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Over the course of his acting career, Sylvester Stallonehas not only become a household name himself, but so have his iconic characters. From his breakout role as the titular boxer in the sports drama Rocky back in 1976 to his more recent hits in the mercenary actioner series The Expendables, audiences flock to theaters to watch the onscreen heroes' death-defying exploits again and again. But there was one famous role that not only spurred a five-movie franchise, but also cemented Stallone as an action star for nearly 50 years: John Rambo in Ted Kotcheff's 1982 warfare-thriller First Blood.

The film was based on David Morrell's novel of the same name, and follows the heart-wrenching story of John Rambo, a troubled Vietnam War veteran who must fight to survive a brutal manhunt by local police and military members after trying to get reintegrated into civilian life. Despite Morrell only writing one book about John Rambo,...

Alex Garland's latest feature film, Civil War, has captivated audiences nationwide on its way to setting numerous box office records for A24. Civil War became A24's highest-grossing Thursday night preview release and the company's highest-grossing opening weekend release. The movie also became A24's first film to finish a weekend at the top spot of the domestic box office list.

A civil war is any armed conflict between organized groups within the same state or country. Many in the United States are familiar with films about the American Civil War, such as Gone with the Wind, Glory, and Gettysburg. However, other civil wars such as the Irish Civil War and the Sengoku period in Japanese history have been brilliantly depicted in cinema through movies such as The Wind That Shakes the Barley and Ugetsu. Civil war films account for some of the greatest war movies ever made.

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Quick Links'To Hell and Back's Plot and How Murphy Launched a Hollywood CareerMurphy as Himself on Screen in 'To Hell and Back'

Believe it or not, Hollywood has been producing action movies for more than seven decades now. Sure, those earliest titles don't really compare to their big-budget blockbuster successors, but they're a part of the genre nonetheless. It's always a good find when you stumble across one of those more obscure flicks that does something we wouldn't see today. That's the case with 1955'sTo Hell and Back.

The film is an adaptation of the same-named autobiography of World War II soldier Audie Murphy (not Eddie Murphy). What's even more impressive is that the movie stars Murphy as himself. He wasn't a novice on screen, though, as Murphy had transitioned into acting after his WWII service. But playing himself was still a unique choice by the star,...

Destry Rides Again is one of the finest westerns of James Stewart’s career, but its remake (simply titled Destry) is surprisingly an underrated gem — starring a perfectly cast Audie Murphy. From Winchester ’73 to The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Stewart appeared in some of the greatest western movies ever made. He was in the sprawling ensemble of How the West Was Won and he co-starred in John Wayne’s final western, The Shootist. Released in 1939, Destry Rides Again is one of Stewart’s best contributions to the genre.

Set in the lawless town of Bottleneck, Destry Rides Again sees the mild-mannered son of a gunfighter being named sheriff. While he initially seems hopelessly ineffective, he proves to be just what the town needs. A lot of movies from that era play as stiff and slow-paced by today’s standards, but Destry Rides Again is a lively, fast-moving western adventure.

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When Alan Hale Jr. made his "Gilligan's Island" debut as the Skipper, it wasn't the first time he'd gotten stranded somewhere. According to MeTV (which references a 1988 interview featuring the actor), Hale actually hitchhiked out of the Pine Valley Mountains in order to make it back to Hollywood for his casting meeting.

"I was in St. George, Utah, doing a picture with Audie Murphy and I get this call to come down," Hale, who died in 1990, explained. "Well, we had a small budget picture and there was kind of a difficulty as to how I was going to get there." The film in question was "Bullet for a Badman," a 1964 Western directed by R.G. Springsteen. It follows two brothers, both ex-Texas Rangers, who come into conflict when one marries the other's ex-wife while he's away in jail. Hale had...

Though Audie Murphy is known to be the leading man in several B-Western films, there are still plenty of entries in his filmography that are enjoyed by fans of the genre. Murphy initially gained fame in America following his service in World War II. Following his rise to fame, Murphy was invited to begin his acting career by acclaimed actor James Cagney. While Murphy did act in a few different genres, he is best remembered for his work in Western films in the 50s and 60s.

Without a doubt, Murphy's best performance is in No Name on the Bullet. The film effectively shows a different side to the charismatic leading man audiences had known Murphy to be at that point in his career. Even though most of Murphy's other Westerns didn't receive as much love from critics, audiences, especially earnest fans of the genre, are still able to appreciate the traditional Western stories told.

Quick Links The Ranown Cycle of Films and The Studio Behind It Praise for The Ranown Cycle Westerns How to Watch The Ranown Cycle Westerns

When discussing the history of the Western genre, many names and movies spring to mind, whether it be the landmark John Wayne film Stagecoach (1939) or Clint Eastwood's masterful deconstruction of the genre with 1992's Unforgiven. However, there is one series of movies that are often overlooked and underrated.

