Starring – John Payne (Joe Rolfe), Coleen Gray (Helen Foster), Preston Foster (Tim Foster), Neville Brand (Boyd Kane), Lee Van Cleef (Tony Romano).
Description – Joe Rolfe is an ex-GI, and an ex-con who has just been vioently interrogated by the police. Working as a delivery driver for a flower company, it seems Joe is being framed for a million dollar armored truck robbery.
Temporarily released due to a lack of evidence, Joe sets out to clear his name. The clues he turns up take him to a fishing resort in a small town in Mexico. There’s not much else to go on as the real culprits committed the crime wearing masks and even they don’t know what the other looks like.
A nice little crime caper with a few surprises.
NOTABLE: Some believe that this film played a role in inspiring Quentin Tarantino’s excellent crime drama Reservoir Dogs.
Starring – Gary Cooper (Marshal Will Kane), Grace Kelly (Amy Fowler Kane), Lloyd Bridges (Deputy Harvey Pell), Thomas Mitchell (Mayor Jonas Henderson).
Description – Hadleyville, New Mexico Marshal Will Kane has just married pacifist Quaker Amy Fowler, retires from his duties, and plans to move away and begin a new life as a storekeeper.
However, some disturbing news has just arrived. Frank Miller, a criminal brought to justice by Marshal Kane and sentenced to hang, has just been released from prison with no explanation as to why.
When sentenced, Miller vowed to return to kill Kane and that’s just what it looks like he is planning to do. Arriving and waiting at the railroad station are three men, Miller’s brother and two former gang members. They are waiting for the noon train.
The townspeople encourage Kane and his new bride to leave town, which they do. Realizing that he will only be hunted down, Kane returns to town, picks up his badge and tries to put together enough help to deal with the threat of Miller and his gang.
There is no help to be found. The townspeople are to scared to help Kane and it looks like he will have to face the men alone rather than run.
Enjoy the building suspense as the clock gets closer and closer to High Noon!
NOTABLE: This classic western was nominated for seven Academy Awards, winning for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), Best Film Editing, Best Music, Original Song, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture. Other nominations included; Best Picture, Best Director (Fred Zinnemann), and Best Writing, Screenplay.
In 1989, was selected for the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
Some believe that the theme of the movie was intended as an allegory of Hollywood’s failure to stand up to the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era.
This is former President Bill Clinton’s favorite film.
This was the film debut of Lee Van Cleef who does not have a word of dialogue.
Director Fred Zinnemann fought to never have this film “colorized.” However, a colorized version was made by Ted Turner’s production company and shown several times on his cable network.
The role of Marshal Will Kane, for which Gary Cooper won an Oscar, was turned down by Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Marlon Brando, and Montgomery Clift.
No makeup was used on the face of Gary Cooper in order to show the worry and stress related to the films storyline.
Tex Ritter sang “Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darlin.” This was the first Oscar-winning song from a non-musical motion picture.
The American Film Institute has ranked this as #27 on its list of the Greatest Movies of All Time and #2 on the list of Greatest Westerns.
Personal Note: This is one of my favorite films of all time. Often described as a “western for people who don’t like westerns,” it is timeless in its appeal as a great film about a crisis of conscience.
A classic motion picture in every sense of the word!
Starring – Humphrey Bogart (Charlie Allnut), Katharine Hepburn (Rose Sayer), Robert Morley (Rev. Samuel Sayer), Peter Bull (Capt. of Louisa), Theodore Bikel (First Officer).
Description – It’s 1914 and World War I has begun. Brother and sister Samuel and Rose Sayer are missionaries in German East Africa. With the outbreak of war they are now on enemy soil.
Charlie Allnut is captain of the African Queen a small boat that brings mail and supplies to the mission. He warns the Sayers that they should leave the area, but they decline. They soon witness the burning of the mission and the village by the Germans. As Samuel tries to protest he is beaten by a German soldier. He later contacts a fever, becomes delirious and dies.
Charlie soon returns to see what has happened, helps Rose to bury her brother and takes her away on his boat. While deciding what to do next, Charlie tells Rose of a German gunboat, the Louisa, that patrols the area. This gives Rose an idea.
She comes up with a plan to turn the African Queen into a torpedo boat and to sink the Louisa. Charlie is reluctant knowing that to get into position to do this they would have to navigate a river that could be suicidal, successfully pass a German fort, and contend with some rough rapids.
Rose’s persistance eventually pursuades Charlie to go along with the plan leading to one of the most enjoyable adventure, love stories of all time.
