COMANCHE STATION (1960) - Very good Western directed by Budd Boetticher starring Randolf Scott and Claude Akins. Solid story about a man who is searching for his lost wife among the Comanche. Every time he hears of a captive white woman he attempts to rescue them in hopes of finding his wife, so it's revealed during the film. As usual our hero Randolf Scott is riding with some bad guys with some nice Western backdrops to enhance the film. Like most of the Boetticher & Scott films they are usually filmed East of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range Lone Pine, California area.
(http://www.bergen-filmklubb.no/images/Comanche_Station.jpg)
WHITE HEAT (1947) This great ganster film played on TCM tonight directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney and Virginia Mayo. The film ends with a foiled robbery involving a bank roll office at an oil refinery in L.A.. Neat visuals and choice of a gas truck to get into the money area. Ends with the famous Cagney line "Top of the World" with the refinery blowing up.
(http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/whiteheat3.jpg)(http://www.lawzone.com/half-nor/whiteheatad.JPG)
WAR OF THE WORLDS (2005) This remake isn't bad, but I kept thinking they were going to grab a coke or a bag of skittles while posing for the pre-movie commercial. Besides that the film captures some of the doom of a massive alien invasion and the failure of humans in general at the ferry crossing. Really liked the army and air strikes on the ridge and the beginning with the storm. Other than that the film is forgetable as it has all been done before in the original. Wait for DVD or cable.
(http://www.voir.ca/calendrier/_multimedia/cinema/photos-fiches/war_of_the_worlds.jpg)
Post Edited (07-02-05 21:56)
I am with you on War or the Worlds Scott. The special effect were great its just a but its typical popcorn flick. Its great to see it once in the theater though.
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"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World
"Top of the World, Ma!! Top of the world!!"
If you ever can catch this at a revival house, it benefits a lot from Big Screen exposure -- Cagney does so much with his face to suggest his burgeoning psychosis. This is an evil and dangerous man --
Catch also, "Public Enemy", which is where Cagney's character WANTS to become the evil thing that he IS in "White Heat" --
Cagney got parodied and imitated so much, that it diminishes his accomplishments as a distinctly original actor and film Star. It's worth trying to approach him with new eyes occasionally.
See also "One Two Three!", which reveals his deep talent for screwball comedy.
peter johnson/denny crane
Peter:
ONE, TWO, THREE is absolutely hilarious. One of Billy Wilder's best comedies. It cracks me up every time Cagney yells, "Schlemmer!"
White Heat is an all time favorite!! The Public Enemy and One, Two, Three; have already been mentioned, and they are also great movies. My own favorite Cagney movie is Angels With Dirty Faces!! Classic gangster flick with superb ending. Pat O'Brian's closing line; "Let's go and say a prayer for a boy who couldn't run as fast as I could.", is a classic!
Wow, Deej makes a post. Those classics usually get him back somehow. Where have you been?
Just let go of Netflix after 6 months and will be catching more TCM and AMC. I don't think I've seen ONE, TWO. THREE.
I've seen WHITE HEAT before, but till this week it had been a long time.