The team-up of actor Randolph Scott, director Budd Boetticher, and producer Harry Joe Brown created a series known as the "Ranown Cycle" of Westerns. We will examine why these Westerns remain underrated, their importance in the genre's history, and why you should watch them.

The Ranown Cycle of Films and The Studio Behind It

The "Ranown Cycle" refers to a series of Western films made between 1956 and 1960, directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott. Prior to their collaboration,...

Sylvester Stallone is credited to have created some of the best action movies of all time. Apart from the Rocky franchise, the actor’s portrayal of the war veteran in the Rambo movies is celebrated for their intense action sequences and emotional depth. Offering a compelling exploration of the effects of wars on individuals, the series is now a cult classic.

Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood | Lionsgate

The first Rambo movie was more of a thorough narrative that explored what war veterans go through. But the sequels changed their tone and showed him as a poster boy for the military, which the author David Morrell deeply disliked.

Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo Was a Victim, Not a Killing Machine

Stallone as John Rambo from his Rambo film series | Lionsgate

Sylvester Stallone‘s First Blood was based on the celebrated novel of the same name by David Morrell. Not based on...

B-movie Westerns were popular in the mid-20th century and featured talented actors who made a name for themselves in the genre. Some B-movie stars, like Lash Larue, had impressive real-life skills as cowboys, while others started as stuntmen before becoming stars. Fred MacMurray, Joel McCrea, and Audie Murphy were among the best B-movie Western actors, with notable roles in both Westerns and other genres.

Throughout the heyday of the B-movie Western, several stand-out stars made a name for themselves playing cowboys, gunslingers, and outlaws. While the popularity of the Western may have declined since the mid-20th century, the B-movies that were produced during that period stood as some of the most enjoyable, action-packed, fun-loving films ever screened. Without the major stars and actors who led them, they would not be nearly as acclaimed, and its important to shine on the best actors of this genre.

There are some B-movie Western stars,...

Joan Evans, an actress who was the goddaughter of Joan Crawford, died Oct. 21 in Henderson, Nevada, according to her son, John Weatherly. No cause was given.

During her career, she worked with the likes of Farley Granger, Audie Murphy, Irene Dunne, and Esther Williams, among many others.

Among her film roles were parts in On the Loose (1951), It Grows on Trees (1952); and Skirts Ahoy! (1952).

She signed her first film contract in 1948 at age 14 to work with producer Samuel Goldwyn.

While doing reshoots, she was accidentally shot in the arm by Farley Granger. His gun discharged and she need emergency surgery and hospitalilzation.

Evans later appeared in such films as The Outcast (1954), A Strange Adventure (1956), The Flying Fontaines (1959) and The Walking Target (1960), and on TV shows including Climax!, The Millionaire, Cheyenne, 77 Sunset Strip, Wagon Train, Zorro, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Tall Man and Laramie.

She stopped acting in the...

Joan Evans, the daughter of screenwriters and goddaughter of Joan Crawford, who starred opposite Farley Granger in her first three films and with Audie Murphy in a pair of Westerns, has died. She was 89.

Evans died Oct. 21 in Henderson, Nevada, her son, John Weatherly, told The Hollywood Reporter.

She also toplined the Charles Lederer-directed On the Loose (1951), playing a suicidal teenager in the drama written by her parents, Dale Eunson and Katherine Albert; portrayed Irene Dunne’s daughter in the fantasy It Grows on Trees (1952); and enlisted in the U.S. Navy with Esther Williams in the musical comedy Skirts Ahoy! (1952).

Evans played the love interest of Granger’s character in the title role of Roseanna McCoy (1949), a drama loosely based on the family feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys. The two worked together again in the 1950 releases Our Very Own and Edge of Doom, a bleak film noir directed by Mark Robson.

Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds is an alternate version of World War II, with fictional characters based on real people, like Frederick Zoller. Matthäus Hetzenauer and Audie Murphy, real-life soldiers, served as the inspiration for Zoller's remarkable military achievements in the movie. While the film is mostly fictional, Inglourious Basterds includes real-life figures such as Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill, adding to the heightened reality and changing the course of history.

Though Quentin Tarantino plays very loose with history in his World War II epic, there are Inglourious Basterds true story inspirations. Inglourious Basterds explores an alternate version of WWII, and while its main characters are fictional, many of them are based on real-life people, among those Daniel Brühl’s Fredrick Zoller. Throughout his career as a filmmaker, Tarantino has explored a variety of genres, all of them with his signature narrative style and generous doses of violence and blood,...

Actors often take on the challenging task of portraying themselves in movies, whether it's in a biopic or a fictionalized account. Some notable examples include Nicolas Cage in "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" and Patty Duke in "Call Me Anna", showcasing the range of genres and subjects covered in these films. "To Hell and Back" stands out as Audie Murphy's remarkable performance of his own war experiences, highlighting his talent and versatility both on and off the battlefield.

