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On Thursday evening, backstage in a dressing room at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, Peter Rowan is plucking his guitar and quietly humming to himself. With less than an hour before showtime, the singer-songwriter will soon celebrate a band he created more than a half-century ago, one whose influence continues to loom large over bluegrass music — Old & In the Way.

“A lot of people who’ve picked up on Old & In the Way have gone deeper into the Stanley Brothers, Lonesome Pine Fiddlers, Bill Monroe,” the 82-year-old tells Rolling Stone. “They follow the trail.

Exclusive: Comedian and writer Julian Clary (Julian Clary: Live – Lord of the Mince) will play the title role in this festive season’s London Palladium pantomime Robin Hood, with singer and travel show presenter Jane McDonald (Cruising with Jane McDonald) topping the bill as Maid Marion.

The annual Palladium show, now in its ninth consecutive season, has become an eagerly awaited staple in the West End’s calendar. It runs from December 7 through January 12, 2025. Priority booking opens 10 Am (GMT) April 25.

Last year’s production, Peter Pan, with comedy legend Jennifer Saunders making her pantomime debut as Captain Hook, and with Clary playing Seaman Smee, was a sold-out success, playing 56 performances -often two a day – to an audience of more than 123,000 at the 2,200 capacity variety house.

When tickets went on sale, there was a moment when 90,000 people were in the queue, waiting their turn to book seats.

In 1973, Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia fulfilled a longtime dream when he formed the bluegrass supergroup known as Old & In the Way. For the rock & roller, circling back to his acoustic roots was more than just scratching a creative itch — it was a spiritual calling.

“It was something that was organic and fun,” Peter Rowan, singer, songwriter, and former Oitw guitarist, tells Rolling Stone. “And that evolved into playing [shows]. ‘Let’s take this outside.’”

On the ground level, Old & In the Way’s self-titled 1975 debut album was one of the...

Are you living up to those New Year’s resolutions so far? Need a little help gaining momentum? BBC Maestro is here to help with a phenomenal deal. Sign up by January 31 and you can take 40% off any purchase. The most popular plan is their annual subscription, now $72 instead of $120. That’s just $6/month to learn a world of new skills. Use the code JANUARY2024 to get the deal.

Get the Deal $6/month bbcmaestro.com Save $48 on the Annual Plan with code JANUARY2024 What is BBC Maestro?

BBC Maestro is very similar to the well-known MasterClass series. Celebrity instructors will walk you through everything you need to know to get started on a new skill set. Gain new skills in the kitchen, learn how to create stories, and discover how to start a business!

Each course runs between 2-4 hours, and the lessons are broken into short videos.

While you...

Ivan Dunleavy, who ran legendary U.K. studio Pinewood for 17 years before departing in 2017 following a buyout, has a new studio venture, this time in Ireland.

Tara Studios, based at the 154-acre Borleagh Manor estate in County Wexford less than an hour’s drive from Dublin (and, crucially, connected via a motorway to the capital), has now opened its door for shoots, with the location and production spaces of around 27,000 square-feet immediately available.

But there are also grand expansion plans, with construction work on seven stages that would provide a total of 150,000 square feet of studio space (the biggest stage coming in at 30,000 square-feet), plus a further 90,000 square-feet of workshop and office space, set to start in the spring 2024. Full completion is anticipated by July 2025.

The development — which Dunleavy says will cost “tens of millions of dollars” — would make Tara Studios Ireland’s largest facility for film and TV productions...

From Errol Flynn to Disney, cinema has long been fascinated with the legend of Robin Hood. In 1991 he was played by box office superstar Kevin Costner, in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, who transformed the famous outlaw of Sherwood Forest into a movie icon fit for the 1990s. This grand, swashbuckling adventure in the classic tradition was a huge hit, suggesting audiences will never tire of the tale. To celebrate the release of the film in an all-new Uhd 4K restoration, here’s a look at the various actors who set audiences a quiver playing the beloved folklore hero through the decades.