NOTABLE: In 1994 this film was selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry in the Library of Congress.
This motion picture won the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Humphrey Bogart), and was also nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Katherine Hepburn), Best Director (John Huston), and Best Writing, Screenplay.
In 2007, the American Film Institute named this as #65 on the Greatest Movies of All Time.
Some changes were made to the original script as the censors objected to two characters cohabiting without being married.
Most of the scenes take place on the African Queen. This filming was done on a large raft with a mockup of the boat on top.
This was Humphrey Bogart’s only Oscar of his career.
Katherine Hepburn was unhappy with the heavy drinking of both Bogart and director Huston during filming of this picture and herself drank only water. Result – she got dysentery.
It was reported that everyone in the cast and crew got sick during filming with the exception of Bogart and Huston. Regarding this, Bogart commented “All I ate was baked beans, canned asparagus, and Scotch whiskey. Whenever a fly bit Huston or me, it dropped dead.”
Actress Lauren Bacall accompanied husband Humphrey Bogart to Africa for the filming of the movie. It is here where her life-long friendship with Katherine Hepburn began.
Personal Note: This was one of the first Humphrey Bogart films that I was to see and will always remain one of my favorites. I have had the pleasure of collecting most of his work and never tire of viewing his motion pictures.
This is one of his best and is a very enjoyable film.
Starring – Carole Lombard (Maria Tura), Jack Benny (Joseph Tura), Robert Stack (Lt. Stanislav Sobinski), Felix Bressart (Greenberg), Lionel Atwill (Rawitch).
Description – The efforts of a Polish soldier to track down a Nazi spy are aided (sort of) by a troupe of ham stage actors who use their skill at disguise to fool the occupying troops in Poland.
The Nazi spy has information that would hurt the Polish resistance and this information must not make it into German hands.
Enjoy this comedic exercise in espionage which caused considerable controversy when released.
NOTABLE:In 1996 this film was chosen for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
This motion picture received one Oscar nomination for Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or comedy picture.
Director Lubitsch never considered another actor for the role of Joseph Tura beside Jack Benny and had developed the character with Benny in mind.
Although Director Lubitsch was heavily critisized, and his career hurt for this satire about Nazi’s, this film is now regarded as one of his best.
Sadly, actress Carole Lombard was killed in a plane crash during post-production of the film. She had been returning from a tour selling war bonds.
In 2006 Premiere voted this film as one of “The 50 Greatest Comedies of All Time.”
Starring – Paul Muni (Antonio ‘Tony’ Camonte), Ann Dvorak (Francesca ‘Cesca’ Camonte), Karen Morley (Poppy), Osgood Perkins (John ‘Johnny’ Lovo), C. Henry Gordon (Inspector Ben Guarino), George Raft (Guino Rinaldo), Boris Karloff (Gaffney).
Description - A classic gangster film with a simple premise. Rival gangs fighting over control of the city. Gangster Tony Camonte is looking to rise to the top of his profession, and it’s doesn’t hurt that he happens to be insanely violent.
In the world of organized crime, be careful what you ask for. Tony’s ruthless ambition has the police breathing down his neck and has resulted in strong dissatisfaction among the other crime bosses.
In addition, Tony’s overprotected sister Cesca is looking to become more independent and may have taken up with another gangster.
NOTABLE: In 1994 this film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.
The movie is based loosely on the life of Al Capone who liked the film so much he had his own print. As much as he enjoyed the similarities, it was rumored that some of Capone’s men visited writer Ben Hect to be sure the story wasn’t too close to real life.
Disturbed by the violence and the possibility of glamorizing a gangster the Hays Office demanded a rewrite of the script. In defiance, Producer Howard Hughes ordered Director Howard Hawks to shoot the film as realistic and grisly as possible.
The filming was cursed by several accidents; one of which was the accidental shooting with live ammunition of comedian Harold Lloyd’s brother Gaylord who lost an eye.
Look for the letter ‘X’ to be prominently used whenever a murder takes place.
This was one of the first films to feature the use of a ‘tommy gun,’ the Thompson Machine Gun.
This motion picture is rated #6 in AFI’s 10 Greatest Gangster Films.
Personal Comment: If you are a fan of the Crime/Gangster genre this film is a must. Along with Little Caesar, The Public Enemy, and The Roaring Twenties, the years 1931 and 1932 were the year of the gangster.
In 1983 Brian De Palma remade Scarface with Al Pacino and the film went on to become a cult favorite.