Over the course of their careers, actors are honored for the roles that they play, especially if they are especially difficult or moving characters, however, one task that may be even harder than portraying fiction is when an actor portrays themself in a movie. Although it sounds strange, this scenario actually occurs much more often than it seems. Whether it is in the form of a biopic, a satire, or a generally odd movie concept,...

It can be argued that no one led a more interesting and exciting life than the inimitable western movie star, Audie Murphy. Born in 1924 in Kingston, Texas, he is still widely regarded as the greatest war hero ever to wear a uniform and pick up a rifle. A litany of impressive bullet points associated with Murphy's wartime heroics includes an amazing 33 medals for his bravery on the battlefield. And several of those medals came from other countries that fought alongside the United States against the Nazi regime in World War II like France and Belgium. The list of combat stories of the diminutive Texan, who stood at only five feet five inches, is as long as your arm and his legacy has only grown since his premature death in a private plane crash in 1971 at just 46 years old. But unlike other decorated war heroes, Murphy added a second chapter...

Diversity has historically been slow to come to the highly filmed stretch of Orion Avenue in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley known as Cameron Woods. But the same throwback suburban qualities that have long brought film crews to its spacious ranch-style homes and Cape Cods — it’s called “The Leave It to Beaver Street” for a reason — are drawing new residents who look more like the surrounding city.

Cameron Woods residents are still mostly white, a contrast to the rest of Van Nuys where it’s situated and heavily Latino. Traditionally, the 30 or so homes on this upscale stretch of Orion Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Erwin Street rarely came up for sale, instead passing to family members or the children of neighbors. But as more of those homeowners have been “aging out” or otherwise moving on, the increased turnover is bringing greater diversity.

While there are still few if any Latino residents here,...

John Rambo only kills one person in First Blood, which is a major change from his portrayal in David Morrell's novel of the same name. First Blood debuted in theaters in 1982, with Sylvester Stallone portraying drifter and Vietnam veteran John Rambo. When Rambo wanders into a small town, he is arrested for vagrancy by the vicious Sheriff Teasle (Brian Dennehy), which triggers Rambo's Ptsd and leads him to unleash a one-man war against the local police force.

Sylvester Stallone's Rambo movies are a big franchise, with Rambo himself becoming one of Stallone's signature characters. While the Rambo movies are regarded as some of Stallone's most violent films, Rambo himself is significantly toned down in First Blood, at least kill count-wise. Compared to Morrell's 1972 novel, First Blood made one huge change to Rambo as a character.

Related: Rambo Has 1 Unwanted Stallone Record That Rocky Never Could

Rambo Is A Killing...

Actor/writer/director Ethan Hawke discusses a few of his favorite films with Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Explorers (1985) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Verdict (1982)

The Color Of Money (1986) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

Nobody’s Fool (1994)

Three Faces Of Eve (1957)

Mr. And Mrs. Bridge (1990)

North By Northwest (1959)

Torn Curtain (1966)

Psycho (1960) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

Frenzy (1972) – Joe Dante’s trailer commentary

Topaz (1969)

Boyhood (2014)

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

Blue Collar (1978) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

First Reformed (2017) – Glenn Erickson’s trailer commentary

Taxi Driver (1976) – Rod Lurie’s trailer commentary

The Left Handed Gun (1958)

Hombre (1967)

Hud (1963)

Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (1969)

The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Buffalo Bill And The Indians, Or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Outrage (1964)

Rashomon (1950) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary,...

Click here to read the full article.

Venetia Stevenson, a model, actress and daughter of Hollywood luminaries who appeared in films including Darby’s Rangers, Island of Lost Women and Horror Hotel after being labeled “the most photogenic girl in the world,” has died. She was 84.

Stevenson died Monday at a health care facility in Atlanta after a battle with Parkinson’s disease, her brother, actor and photographer Jeffrey Byron, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Stevenson’s parents were Robert Stevenson, the Oscar-nominated director of Mary Poppins who earlier helmed King Solomon’s Mines and Jane Eyre, and her mother was Anna Lee, who starred in How Green Was My Valley and portrayed the matriarch Lila Quartermaine for a quarter-century on General Hospital.

The screen siren was married to actor Russ Tamblyn from Valentine’s Day 1956 until their divorce in April 1957 and to Don Everly of The Everly Brothers from 1962-...

Click here to read the full article.

Henry Silva, the rugged New York actor who portrayed heavies and heroes of various ethnicities in a career highlighted by turns in A Hatful of Rain, The Manchurian Candidate and Johnny Cool, has died. He was 95.

Silva died Wednesday of natural causes at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his son Scott Silva told The Hollywood Reporter.

Silva also played the Draconian commander “Killer” Kane in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), just one in a lineup of his bad guys seen in The Tall T (1957), The Bravados (1958), Il Boss (1973), Sharky’s Machine (1981), Above the Law (1988), Dick Tracy (1990) and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999).

