). Yes, Auntie Mame herself dreamed up this weird tale and got Marcus and Meadow to write the script, which is surprising because Marcus had written some dynamite scripts for the “Route 66” and “Naked City” TV series back in the day. And Meadows’ “Have Gun-Will Travel” scripts were well-written as well. Their involvement in “The Unguarded Moment” should have resulted in something better.

Kino Lorber says the transfer to Blu-ray was made from a brand new 2K Master. The Technicolor comes through very effectively, but honestly, I thought the picture looked a little worn and grainy. I shouldn’t complain, though. This is the first availability of this feature on home video ever. It’s never even been on video cassette before. So overall I’d have to say this is a Blu-ray that will not only speak to the surviving fans of Esther Williams, but also those who appreciate being able to see movies that have almost been lost forever.

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(John M. Whalen is the author of "This Ray Gun for Hire...and Other Tales". Click here to order from Amazon.)

Hammer Film’s first ever 4K restoration, 
Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter,
 is released at UK cinemas!

LONDON, UK (07/01/25): Happy New Fear! To celebrate its 50th anniversary, a new 4K restoration of Hammer Film’s swashbuckling horror classic, Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter, will be released at UK cinemas nationwide for one night only.

From 18th January 2025, the cult film will be screened at selected cinemas in major cities across the UK including Cambridge, Liverpool, Sheffield, Belfast, Glasgow and Edinburgh (full list below). 

Legendary creator Brian Clemens (TV’s The Avengers, TV’s The Professionals) writes and directs this stylish, revisionist Hammer Horror pitting a swashbuckling hero, his trusty assistant and a feisty young ingenue against a cunning and malevolent vampire. 

Starring Horst Janson (Shout At The Devil, To Catch A King), John Carson (Doomsday, TV’s Poirot), Shane Briant (Hawk The Slayer, TV’s The Naked Civil Servant), Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me, The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad), John Cater (The Abominable Dr. Phibes), Lois Dane (Cash On Demand), William Hobbs (Willow, The Avengers) with Ian Hendry (TV’s The New Avengers, Get Carter) and Wanda Ventham (TV’s Sherlock, TV’s UFO), Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter makes its worldwide debut as a brand-new 4K restoration from the original negative film elements.

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter shifted the paradigm on cinematic horror, creating a film for which appreciation has only grown over the decades – its post-modern script, stylish direction, memorable performances and folk horror mise en scène make it both of and ahead of its time. Its influence is hard to over-estimate. Fifty years after its initial theatrical exhibition, this new restoration of Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter celebrates an absolute classic of British horror whose time has very definitely come. 

Synopsis
A rash of mysterious deaths due to accelerated ageing compels Dr Marcus to summon his brother-in-arms, Captain Kronos – once a soldier but now a professional vampire hunter. As the deaths continue, however, Kronos realises that this is no ordinary vampire he’s hunting.

The Restoration
This brand-new 4K restoration was scanned from vaulted 35mm original negative elements, the resultant scans painstakingly restored to remove dirt and defects. Other issues like density or colour fluctuations were corrected and the film was then graded for High Dynamic Range to show off the full range of colour and the detail in the dark and light areas of the image. Original three-track mono audio elements were used to create a new 5.1 sound mix for theatrical presentation.

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter has a running time of 91 minutes a 15 certificate.

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter is released at UK cinemas from 18th January 2025 for one night only!

Full list of screenings:

18th January:
•    BELFAST Queens Film Theatre

20th January:
•    DUNDEE DCA

22nd January:
•    FINSBURY PARK Picturehouse 
•    CAMBRIDGE Picturehouse 
•    CAMBRIDGE The Light 
•    BIRMINGHAM Mockingbird Cinema
•    WALSALL The Light 
•    BOLTON The Light 
•    SHEFFIELD The Light 
•    STOCKPORT The Light 
•    NEW BRIGHTON The Light 
•    LIVERPOOL Picturehouse 
•    NEWCASTLE Tyneside
•    EDINBURGH Cameo 
•    GLASGOW Film Theatre
•    NORTHAMPTON Film House 

24th January:
•    BRISTOL Cube

27th January:
•    DUNDEE DCA

28th January:
•    MANCHESTER Home

Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter Limited Collector’s Edition 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray will be released from 27th January 2025
Pre-order now from Hammer Films, Amazon, HMV

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Arrow Video

On February 25, Arrow Video takes a walk on the wild side with the controversial and erotic thriller, Cruising, making its world premiere on 4K UHD. Director William Friedkin (The Exorcist) cast Al Pacino (The Godfather) in a riveting film that sparked protests upon its initial release in 1980. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible), and hours of special features.

A serial killer is preying on the gay men that frequent the underground leather and S&M bars in New York City’s meatpacking district. Detective Steve Burns (Al Pacino, Serpico) is assigned to go under deep cover because he resembles the victims who have been dismembered or stabbed to death in cheap hotels around the Village. A shop owner (Powers Boothe, Red Dawn) explains the handkerchief color code to Burns, who hopes the colors in his back pockets will lure out the killer at the clubs or in the park after midnight. His investigation leads him into shadowy spaces that make him question everything from his pursuit of a murderer to his relationship with his girlfriend (Nancy Allen, Raiders of the Lost Ark). Can he truly return to his normal life when this intense investigation ends? Cruising also features Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas), James Remar (The Warriors), and Joe Spinell (Rocky). 

The special features include two vintage audio commentaries with William Friedkin; audio commentary with musicians from the soundtrack; an alternate music score by Pentagram Home Video; deleted scenes; alternative footage; censored material reels; video interviews with actors Karen Allen, Randy Jurgensen, Mike Starr, Jay Aconvone, Mark Zecca; an interview with the manager of the Mineshaft; a visual essay on the hanky-codes with David McGillivray; a short film on the protests; vintage features on the movie; William Friedkin at BeyondFest 2022; an image gallery; the theatrical trailer; teasers; TV Spots; and a 120-page perfect-bound collector’s book with essays, interviews and vintage articles.

This title will ship on February 25. Click here to order from Amazon.

Thanks to Shout! Factory, you can enjoy this premiere episode of Gerry Anderson's sci-fi TV classic "Space:1999" starring Martin Landau, Barbara Bain and Barry Morse, which premiered in 1975.(To maximize screen size, click "Watch on YouTube".)

WE ARE HAPPY TO SPREAD THE NEWS THAT THE BACKLOG OF MAIL FACING CANADIAN POSTAL AUTHORITIES DUE TO THE RECENTLY CONCLUDED STRIKE HAS NOW REACHED A MANAGEABLE LEVEL. THE U.S. POSTAL AUTHORITIES HAVE ANNOUNCED THAT NORMAL SHIPPING TO CANADA HAS RESUMED. CONSEQUENTLY, ALL PENDING CANADIAN ORDERS WILL BE SHIPPED THIS WEEK. 

Warner Bros. has made this scene selection available from the 1985 Western, "Pale Rider" starring and directed by Clint Eastwood. It was rumored at the time that this would be Eastwood's last Western, but he was carefully guarding the script for "Unforgiven" until he felt the time was appropriate to make the film. When he released it in 1992, it won the Best Picture Oscar and an Oscar for Clint's direction. Sadly, there's not much of a market today for Westerns on the big screen, despite Kevin Costner's noble attempt to revive the genre with his ill-fated "Horizon".  

Amazon Prime is currently streaming the acclaimed 1968 French crime thriller "Farewell, Friend" ("Adieu, L'Ami"). The movie was instrumental in elevating Charles Bronson from supporting roles to leading man status. Here is Cinema Retro columnist Brian Hannan's review of the film from his web site "The Magnificent 60s".

By Brian Hannan

This heist picture made Charles Bronson a star, though, like Clint Eastwood a few years previously, he had to go to Europe, in this case France, to find an audience appreciable of his particular skill set. This was such a box office smash in France that it was the reason that Once upon a Time in the West (1968), a major flop virtually everywhere else, turned into a huge hit in Paris. After a decade as a supporting actor, albeit in some quality offerings like The Magnificent Seven (1960), The Great Escape (1963) and The Dirty Dozen (1967), Bronson developed a big following, if only initially in Europe.

Farewell, Friend could also lay fair claim to stealing the title of  “first buddy movie” from the following year’s Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) because, apart from the heist that is central to the story, it is essentially about the forging of a friendship. But it wasn’t released in the U.S. for another five years, in the wake of Bronson’s Hollywood breakthrough in The Valachi Papers (1972), and then under a different title, Honor Among Thieves.

And you can see why it was such a star-making vehicle. Bronson goes toe-to-toe with France’s number one male star Alain Delon (The Sicilian Clan, 1969). He had the walk and the stance and the look and he was given acres of screen time to allow audiences to fully appreciate for the first time what he had to offer. Like Butch Cassidy, the duo share a lot of screen time, and after initial dislike, they slowly turn, through circumstance and the same code of honor, into friends.

Dino Barran (Alain Delon) is the principled one, after a final stint as a doctor in the French Foreign Legion originally turning down overtures from Franz Propp (Charles Bronson) to become involved in a separate major robbery. Propp is an unsavory customer, making his living as a small-time thief who uses a stripper to dupe wealthy marks. Barran plans to rob a corporation’s safe during the three-day Xmas holiday of two million dollars as a favor to the slinky widow Isabelle (Olga Georges-Picot) of a former colleague, for whose death he retains guilt. Propp more or less barges his way into the caper.

It’s a clever heist. Isabelle gets Barran a job as a company doctor whose office is next door to the giant vault. But there’s a twist. Surveillance reveals only three of the seven numbers required to open the combination to the vault. But Barran reckons three days is sufficient to try out the 10,000 possible permurations.

Barran and Propp despise each other and pass the time playing juvenile tricks, locking each other into a room, stealing all the food from the one dispensing machine, winding each other up, while they take turns trying different combinations. But it opens after only 3,400 attempts and they face a shock. The vault is empty. They have been set up to take the fall for a previous robbery that must have been completed before the building closed for Xmas.  

And there’s no way out. They are in lockdown, deep in a basement. The elevators can only be opened by a small squadron of guards upstairs. Food long gone, they are going to run out of water. If they use a lighter to see in the dark, or build a fire to get warm, the flames will eat up the oxygen they need to survive in the enclosed space. So the heist turns into a battle for survival and brute force attempts to escape before the building re-opens and they are discovered, exhausted and clearly guilty.

But that’s only the second act. There is a better one to follow, as their friendship is defined in an unusual manner. And there are any number of twists to maintain the suspense and tension. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were close friends when that western began. Here, we see the evolution of a friendship between two forceful characters who express their feelings with their fists.

Delon was a known quantity, but Bronson really comes to the fore, more than holding his own against a top star who oozed charisma. This is Bronson in chrysalis, the emergence of the tough guy leading man screen persona that would turn him into one of the biggest stars in the world. Surprisingly, given his later penchant for the monosyllabic, here he does a lot of talking, perhaps more actual acting than he ever did later when his roles tended to fall into a stereotype.

He has the two best scenes, both character-defining, but in different ways. He has a little scam, getting people to gamble on how many coins it would take for an already full-to-the-brim glass to overflow when a certain number of coins were dropped in. While this is a cute trick, it’s that of a small-time con artist, but watching it play out, as it does at critical moments, is surprisingly suspenseful. The second is the strip scene which shows him, as a potential leading man, in a very poor light, and although thievery is the ultimate aim, it is not far short of pimping, with Bronson standing back while the woman (Marianna Falk) is routinely humiliated. It’s the kind of scene that would be given to a supporting actor, for whom later redemption was not on the cards. It says something for Bronson’s command of the screen and the development of his character that by the end of the picture the audience has long forgotten that he could stoop so low.

It is a film of such twists I would not want to say much more for fear of giving away too much, suffice to say that Olga Georges-Picot (Je T’Aime, Je T’Aime, 1968) and her friend, mousy nurse Dominique (Brigitte Fossey, in her grown-up debut), are also stand-outs, and not just in the sense of their allure.

Director Jean Herman, in his sophomore outing, takes the bold step of dispensing with music virtually throughout, which means that during the critical heist sequence the audience is deprived of the usual musical beats that might indicate threat or suspense or change of mood, but which has the benefit of keeping the camera squarely on the two leading characters without favoring either. Most pictures focusing on character rely on slow-burn drama. In the bulk of heist pictures, characters appear fully-formed. Here, unusually, and almost uniquely in the movie canon, character development takes place during an action film.