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

For many Errol Flynn was the quintessential Robin Hood – a dashing, devilish rogue. In this lavish Hollywood classic, he starred alongside Olivia de Havilland as Maid Marian, Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and Melville Cooper as the High Sheriff of Nottingham,...

Halloween is over, but we keep the horror movie recommendations coming your way all year long with our Best Horror Movie You Never Saw video series. Today’s new episode takes a look back at the 1972 film Tales from the Crypt (watch it Here), which was inspired by the same EC Comics series that also inspired the popular HBO series. You can find out all about it by checking out the video embedded above!

Directed by Freddie Francis from a screenplay written by Milton Subotsky, Tales from the Crypt has the following synopsis:

When people in a tourist group get lost within ancient catacombs, they meet the sinister Crypt Keeper, who tells them each their fate. The creepy figure’s macabre stories involve Joanne Clayton, a wife dabbling in murder, and Grymsdyke, a retired sanitation worker targeted by his suspicious neighbors. Among the other characters is adulterer Carl Maitland, who...

Hello, everyone! Last Friday, we kicked off Indie Horror Month with a tribute to all the great independent genre movies that came out during the 1970s (you can read that article Here), and before we move on to celebrating all the great indie horror from the following decade, I thought it was worth taking some time to tip our hats to several more movies from the ’70s that fans should definitely take some time to check out if they haven’t done so already. And because I always want to try and be as helpful as possible, I’ve also included info on where you can currently stream these films in case you’re looking to fill in some horror history gaps for yourself.

And in case you missed it, we also recapped where a bunch of essential indie horror movies from the 1970s are streaming (you can check out that list Here).

Happy Streaming!

I for one will never tire of them: those assorted candy boxes with always one or two disagreeable sorts to spit out, but overall filled with enjoyable treats. And so it goes in the movies as well; call them horror portmanteaus, omnibuses, or lotsashortstogether, they offer outrageous highs littered with occasional lows that offer a sugar rush once the box is done. Tales from the Crypt (1972) is one of my favorite examples of a horrific sampler.

This Amicus production was given a release by Twentieth Century Fox in its native UK, and by Cinerama Releasing Corporation in the US, and did quite well on both sides of the pond. Cinerama got the jump in March, with the UK afforded spookier seasonal vibes that September. Critics were kind to this latest from the studio that gave us Torture Garden and The House That Dripped Blood, and spotlit Peter Cushing in perhaps his most poignant role.

On Election Eve, Nov. 2nd, many of America’s biggest stars will join together for the second ever Telethon for America to create the biggest voter turnout in history and combat voter suppression and disinformation.

In addition to being a night of comedy, live performances and a live celebrity video bank, the event will offer critical voter protection information.

The event is presented by fiercely non-partisan anti-corruption organization RepresentUs and will air live at 9 pm Et/6 pm Pt on Free SpeechTV and simulcast on TelethonForAmerica.com, and the social media platforms of RepresentUs and celebrity talent.

Hosted by award-winning actress Rosario Dawson and comedian, actor, and television host Ben Gleib, the event is free and open to the public to watch live. Flipping the traditional telethon on its head, instead of donations, viewers are asked to make a pledge to cast their vote on Nov. 3rd, and to bring their friends to the polls.

As Disney quietly disappears huge swathes of film history into its vaults, I'm going to spend 2020 celebrating Twentieth Century Fox and the Fox Film Corporation's films, what one might call their output if only someone were putting it out.And now they've quietly disappeared William Fox's name from the company: guilty by association with Rupert Murdoch, even though he never associated with him.***"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars," Oscar Wilde as purred by George Sanders, is enough to make any film worth while.A friend of mine once appeared on a daytime quiz show, on which he was required to complete the quote from the word "...but..." His heroic stab at an answer was, "...but some of us belong there?" I suppose one of the achievements of Otto Preminger's The Fan, a 1950 film of Wilde's 1892 play Lady Windermere's Fan,...

The third annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show was held on February 7, 2019, at Pier59 Studios as part of Cfda’s New York Men’s Fashion Week.