“Henry Silva is one of those guys you most likely will recognize even if you don’t know his name,” onetime Crimespree magazine writer Dave Wahlman wrote in 2016. “His face is something straight...

It’s the final theatrical western of the legendary director Budd Boetticher, and he also wrote the screenplay! Ace cinematographer Lucien Ballard was behind the camera, and Audie Murphy produced and plays Jesse James! This disc release is a gift to die-hard western fans that want to see everything, but the film itself remains a mystery — oddly nihilistic and cruel, but also awkward, with amateurish acting, slack direction and a TV-movie appearance. The one gotta-see factor for completists is Victor Jory’s three scenes as Judge Roy Bean: he nails the sleazy, gross-out charm of the Texas threat to civilization, chewing the scenery like a pro.

A Time for Dying

Region Free Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1969 (1982) / Color / 1:85 widescreen + 1:37 Academy / 72 min. / Zeit zum Sterben / Street Date March 22, 2022 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £15.99

Starring: Richard Lapp, Anne Randall, Robert Random, Beatrice Kay, Victor Jory, Audie Murphy, Burt Mustin, Peter Brocco,...

Don Collier, the rugged actor who built a career filled with Westerns with turns in three John Wayne films and work on such shows as The High Chaparral, Outlaws and The Young Riders, has died. He was 92.

Collier died Monday of lung cancer in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, friend and casting director Susan McCray (Little House on the Prairie) told The Hollywood Reporter.

On the big screen, Collier performed alongside Wayne in El Dorado (1966), The War Wagon (1967) and The Undefeated (1969) and acted with Audie Murphy in Seven Ways From Sundown (1960) and with Val Kilmer in Tombstone (1993).

Starting in the 1970s, Collier starred for years as ...

Don Collier, the rugged actor who built a career filled with Westerns with turns in three John Wayne films and work on such shows as The High Chaparral, Outlaws and The Young Riders, has died. He was 92.

Collier died Monday of lung cancer in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, friend and casting director Susan McCray (Little House on the Prairie) told The Hollywood Reporter.

On the big screen, Collier performed alongside Wayne in El Dorado (1966), The War Wagon (1967) and The Undefeated (1969) and acted with Audie Murphy in Seven Ways From Sundown (1960) and with Val Kilmer in Tombstone (1993).

Starting in the 1970s, Collier starred for years as ...

This dubious mix of war combat and faith-based inspiration is as well directed as any of Douglas Sirk’s films, even if literally every scene seems to be saying the wrong thing. Combat pilot Col. Dean Hess helped found and publicize a major orphanage in South Korea, but as personified by a pious Rock Hudson his story comes off as a public relations gambit. A fine cast empowers the grandstanding bid for sainthood, where ‘Killer Hess’ channels his guilt into good works. The aerial footage is outstanding — Sirk really loved his airplanes.

Battle Hymn

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 108 min. / Street Date April 27, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Rock Hudson, Dan Duryea, Anna Kashfi, James Edwards, Martha Hyer, Philip Ahn, James Hong, Don DeFore, Jock Mahoney, Carl Benton Reid, Alan Hale Jr., Bartlett Robinson, Carleton Young, William Hudson.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Russel F. Schoengarth

Art Directors: Alexander Golitzen,...

Two days before the inauguration, I talk with my dad about Joe Biden.

With the pandemic, I hadn’t been in Washington, D.C., for two years, so it is much overdue. Dad and Joe have much in common. Dad is 47 days younger, and I assume is stupefied that his aged generation is still running the country. Joe comes from Scranton, Pennsylvania, Dad from Brockton, Massachusetts, two Northeastern industrial towns where things used to be made and now they are not. Both are devout Catholics, diligent Mass attenders. Dad and Joe were line-towers,...

Ya like quality pro-intervention propaganda? Warners’ filmic call to arms inspired America’s reluctant warriors via a superhuman feat by a highly decorated WW1 veteran… and promptly got into hot water with the United States congress. Howard Hawks’ highly effective load of sentiment and sanctimony makes Tennesseans look like denizens of Dogpatch, U.S.A.. But America loved it, even favorite Gary Cooper’s cute ‘aw shucks’ mannerisms that compare shooting the enemy with shooting a turkey. That’s how we baby boomers learned about patriotism.

Sergeant York

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1941 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 134 min. / Street Date October 13, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, Joan Leslie, George Tobias, Stanley Ridges, Margaret Wycherly, Ward Bond, Noah Beery Jr., June Lockhart.

Cinematography: Sol Polito

Second Unit Director: Don Siegel

Film Editor: William Holmes

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Abem Finkel, Harry Chandlee, Howard Koch, John Huston...

Exclusive: Arthur E. Friedman and Steven Jay Rubin are developing a limited series that will explore the life of actor, Congressional Medal of Honor winner and World War II hero Audie Murphy.

Friedman and Rubin have acquired rights to the 1959 Murphy biography No Name on the Bullet, written by Don Graham. The producers have teamed with Graham’s widow Betsy Berry for the project, and the search is now on for a writer to adapt.