Top French thriller writer Sebastian Japrisot (The Sleeping Car Murder, 1965) was responsible along with Herman for the screenplay. Japrisot was a key figure in the French movie thriller scene, churning out, either as original novels or original screenplays, A Trap for Cinderella (1965), Rider on the Rain (1970) and The Lady in the Car with the Glasses and the Gun (1970).

Even without Bronson, this would have been a terrific heist picture. With him, it takes on a new dimension.

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(This is a press release from Sony)

CELEBRATING THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ACCLAIMED AWARD-WINNING MODERN CLASSIC 

RETURNS TO 4K ULTRA HD™ AS A LIMITED EDITION STEELBOOK FEBRUARY 18^TH

4K ULTRA HD DISC

Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision

Unrated Dolby Atmos English audio

Unrated 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Theatrical 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Special Feature:

Theatrical Trailers

BLU-RAY DISC™

Feature presented in high definition

Theatrical 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

Special Features:

Audio Commentary with David Fincher

Audio Commentary with Aaron Sorkin & Cast

Special Feature Blu-ray Includes:

How Did They Ever Make a Movie of Facebook?

David Fincher and Jeff Cronenweth on the Visuals

Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter and Ren Klyce on Post

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and David Fincher on the Score

Ruby Skye VIP Room: Multi-Angle Scene Breakdown

In the Hall of the Mountain King: Reznor’s First Draft

Swarmatron

CAST AND CREW

Directed By: David Fincher

Produced By: Ceán Chaffin, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca

Screenplay By: Aaron Sorkin

Based Upon the Book “The Accidental Billionaires” By: Ben Mezrich

Cast: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella

SPECS

Run Time: Approx. 120 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for sexual content, drug and alcohol use and language and Unrated.

4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.40:1

4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | Unrated English 5.1 DTS-HD MA | Theatrical English 5.1 DTS-HD MA | French (PAR) 5.1 DTS-HD MA

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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Facebook: facebook.com/sonypictureshomeentertainment

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Twitter: @SonyPicsHomeEnt

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Turner Classic Movies has announced a special film event to be held at the 92nd Street Y in New York City on January 25. Guests appearing are Martin Scorsese, Drew Barrymore and Meryl Streep.

Click here for details.

In this clip, legendary directors George Cukor and King Vidor announce Robert Redford as the winner of the Best Director Oscar for "Ordinary People" in 1981. Redford's acceptance speech is a model of grace and class.

By popular demand, Cinema Retro presents a special edition issue devoted to director John Sturges' 1960 Western classic, "The Magnificent Seven" starring Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Eli Wallach, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, James Coburn, Horst Bucholz and Brad Dexter.

• Adapted from Brian Hannan's book "The Making of the Magnificent" with an abundance of new material.
• Packed with rare production photos and scene stills.
  
• The comparisons between "The Magnificent Seven" and the film that inspired it, Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai".
• Foreword by Sir Christopher Frayling
• An abundance of rare international movie posters and marketing materials.
  
• Coverage of the film's big screen sequels.
  

NOTE: IF YOU LIVE IN SOUTHERN IRELAND, PLEASE USE THE "REST OF THE WORLD" ORDER OPTION.

USA: MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ISSUE

USA/CANADA : MAGNIFICENT SEVEN ISSUE $13.99 USD

UK : THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE

UK : THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE £10.95 GBP

CANADA : THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE

CANADA : THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE $19.50 USD

REST OF THE WORLD : MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE

REST OF THE WORLD : MAGNIFICENT SEVEN SPECIAL ISSUE $24.50 USD

In this Turner Classic Movies segment, George C. Scott pays tribute to one of his screen idols: James Cagney.

Olivia Hussey passed away last Friday at age 73. Vanity Fair presents this tribute to the talented star of director Franco Zeffirelli's groundbreaking 1968 version of "Romeo and Juliet".

Click here for details.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Director Michael Ritchie seemed to be on the fast track in becoming one of Hollywood's "A" list young filmmakers. His career started in television and hit a speed bump when he was fired from "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." after arguing with a producer about the content of a script. However, he eventually segued into movies. His first big screen feature was "Downhill Racer", the 1969 drama starring Robert Redford that displayed Ritchie's talents behind the cameras. A few years later, his career went into overdrive. He directed the quirky hit crime film "Prime Cut" followed by the prescient political satire "The Candidate" and then the critically-praised satire "Smile". His genial comedy "The Bad News Bears" proved to be a major boxoffice hit.  Ritchie never stopped working but the momentum faded by the late 1970s. He had the occasional modest hit ("Semi-Tough", "Fletch") but all too often he was consigned to mediocre films that played to mediocre results. Whether Ritchie was denied bringing innovative visions to reality by short-sighted studio executives or whether he just ran out of steam is not known. However, by the time he died in 2001 at only 62 years of age, those of us who admired his earlier films couldn't help but think that some great, unfilled projects had died with him. One of Ritchie's "work-for-hire" productions, the 1988 comedy "The Couch Trip" is now streaming on Amazon Prime. The quirky screwball concept falls short of its potential but there is much to recommend about it. 

The movie opens at a psychiatric institution in Illinois where John W. Burns Jr. (Dan Aykroyd) is being held against his will. However, if he is a prisoner, it is in the sense that Bob Crane's Colonel Hogan was prisoner: the inmate is literally running the asylum. Burns has it pretty good for an incarcerated man. He's overflowing with confidence, charisma and superficial charm and wins over everyone in his sphere of influence. There seem to be few pleasures that he is denied at the institution and even finds a way to have sex with the secretary (Victoria Jackson) of the chief psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Baird (David Clennon), an uptight, humorless man who doesn't relate to the inmates under his care.  The script introduces a separate story line concerning Dr. George Maitlin (Charles Grodin), an esteemed and very popular psychiatrist who dispenses pearls of wisdom to "patients" who call into his popular radio program. When it turns out that Maitlin himself is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, he decides to take a sabbatical and attend a professional conference in London with his bubble-headed wife Vera (Mary Gross). He puts out the word that he wants an obscure psychiatrist to fill in for him by hosting his radio program, on the proviso that the substitute host isn't impressive enough to challenge Maitland's stranglehold on his audience. When word reaches the institute that Dr. Baird has been chosen to interview for the hosting gig, Burns intercepts the message, orchestrates a brilliant escape, steals a car and adopts the identity of Baird, even managing to fly to L.A. on his plane ticket (this was 1988, after all, before today's onerous security measures would render such a feat virtually impossible).  Once in Hollywood, Burns is met by his "colleague", Dr. Laura Rollins (Aykroyd's real life wife Donna Dixon), who- in addition to being brainy- is also a sexy, leggy blonde. He also meets  Harvey Michaels (Richard Romanus), a smarmy, fast-talking agent who is representing Maitland. The faux Dr. Baird quickly intimidates Michaels by making outrageous demands to host the radio program, all of which are met. Burns hits a speed bump when he has a chance encounter with a seemingly crazed con man named Donald Becker (Walter Matthau), who recognizes him as a wanted man and threatens to expose him if he doesn't make him a partner in his schemes. Left with no choice, Burns has Becker move into his lush hotel suite. 

When Burns makes his debut in the guise of substitute host Dr. Baird on the radio program, he radicalizes the format by dispensing brutally honest advice to his troubled call-in audience. At times, he indulges in outrageous behavior and tosses out obscenities that shock Michaels and Dr. Rollins. However, all is forgiven when he becomes an overnight sensation and a ratings smash. Before long, "Dr. Baird" is the toast of Hollywood, leading to him making even more outrageous demands. A fly in the ointment comes when the real Dr. Baird meets Dr. Maitland at a convention in London. The two men realize they're being exploited and hurry back to Hollywood where they attempt to thwart Burns as he accepts an award on Maitland's behalf at a black tie dinner.

"The Couch Trip" starts out as an uninspired comedy but improves considerably as it progresses. The script is most effective in satirizing the (then) new populist trend of having troubled people rely on advice of radio show hosts to make life-altering decisions in their lives. The concept was absurd in the 1980s and has grown exponentially today with people using social media platforms as Dollar Store versions of psychiatrists, taking the advice of total strangers in regard to resolving their most intimate problems.  Aykroyd is in top form with his cynical con man schtick. Matthau appears only fleetingly but adds his considerable skills to the merriment- and the supporting cast is also very amusing with Charles Grodin and David Clennon particularly funny.  Director Michael Ritchie proves to be as adept with comedy as he was with dramas and thrillers and his "hands off" style allows both Aykroyd and Matthau to shine. The film bombed on its theatrical release but it offers enough gentle pleasures that it can recommended for home viewing.

The Criterion video label has introduced a new and popular series of videos in which well-known people in the film industry visit the Criterion Closet, which is just that- a closet stacked with video titles available from Criterion. The guest browses through the titles and selects a few that they relate anecdotes about and discuss why these films are personal favorites. This time, Francis Ford Coppola is the esteemed guest and, as you might imagine, his observations about certain films are enlightening and informative.

William Friedkin, the Oscar-winning director of "The French Connection" and "The Exorcist", succinctly summarizes in two minutes why Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" has an eternal appeal for its fans.

By Lee Pfeiffer

Screenpix is currently streaming  the obscure 1984 thriller "The Ambassador". Despite it's impressive cast, the film was barely seen in the United States and had only sporadic distribution in other parts of the globe. The movie was a production of the Cannon Group, the now legendary schlock factory owned and operated by passionate Israeli movie buffs Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan. Cannon specialized in building often sub-par movies on limited budgets around stars with name recognition. Usually backed by sensationalist ad campaigns, Cannon became the toast of the film industry for churning out product at an almost surreal pace. Initially, Cannon was awash with cash but as moviegoers tastes became more sophisticated their ratio of misses-to-hits increased and ultimately the company folded. Although Cannon is synonymous with low-end action films and tasteless comedies, the company did occasionally seek to elevate the quality of its output by producing higher grade productions. "The Ambassador" was one such instance. It was ambitious in terms of aspirations even if it fell short of delivering on them.

The film was shot entirely in Israel and was based on Elmore Leonard's crime novel "52 Pick-Up". However, when Leonard learned that the screenplay by Max Jack had discarded virtually all of the characters and set-pieces from his book, he disowned the film. (Curiously, Cannon would make this up to Leonard by producing a more literal version of the novel a couple of years later. It was released under the book's title and Leonard wrote the screenplay.) The titular character is Peter Hacker (Robert Mitchum), the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Hacker is an idealist who is determined to use his influence to bring about a two-state solution to the Middle East crisis that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to finally coexist peacefully. However, he not only has to overcome skepticism from mainstream people on both sides, there are also fringe terrorist groups determined to undermine his efforts. The film opens with Hacker and his embassy security man Frank Stevenson (Rock Hudson) attempting to broker a secret meeting in the desert between armed Palestinian and Israeli combatants. Against all odds, both parties send representatives but a terrorist group attacks by helicopter and slaughters most of the attendees. Undeterred, Hacker concentrates on courting young people on both sides in the hopes that he can convince them to use peaceful means to settle their differences. Hacker has other pressures in his personal life: his wife Alex (Ellen Burstyn) is suffering from alcoholism and makes a spectacle of herself at a high profile social occasion. More disturbingly, she's been carrying on an anonymous affair with a local Palestinian merchant, Mustapha Hashimi (Fabio Testi). He doesn't know that his lover is the wife of the American ambassador and she doesn't know that he is a bigwig in the Palestinian Liberation Organization and is under constant surveillance by the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency. It turns out someone has secretly filmed the lovers in bed. Hacker receives a phone call threatening to release the film unless he pays a million dollars ransom. This sets in motion a complex but interesting plot in which Hacker and Stevenson work to find the culprits and retrieve the film by any means necessary. The trail leads to mysterious and dangerous characters who attempt to assassinate Hacker even as he doggedly continues his obsession with finding a peaceful solution to Middle East violence.

