1955’s We’re No Angels is my new appointed winner of the weirdest and least appropriate Christmas movie I have seen.  Humphrey Bogart, Aldo Ray and Peter Ustinov play three convicts who have escaped the prison on Devil’s Island in 1895.  While trying to figure out a way onto any boat bound for Paris, Bogey fills […]

I don’t believe in witchcraft, yet I saved in a journal the last whisker and claw saved from our cat Sebastian before he passed on.  With these, I included the bandage which had been on his leg on his last visit to the vet.  In text which reads creepier than intended, I wrote that “with […]

Cats can be monsters on their own.  Just look at feral cat colonies.  People can be monsters on their own as well, which I think goes without saying.  Together, cats and people tend to improve each other, bringing out the better nature of each.  Still, there are many times I wish I could be a […]

Home invasion thrillers make me uneasy, yet even I had difficulty losing myself in 1955’s The Night Holds Terror.  The night may hold some tension and terror, but the days turn out to be tedious and eye-rollingly ridiculous. As the opening narration goes to great pains to inform the audience, this is based on a […]

Even people who have never seen a black and white film have likely heard of Bogart or Cagney.  Unfortunately, few people today would recognize the name Broderick Crawford, though this actor of surprising range turned in great performances in many noirs. One of those was in 1951’s The Mob, where he is a beat cop […]

Alastair Sim was a treasure.  I have yet to see a movie which wasn’t improved upon by his presence.  Naturally, some of those pictures are better than others.  1954’s The Belles of St. Trinian’s is a tour-de-force for the actor, with him in dual roles as the Millicent Fritton and her brother Clarence.  To keep […]

As I write this, the U.S. is currently performing mass deportations, more often than not to countries with poor humanitarian track records and where those deportees do not have a history.  When they arrive at their destinations, they are put in the kinds of prisons where people never leave except in a coffin.  One wonders […]

A Hammer horror comedy directed by William Castle.  Just from that description, you know 1963’s The Old Dark House is going to be a strange animal. Really, there had always been a knowing wink in even the director’s straight-up horror films.  But many elements of this production are very much like a sitcom, and that […]

New York’s fashion district seems to me to be an unlikely subject for a noir, but I learned from the supplemental materials accompanying 1957’s The Garment Jungle just how dangerous an industry that was.  Maybe it still is.  At the time, it was apparently mobbed up.  Something I found ironic is the gangsters are not […]

The opening credits of movies such as 1948’s Man-Eater of Kumaon tend to fascinate me.  Consider how Wendell Corey is billed as “The Hunter”, despite his character being named Dr. John Collins.  A statement regarding this character blanked out all other thought: “The character of ‘The Hunter’ is a fictional one.”  It is interesting somebody […]

Back before the emergence of independent cinema in the late 60’s, smaller productions stood out from their peers because of their more limited means.  These movies would often be in stark contrast to the major studio fare, and some of them would use that to their advantage.  One solid example of this is 1958’s Murder […]

I have long wanted to be cremated once my number is up.  My morbid sense of humor has me wishing I could mandate my remains be mixed into fruit punch to be served to oblivious attendees of my funeral.  Figured there would be something in the service about there will always be a little bit […]

Gambling seems to be ubiquitous nowadays, and I wonder if I am the only person alarmed by that.  If the road to Hell may be paved with good intentions, then I’m pretty sure the road to financial ruin is somehow paved with unlimited online sports betting.  You have people losing their homes from betting on […]

I’m sure Germany had to have made some comedies, but I have never seen one.  From the German cinema I have seen, I can’t imagine what one would be like.  I have seen some Fassbinder and Herzog, both of whom have names that sound like heavy German beers.  Hell, I’ve even watched all 16 hours […]