Nigel Barker Attends third annual Blue Jacket Fashion Show

Credit/Copyright: Kris Connor/Getty Images

The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson partnered with the Blue Jacket Fashion Show along with Accuray, Men’s Health magazine, and with the support of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (Cfda), to benefit the Prostate Cancer Foundation (Pcf).

The Blue Jacket Fashion Show brings together the fashion, entertainment, healthcare, and media worlds around a national platform to openly discuss men’s cancer issues, with an emphasis on prostate cancer. Coinciding with February’s Cancer Prevention Month and New York Men’s Fashion Week, the Blue Jacket Fashion Show included designers such as Arjona Collection, Banana Republic, Ben Sherman, Brooks Brothers, Bruno Magli, Duckie Brown, Eleventy, Emporio Armani,...

Sword of Sherwood Forest

Blu ray

Twilight Time

1960 / 2.35:1 /80 Min. / Street Date October 16, 2018

Starring Richard Greene, Peter Cushing, Richard Pasco, Nigel Green

Cinematography by Ken Hodges

Directed by Terence Fisher

The prime architect for the gothic horror revival of the 50’s, Hammer Studios began the next decade with a revival of the less-than-fashionable swashbuckler genre by setting their sights on the legend of Robin Hood – but even with an audience-friendly runtime of 80 minutes, the lackadaisical Sword of Sherwood Forest may have the most ardent Hammer fan checking their watch.

Fortunately the action, what there is of it, plays out amid the ultra-green backcountry of Ireland’s County Wicklow and there are some very good bad guys lurking there – in particular Peter Cushing as the slippery Sheriff of Nottingham and Oliver Reed as a surly henchman who merely glowers from the sidelines but electrifies every frame he’s in.

Directed by...

Paul Childs Feb 12, 2018

After Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves - and that song! - hit big, the song work of Bryan Adams was in high demand at the movies...

Last month, this site ran an article about the power of feel good pop music to lighten our mood. As soon as I read it I rushed home and put on some Bryan Adams. This wasn’t just a sudden whim. I’ve been a huge fan of his ever since 'that bloke who sings about the best days of his life' released 'that song from that film'.

See related Den Of Thieves review Pablo Schreiber interview: Den Of Thieves O'Shea Jackson Jr. interview: Den Of Thieves

Everything I Do (I Do It For You) was massive hit in 1991. It reigned over the pop charts for what felt like forever and became a fashionable choice for recessional music and first dances at weddings,...

Meet the lusty Amber St. Clare, a 17th century social climber determined to sleep her way to respectability. Gorgeous Linda Darnell gets her biggest role in a lavishly appointed period epic; Otto Preminger hated the assignment but his direction and Darryl Zanuck’s production are excellent. And it has one of the all-time great Hollywood movie scores, by David Raksin.

Forever Amber

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1947 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 138 min. / Street Date December 19, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Linda Darnell, Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Glenn Langan, Richard Haydn, Jessica Tandy, Anne Revere, John Russell, Jane Ball, Robert Coote, Leo G. Carroll, Natalie Draper, Margaret Wycherly, Norma Varden.

Cinematography: Leon Shamroy

Art Direction: Lyle Wheeler

Visual Effects: Fred Sersen

Original Music: David Raksin

Written by Philip Dunne, Ring Lardner Jr. from the novel by Kathleen Winsor

Produced by William Perlberg

Directed by Otto Preminger

Three years ago,...

Dark Horse's The Strange Case of the Disappearing Man comic book series tops today's Horror Highlights, which also includes Wizard World Cleveland, new releases (respectively) from Cavity Colors and Blue Underground, Apocalypse Kiss, and the New Jersey Horror Con.

The Strange Case of the Disappearing Man Comic Book Series: Press Release: "Milwaukie, Ore., (March 14, 2017)—Victorian horror fans, rejoice! Dark Horse is delighted to announce the follow-up to 2011’s cult classic The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde, with The Strange Case of the Disappearing Man. Mr. Hyde’s Cole Haddon brings fans even more Thomas Adye adventures, while Sebastián Cabrol (Thief: Tales from the City, Caliban) lends his beautiful art to the story, and Hernán Cabrera (Caliban) brings the art to life with his gorgeously grotesque color palette.