"The Ambassador" features the three principals in very fine performances. An aging Mitchum still shows charisma and can deliver the goods in terms of a dramatic performance, despite the fact that he was said to be drunk throughout much of the shoot. Burstyn (in a role originally intended for Elizabeth Taylor) gives a daring performance for an actress over 50 years old by appearing topless in several scenes. Hudson, in his final feature film, cuts a handsome figure. He was still in fine athletic shape and performs quite a few action scenes with credibility. Mores the pity that the AIDS that would take his life within the next year was probably already beginning to take its toll on him. Donald Pleasence appears fleetingly but impressively as the head of the Mossad. The direction by the once-esteemed J. Lee Thompson is a step up from the celluloid claptrap he had been churning out for Cannon in recent years. It's also interesting to note that 22 years previously, he and Mitchum had teamed for the classic thriller "Cape Fear". "The Ambassador" has plenty of well-staged action scenes and Thompson makes the most of capitalizing on the Israeli locations, bringing a good sense of exotic atmosphere to the production. The script is more problematic because some aspects of the story stretch credibility. Ambassadors are to follow directions from the administration they serve. Peter Hacker is constantly freelancing by taking on well-intentioned but absurd secret missions and rendezvouses. In reality, he wouldn't last a day in the job. The film ends with a bloodbath but tries to mitigate the shock by tacking on a feel-good ending that comes across as contrived."The Ambassador" is certainly not a classic but it is worth viewing and deserved a better fate. Sadly, the main plot involving peaceful co-existence in the Middle East, remains as elusive today as it was in 1984.

By Lee Pfeiffer

James Stewart in a movie about modern witchcraft in New York City??? That unlikely premise is obviously couched in the form of a comedy in Bell, Book and Candle, a 1958 gem that hits all the right notes and boasts a remarkable cast of Hollywood heavyweights, all seen at their very best. Kim Novak is Gillian, a sensuous young, single woman who runs an esoteric shop in Gotham that sells African artifacts. She also has a bit of a secret: she is a witch. Not the kind who tries to steal ruby slippers from young girls, but a kinder, gentler witch whose worst acts involve some juvenile pranks. Bored with her love life, she decides to use her powers to seduce the first desirable man who comes into her field of vision. It turns out that the "victim" is Shep Henderson, a single, successful book publisher who happens to reside in her apartment building. Gillian works her magic and Shep is instantly smitten, though it strains the imagination to believe that any straight man would need a hex on him to become enamored with Kim Novak. Gillian discovers, much to her delight, that Shep is engaged to Merle Kittridge (Janice Rule), an old rival from their college days. Thus, the opportunity to break up their relationship seems especially delicious. The ploy works and Shep and Gillian become a couple- but, as you might imagine, witchcraft intervenes in unexpected ways that causes them to reevaluate their true feelings for each other. 

This is a very witty film, directed by Richard Quine, who demonstrates a deft ability to carry off a light comedic touch. The movie reunited Stewart and Novak after they starred in Hitchcock's classic Vertigo and, although the two movies couldn't be more different, they do share an interesting relation to the supernatural. Jack Lemmon, then on the cusp of major stardom as a leading man, is very amusing as Novak's warlock brother who is frustrated that his powers never seem to be able to benefit him in any substantial ways. (He has to earn a living as a bongo player in a nightclub that caters to fellow witches and warlocks.) The great Elsa Lanchester is especially terrific as Novak's ditzy aunt (also a witch). Another comedic actress, Hermione Gingold, is wonderful in a brief role as a witch who tries to break the spell Gillian has cast on Shep. Even Howard McNear (better known as Floyd, the barber from The Andy Griffith Show) turns up as Shep's business partner. If there is a true scene-stealer, however, it's Ernie Kovacs as an alcoholic, disheveled author of a book about modern witchcraft who professes to be able to recognize witches in a way the average person could never hope to. Naturally, he never suspects the people he is dealing with are mostly witches. Kovacs, playing low-key, dominates every scene he is in- no small task, considering his talented co-stars. Stewart is at his peak here and Novak's legendary icy persona is used to wonderful effect, giving her an other-worldly quality. 

The movie has one drawback: although it is set in New York City, there are precious few location scenes. The rest of the film is quite obviously shot on sound stages that could represent anywhere and don't resemble the Big Apple in any way. There is one terrific scene, however, that finds Stewart flinging  his hat from atop the Flatiron Building- and cinematographer James Wong Howe captures it's fall to the ground without any cuts in the shot. It's quite an achievement and one wishes Howe's talents weren't restricted largely to studio sets on this film. The movie also boasts a fine score by George Duning that adds immeasurably to the mood and fun.

The film is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. 

Click here to order Blu-ray from Amazon

Turner Classic Movies pays tribute to those we lost in the film community during 2024. As usual with these tributes, they are beautifully produced and very moving to watch. Chances are you didn't realize that some of these beloved individuals had passed on. Through motion pictures, however, their work will live forever. We'll make the same observation that we make every year: why can't the Motion Picture Academy follow TCM's lead when it comes to the annual tribute? The Oscars version of this tribute is always very nicely produced but every year movie fans object to those who were needlessly omitted in favor of showing the artists who are playing the music that accompanies the video and also to make time for the more inane comedic aspects of the broadcast. If egos weren't at play, the Academy would simply strike a deal with TCM to run their tribute, as it's much closer to being definitive. The Academy's broadcast now even omits well-known people who had been nominated for Oscars, a practice that outrages movie fans and insults the families of those who were snubbed. (Lee Pfeiffer)

THE CLAUSTROPHOBIC THRILLER FROM
DIRECTOR DAVID FINCHER FINALLY DEBUTS ON 4K ULTRA HD™



AVAILABLE AS A LIMITED EDITION STEELBOOK FEBRUARY 18^TH

Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Sony:

SYNOPSIS Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman (Jodie Foster) and her daughter, Sarah (Kristen Stewart), play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders—Burnham (Forest Whitaker), Raoul (Dwight Yoakam) and Junior (Jared Leto)—during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

DISC DETAILS & BONUS MATERIALS 4K ULTRA HD DISC Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, supervised by Director David Fincher English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1 FEATURE + SPECIAL FEATURE BLU-RAY™ DISCS Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master English 5.1 Special Features: Commentary by David Fincher Commentary by Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker and Dwight Yoakam Commentary by writer David Koepp and special guest PRE-PRODUCTION 6 featurettes on the prep phase, from pre-visualization through testing Interactive previsualization — Compare the pre-visualization, storyboards, dailies and final film in a multi-angle, multi-audio feature with optional commentary PRODUCTION Shooting Panic Room – An hour-long documentary on the principal photography phase Makeup effects featurette with Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. Sequence breakdowns – An interactive look at the creation of four separate scenes in the film POST-PRODUCTION 21 documentaries and featurettes on the visual effects On Sound Design with Ren Klyce Digital Intermediate and other featurettes dealing with the post-production phase A multi-angle look at the scoring session conducted by Howard Shore Special Features Produced by David Prior CAST AND CREW Directed by: David Fincher Produced by: Ceán Chaffin, Gavin Polone, Judy Hofflund, David Koepp Written by: David Koepp Cast: Jodie Foster, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, Kristen Stewart

SPECS Run Time: Approx. 112 minutes Rating: R: for violence and language 4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.39:1 4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA Click here to order from Amazon.

Official description:

Check out the Superman teaser trailer for this upcoming DCU film from director James Gunn. Superman stars David Corenswet in the dual role as Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Sara Sampaio, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Wendell Pierce, Alan Tudyk, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Mikaela Hoover as Cat Grant, and Christopher McDonald as Ron Troupe. Superman is executive produced by Nikolas Korda, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars Winther. Behind the camera, Gunn is joined by frequent collaborators, including director of photography Henry Braham, production designer Beth Mickle, costume designer Judianna Makovsky and composer John Murphy, along with editors Craig Alpert (“Deadpool 2,” “Blue Beetle”), Jason Ballantine (the “IT” films, “The Flash”) and William Hoy (“The Batman”). Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, opens in US theaters on July 11, 2025, and internationally beginning July 9, 2025, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. #Superman #DC #IGN

By Ernie Magnotta

1974... Producer/director Bob Clark’s (Deathdream, Murder by Decree, A Christmas Story) frightening and entertaining suspense-thriller Black Christmas is released and is lovingly devoured by a horror-hungry audience. Expertly written by A. Roy Moore (The Last Chase), who was inspired by the urban legend “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs” as well as a real life murder case, this excellent, Canadian-made horror film details a group of sorority sisters who are terrorized and slaughtered during the holiday season by a mysterious psychopath who, unbeknownst to everyone, is hiding in the sorority house attic.

More than just a marvelous piece of horror cinema, the Gialli-influenced film went on to become quite influential in its own right. Predating John Carpenter’s immortal and amazing Halloween by four years, the smart and stylish Black Christmas (aka Silent Night, Evil Night and Stranger in the House), which has already had two inferior 21^st century remakes, contains many elements that would not only find their way into the Carpenter classic, but into the slasher sub-genre as well. Elements such as a mad killer murdering on a beloved holiday; attractive teen victims; the POV shot as a stand-in for the killer; nail-biting suspense; a female protagonist who fights back, and the killer still being alive in the final scene can all be traced back to Clark’s masterwork. The enjoyable film is also partly responsible for the glut of Christmas-themed slashers which, each year, only seem to be growing in number.

Featuring a top-notch cast—Margot Kidder (1972’s Sisters, Superman: The Movie), Olivia Hussey (1968’s Romeo and Juliet, Psycho IV: The Beginning), Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey, David and Lisa), Andrea Martin (SCTV, My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Art Hindle (The Brood, 1978’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and the legendary John Saxon (Enter the Dragon, 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street) as well as incredibly talented character actors Doug McGrath, Les Carlson, Marian Waldman, James Edmond and a very creepy score by composer Carl Zittrer—Black Christmas is not only a must-see, humorous and quite terrifying film, but, as already stated, an important and, in my opinion, still underrated piece of horror history.

I was extremely fortunate to be able to speak with gifted actress Lynne Griffin who not only plays the sweet and low-key first victim, Clare Harrison, but whose now iconic image—a dead Clare sitting in a rocking chair in the sorority house attic with a clear plastic bag over her head—was used to promote the film. A veteran of stage, screen and television, the Toronto native appeared in several other memorable films after Black Christmas including the comedy classic Strange Brew (1983) and the underrated slasher film Curtains (1983). Although she was extremely busy, the lovely, gracious and insanely funny Lynne took time out of her hectic schedule to chat with me about her fond memories of Black Christmas.

Ernie Magnotta: How did you get involved in the film?

Lynne Griffin: It was just a general audition. I think the reason I got the part was because I told them I was a good swimmer and that I could hold my breath for a long time.

EM: Because they needed you to wear the plastic bag over your head?

LG: Right. Which is pretty funny when you think about it. That’s how you get a part? (Laughs) Also, I mean, look at that face. If there was ever one that was going to play the eternal virgin it was me. But yeah, just a general audition. I don’t even remember if I met Bob Clark at the audition or not, but it was a wonderfully fun shoot. And Bob Clark is Uncle Bob. He just made every day really fun to be there; especially all my days in the attic.

EM: A lot of people don’t realize that, besides the horror and suspense, he was also responsible for some of the lighter moments in the movie as well as for keeping the ambiguous ending which Warner Bros. wanted him to change. And he made the college student characters more realistic which only helped with the suspense and scares. I’m such a fan of his and it’s a real shame what happened to him.

LG: Oh, so tragic. Oh, my God. And I know there was going to be more greatness to come from Bob. Cut short unfortunately.

EM: Now, you played someone very different from your usually funny, bubbly personality and you did it quite convincingly. Was that difficult or were you able to just slip right into it?

LG: Back then, I was actually very serious. I was studying Shakespeare and was doing very dramatic work, so, when I played Clare, I was in my element.

EM: Do you remember how long you worked on the film?

LG: It was actually quite substantial because we were doing all the initial party scenes and the phone call scenes and I remember that we spent a lot of time shooting the attic stuff. I was probably on it three, maybe four weeks.

EM: That’s longer than I thought.

LG: Yeah, because things weren’t shot in sequence. And I kind of remember it really being like a family/sorority sort of feeling because we were there a lot and we were really getting to know one another. There was always a nice feeling on set. And that always comes from the top. That was Bob.

EM: I thought it would have taken less time for you because I just assumed that they shot all the attic scenes at once.

LG: They did. I kind of remember being around it a lot, though. I don’t really know why that would be. It’s funny with some films. There was one I shot in Vancouver where I was on hold for like three weeks. I was sitting in a hotel room waiting for them to shoot some other stuff with me and they just kept throwing per diem at me. So, when that happens it feels like you’ve worked longer, but the actual filming that I was involved with didn’t take all that time. The attic scenes definitely didn’t take three weeks to film.

EM: I know that, throughout the film, several different people played Billy, the demented and horrifying, unseen killer, but do you remember who played him for both your murder scene and your scenes in the attic?