The series will tell the unfiltered story of Murphy’s life, from his time in the Army fighting in WWII to his ascent as a Hollywood leading man in the 1940s and ’50s.

The producers say the TV series will add more depth to 1955’s To Hell and Back, in which Murphy starred in his own in the adaptation of his autobiography. It is set...

Lori Nelson, the 1950s starlet who was kidnapped by an amphibious monster in Revenge of the Creature and portrayed Barbara Stanwyck’s younger daughter in Douglas Sirk’s All I Desire, has died. She was 87.

Nelson had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for several years and died Sunday at her home in the Porter Ranch section of Los Angeles, her daughter Jennifer Mann said.

In Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair (1952) and Ma and Pa Kettle at Waikiki (1955), Nelson played Rosie Kettle, one of the daughters of the characters played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride in the Universal series of films.

Nelson also made her mark in I Died a Thousand Times (1955), a remake of the Humphrey Bogart classic High Sierra in which she portrayed the club-footed love interest of Jack Palance’s crook; Pardners (1956), working opposite Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in their penultimate film together...

Audie Murphy Collection

Blu ray

Kino Lorber

1952, 1958, 1959 / 242 min.

Starring Audie Murphy, Stephen McNally, Walter Matthau, Charles Drake

Cinematography by Irving Glassberg, Harold Lipstein

Directed by Don Siegel, Jesse Hibbs, Jack Arnold

“My temper was explosive… perhaps I was trying to level with my fists what I assumed fate had put above me.” – To Hell and Back, Audie Murphy, 1949

A remarkably self-aware assessment for such an angry young man. To hear him tell it, Audie Murphy came out of the cradle itching for a fight—when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he got one. He was only 16 at the time so he marched down to the recruiting center and lied about his age. In 1945 Murphy left the Army as the most-decorated soldier of World War II. In 1971 his twin-engine plane crashed into a mountainside in Virginia’s Roanoke County killing everyone on board. In the 26 years between the end of the war...

The Oscar winning co-writer and producer of Brokeback Mountain takes us on a cinematic journey through her life, and talks about the pleasures of writing with Larry McMurtry and Joe Bonnano, and what Ken Kesey’s favorite movie was.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Good Night, And Good Luck (2005)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Red River (1948)

The Last Picture Show (1971)

Hud (1963)

Piranha (1978)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

They Drive By Night (1940)

Kings Row (1942)

The Ox-Bow Incident (1942)

The Grapes of Wrath (1942)

Buffalo Bill (1944)

Laura (1944)

Where The Sidewalk Ends (1950)

The Day of the Triffids (1963)

Moby Dick (1956)

Village of the Damned (1960)

Written on the Wind (1956)

Magnificent Obsession (1954)

There’s Always Tomorrow (1956)

All That Heaven Allows (1955)

Twelve Monkeys (1995)

Brazil (1985)

Lost In La Mancha (2002)

The Hamster Factor and Other Tales of Twelve Monkeys (1996)

The Fisher King (1991)

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

The Deer Hunter (1978)

The Godfather (1972)

The Godfather Part II (1974)

A History of Violence...

Audie Murphy goes back to war and doesn’t like it. Still the best film version of Stephen Crane’s classic Civil War saga despite being metaphorically dragged from the back of a truck by MGM. Murphy reportedly offered to buy the picture back from MGM and let Huston re-edit it, but it was not to be. Lillian Ross’s devastating, essential reportage on the unmaking of this film can can be ordered here.

And here’s a great piece on the “unmaking” of Huston’s film from Lillian Ross in The New Yorker.

The post The Red Badge of Courage appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Top notch action director William Witney brings together Audie Murphy and a vivid supporting cast of B-movie stars including Buster Crabbe and Gloria Talbott. Murphy plays a former Quantrill’s Raider seeking redemption in his search for the kidnapped daughter of a Yaqui Indian chief. Thanks to an empathetic script, Native Americans are treated with all due respect.

And here are three interviews with Mr. Witney:

Serial Days at Republic, “2 Directors No Waiting”

Working With Trigger

Serial Days at Republic- Working with Herbert J Yates

The post Arizona Raiders appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

Destry Rides Again

Blu ray

Criterion

1939 / 1.33:1/ 95 min.

Starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart

Cinematography by Hal Mohr

Directed by George Marshall

America’s favorite boy next door meets the Weimar Republic’s preeminent vamp in George Marshall’s Destry Rides Again. James Stewart plays Tom Destry, the self-effacing straight-shooter who cleans up a lawless backwater burg without firing a shot – almost. Marlene Dietrich is Frenchy, a world-weary chanteuse who rules the roost at the town’s only waterhole, the Last Chance saloon. Their relationship is more heated than the volatile town itself but after the final punch is thrown their bond is deeper than any typical Hollywood romance.