The Strange Case of the Disappearing Man finds Inspector Thomas Adye of Scotland Yard struggling to return to normalcy after his run-in with...

Larry and Shawn King remain united weeks after reports surfaced citing infidelity in their 19-year marriage. On Thursday, the married couple posted a smiling photo to Instagram with a caption denying "malicious" and "false" reports about their relationship. "We stand together in support of our marriage and our family in opposition to malicious gossip and false tabloid innuendo to the contrary," Larry, 82, shared on his personal account. We stand together in support of our marriage and our family in opposition to malicious gossip and false tabloid innuendo to the contrary. A photo posted by Larry King (@larrykingnow) on Sep 8, 2016 at...

Larry and Shawn King remain united weeks after reports surfaced citing infidelity in their 19-year marriage.

On Thursday, the married couple posted a smiling photo to Instagram with a caption denying "malicious" and "false" reports about their relationship.

"We stand together in support of our marriage and our family in opposition to malicious gossip and false tabloid innuendo to the contrary," Larry, 82, shared on his personal account.

We stand together in support of our marriage and our family in opposition to malicious gossip and false tabloid innuendo to the contrary.

A photo posted by Larry King (@larrykingnow) on Sep 8, 2016 at...

It may seem like Larry King has already reconciled with his wife Shawn, but a source close to the TV star says the couple's relationship is a "sham."

"This is an emotional façade they've been putting on for years," a source tells People. "They're still miserable, arguing and sleeping in separate rooms, yet they continue perpetuating a front for the cameras."

Just days after reports surfaced that Shawn had a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene, the couple stepped out hand-in-hand on Monday.

"It's laughable," adds the source of the Kings' denials in the past week. "People in...

It may seem like Larry King has already reconciled with his wife Shawn, but a source close to the TV star says the couple's relationship is a "sham." "This is an emotional façade they've been putting on for years," a source tells People. "They're still miserable, arguing and sleeping in separate rooms, yet they continue perpetuating a front for the cameras." Just days after reports surfaced that Shawn had a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene, the couple stepped out hand-in-hand on Monday. "It's laughable," adds the source of the Kings' denials in the past week. "People in...

Larry and Shawn King were spotted together on Monday amid reports of infidelity in the couple's 19-year marriage.

The 82-year-old TV host donned his signature cuffed dress shirt, suspenders and glasses as he was seen walking hand-in-hand alongside his wife, who sported a blue and white top, dark pants, sunglasses and a hat.

Though reports surfaced that Shawn has been in a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene, the couple participated in a taped interview Thursday citing the People-confirmed news as "rumors."

"[It's] an interesting word, 'rumor.' You know, I'm been in the business – next May'll be 60 years...

Larry and Shawn King were spotted together on Monday amid reports of infidelity in the couple's 19-year marriage. The 82-year-old TV host donned his signature cuffed dress shirt, suspenders and glasses as he was seen walking hand-in-hand alongside his wife, who sported a blue and white top, dark pants, sunglasses and a hat. Though reports surfaced that Shawn has been in a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene, the couple participated in a taped interview Thursday citing the People-confirmed news as "rumors." "[It's] an interesting word, 'rumor.' You know, I'm been in the business - next May'll be...

Amid allegations that his wife of 19 years is having an affair, Larry King is distraught, sources confirm to People.

The television personality is no stranger to marital strife – Shawn, 56, is King's seventh wife, though he has been married eight times total. (He remarried his ex-wife Alene Akins in 1968, five years after they divorced.)

Here's a look at King's past marriages – and the state of his current one.

Freda Miller: 1952-53

King married his high-school sweetheart at age 18. The next year, the marriage was allegedly annulled by their parents, who didn't approve.

Annette Kaye: 1961

For less than one year, King was married to Kaye,...