LG: Camera operator Bert Dunk (an unsung hero of the film who was also responsible for designing the equipment needed to film all of the killer’s POV shots) strangled me in the closet with the plastic bag, but Bob Clark rocked the rocking chair. Bob also did some of Billy’s voices, but that was mostly done by actor Nick Mancuso.

EM: Such a great actor. And I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more frightening or more insane-sounding phone voice in all of horror cinema.

LG: Absolutely not.

EM: Did you stick around the set even after your scenes were shot?

LG: Yeah, I think we all kind of hung out. And I remained friends with Art Hindle. We’ve worked together a lot since then. We once worked on an animated series where we played old lovers which was really funny. Art always likes to remind me that, in Black Christmas, he was my first screen kiss. (Laughs) So, the fact that we’re still sort of hanging out is very cool. And he’s one of the funniest people on the planet.

EM: Nice. He starred in a David Cronenberg film called “The Brood” which is a favorite of mine. I love that film and he was great in it. I also always loved Margot Kidder. Was she fun to work with?

LG: I adored Margot Kidder and I was enamored with her all the way through just because of the way she works. She was doing a lot of improv which was phenomenal, sensational and funny all the time. She wasn’t standoffish at all. She was lovely. So was Andrea Martin and Keir Dullea. Like I said, it was a very congenial and happy set. There wasn’t really any negativity which was wonderful. I was trying to think if there was anything juicy I could tell you, but no. They didn’t like tie the plastic bag around my head so that I couldn’t breathe or anything like that. (Laughs) Yeah, they were very sweet. When you shoot horror films, I think the general atmosphere is to keep it very light and fun even though you’re doing something that is really quite grotesque.

EM: It’s not real, so it becomes funny.

LG: Right. You know you’re playing pretend and it’s a bucket of fake blood or whatever. And that part of it I really like. If it were taken really seriously I probably wouldn’t like doing it.

EM: I agree. Tell me about working with Olivia Hussey.

LG: A lot of people think that Olivia is sort of like aloof or standoffish, but I didn’t find her that way at all. Of course, it was fascinating to pick her brain about working with Zeffirelli because she’d done Romeo and Juliet for him and, like I mentioned before, I had been working on a lot of Shakespeare too at that time. She was really lovely. And we’re Facebook friends to this day.

EM: Oh, that’s terrific. Now, unfortunately, we lost the great John Saxon. I know you didn’t have any scenes together, but did you get to meet him?

LG: Oh, yes. And you know, for the longest time, John Saxon came out and did the conventions and the panels with us. Art Hindle, myself and John were always on the panels for Black Christmas. John was fabulous. I remember doing one Comic-Con with him. I think it was a Comic-Con. Anyway, the line for people to see him was like around the building and he was so lovely with every single person. And, at that time, he was showing me the ropes about how I should behave at one of these conventions which was really cool. He was a lovely man.

EM: How about Claude, the cat? I heard he was difficult to get along with and pretty full of himself. (Laughs)

LG: (Laughs) Claude was not a happy cat. He did not work well with others. I was sitting in the rocking chair and Claude didn’t like being tossed onto my lap by Bob Clark. So he scratched me. Claude, not Bob.

EM: Thanks for clearing that up. (Laughs)

LG: (Laughs) Oh, and they sprayed catnip all over my face so that Claude would lick my face while I was sitting in the rocking chair.

Cinema Retro has received the following press release pertaining to this UK Region B release:

Director John Sturges reunites with The Magnificent Seven stars Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Charles Bronson in this timeless adaptation of Paul Brickhill’s World War II memoir of an audacious prisoner breakout.

Stalag Luft III: an impenetrable camp built to hold the most persistent escapees. Under the ruthless vigilance of the Nazi guards, a multinational group of prisoners must work together to enact their daring plan: to break out of the camp, forcing the Germans to divert precious military resources towards apprehending them. But getting beyond the camp’s barbed wire fences and gun-towers is only the beginning. Once out, the escapees must make the perilous journey to the border, all the while evading the relentless pursuit of their former captors.

Beautifully shot by Oscar®-winning cinematographer Daniel L. Fapp (West Side Story) and featuring a rousing, infectiously hummable score by Elmer Bernstein (The Ten Commandments), The Great Escape remains one of the most beloved Hollywood historical action movies – a testament to human ingenuity, camaraderie under pressure and indomitability of the spirit.

3-DISC LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

• Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley
• Collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Barry Forshaw, Neil Mitchell, Wickham Clayton and Mark Cunliffe
• Fold-out double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley

DISC 1 (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY) – THE GREAT ESCAPE

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray™ presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Newly restored original lossless mono soundtrack
• Optional lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary by filmmaker/historian Steve Mitchell and Steven Jay Rubin, author of Combat Films: American Realism
• Audio commentary featuring director John Sturges and members of the cast and crew, moderated by Steven Jay Rubin
• Theatrical trailer

DISC 2 (BLU-RAY) – BONUS FEATURES

• The Real Great Escape – author and historian Guy Walters separates fact from fiction in this brand new interview
• The Great Escapism – brand new appreciation of the film by Jose Arroyo, Associate Professor in Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick
• The Great Composer – brand new interview with composer/author Neil Brand, discussing Elmer Bernstein and his iconic score
• Freedom Forged – critic and educator Rich Johnson explores the film’s place within the war movie canon in this brand new visual essay
• Michael Sragow on The Great Escape – 2020 interview exploring the career of John Sturges and the making of the film
• Heroes Underground – 2001 four-part documentary exploring the making of the film and the events which inspired it, featuring interviews with former POWs
• The Real Virgil Hilts – 2001 featurette interviewing former POW David M. Jones, widely seen as the inspiration for Steve McQueen’s character
• The Untold Story – 2001 documentary exploring the planning and execution of the real-life escape
• The Untold Story: Additional Interviews
• Return to The Great Escape – 1993 featurette exploring the making of the film
• Image gallery

DISC 3 (4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY) – THE GREAT ESCAPE II: THE UNTOLD STORY [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]

• 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray™ presentation in SDR
• Original lossless 2.0 stereo soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Original Trailer

Details:
Barcode: 5027035027210
Cat number: FCD2551
Format: UHD
UK Release date: 2/12/2024
RRP: £34.99
Genre: War / Drama
Region coding: N/A
Runtime: 172 / 187
Discs: 3
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 / 1.78:1
Audio: 1.0 / 2.0 / 5.1
Colour: Colour
Director: John Sturges
Cast: Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, James Donald, Charles Bronson
Language: English
Subtitles: English SDH
Rating: 12

Please note: this is a "Region B" release that requires the appropriate player  or a region-free player in order to view the discs. This release is not available in North America at this time.

Click here to order.

By Todd Garbarini

Paramount Scares Volume 2 4K UHD is a new box set from Paramount that contains four thrillers, coming on the heels of last year’s release of Volume One. One of the titles is brilliant, one of them is damn good, one of them is so-so, and one of them is…well, meh…

Breakdown (1997)

Kurt Russell and the late great character actor J.T. Walsh have shared the screen multiples times together, specifically in Robert Towne’s Tequila Sunrise (1989), Ron Howard’s Backdraft (1991), and Stuart Baird’s Executive Decision (1994). In Jonathan Mostow’s Breakdown, they have formed their final and most gripping pairing to date.

Breakdown is a real surprise and a masterpiece of tension. To disclose the plot would destroy what I found to be an utterly nail-biting motion picture experience, which is something I do not think I have ever truly experienced. There are some spoilers ahead, so non-viewers please tread lightly. There is such an overwhelming sense of menace and peril in Breakdown that it almost becomes a cruel experiment in fear. For a first-time directing job by Mr. Mostow, who previously scripted the Michael Douglas/David Fincher film The Game (1997), Breakdown is awe-inspiring. The opening credits sequence alone is imaginative and appropriate to the story, utilizing animation to simultaneously represent a mesh of cartographic interstates and what could also be construed as cerebral arteries. The film’s title is a double meaning. Kurt Russell and Kathleen Quinlan are Jeff and Amy Taylor, a forty-something married couple moving from New England to San Diego, California in a brand-new Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo SUV. On their way driving through the empty plains of the Midwest, Jeff is momentarily distracted reaching for his thermos and just misses crashing into a mud caked Ford F150 pick-up driven by a large man who shouts obscenities. An unfortunate encounter ensues later when the man castigates Jeff while refueling. Speeding away, the new Jeep suffers an electrical difficulty and Jeff and Amy find themselves stranded in a place befitting of an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. The Ford truck speeds by, cheerfully acknowledging the couple’s plight with a long horn blow leading to a brief and tense stand-off which is alleviated by the arrival of Red Barr, a truck driver (the late great J.T. Walsh) who offers to give Amy a ride to Belle’s Diner some miles down the road to call road service (his CB blew a fuse earlier and is non-functioning). When she accepts, Jeff waits…and waits…and discovers an unplugged wire in the Jeep’s undercarriage.

Normally, I would call out Amy’s foolishness for accepting such a ride as a woman her age should know the dangers of hitch-hiking, however New Englanders routinely give rides to one another, and this plot point helps explain her action. Jeff makes his way to the diner and all the patrons and owner (a terrific turn by character actor Jack McGee) do not recall seeing her, except for a mildly slow co-worker in the parking lot. This puts into motion a high level of suspense as Jeff’s cell phone fails to get decent service while he rushes to find his wife. It turns out that Jeff and Amy have been pegged for financial embezzlement by Red, Earl (M.C. Gainey as the Ford driver), Billy (Jack Noseworthy, the “slow” diner worker), and Al (the late Rich Brinkley), a husky accomplice. Rex Linn of TV’s Better Call Saul is also on hand as a police officer who offers Jeff some recourse.

Breakdown, which opened on Friday, May 2, 1997, might appear to be an action film, but it is more of a thriller with some action sequences. It has been a longtime indeed since this level of suspense has seen the light of day on the silver screen. It is so good, in fact, that it feels like a Seventies film made in the Nineties. It is amazing that it was not the blockbuster that it deserved to be. Poor marketing perhaps?

Shooting in the 2.35:1 Panavision ratio, Mr. Mostow has created a plausible scenario replete with four of the most frightening villains seen of late. They certainly give Bill McKinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward, the mountain men in Deliverance (1972), a run for their money. J. T. Walsh, who unfortunately passed away not too long after this film was released (his death is a real loss to the film world), appears in one of the best performances of his sterling and memorable career: a purely evil man who doubles as an everyday Joe who loves his wife and son (Moira Harris and Vincent Berry, respectively) but commits terrible acts for money. You get the feeling that these monsters have been doing what they do for a long time, although there were moments wherein I thought a double-cross would transpire among them. They all appear to be loyal to one another, making me wonder how these guys ended up together in the first place. The supporting cast all do a phenomenal job as well.

Breakdown’s plot is by no means original. This type of story depicting a person who goes missing has been told over many decades: Robert Fuest's And Soon the Darkness (1970), Philip Leacock's television film Dying Room Only (1973), and, in particular, George Sluizer’s icy 1988 Dutch/French character study Spoorloos, known in the States as The Vanishing. Breakdown succeeds for the same reason that Steven Spielberg's Duel (1971) does (though Duel is more cinematic): it takes two ordinary human beings and thrusts them into a horrendous situation they would never have any reason to suspect they would ever be a part of. That is not to say that the film does not have a few convenient plot devices, but even when it does, they can be forgiven.

Kurt Russell is perfectly cast. I loved him as Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s Escape From New York (1981) and as MacReady in John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982). He is an amazing and criminally underrated actor. The look of terror and fear on his face is complete and real. Some reviews have criticized the film’s ending, but for me it is a much needed and deserving money shot and a relief; it makes me wonder the future of the people sitting in the final frame.

Supplements:

A feature-length audio commentary with the director and Kurt Russell. If you have ever heard any of the previous commentaries that Mr. Russell has been involved with, specifically with director John Carpenter on Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982), you know that he is one of the most entertaining people to listen to. He also has a phenomenal laugh and chuckles through most of the film, even making fun of Jeffrey! Hilarious. They speak about Dino DeLaurentiis; having gotten cinematographer Doug Milsom who worked on four films with Stanley Kubrick; Mr. Russell imitating Dennis Weaver in Duel (“You can’t catch me on the grade!”); the director discussing how he wrote a role for Morgan Freeman as a character whose wife was kidnapped and teams up with Jeffrey, the idea later wisely written out of the script; Roger Ebert criticized the bank scene, but the commentary states that they were rushed to get it done on the location but I think it works just fine. Overall, a truly fun and entertaining listen and easily the best extra.