Marshall’s comic horse opera was released by Universal in 1939 and like so many of that studio’s horror films of the era, it opens with a slow pan over a moonlit graveyard with more than its fair share of tombstones. Instead...

Pairing wine with movies! See the trailers and hear the fascinating commentary for these movies and many more at Trailers From Hell. What else are you doing while stuck at home?

War is nothing to celebrate, although armed conflicts large and small have driven many to drink. Many of us have been doing more drinking than usual during the isolation of the pandemic. So, this week’s wine pairings are for the movies of a war hero who wouldn’t put his name on any bad habits. Audie Murphy left this mortal coil 49 years ago this week, after a lifetime that most people can’t even imagine.

Murphy fought in World War II, which was called The Big One before anyone had any idea how big wars could get. Elvis was already a star when Uncle Sam came calling, but Murphy went the other way and parlayed his celebrated bravery into an acting career.

Right now, in this galaxy… featuring Lloyd Kaufman, Brad Simpson, Gilbert Hernandez, Grant Moninger and Blaire Bercy.

Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mondo Keazunt (1955)

The Human Tornado (1976)

Gigot (1962)

The Hustler (1961)

How to Commit Marriage (1969)

The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)

Citizen Kane (1941)

Touch of Evil (1958)

The Last Man On Earth (1963)

Night of the Living Dead (1968)

The Omega Man (1971)

I Am Legend (2007)

Panic In Year Zero! (1962)

Dogtooth (2009)

The Entity (1983)

Shelf Life (1993)

The Killers (1964)

The Next Voice You Hear… (1950)

Donovan’s Brain (1953)

Talk About A Stranger (1952)

Julius Caesar (1950)

They Saved Hitler’s Brain (1968)

The Exterminating Angel (1962)

The Jerk (1979)

Kings Row (1942)

Santa Fe Trail (1940

Bedtime For Bonzo (1951)

The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (19468)

Point Blank (1967)

House of Wax (1953)

Black Shampoo (1976)

A History Of Violence (2005)

Return To Oz (1985)

Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

Psycho (1960)

Two Evil Eyes (1990)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three...

This article contains major spoilers for Netflix’s Hollywood.

Ryan Murphy’s new Netflix series is here. And as Hollywood begins tripping the light fantastic on your streaming service, we’re here to provide you with some texture, color, and insight on all the little easter eggs about the Dreamland that was. We’ve already gone further in-depth here with regard to the real historical players bouncing around Murphy and co-creator Ian Brennan’s fantasy, but here we begin a nice overview of all the little nods (and perhaps come-hither stares that accompany their winks) in the show. Go here to find all our coverage, including more episodes’ easter eggs.

Hollywood Episode 1

-Ryan Murphy begins his Hollywood show where else but at the movies! We meet David Corenswet’s Jack Castello as he watches a newsreel in awe. It tells him to go west, young man, and find his start in Hollywood’s boomtown!

James Stewart’s final western of the 1950s is a high-gloss family show with more than its share of spirited desperados and adventuresome women. But it’s really the split-up project that ended the productive Stewart-Anthony Mann filmmaking combo. The ‘folksy’ touches could only have come from Stewart himself, who hopefully didn’t show up to parties with his accordion in tow. Opposite Stewart as a ‘good bad guy’ is Audie Murphy, who rises to the standard set by his high-class co-star. If old-time railroads have appeal, this is the show for you: an un-billed co-star is the spectacular Denver and Rio Grande.

Night Passage

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / Street Date March 10, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Herbert Anderson, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont, Jack Elam, Olive Carey, Ellen Corby,...

Ben Cooper, who portrayed the bandit Turkey Ralston in the Joan Crawford drama Johnny Guitar, just one of his many appearances in Westerns on television and the big screen, has died. He was 86.

Cooper died Monday after a long illness in Memphis, Tennessee, his nephew, Pete Searls, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The boyish Cooper also worked opposite Audie Murphy in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) and Arizona Raiders (1965), and stood out in Rebel in Town (1956), Duel at Apache Wells (1957), Waco (1966), Roy Orbison's The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) and ...

Ben Cooper, who portrayed the bandit Turkey Ralston in the Joan Crawford drama Johnny Guitar, just one of his many appearances in Westerns on television and the big screen, has died. He was 86.

Cooper died Monday after a long illness in Memphis, Tennessee, his nephew, Pete Searls, told The Hollywood Reporter.

The boyish Cooper also worked opposite Audie Murphy in Gunfight at Comanche Creek (1963) and Arizona Raiders (1965), and stood out in Rebel in Town (1956), Duel at Apache Wells (1957), Waco (1966), Roy Orbison's The Fastest Guitar Alive (1967), Support Your Local Gunfighter (1971) and ...

Actress Joan Staley, who is perhaps best known for starring opposite Don Knotts in the 1966 movie The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, has died. According to her family, Staley passed away on Sunday due to heart failure at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital in Valencia, California. She was 79 years old.