Amid allegations that his wife of 19 years is having an affair, Larry King is distraught, sources confirm to People. The television personality is no stranger to marital strife - Shawn, 56, is King's seventh wife, though he has been married eight times total. (He remarried his ex-wife Alene Akins in 1968, five years after they divorced.) Here's a look at King's past marriages - and the state of his current one. Freda Miller: 1952-53King married his high-school sweetheart at age 18. The next year, the marriage was allegedly annulled by their parents, who didn't approve. Annette Kaye: 1961For less than one year,...

Larry King and Shawn King are speaking out amid reports of infidelity in their marriage. On Friday's episode of Home & Family, the talk show host and his actress wife break their silence following reports that Shawn was in a yearlong romance with British public speaker Richard Greene. "[It's] an interesting word, 'rumor.' You know, I'm been in the business - next May'll be 60 years - and I've dealt with rumors a long time, interviewed people involved with rumors. Rumors are what they are - they're rumors. And I tell you the truth: I don't pay any attention to them," Larry,...

Larry King and Shawn King are speaking out amid reports of infidelity in their marriage.

On Friday's episode of Home & Family, the talk show host and his actress wife break their silence following reports that Shawn was in a yearlong romance with British public speaker Richard Greene.

"[It's] an interesting word, 'rumor.' You know, I'm been in the business – next May'll be 60 years – and I've dealt with rumors a long time, interviewed people involved with rumors. Rumors are what they are – they're rumors. And I tell you the truth: I don't pay any attention to them," Larry, 82, says in a...

Larry King and his wife were struggling in their marriage for some time before news surfaced of her alleged infidelity, a source tells People exclusively. "Things have not been great with Larry and Shawn for a long time," the source reveals of growing distance between the TV legend, 82, and his seventh wife, 56. "They've been extremely unhappy for years," adds the source. "They've been living in separate bedrooms for a while."On Thursday, People confirmed that Shawn has been in a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene (who was first named by the New York Post's Page Six after...

Larry King and his wife were struggling in their marriage for some time before news surfaced of her alleged infidelity, a source tells People exclusively.

"Things have not been great with Larry and Shawn for a long time," the source reveals of growing distance between the TV legend, 82, and his seventh wife, 56.

"They've been extremely unhappy for years," adds the source. "They've been living in separate bedrooms for a while."

On Thursday, People confirmed that Shawn has been in a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene (who was first named by the New York Post's Page Six after...

Larry King and his wife were struggling in their marriage for some time before news surfaced of her alleged infidelity, a source tells People exclusively. "Things have not been great with Larry and Shawn for a long time," the source reveals of growing distance between the TV legend, 82, and his seventh wife, 56. "They've been extremely unhappy for years," adds the source. "They've been living in separate bedrooms for a while."On Thursday, People confirmed that Shawn has been in a yearlong affair with British public speaker Richard Greene (who was first named by the New York Post's Page Six after...

Larry King is distraught about an alleged yearlong affair his wife of 19 years has been having, sources confirm to People.

"It's true, and Larry is completely embarrassed and anguished by all of this," one source close to the situation tells People of the alleged infidelity. "He doesn't know what to do."

Another insider tells People Shawn, 56, allegedly told Richard Greene that her marriage to Larry, 82, was over. (News of the affair was first reported by National Enquirer, and the New York Post's Page Six first identified Greene.)

Though Shawn and Greene allegedly briefly split, the insider says they have since reunited.

Larry King is distraught about an alleged yearlong affair his wife of 19 years has been having, sources confirm to People. "It's true, and Larry is completely embarrassed and anguished by all of this," one source close to the situation tells People of the alleged infidelity. "He doesn't know what to do."Another insider tells People Shawn, 56, allegedly told Richard Greene that her marriage to Larry, 82, was over. (News of the affair was first reported by National Enquirer, and the New York Post's Page Six first identified Greene.) Though Shawn and Greene allegedly briefly split, the insider says they have since reunited.