Filmmaker Focus - Jonathan Mostow (10:45) – This piece is a spotlight on the director that highlights much of what was said during the commentary.

Victory is Hers: Kathleen Quinlan on Breakdown (4:22) – I was so happy to see Kathleen Quinlan included in this edition and she discusses some of her experiences making the film.

A Brilliant Partnership: Martha De Laurentiis on Breakdown (8:18) – This is a piece dedicated to one of the producers of the film. Mrs. De Laurentiis worked with her late husband, Dino, on the film and this is a look at their partnership.

This collection contains both a Blu-ray and a 4K UHD disc of this film and they both look stunning on both formats, light years ahead of the VHS, laserdisc, and DVD transfers of just over 25 years ago.

An interesting audio excerpt of Woody Allen discussing Robert Altman's "The Long Goodbye" with famed movie critic Pauline Kael. The interview took place in 1974, a year after Altman's film was released. Allen praises Altman as a director and expresses admiration for aspects of the movie, but says he finds it humorless, even though the film was well-regarded for its humorous aspects.

By Lee Pfeiffer

The 1983 British espionage film "The Jigsaw Man" should have been cause for rejoicing. It reunited Michael Caine and Laurence Olivier for the first time since their dual Oscar nominations for "Sleuth" a decade before. In the director's chair was Terence Young, who knew a thing or two about making good spy movies, having directed three early James Bond classics: "Dr. No", "From Russia with Love" and "Thunderball". The supporting cast featured an eclectic group of Bond movie veterans in roles ranging from substantial to blink-and-you'll-miss-'em: Anthony Dawson, Vladek Sheybal, Peter Burton, Michael Mediwin, Charles Gray and Richard Bradford among them. If that wasn't enough, the second unit director was Peter Hunt- yes, that Peter Hunt, the legendary Bond editor who went on to become a successful director beginning with the 1969 007 classic "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". (We assume that Hunt took a temporary "demotion" to second unit director just to enjoy the opportunity of reuniting with his mentor, Terence Young.) By now, dear reader, you will undoubtedly- and correctly- assumed that I'm about to insert a "however" into this review. The "however" pertains to the fact that virtually all of these talents are wasted in a dismal mess of a movie that was deemed so bad it became the first major British film to bypass cinemas and "premiere" on home video (VHS in those days, to be precise.)

What went wrong with "The Jigsaw Man"? The question we should ask is, "What didn't go wrong". Keep in mind the film was made during the Cold War. We are introduced to a character named Sergei Kuminsky in the film's opening scene, which is set in Moscow. As played by Richard Aylen, Kuminsky is a rough-around-the-edges sixty-something boor who happens to be British by birth, and who was once a prominent agent for MI6. However, he defected to the Soviets in spectacular fashion and bringing a treasure trove of top secret information with him. The character was clearly inspired by the real-life agent Kim Philby, whose defection to Russia resulted in the most notorious spy scandal the West had ever experienced. 'Lest there be any doubt about our cinematic defector being based on Philby, we learn that his British birth name is actually Philip Kimberley (get it?). Soon after we are introduced to Kimberley, he undergoes a dramatic transformation via extensive plastic surgery at the insistence of the KGB. He goes into the operating room looking like a typical out-of-shape older man and-presto!-he emerges looking exactly like Michael Caine! (It is never explained how a few hours of plastic surgery not only changes the man's facial appearance dramatically but also de-ages him and results in him losing quite a bit of weight in the process.) It's all in the line of duty because Kimberley's Russian masters intend to reinsert him back to England where he says he can retrieve some valuable intelligence documents that he stashed there years ago. However, once he arrives in London, Kimberley invokes a triple-cross by contacting his former bosses at MI6 and offering to retrieve the secret documents in return for safe passage to Switzerland and a deposit of five million Swiss francs into a bank account.

After convincing MI6 chief Admiral Sir Gerald Scaith (Laurence Olivier) that he is indeed his former employee, Kimberley goes about reuniting with his daughter Penelope (Susan George), who is understandably dubious that this unrecognizable man is actually her father. Once convinced, the two go about resuming a loving father and daughter relationship as though dad had just come back from overstaying on a long vacation. (She also seems nonplussed by the fact that dad now looks like Michael Caine!) There is a subplot involving Penelope and her lover, Jamie Fraser (Robert Powell), who may not be the man she thinks he is. There's no point in going on explaining all the confusing plot points in Jo Eisinger's screenplay, which was based on a novel by Dorothea Bennett. Suffice it to say that Kimberley's deceit is discovered by the Soviets and he and Penelope are constantly dodging assassination attempts. Meanwhile, the wily and sarcastic Scaith is determined to keep Kimberley alive until he can retrieve the hidden documents and hand them back to MI6. The film is packed with dopey action scenes and surrealistic situations. It all ends in wild yet boring car chase through a game preserve (!)

"The Jigsaw Man" is a mess from beginning to end. Much of the calamity was based on financial woes that beset the production. The producer announced he had literally run out of money, thus causing Caine and Olivier to leave the film until $4 million could be raised in order to complete the shoot. Yes, the film was one of those cobbled together messes that was financed in scattershot fashion by people who simply wanted to be involved in a movie production.Terence Young's direction is anything but inspired, but, rather perfunctory. Like everyone else associated with the film, he seemed to have one eye on his watch while filming. There are some nice moments between Caine and Olivier, who both rise above the material, but beyond that, the film is a lost cause.

The title "The Jigsaw Man" is designed to evoke a puzzle. In that respect, I can agree, as I've never been among those who are enthralled with the hobby of assembling puzzles. Let's face it: you spend a great deal of time assembling the pieces, then upon completion, dismantle the entire thing with nothing to show for the time spent. In that respect, the analogy to watching the film is appropriate.

Bad movie lovers can view the film on Amazon Prime.

By Nat Segaloff

The Towering Inferno, which premiered on December 16, 1974, wasn’t the first disaster film, nor was it the last, but it was the biggest and the best. It took the financial resources of two Hollywood studios to get it made, and it was the crowning achievement of its fifty-eight-year-old producer, Irwin Allen, who could not have known at the time that his career had hit its zenith and that everything he did afterwards would be downhill. Allen’s story and the history of his greatest film cannot be told separately.Like the fictional 138-story skyscraper that was built with a fatal defect, so, too, was Irwin Allen. He was a tireless self-promoter who garnered so much success early in his career that the self-promoting was justified. In an industry that ran on smoke and mirrors, he was flesh and blood (and fire). He had confidence born of actual achievement, not presumed expertise. Although he and modesty were strangers, he was often quick to acknowledge the work of those around him. As a producer he provided everything his cast and crew needed, and he was near-maniacal about safety on his hazardous productions. He was vain but charming about it, and at heart was a sentimentalist about the movie business that he so dearly loved. If he had flaws, they were the flaws of passion.

I never actually met Irwin Allen even though I worked for him. A young marketing genius named David Forbes hired me along with five others to be a special advance publicity team to handle regional publicity. The closest I came to Allen was the lobby of the Showcase Cinema in Hartford, Connecticut where there was a studio sneak of his about-to-be-released film. On this particular November night, my job was to fly myself and a precious print of the film from Boston to Hartford, where it was to be shown to a test audience. Everybody from the studio was to be there including Allen, composer John Williams, father-son editors Karl and Harold F. Kress, and a cadre of nervous executives from both Fox and Warner Bros. (the film was a Fox-WB co-production). The only one who wasn’t there was me. The print and I were socked in by fog on the runway at Boston’s Logan Airport. There was no way to get off the plane and no cell phones to alert Hartford. Eventually we were liberated and boarded a bus supplied by the airline (in those days the airlines took care of passengers) and driven to the Hartford Airport where the movie and I grabbed a cab to the theatre and handed the print with moments to spare to a very impatient projectionist.There was just enough time to mingle in the lobby, and that’s where I spotted Irwin Allen. You couldn’t miss him. What you also couldn’t miss was his very obvious toupee, and that’s all I could think of. In those days I could be arrogant because I still had hair; I’m the hirsute fellow in the back (see photo).

The Towering Inferno at fifty is a relic as well as a milestone, and that’s why I decided to write a book about it: More Fire! The Building of The Towering Inferno, A 50^th Anniversary Explosion. The title More Fire! comes from the most frequent directorial command shouted by Irwin Allen while helming the action sequences in the disaster film while John Guillermin directed the actors and Paul Stader guided the remarkable stunt work. Somehow the three men got along and merged their separate footage into one single film.

Who was Irwin Allen? Beats me. He was born June 12, 1916, in New York named Irwin Grinovit. Wikipedia says he was born Irwin O. Cohen, but that’s suspect, and died on November 2, 1991. As most people know, he was the creative force behind the classic TV series Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and movies such as The Poseidon Adventure, The Lost World, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and, regrettably, The Swarm and When Time Ran Out. The Towering Inferno was his crowning achievement. He married late in life – to Sheila Matthews, an actress of a certain age – and remained childless. His archives (some of which Julien’s Auctions sold in summer 2024) are bereft of anything of a personal nature. Throughout his career, he recycled the same thin press release biography that he first used in the 1950s while he was doing The Animal World with Ray Harryhausen’s and Willis O’Brien’s dinosaurs and the documentary The Sea Around Us, which won him an Oscar^®. But what were his parents’ names? Whom did he date? What were his hobbies? Did he have military service (he would have been twenty-five as World War Two began)? Nada. In fact, the man seems to have had absolutely no private life; all he did was work. I was able to make some headway with the help of Jeff Bond and Marc Cushman who had written books about Allen’s shows and paid his estate for access to his files (something I refused to do). The results appear in More Fire! which is as much about Irwin Allen as it is about Poseidon and Inferno, his two most famous and successful motion pictures. It’s also about the history of fire in films, special fire effects, and tips on how to survive fires. In the end, Allen’s life was in his work. He was obsessive about going over every script, usually without co-writing credit, and held to tight television budgets. While his TV series hold nostalgic fascination for the Baby Boom generation, I focused on his disaster movies.

“Disaster movie” is a phrase you won’t hear from the people who make, well, disaster movies. They prefer the phrase “group jeopardy films.” It probably has something to do with worrying that Variety would use the word disaster in a nasty headline if one of them failed. The heyday of the genre was the 1970s and Irwin Allen pretty much dominated the field. The films routinely involved a core of people, preferably movie stars, who faced a cataclysmic event that could kill any of them, and often did. The group placed in jeopardy in The Towering Inferno included Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Fred Astaire, Jennifer Jones, Robert Vaughn, Richard Chamberlain, Susan Flannery, Susan Blakely, and O.J. Simpson. Yes, that O.J. Simpson. When a fire breaks out on the world’s tallest skyscraper on the night of its dedication, firefighters must attempt to rescue all the VIPs who are trapped in the building’s rooftop ballroom.

The film was scripted by Stirling Silliphant (who had co-written The Poseidon Adventure) based on two books: The Glass Inferno by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson and The Tower by Richard Martin Stern. By coincidence, Warner Bros. had bought one and Fox the other and so, rather than go broke competing with each other, the two studios decided to join forces and let Irwin Allen sort it out. How he wrested control away from Warner Bros. and literally willed his film into existence is the story that drives my book. It was gratifying for me to close the circle after half a century that had begun with my first real Hollywood job and now involves being able to finally write about it. The book is both a personal journey and an archival mission, and I hope it brings back the thrills and the secrets behind a memorable film. If you’ll excuse the obvious pun, I hope it, um, sparks fond memories for anyone who reads it.

Click here to order "More Fire! The Building of 'The Towering Inferno'" from Amazon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THIS HOLIDAY SHARE “HERE” AT HOME

STARRING TOM HANKS AND ROBIN WRIGHT

“THE MOST LIFE-AFFIRMING, SOUL-ENRICHING MOVIE OF THE YEAR.” Jake Hamilton, FOX-TV

SYNOPSIS

Reuniting the director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump, HERE is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the most relatable of human experiences. Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Back to the Future) directs from a screenplay by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Killers of the Flower Moon, Dune: Part One, A Star is Born) and him. Told much in the style of the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire on which it is based, TOM HANKS and ROBIN WRIGHT star in a tale of love, loss, laughter and life all of which happen right Here.