Born in 1940, Staley discovered a very early interest in performing, taking to the violin at the age of three. By the time she was six, she auditioned and won first chair/second violin for Peter Meremblum's Junior Symphony. This talent got Staley noticed and led to her first film appearance as a child violinist in the 1948 movie The Emperor Waltz, which starred Bing Crosby and Joan Fontaine.

After getting bit by the acting bug, Staley stuck with it and was acting on the stage and in television as a young woman. Some of her earliest TV appearances included roles on shows...

Joan Staley, the film, TV and stage actress whose memorable film roles included opposite Don Knotts in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, alongside Elvis Presley in Roustabout, and on TV in series including Perry Mason and 77 Sunset Strip, died November 24. She was 79.

Her first husband, onetime TV director Chuck Staley, announced the news on social media earlier this week. She had been married to Hollywood talent manager Dale Sheets since 1967.

Staley, born in Minneapolis to missionary parents, grew up in Los Angeles and was an accomplished violinist as a child, which led to her first film credit, the 1948 Bing Crosby-Joan Fontaine pic The Emperor Waltz. That led to roles at The Little Theater in Hollywood and small parts on live series like Playhouse 90. In 1958, she made the first of four appearances on Perry Mason, and that same year was Miss November in Playboy.

Her early TV credits also included The Untouchables,...

To get everyone in the mood for his ninth film, director and cult film guru Quentin Tarantino has something special in mind for the Sony Movie Channel. From the 5th of August Tarantino’s ‘Swinging Sixties-a-Movie Marathon’ will showcase nine films which perfectly set the tone for Once Upon a Time …in Hollywood, which comes out in cinemas on the 14th of August.

Each of these films has been specially curated, having influenced the director’s new film, and will play individually or as double features. As always with the director, there are some surprises here. In amongst ’60s classics Easy Rider and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice are secret agent specials, violent Westerns and a little bit of love in all its complicated forms. In short – it’s a masterclass in movie mood – just the thing to dive into before you take a trip back to the...

Wow — a good Audie Murphy movie. Clair Huffaker’s screenplay should take credit, as well as the workmanlike direction of former Hitchcock assistant Herbert Coleman. Even John Saxon comes off well, plus the film can boast good work from favorites Zohra Lampert and Vic Morrow, and fine support from Rodolfo Acosta, Royal Dano and Lee Van Cleef.

Posse from Hell

(Die Gnadenlosen Vier)

Blu-ray

Explosive Media GmbH

1961 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 89 min. / Street Date June 21, 2018 / Eur 14,84

Starring: Audie Murphy, John Saxon, Zohra Lampert, Vic Morrow, Robert Keith, Rodolfo Acosta, Royal Dano, Frank Overton, James Bell, Ward Ramsey, Lee Van Cleef, Ray Teal, Charles Horvath, Harry Lauter.

Cinematography: Clifford Stine

Film Editor: Frederic Knudtson

Written by Clair Huffaker from his novel

Produced by Gordon Kay

Directed by Herbert Coleman

Yes, I have to admit that I’ve seen more bad Audie Murphy movies than good ones, including a few outright losers. But...

Review by Roger Carpenter

Jim Henry (Richard Conte) is a decorated soldier who has just returned from the Korean War. Making his way across the country to California, he’s stopped over in Vegas to visit an Army friend. While killing time until his dinner date he cozies up to a pretty blonde in a bar before the two argue very publicly. The next day finds Jim hitchhiking out of Vegas when he is arrested by the police—for the murder of the girl he fought with the night before. Jim claims he can prove his innocence but his Army pal, on a classified mission, has disappeared, along with Jim’s alibi. Feeling railroaded, Jim manages to escape the clutches of Detective White Eagle (Reed Hadley) to go on the run.

While on the road he meets two ladies, a high-class photographer, Mrs. Cummings (Joan Bennett), and her assistant, the...

Here’s something odd: the formative feature in Roger Corman’s proto- career. Roger gets credits for Story and Associate Producer, and learned what he needed to learn to produce two movies of his own in the same year. The modest crime thriller sees Richard Conte involved with three women during a chase on dusty desert roads: noir star Joan Bennett and young Wanda Hendrix are a suspicious pair, but special guest Hot Number Mary Beth Hughes all but steals the show.

Highway Dragnet

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 70 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Richard Conte, Joan Bennett, Wanda Hendrix, Mary Beth Hughes, Reed Hadley, Iris Adrian.

Cinematography: John Martin

Film Editor: Ace Herman

Written by Herb Meadow, Jerome Oldlum from a story by U.S. Andersen, Roger Corman

Produced by Jack Jungmeyer, William F. Broidy (executive), A. Robert Nunes & Roger Corman (associates)

Directed by...