It's the John Ford film you never heard of, not because it's bad, but because it's a little confused. Richard Greene, David Niven and an emotional George Sanders (!) dedicate their lives to clearing their father's name of a smear by international arms smugglers! Their spirited companion Loretta Young behaves almost as if this were a screwball comedy. So does the director! Ford aficionados will be fascinated. Four Men and a Prayer 20th Century Fox Cinema Archives 1938 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 85 min. / Street Date December 15, 2015 / 19.98 Starring Loretta Young, Richard Greene, George Sanders, David Niven, C. Aubrey Smith. J. Edward Bromberg, William Henry, John Carradine, Alan Hale, Reginald Denny, Berton Churchill, Barry Fitzgerald, Chris-Pin Martin. Cinematography Franz Planer Film Editor Louis R. Loeffler Written by Richard Sherman, Sonya Levien, Walter Ferris from a novel by David Garth Produced by Kenneth Macgowan Directed by John Ford

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

We all...

She warmed the hearts of millions when she came onto the scene in the early 1930s, and Hollywood learned today (February 11) that it lost a legend in Shirley Temple Black. Coined "The Original Child Star," the 85-year-old actress starred in a plethora of memorable big screen creation in her younger years, using her bright eyes and dimples to cheer up the Depression Era.

In honor of the late "On the Good Ship Lollipop" darling, GossipCenter looks back on five of Shirley's most adorable movies. Check out the list below!

1. "The Little Princess" (1939)

Also starring Richard Greene and Anita Louise, “The Little Princess” saw Temple as a young lady who ends up living at a private school for girls after her father was shipped off to Africa to fulfill his responsibilities in the Army. However, when her dad was declared ‘mission in action’ she was forced to scrub floors perform various...

Shirley Temple dead at 85: Was one of the biggest domestic box office draws of the ’30s (photo: Shirley Temple in the late ’40s) Shirley Temple, one of the biggest box office draws of the 1930s in the United States, died Monday night, February 10, 2014, at her home in Woodside, near San Francisco. The cause of death wasn’t made public. Shirley Temple (born in Santa Monica on April 23, 1928) was 85. Shirley Temple became a star in 1934, following the release of Paramount’s Alexander Hall-directed comedy-tearjerker Little Miss Marker, in which Temple had the title role as a little girl who, left in the care of bookies, almost loses her childlike ways before coming around to regenerate Adolphe Menjou and his gang. That same year, Temple became a Fox contract player, and is credited with saving the studio — 20th Century Fox from 1935 on — from bankruptcy. Whether or not that’s true is a different story,...

Jeanne Crain: Lighthearted movies vs. real life tragedies (photo: Madeleine Carroll and Jeanne Crain in ‘The Fan’) (See also: "Jeanne Crain: From ‘Pinky’ Inanity to ‘Margie’ Magic.") Unlike her characters in Margie, Home in Indiana, State Fair, Centennial Summer, The Fan, and Cheaper by the Dozen (and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes), or even in the more complex A Letter to Three Wives and People Will Talk, Jeanne Crain didn’t find a romantic Happy Ending in real life. In the mid-’50s, Crain accused her husband, former minor actor Paul Brooks aka Paul Brinkman, of infidelity, of living off her earnings, and of brutally beating her. The couple reportedly were never divorced because of their Catholic faith. (And at least in the ’60s, unlike the humanistic, progressive-thinking Margie, Crain was a “conservative” Republican who supported Richard Nixon.) In the early ’90s, she lost two of her...

Jeanne Crain: From Pinky to Margie Jeanne Crain, one of the most charming Hollywood actresses of the ’40s and ’50s, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" featured player on Monday, August 26, 2013. Since Jeanne Crain was a top 20th Century Fox star for about a decade — a favorite of Fox mogul Darryl F. Zanuck — TCM will be showing quite a few films from the Fox library. And that’s great news. (Photo: Jeanne Crain ca. 1950.) (See also: “Jeanne Crain Movies: TCM’s ‘Summer Under the Stars’ Schedule.”) Now, my first recommendation is actually an MGM release. That’s Russell Rouse’s 1956 psychological Western The Fastest Gun Alive, an unusual movie in that the hero turns out to be a "coward" at heart: quick-on-the-trigger gunslinger Glenn Ford is reluctant to face an evil challenger (Broderick Crawford) in a small Western town. But why? Jeanne Crain is his serious-minded wife...