SPECIAL FEATURES: BLU-RAY, DVD AND DIGITAL EXTRAS.

o How We Got Here (The Making of HERE)

o Deleted Scenes

Blu-ray™ & DVD include a Digital code for movie and bonus materials as listed above, redeemable via Movies Anywhere for a limited time. Movies Anywhere is open to U.S. residents age 13+. Visit MoviesAnywhere.com for terms and conditions.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Produced by: Robert Zemeckis, Derek Hogue, Jack Rapke, Bill Block

Based on the Graphic Novel by: Richard McGuire

Screenplay by: Eric Roth & Robert Zemeckis

Executive Producers: Jeremy Johns, Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra

Cast (In Order of Appearance): Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly

Run Time: Approx. 104 minutes

Rating: PG-13 Thematic material, some suggestive material, brief strong language and smoking.

Blu-ray™: 1080p High Definition / 1.78:1 • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish • Mastered in High Definition • Color • Some of The Information Listed May Not Apply To Special Features.

DVD: Feature:1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Description Tracks Stereo • Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish • Approx.104 Mins. • Color

Some of the information in the above listing may not apply to Special Features

FOR MORE INFORMATION

X: @SonyPicsHomeEnt

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Facebook: facebook.com/SonyPicturesHomeEntertainment

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/sonypictures

Celebrating 100 Years of Columbia Pictures

And One of the Most Iconic Filmmakers of All Time

FRANK CAPRA AT COLUMBIA COLLECTION

20 Films Directed by Frank Capra from the Columbia Pictures Library

In a Limited Edition Gift Set 

All 20 Films Presented on Blu-ray Disc™,With Nine of Those Films Also on 4K Ultra HD™

CULVER CITY, Calif. – Celebrate 100 years of Columbia Pictures and the work of iconic and award-winning filmmaker Frank Capra as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment proudly assembles 20 of his films, exclusively within the FRANK CAPRA AT COLUMBIA COLLECTION, available November 19. Each film is presented in high definition from original and existing elements, with nine films also presented in full 4K resolution!

From romantic pursuits to explosive action, from spectacular thrills to insightful social commentary, the FRANK CAPRA AT COLUMBIA collection features a wide variety of films that still feel fresh and timely today: the perfect collection of films for any mood or occasion! Then for fans of classic cinema, the scope of pre-code rarities to Best Picture-winning classics makes this set a must-own!

The 20 films in the FRANK CAPRA AT COLUMBIA COLLECTION represent Capra’s earlier work at the studio through to the more well-known award-winning blockbusters, with many films making their long-awaited disc debut! The discs are included within a coffee table-worthy sleek outer box that opens to showcase the films inside. The set also includes several new commentaries from film historians, hours of archival special features, and the full feature-length 2024 documentary, FRANK CAPRA: MR AMERICA!

In addition to the physical gift set, several Frank Capra classics will also be debuting at digital retailers this holiday season, including SO THIS IS LOVE, THE WAY OF THE STRONG, THAT CERTAIN THING, THE MIRACLE WOMAN and LADY FOR A DAY. These must-see films will be available for digital purchase or rental, alongside such favorites as IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN, LOST HORIZON, YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU and MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON. FRANK CAPRA: MR AMERICA is also available now for digital rental or purchase.

SO THIS IS LOVE (1928)

? Synopsis: Dress designer Jerry McGuire, (William Collier Jr.) is secretly in love with Hilda Jensen (Shirly Mason) who works at the delicatessen. But Hilda is in love with the self-admiring pugilist Spike Mullins (Johnnie Walker). Can Jerry summon up the courage to woo Hilda? And more importantly stand up to Spike? With all-new music score by Michael D. Mortilla.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Stereo Audio; Includes All-New Commentary with Film Historians Stan Taffel and Bryan Cooper

? SO THIS IS LOVE has a run time of approximately 55 minutes and is not rated.

THE WAY OF THE STRONG (1928)

? Synopsis: Handsome Williams (Mitchell Lewis), a brutal bootlegger, falls for blind violinist, Nora (Alice Day). Handsome’s rivals recognize that she is his vulnerability--and target the innocent Nora as retribution. With all-new music score by Michael D. Mortilla

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Stereo Audio; Includes All-New Commentary with Film Historians Stan Taffel and Bryan Cooper

? THE WAY OF THE STRONG has a run time of approximately 58 minutes and is not rated.

THAT CERTAIN THING (1928)

? Synopsis: Viola Dana plays Molly, a poor girl who falls in love with A.B. Charles, Jr. (Ralph Graves), son of a millionaire restaurateur. When the son meets and impulsively marries Molly, his father cuts him off without a dime, but with Molly’s ingenuity and “that certain thing,” her prospects are better than ever. With all-new music score by Donald Sosin.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Stereo Audio

? THAT CERTAIN THING has a run time of approximately 64 minutes and is not rated.

SUBMARINE (1928)

? Synopsis: Columbia’s first film to be released with a synchronized score is a taut drama about a deep-sea diver's efforts (Jack Holt) to rescue the crew of a submarine lodged 400 feet underwater, with Ralph Graves, his best friend and rival, on board. Newly reconstructed score by Rodney Sauer, from original source materials, performed by the Mont Alto Orchestra.

? Presented in 4K SDR on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio

? SUBMARINE has a run time of approximately 103 minutes and is not rated.

THE YOUNGER GENERATION (1929)

? Synopsis: In this moving drama, Jean Hersholt is a Jewish pushcart vendor whose ambitious son’s success allows him to move the family to a fancy uptown address where new tensions push father and son apart. Columbia Pictures first “talkie” contained limited dialog. Includes restored audio, including newly reconstructed score by Rodney Sauer, performed by the Mont Alto Orchestra.

? Presented in 4K SDR on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio

? THE YOUNGER GENERATION has a run time of approximately 83 minutes and is not rated.

FLIGHT (1929)

? Synopsis: The second of three technological spectacles featuring Jack Holt and Ralph Graves as rivals in love despite a friendship forged as Marine Corps fliers in training and action.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes the Theatrical Trailer

? FLIGHT has a run time of approximately 120 minutes and is not rated.

LADIES OF LEISURE (1930)

? Synopsis: Kay (Barbara Stanwyck) is a wild party girl out to snare herself a rich suitor. Jerry (Ralph Graves) is a young man from an affluent family striving to become an artist. What starts out as a relationship of mutual convenience soon blossoms into love in this charming film.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an Audio Commentary with Film Historian Jeremy Arnold

? LADIES OF LEISURE has a run time of approximately 98 minutes and is not rated.

RAIN OR SHINE (1930)

? Synopsis: Mary (Joan Peers) inherits her late father's financially floundering circus. With the help of her charismatic manager, Smiley Johnson (Joe Cook), they try to salvage the big top. Presented with an alternate version released without sync dialog, created for international audiences.

? Both Domestic and International Versions of the Film Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes the “Frank Capra Finds a Place in the Sun with Michel Gondry” Featurette

? RAIN OR SHINE has a run time of approximately 88 minutes and is not rated.

DIRIGIBLE (1931)

? Synopsis: Adventure duo Jack Holt and Ralph Graves pair again as great rivals, but better friends challenging the elements and attempting to conquer the air and the South Pole.

? Presented in 4K SDR on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio

? DIRIGIBLE has a run time of approximately 100 minutes and is not rated.

THE MIRACLE WOMAN (1931)

? Synopsis: Barbara Stanwyck shines as the daughter of an undervalued minister, who, grieving after her father's death, joins a fraudulent church as a preacher. David Manners, a blind ex-pilot, hears Stanwyck preaching and goes to her.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes the “Ron Howard on The Miracle Woman” Featurette

? THE MIRACLE WOMAN has a run time of approximately 90 minutes and is not rated.

PLATINUM BLONDE (1931)

? Synopsis: A wise-cracking newspaper reporter’s entanglement with a wealthy socialite (the glittering Jean Harlow) stirs the class prejudices of both her publicity-shy family and his ink-stained pals (including Loretta Young) in this fast-paced classic Capra comedy.

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio

? PLATINUM BLONDE has a run time of approximately 88 minutes and is not rated.

AMERICAN MADNESS (1932)

? Synopsis: Walter Huston stars as an idealistic bank president dealing with the aftermath of a robbery. While rallying local businessmen to deposit funds to keep the bank afloat, he learns the truth about the loyalties of the people around him.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an All-New Commentary with Film Historian Steven C. Smith Featuring Victoria Riskin, Plus Commentary with Frank Capra Jr. & Author Cathrine Kellison and the “Frank Capra Jr. Remembers...‘American Madness’” Featurette

? AMERICAN MADNESS has a run time of approximately 76 minutes and is not rated.

THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1932)

? Synopsis: Barbara Stanwyck plays an American missionary who reluctantly falls for the General who kidnaps her amid the Chinese Civil War.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an All-New Commentary with Film Historian Kimberly Truhler, Plus the “Defining Capra's Early Style with Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard” Featurette

? THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN has a run time of approximately 87 minutes and is not rated.

FORBIDDEN (1932)

? Synopsis: In this pre-code romantic drama, Barbara Stanwyck stars as a staid librarian swept away by a charming married man (Adolph Menjou). When their affair produces a daughter, Menjou proposes an unconventional, heart-breaking solution.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes a Commentary with Author Jeanine Basinger

? FORBIDDEN has a run time of approximately 85 minutes and is not rated.

LADY FOR A DAY (1933)

? Synopsis: A gangster and his gal help his good luck charm, Apple Annie, a depression-era apple seller, convince her daughter’s future in-laws she’s a proper match.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio

? LADY FOR A DAY has a run time of approximately 95 minutes and is not rated.

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)

? Synopsis: Winner of all 5 major 1934 Oscars®, including Best Picture! When a brash reporter (Clark Gable) meets a runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert), can love be far behind?

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an All-New Commentary with Film Historian Julie Kirgo, Plus Commentary by Frank Capra Jr., 2 Featurettes, Original Live Radio Broadcast and a Theatrical Trailer

? IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT has a run time of approximately 105 minutes and is not rated.

MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN (1936)

? Synopsis: Gary Cooper plays Longfellow Deeds, whose simple rural life is upended when he inherits his uncle's fortune. Jean Arthur is the cynical reporter tasked with exposing him for laughs (and circulation) but ends up overwhelmed by his honesty and decency.

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an All-New Commentary with Victorian Riskin and Steven C. Smith, Plus Commentary by Frank Capra Jr., Featurette, and a Theatrical Re-Release Trailer

? MR. DEEDS GOES TO TOWN has a run time of approximately 116 minutes and is not rated.

LOST HORIZON (1937)

? Synopsis: Ronald Colman and Jane Wyatt star in this unique journey to the enchanted paradise of Shangri-La, where time stands still.

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes Commentary with Charles Champlin and Bob Gitt, Alternate Ending, 4 Featurettes, 5 Theatrical Teasers & Trailers

? LOST HORIZON has a run time of approximately 133 minutes and is not rated.

YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)

? Synopsis: A man from a family of rich snobs becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family. Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Picture!

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes Commentary with Frank Capra Jr. & Author Cathrine Kellison, Featurette and Theatrical Trailer

? YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU has a run time of approximately 126 minutes and is not rated.

MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON (1939)

? Synopsis: James Stewart takes on the powers-that-be in our nation's capital in Frank Capra's timeless classic. Nominated for eleven 1939 Oscars®, including Best Picture.

? Presented in 4K with Dolby Vision on 4K Ultra HD disc and in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Mono Audio; Includes an All-New Commentary with Film Historian Julie Kirgo, Plus Commentary with Frank Capra Jr., 5 Featurettes, “Frank Capra’s American Dream” Documentary and Theatrical Trailers

? MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON has a run time of approximately 129 minutes and is not rated.

FRANK CAPRA: MR AMERICA (2024)

? Synopsis: FRANK CAPRA: MR AMERICA tells the story of Frank Capra, a young immigrant who rose through the ranks of early Hollywood to become one of the Great American storytellers and one of the most successful and influential film directors of his generation. His iconic films, including IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON, and IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE, offered an inspiring vision of America where ideals win out, integrity triumphs, and ordinary people have their day. The documentary uses never-before-seen footage and audio tapes from Capra’s life to examine his career and relationship with America, offering a portrait of a complicated man whose tales of hope in difficult times still speak to audiences today. Written and Directed by Matthew Wells.

? Presented in High Definition on Blu-ray Disc; English DTS-HD MA Audio; Includes a Theatrical Trailer

? FRANK CAPRA: MR AMERICA has a run time of approximately 92 minutes and is rated PG-13 for brief strong language, smoking and thematic elements.