Social media discourse around The 15:17 to Paris has already positioned it as the first big cinematic culture war flashpoint of the year. But while liberal thinkpiecers and conservative fans alike will be able to find plenty of moments to thump their chests over, it doesn’t really feel as though director Clint Eastwood is aiming for any big statements about America or terrorism or what have you. That doesn’t mean any of them will necessarily be wrong for reading jingoism or affirmations of traditional values in the subtext or text. It’s just that, for example, characters are seen praying not as a dog whistle for Christian audiences but simply because that’s what their real-life selves would do. (And sure, it can be both, but it comes more matter of fact than pointed.)

Of course, in this film, the distinction between real-life self and movie self is ambiguous,...

It’s the great Anthony Mann-James Stewart western that Mann didn’t direct: Stewart goes it alone, over-filling a good western idea with ‘cute’ scenes and conservative messages Mann had no use for. But it’s an exciting picture, and one of co-star Audie Murphy’s best — and it’s the first feature in the splendid oversized format known as Technirama.

Night Passage

Blu-ray

Explosive Media (De)

1957 / color / 2:35 widescreen / 90 min. / available at Amazon.de / Die Uhr ist abgelaufen /Street Date August 10, 2017 / Eur 17,99

Starring: James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon De Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Herbert Anderson, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont, Jack Elam, Olive Carey, Ellen Corby, Chuck Roberson.

Cinematography: William Daniels

Film Editor: Sherman Todd

Original Music: Dimitri Tiomkin

Written by Borden Chase

Produced by Aaron Rosenberg

Directed by James Neilson

Universal-International didn’t spare the production values for their big-screen western Night Passage.

Casualties of War

Blu-ray – Region B

Explosive Media

1992/ 2:35:1 / 113 Min. / Street Date December 1, 2016

Starring Michael J. Fox, Sean Penn

Cinematography by Stephen Burum

Written by David Rabe

Music by Ennio Morricone

Edited by Bill Pankow

Produced by Fred C. Caruso, Art Linson

Directed by Brian De Palma

In 1969 The New Yorker published a detailed exposé by Daniel Lang concerning four soldiers deployed in the Phu My district of Vietnam who abducted a young woman and raped her repeatedly over the course of the next 24 hours. The following day, fearing discovery by incoming American helicopters, the sergeant in command of the squad ordered her killed.

There was a fifth soldier traveling with that crew, Max Erickson, the only man in Lang’s reporting with anything resembling a moral compass, who observed the actions of his sidekicks with a mix of helplessness and horror. His accusations lead to courts martial...

MaryAnn’s quick take… A rom-com for people who hate rom-coms. A painfully funny movie, full of enrapturing emotion that captures the glorious contradictions of all kinds of love. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): not a fan of romantic comedies

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

How many ways can a movie be spoiled by its own mere existence so that it’s ruined before you even see it? We now know that it’s more than the many ways in which The Big Sick spoils itself, because its multiply-foregone conclusion does not hinder its amusements, lessen its drama, or take away from its big, big, all-enrapturing emotion. It’s kind of amazing.

The Big Sick is the basically-true, just-a-little-bit-fictionalized story of the relationship between actor and comedian Kumail Nanjiani (Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, Goosebumps) and writer and producer Emily V. Gordon,...

You can tell it’s film noir — even the cabin cruiser has Venetian blinds. Ernest Hemingway’s favorite film adaptation of his work is this uncompromised story of a good man taking a criminal course on the high seas. John Garfield is again ‘one man alone’ against the system, and the moral quicksand all but swallows up Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter and Wallace Ford.

The Breaking Point

Blu-ray

The Criterion Collection 889

1950 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 97 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date August 8, 2017 / 39.95

Starring: John Garfield, Patricia Neal, Phyllis Thaxter, Juano Hernandez, Wallace Ford, Edmon Ryan, Ralph Dumke, Guy Thomajan, William Campbell, Sherry Jackson, Donna Jo Boyce, Victor Sen Yung, Peter Brocco, John Doucette.

Cinematography: Ted D. McCord

Film Editor: Alan Crosland Jr.

Original Music: Howard Jackson, Max Steiner

Written by Ranald MacDougall from a novel by Ernest Hemingway

Produced by Jerry Wald

Directed by Michael Curtiz

After...

There appear to be no rules governing tricky politics in movies — Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel about terrorism in French-held Vietnam completely reverses the author’s message. Does a conspiracy theory about a movie still carry any weight, when our daily political life now plays like one giant conspiracy?

The Quiet American

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1958 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 122 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Audie Murphy, Michael Redgrave, Claude Dauphin, Giorgia Moll,

Bruce Cabot, Fred Sadoff, Kerima, Richard Loo.

Cinematography: Robert Krasker

Film Editor: William Hornbeck

Original Music: Mario Nascimbene

Written by Joseph L. Mankiewicz from a novel by Graham Greene

Produced and Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Fans of author Graham Greene know him for his political sophistication and his adherence to Catholic themes; he’s found holy values in a razor-wielding Spiv in Brighton Rock and...