Paul Henreid: Hollow Triumph aka The Scar tonight Turner Classic Movies’ Paul Henreid film series continues this Tuesday evening, July 16, 2013. Of tonight’s movies, the most interesting offering is Hollow Triumph / The Scar, a 1948 B thriller adapted by Daniel Fuchs (Panic in the Streets, Love Me or Leave Me) from Murray Forbes’ novel, and in which the gentlemanly Henreid was cast against type: a crook who, in an attempt to escape from other (and more dangerous) crooks, impersonates a psychiatrist with a scar on his chin. Joan Bennett, mostly wasted in a non-role, is Henreid’s leading lady. (See also: “One Paul Henreid, Two Cigarettes, Four Bette Davis-es.”) The thriller’s director is Hungarian import Steve Sekely, whose Hollywood career consisted chiefly of minor B fare. In fact, though hardly a great effort, Hollow Triumph was probably the apex of Sekely’s cinematic output in terms of prestige...

“Nor’easter” begins with a young, handsome priest divided by his duties to God and to himself, a conflict that, this time, actually feels fresh. If the expectations on God would seem to be otherworldly, so too would be the hopes directed towards his messengers, particularly Father Erik (David Call), who is called upon by an anxious family to do the impossible, to look Death in the eye and call his bluff. Erik is just the latest voice sought by Ellen and Richard Greene, a wealthy older couple off the coast of Maine who have longed for their missing son Joshua, having vanished five years prior as an eleven year old. Other priests attempted, and failed, to give the Greenes not only a sense of hope, but of faith, that their son is alive in some way, waiting to return to his family despite zero evidence to the contrary. Erik,...

Spanish director dies following a stroke: Best known for his nearly two hundred underground, "exploitation" films "I think I was born because my father and my mother had sex ... ." Nope, that has nothing to do with the anti-censorship lectured delivered by Oz the Great and Powerful and Interior. Leather Bar's James Franco online. The words above were uttered by another Franco, a Spaniard. No, not the foaming-at-the-mouth right-wing military ruler Francisco Franco, but multitasking filmmaker Jesús Franco, aka Jess Franco aka dozens of other aliases, including those in honor of jazz performers Clifford Brown and James P. Johnson. His oeuvre included about 200 films, among them The White Slave, The Sexual History of O, Macumba Sexual, , Emmanuelle Exposed, Vampyros Lesbos, The Mistresses of Dr. Jekyll, and White Cannibal Queen. The director died today in Malaga, a city in southern Spain, after suffering a stroke. According to reports, he had never truly...

A spirited damsel in distress and a familiar face in postwar Hollywood films

Although the actor Patricia Medina, who has died aged 92, had a cut-glass English accent, her voluptuous Latin looks often prevented her from playing English characters. As her name suggests, she was half-Spanish, born in Liverpool, the daughter of a Spanish father – a lawyer and former opera singer – and an English mother.

Medina, who appeared in more than 50 feature films, many of them costume dramas, was seldom called upon to display much acting ability, though she was an unusually spirited damsel in distress. However, she used the one chance she had to work with a director of magnitude, Orson Welles, in Mr Arkadin (also known as Confidential Report, 1955), to show what she was capable of. As Mily, in this breathless, globetrotting film, she is an earthy nightclub dancer who attempts to seduce the amnesiac billionaire Welles. It was...

I remember her fondly as the villainess Lucretia in the outrageous Toho Sci-fi adventure Latitude Zero but Patricia Medina was an actress with a solid career and an impressive number of memorable credits who worked with Orson Welles (Mr. Arkadin) , Vincent Price (twice – Moss Rose and The Three Musketeers), Abbott and Costello (A&C In The Foreign Legion), Francis the Talking Mule (Francis), and the Three Stooges (Snow White And The Three Stooges). Voluptuous and exotic-looking with a deep sultry voice, the British-born Medina began her film career in 1937 and was married to actors Richard Greene and Joseph Cotton. Patricia Medina was 92

The La Times writes:

Patricia Medina, a British-born actress whose Hollywood career as a leading lady in the 1950s spanned the talking mule comedy “Francis” and Orson Welles‘ crime-thriller “Mr. Arkadin,” has died. She was 92.