Academy Award^® and Oscar^® are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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Here is the original 1972 production featurette for "The Poseidon Adventure", which was released to U.S. theaters on this date. Back in the day, American T.V. viewers had to encounter these featurettes by chance, as they were never scheduled to air at a specific time. They were often used as filler material if a baseball game had a rain delay or if a live broadcast ended a bit earlier than originally planned. In any case, movie lovers very much appreciated getting an advanced look at a forthcoming major film.

Issue #61 of Cinema Retro- the first issue of Season 21- is now shipping to subscribers in the UK. It is scheduled to ship to subscribers in the rest of the world in the month of January. Thanks to everyone who has supported Cinema Retro by subscribing or renewing. If you have not done so yet, you can order the new season below and receive issues #'s61, 62 and 63 throughout 2025.

Please note: we still have customers who want to subscribe to Season 19. However, we are unable to offer Season 19 any longer because issue #55 is now sold out worldwide and only a small number of issue #56 are available through our U.K office, as it has sold out in the U.S.

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By Christopher Gullo

Born in Harlem, New York and raised by his parents in Queens, Paul Maslansky would initially pursue a career in law, attending NYU Law School for a year before changing his mind. He transferred to Washington and Lee University in Virginia where he also became a jazz musician playing trumpet in the Southern Collegians band. He did a tour of duty in the U.S. Army and served as a volunteer in the Israeli Six-Day War. Maslansky then moved overseas where he produced a documentary about Fullbright scholars that was screened at the 1960 Cannes Film Festival and picked up by Screen Gems.

With the switch to the film industry, Maslansky produced and co-wrote the low- budget Italian horror film Castle of the Living Dead (1964) which starred Christopher Lee and featured the first credited screen role of Donald Sutherland who played multiple roles of a Napoleonic soldier, an old man and an elderly witch. The film was sold to Sam Z. Arkoff at American International Pictures. Maslansky would use his middle initial M (for Marc) for his first two screen credits before dropping it altogether.

Finding quick success in the lucrative low-budget genre, Maslansky continued to produce various fare including She Beast (1966), Eyewitness (1970) and Death Line (1972) which starred Donald Pleasence. With Maslansky’s growing success came bigger budget productions with bigger budget stars – including The Blue Bird (1976) with Elizabeth Taylor and later in his career The Russia House (1990) with Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer.

He often partnered with industry legend Alan Ladd Jr. and a chance favor Maslansky did for Ladd would result in his biggest success. While serving as an adviser on the set of Ladd’s production of The Right Stuff (1983), Maslansky noticed some San Francisco police officers looking rather funny during a parade scene. An inquiry revealed that these officers were actually police academy cadets and were only hired due to the San Francisco’s fair employment policy and the police department was going to fire them shortly afterwards. Sensing comedy gold, Maslansky quickly wrote up a short story treatment about a group of misfit police cadets who want to make it through the academy to become real police officers.

Ladd agreed to make the film for Warner Brothers and the resulting film, Police Academy (1984), became a runaway hit earning $82 million dollars off its $4.5 million dollar budget. The resulting success led to six sequels, as well as an animated and live-action television series that was also the brainchild of Maslansky. Always putting in much effort to produce the Police Academy films, Maslansky frequently made cameo appearances in the series.

 

Maslansky only directed one film during his career – the Blaxploitation horror film Sugar Hill (1974) starring Marki Bey, Robert Quarry and Don Pedro Colley. He provided an interview about his experience directing the film with this writer for Cinema Retro magazine issue #17.

Paul Maslansky died at age 91 on December 2nd, 2024, and is survived by his wife Sally Emr, and children Sacha, Sabina and Samuel.

(Christopher Gullo is the author of numerous film books including biographies of Peter Cushing, Donald Pleasence and Ralph Bates.)

By Lee Pfeiffer

The dividing line between a film being an homage and a rip-off is sorely tested with "Forsaken", a 2015 Canadian Western by director Jon Cassar, who is best known for his acclaimed, award-winning work in television. This was a rare venture into feature film making for him and the result left me with decidedly mixed emotions.  The film marked another collaboration between Cassar and actor Kiefer Sutherland, who starred in Cassar's wildly successful TV series "24". It was good to see them collaborate on the generally neglected genre of the Western. We have always extended our respect to anyone who tries, no matter modestly, to revive the genre. The problem with "Forsaken" is that a lot of talented people are doing fine work in a film that is so blatantly inspired by Clint Eastwood's Oscar winning "Unforgiven" that it comes close to bordering on parody. The initial blame begins with screenwriter Brad Mirman, who depends far too heavily on elements from Eastwood's magnificent production. Let's start with the title, which is a transparent attempt to evoke "Unforgiven". (In fairness, Eastwood himself was less-than-original in his use of this title. He changed the film's title from "The William Munny Killings" and replaced it with the name of an unrelated John Huston Western from 1960, "The Unforgiven".) Then there is the movie's protagonist, John Henry Clayton (Kiefer Sutherland), who carries similar baggage to Eastwood's William Munny. He is haunted by a violent past and a penchant for committing bloodshed. He has returned to his hometown after a period of years and hopes to live his life as a pacifist, a lofty goal that the viewer will recognize as being doomed from the get-go. He soon finds that the town is populated by cowardly people who are letting a greedy land baron, James McCurdy (Brian Cox) use a mercenary gang to intimidate or even kill any homesteader who refuses his offer to buy their land. As in "Unforgiven", our hero is initially slow to anger and resists his inner demons. In Clayton's case, he is routinely abused, insulted and beaten by the mercenaries, who are led by Frank (Aaron Poole), who is so vicious that he even gets chastised by his employer, McCurdy. I kept waiting for a character to appear who would emulate Richard Harris's English Bob, the aristocratic gunslinger from "Unforgiven". Sure enough, along comes Gentleman Dave Turner (Michael Wincott), who displays the wit and gallows humor of dear ol' English Bob. Not helping matters is director Cassar, who aids and abets this pantomime by insisting that Sutherland pretentiously pose like Eastwood in "Unforgiven", as well as speak like him (distinctive, barely audible voice) and dress like him (he even wears a hat that is more than coincidentally similar to Eastwood's from that film). The "homage" syndrome goes into overdrive in the film's violent conclusion, which- to the surprise of no one familiar with "Unforgiven"- also takes place in a saloon, where a heavily-armed Clayton enters and engages a small army of bad guys in a one-man massacre. At times, it appears to be a frame-by-frame remake of the Eastwood film.(In fairness, Cassar does dip a bit outside of the "Unforgiven" pool long enough to replicate a sequence from the climactic barroom shootout from "The Shootist".) The epilogue imitates "Unforgiven" in an unforgivable manner, with scenes at an isolated grave while a narrative fills us in on the fate of the main characters.

Despite all of these reservations, it may come as a surprise to you that I liked and admired "Forsaken" very much. The script does introduce a few original elements. When Clayton returns home many years after experiencing the horrors of the war, he discovers that his former lover, Mary-Alice (Demi Moore), had presumed he was dead and ended up marrying a local man. They now have a small son and although Mary-Ellen professes to be perfectly happy, it's quite apparent there is still a spark between she and Clayton. More intriguingly, there is Clayton's relationship to his father, William (Donald Sutherland), the local reverend, who welcomes his estranged son back by informing him that his mother died and that her last hope was to see him but he never came. The two men settle into a tense domestic situation until John finally unburdens himself about a terrible secret that has been haunting him and that has inspired him to renounce violence. He also blames himself for the accidental death of his brother when they were kids. Ultimately, the clearing of the air leads both father and son to form a close bond but it is threatened by McCurdy and his men- and we know it will only be a matter of time until  John takes up arms again. This plot element (the reluctant gunslinger) has been a staple of the Western genre for many years. (Think "The Gunfighter", "Shane", "The Shootist") but it still provides ample dramatic circumstances for a good director to capitalize on- and Jon Cassar is a good director. He has a real feel for the Western genre and elicits uniformly excellent performances from his entire cast, including Demi Moore who is refreshingly cast in a mature, non-glam role. To credit screenwriter Mirman, he capitalizes on the first screen teaming of both Sutherlands by providing realistic and engrossing situations and dialogue. The two actors bring a certain emotion and pathos to their on-screen relationship that is obviously enhanced by their real-life status as father and son. The movie is also gorgeously photographed by Rene Ohashi and features a fine score by Jonathan Goldsmith. Perhaps because I've seen "Unforgiven" so many times and have written about it extensively, I may be more sensitive to the similarities between the films, which I did find admittedly distracting. More casual viewers will probably not encounter this dilemma and enjoy "Forsaken" for what it is: a superior entry in the Western genre.

("Forsaken" is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.)

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“CALL IT”

By Raymond Benson

By the mid-2000s, the Coen Brothers had established themselves as a writing/directing team of considerable originality, edginess, and intelligence. Their cinematic sensibilities covered a range of genres with varying degrees of tonality. They had done crime thrillers (Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing), wacky comedies (Raising Arizona, The Big Lebowski), noir-ish melodramas (Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn’t There), and something that might be called a musical (O Brother, Where Art Thou?).

Adapting Cormac McCarthy’s neo-noir novel No Country for Old Men seemed like a no-brainer for the siblings. They had been pitched the idea, read the book, and agreed that it was “right up their alley.” McCarthy’s dialogue-filled prose turned out not to be much of a challenge—they dispensed with most of it, making their filmed adaptation more of a silent picture than one might expect. There are extended sequences of nonverbal action: characters in seedy motel rooms waiting and scheming, chases across the West Texas countryside, small town urban street gunfighting, and the ever-picturesque tableaux of actors’ faces that reveal so much without a word spoken.

The time is 1980. A Mexican cartel drug deal has gone badly out in the desert-like landscape somewhere in Terrell County, Texas. Several men are dead. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) stumbles upon the crime scene and makes off with a suitcase full of cash. Unfortunately, due to a dumb-headed move on his part, the cartel figures out who he is. Fixer/assassin Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is sent after Moss to retrieve the money and make sure no one lives to tell the tale. Meanwhile, the county sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) begins to investigate the incident and tails the players, except that he remains one step behind the parties as Moss continues to stay one step ahead of Chigurh—while the body count adds up.

No Country is one of the Coens’ more serious thrillers. Always known for injecting dark humor into their crimes dramas, this one is practically devoid of laughs. Sure, there are moments of very dark humor that can be only in a Coen Brothers film, but for the most part this is a knuckle-biting, grim, no-holds-barred noir tale in which there is a pervasive feeling of doom. We know nothing good is going to come out of this.

Another theme, illustrated by Chigurh’s penchant for a coin toss to determine the fate of a character (“Call it,” he menacingly commands), is how nothing is predetermined… one’s life can turn on a dime, or in this case, a quarter. The point of McCarthy’s novel is that this is a world that has surpassed “old men” like Sheriff Bell. He can’t understand the violence, the cruelty, and the fire that drives these men who will kill with abandon—all for the sale of illicit drugs.

It should also be noted that the Coens’ movies tend to be about stupid people but are made for smart audiences. So many of the brothers’ characters make boneheaded mistakes that set the plots in motion. In this case, Moss makes the mistake of his life, bringing about the hellfire that will affect him, his wife (Kelly MacDonald), and innocent bystanders.

The film was a big critical and financial success for the Coens. It won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay (the brothers went home with three statues each; it might have been four had the nomination for Best Editing won for “Roderick Jaynes,” their pseudonym as editors), and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem’s chilling performance.

The Criterion Collection’s new 4K UHD and Blu-ray release is certainly up to the label’s standards. The new 4K digital master, supervised and approved by director of photography Roger Deakins, with a 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack, is packaged as a 2-disk edition with the UHD movie on one disk and the Blu-ray and supplements on the second (a Blu-ray only edition is also available). The picture quality is painterly gorgeous.

Supplements include brand new interviews with the Coens conducted by the inimitable award-winning crime author Megan Abbott, who seems to be Criterion’s go-to host for the brothers as of late. Could a Coens-Abbott collaboration be a possibility in the future? One can only hope! Abbott also interviews DP Deakins and associate producer David Diliberto. Archival interviews with the cast (Jones, Brolin, Bardem, and MacDonald) are included, plus a short behind-the-scenes documentary made by Brolin. Port-overs from a previous Blu-ray release include a vintage making-of documentary, more interviews with the cast, and a documentary from the POV of Jones’ character. There are English subtitles for the hard of hearing, plus an essay by author Francine Prose and a 2007 piece on the film by Larry McMurtry in the accompanying booklet.

No Country for Old Men is highly recommended for fans of the Coen Brothers, the main actors involved, and tense crime thrillers.

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Here is the original 1979 production featurette for "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", derived from the T.V. series that has since developed a loyal fan following.

By Tripp Whetsell

Norman Lear helped raise me. Born two months after All in the Family premiered in 1971, his signature sitcom and the string of seminal hits that followed—Maude, Good Times, The Jeffersons, One Day at Time, etc.—were and still are a part of my DNA. Despite the very adult themes, the adults in my life always let me watch and they made an indelible impression.

So, too, did the man in the white hat. And I had always hoped (and in some ways believed) that he would be around forever. Starting in 2020, of the biggest thrills of my life has been getting to teach a class on Norman Lear at my alma mater Emerson College in Boston, which he also attended, and where he graciously dropped in over Zoom twice during the pandemic to visit with my students. He even called me afterwards, not only to tell me how much he enjoyed it, but that he hoped to be there in person someday.

Over the last decade, I was blessed to cross paths with him on several other occasions. Always deferentially addressing him as “Mr. Lear” even though he insisted on Norman, the first time was by phone in 2011 for a 40^th anniversary retrospective I did on All in the Family for TV Guide. He couldn’t have been nicer. Soon after it ran, I received in the mail one of my most prized possessions: a letter on his personalized stationery telling me he “loved” the article.

The last time I saw him was in 2018 when Emerson dedicated a statue of Norman Lear that stands prominently in the middle of our campus. As many others who met Norman observed, one of the things that made him so special was his uncanny ability to make you feel like the most important person in the room. “It’s taken me a lifetime to get here,” he’d say. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

Of course, in the back of my mind I always knew Norman’s eventual passing was inevitable. In the immediate months before, I also became increasingly aware that it could be imminent as his public appearances diminished while pictures of him in a wheelchair, sometimes wearing an oxygen tube, began surfacing on social media.

Then last December, Norman died at the age of 101. As fate would have it, I was just putting the finishing touches on my biography about him. My heart sank. Within minutes of his death, I began receiving dozens of phone calls, texts, emails and Facebook messages from family members and friends. Although many were aware of the biography I was working and my class, mostly they were condolences from people who knew how much Norman and his sitcoms meant to me.

I sat glued to my computer reading the tributes as they poured in from news outlets around the world and on social media. And sentimentalist that I am, I couldn’t help but tear up as the theme songs from his classic shows, especially “Those Were the Days” from All in the Family played in the background.

I also felt like I was starting from scratch and found it difficult to concentrate when it came to the task of getting back to the book even though most of the heavy lifting had already been done.

Though Norman was unable to participate, his team gave me their blessings as did his daughter Kate and many of the surviving actors from his shows, including Adrienne Barbeau, Louise Lasser, Mary Kay Place, James Cromwell and John Amos, in what turned out to be one of his final interviews, agreed to talk to me.

There was the profound sense of sadness and disbelief I felt now writing about him in the past tense. But far tricker was trying to figure out how to capture the essence of an American icon who had lived for more than a century and remained active until almost the very end.

As for legacy, Norman’s stands in perpetuity among the most seminal and enduring cultural figures America has ever produced. Forever altering a sitcom landscape that had previously been populated by white picket fences and cardigan-sweater and pearl-necklace-wearing parents, Lear offered the world a window into the lives and homes of families who looked like the people who were watching them, giving underrepresented members of society their first-ever prime-time voice.

Interestingly, by his own admission, he also did so by default, telling Harvard Business Journal in 2014, “I never thought of the shows as groundbreaking, because every American understood so easily what they were all about. The issues were around their dinner tables. The language was in their school yards. It was nothing new.”

And as a result, Norman became the first television producer to become as famous as the shows he created. Off-screen, he was an impassioned social activist and advocate for free speech, a pursuit to which he devoted much of his later life. Most notably was the progressive advocacy group he founded in 1981, People for the American Way, dedicated to the preservation of free speech and counteracting the political sway of the Christian Evangelical right. Later on, he purchased an original copy of the Declaration of Independence and toured it for a decade across all 50 states.

In a statement, President Joe Biden called Lear a “Transformational force in American culture.”

But even more importantly, he was a human being and we are all the better for having had him in our midst. Luckily for all of us, he will live on forever through his unrivaled body of work. Thank you, Mr. Lear.

# # #

Tripp Whetsell is the author of Norman Lear: His Life & Times, and an adjunct media studies professor at Emerson College in Boston where he teaches the only college level course in the country on Lear and classic sitcoms.

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Cinema Retro's Mark Mawston attended the DarkFest 7 convention in London's Whitechapel and managed to assemble a who's who of Hammer talent on the famous Genisis Cinema stairway. Those taking part in the specially posed shot are:

Jenny Hanley (Scars of Dracula, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

Caroline Munro (Dracula AD 72, The Spy Who Loved Me)

Madeline Smith (The Vampire Lovers, Live & Let Die)

Judy Matheson (Twins of Evil)

Linzi Drew (An American Werewolf in London)

Marianne Morris (Vampyres)

Virginia Wetherell (Demons of the Mind)

Pauline Peart (Satanic Rites of Dracula)

Valerie Leon (Blood from The Mummy's Tomb, The Spy Who Loved Me)

Mark confirmed his favourite shot was of Caroline Munro (Dracula AD 72) and Pauline Peart (Satanic Rites of Dracula) saying " This was a perfect place to shoot as the "To Be Kept Locked" door looked like the ideal place for Dracula's coffin to be resting! ".

 Also in attendance was Adrienne King (Friday the 13th) who is seen here posing with the poster that adorned Marks wall as a teen, alongside DarkFest organizer, publisher Allan Bryce. 

(Photos copyright Mark Mawston. All rights reserved.)

Due to the on-going Canadian postal services strike, the U.S. postal service will not be processing packages sent to Canada. For our Canadian customers, your orders will ship once this situation is resolved.

Film Masters presents Legendary Faces: A Celebration of Hollywood's Most Iconic Stars. We're kicking things off with one of the greatest character actors in movie history — Peter Lorre. His distinct voice and memorable face were featured in such classic films as Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. Join us as we pay homage to a cinema legend. Written and Narrated by Don Stradley. Edited by Krystal Vander Ark.

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Actor Earl Holliman has died at age 96. The news was reported by the Hollywood Reporter on November 26 but we just learned of it. Born in Louisiana, Holliman enjoyed a long career on television and in feature films. Holliman is best-remembered for his starring role in the 1959 classic pilot episode of "The Twilight Zone" titled "Where is Everybody?" He also had prominent roles in films such as "Giant", "Forbidden Planet", "The Sons of Katie Elder", "Gunfight at the O.K. Corral" and "Sharky's Machine". He also starred as the male lead in the 1970s hit T.V. series "Police Woman" opposite Angie Dickinson.

For more about his life and career, click here. 

By Todd Garbarini

I was introduced to the cinema of Steven Spielberg as a child when the other students in my class brought in their Jaws mementos which ranged from t-shirts to records to shark toys. I had not seen Jaws yet, though if I had it surely would have frightened me from future beach visits. When Mr. Spielberg’s next film, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, was released six months after George Lucas’s Star Wars (1977), I found myself taken in by the wonderous awe of the possibility of life on other planets (The Criterion Collection laserdisc was the first film that I bought in that format). This film made me believe that a visit from another species was possible. The unofficial sequel to his very own amateur film Firelight (1964) – itself a two-and-a-half-hour exploration of interplanetary beings – captivated me.

In October 2017, a much-needed and long overdue documentary on him premiered at the New York Film Festival and was aired on HBO. Simply titled Spielberg the film, which runs 147 minutes, is a greatest hits overview of his best known and most beloved works. Directed by Susan Lacy, who produced the excellent documentary Searching for Mr. Rugoff (2019) among others, the film delves into the psychology behind Mr. Spielberg’s approach to filmmaking. Initially his answer to a lonely childhood rooted in his parents’ divorce, filmmaking became his raison d’etre and bolstered his self-esteem. He has managed, through decades of experience, to become an on-set problem solver. By his own admission, being nervous and panic-stricken when coming on to a film set forces him to think outside the box and this is where he gets his best ideas from. Lawrence of Arabia (1962), a film that he revisits annually, nearly made him not want to direct as “the bar was set too high.” Thankfully, he relented.

Culled from an array of interviews with Martin Scorsese, Bill Butler, John Williams, Janet Maslin, J.J. Abrams, Sid Sheinberg, James Brolin, David Geffen, Steven Bochco, George Lucas, Francis Coppola and Vilmos Zsigmond to name a few, Spielberg sets out (and I believe succeeds in) dispelling the notion that simply because his films are blockbusters they are somehow unworthy of serious study and should not be regarded as anything other than “popcorn movies.” Jaws is an indisputably great movie, arguably Mr. Spielberg’s finest hour, a film that had no script, no luck, problems galore, and a filming schedule that increased three-fold. Hiding his insecurities from the cast and crew was paramount to getting the film finished.

There is also input from his late parents and his three sisters and their unorthodox and nontraditional familial experiences, which were chronicled in autobiographical film he directed called The Fabelmans (2022). Mr. Spielberg is discussed as a prankster who took delight in frightening his siblings, a trait taken to cinematic extremes with getting as many screams as possible from the audience with Jaws (1975), and later with Poltergeist (1982), which he produced. His ingenuity and inexorable attempts to make his early short films, and an amusing anecdote about staying behind on the Universal lot’s tour bus, landed him in front of Sid Sheinberg, head of story development at the time. Spielberg delves into both the personal and professional side of its subject’s life and gives us an inside look at the Wizard Behind the Curtain, covering the aforementioned titles, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), the Indiana Jones films, and his first attempt at making a serious film, The Color Purple (1985), which many critics rolled their eyes at with his newfound attempt at adult material. Spielberg proves that its subject is more than capable of making lighthearted entertainment in addition to mature films, among them Schindler’s List (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Munich (2005). The fact that Always (1989) and Hook (1991) are given a cursory glance does little to alter the notion that the director considers both films as personal misfires.

Spielberg is available as an HBO DVD that includes eleven minutes of additional interviews consisting of comments from Jude Law, Karen Allen, Matt Damon, and Amy Adams, all of whom have worked with Mr. Spielberg. If you are a fan of his, this DVD is an absolute must-own.

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Cinema Retro has received the following press release from Sony:

THIS HOLIDAY SHARE “HERE” AT HOME

STARRING TOM HANKS AND ROBIN WRIGHT

“THE MOST LIFE-AFFIRMING, SOUL-ENRICHING MOVIE OF THE YEAR.” Jake Hamilton, FOX-TV

AVAILABLE TO BUY OR RENT ON DIGITAL NOVEMBER 26 AND ON BLU-RAY & DVD JANUARY 21??

SYNOPSIS

Reuniting the director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump, HERE is an original film about multiple families and a special place they inhabit. The story travels through generations, capturing the most relatable of human experiences. Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Contact, Back to the Future) directs from a screenplay by Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Killers of the Flower Moon, Dune: Part One, A Star is Born) and him. Told much in the style of the acclaimed graphic novel by Richard McGuire on which it is based, TOM HANKS and ROBIN WRIGHT star in a tale of love, loss, laughter and life all of which happen right Here.

SPECIAL FEATURES 

BLU-RAY, DVD & DIGITAL EXTRAS

o How We Got Here (The Making of HERE)

o Deleted Scenes

Blu-ray™ & DVD include a Digital code for movie and bonus materials as listed above, redeemable via Movies Anywhere for a limited time. Movies Anywhere is open to U.S. residents age 13+. Visit MoviesAnywhere.com for terms and conditions.

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Produced by: Robert Zemeckis, Derek Hogue, Jack Rapke, Bill Block

Based on the Graphic Novel by: Richard McGuire

Screenplay by: Eric Roth & Robert Zemeckis

Executive Producers: Jeremy Johns, Andrew Golov, Thom Zadra

Cast (In Order of Appearance): Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly

Run Time: Approx. 104 minutes

Rating: PG-13 Thematic material, some suggestive material, brief strong language and smoking.

Blu-ray™: 1080p High Definition / 1.78:1 • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital. Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish • Mastered in High Definition • Color • Some of The Information Listed May Not Apply To Special Features.

DVD: Feature:1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Description Tracks Stereo • Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish • Approx.104 Mins. • Color

Some of the information in the above listing may not apply to Special Features

FOR MORE INFORMATION

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