Medina, the widow of actor Joseph Cotten, died Saturday at Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles,...

Actress Patricia Medina has died after a long battle with ill health at the age of 92.

She died at Barlow Respiratory Hospital on Saturday, according to the Associated Press.

The British-born beauty began her acting career in England in the late 1930s and moved to Hollywood after marrying The Adventures of Robin Hood TV star Richard Greene.

Medina became a big star following leading roles opposite Fernando Lamas in Sangaree, Glenn Ford in Plunder of the Sun and Alan Ladd in Botany Bay.

Her additional film credits include Mr. Arkadin, Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion, Phantom of the Rue Morgue, Fortunes of Captain Blood, Lady in the Iron Mask, and The Lady and the Bandit.

In 1960, the actress married Citizen Kane star Joseph Cotten and two years later she made her Broadway debut opposite her new husband in Calculated Risk.

We've recently been informed by DC reader Richard Greene about a very interesting short film that played at the New York Film Festival. The word on Ari Aster's Strange Thing About the Johnsons is that it's unique and disturbing. Unique and disturbing, you say? ... That's right up our alley!

Featuring absolutely outstanding performances from the three lead characters, Brandon Greenhouse as Isaiah, Billy Mayo as Sidney and Angela Bullock as Joan, Strange Thing About the Johnsons will draw you in with the opening scene and lock your attention as the subject matter of the film unfolds. I can pretty much guarantee you've never seen anything of this ilk before.

Scroll down and check out Strange Thing About the Johnsons right here. We heard it polarized audiences at the Nyff, a real love it or hate it film. The subject matter may make you uncomfortable (isn't that what horror is...

Retro-action! Volumes 1-3

It's a common occurrence: you buy a box set of a show you fondly yet vaguely remember, then, after you've got the buzz of seeing the title sequence again and reacquainted yourself with the characters, you find that maybe the whole series wasn't as good as your rose-tinted vision had you believe.

That's why these compilation discs are such a great move. All the shows here (one episode of each) are from Itc, a UK production company run by the legendary showbiz impresario Lord Lew Grade and responsible for much of our world-class TV output during the 1960s and 1970s. Itc shot everything on film rather than video (so everything here looks stunning) and made full use of all the writers, directors, actors, craftsmen and technicians the British film industry had to offer. Over three separately available discs you get the pick of such classics as The...

Everyone knows the legend of Robin Hood, mostly through the numerous romanticised versions that have appeared on the big and small screens over the decades, so it was only a matter of time before someone took the story back to basics.

Director Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe hope to give the Sherwood Forest archer a believable, historically-rooted reimagining and recreate the powerful impact of their Oscar-winning Gladiator.

With this being an origin tale, comparisons with Christopher Nolan's back-to-the-drawing-board Batman Begins are being made. No-one knows for sure who Robin Hood was - and whether he really existed - but for the purposes of Scott's tale, the character is an archer in the army of King Richard who, after returning to England, eventually becomes an outlaw.

Even the script went back to basics, with production halted for several months while the story was completely rewritten, as Scott and Crowe explain.

In this incarnation of our Videolog column (which began in 1982 with VHS and Betamax and later laserdisc), Starlog posts information usually (though not always) on Tuesdays regarding selected genre titles being released (or re-released) now on DVD and Blu-ray. Prices listed are Msrp, while clickable links lead to Amazon where the savings is significant. Here’s what coming out this week:

DVD Releases for August 25, 2009

The Adventures Of Robin Hood: The Complete Fourth Season & The Complete Series (Mill Creek Entertainment, Fourth Season, $14.98; Complete Series, $29.98): The 1955 British TV series is being released on two new DVD sets: The fourth and final season, and the complete series. Richard Greene stars as Robin Hood, who rules Sherwood Forest with his band of Merry Men in their endless fight against the despicable Sheriff of Nottingham (Alan Wheatley).

Batman: The Brave And The Bold: Volume One (Warner, $14.98): In this latest Batman interpretation,...