Billy Wilder made The Seven Year Itch in 1955. Twelve months before that, Cy Endfield’s Impulse had a moody Arthur Kennedy longing to scratch the 8 year variety in the UK – perhaps things developed at a more measured pace in Britain in those days, even dissatisfaction. That said, there’s nothing especially slow-moving about the film itself and it has that generally attractive vibe that I find in a lot of Tempean productions.
It all begins with a suitcase, that simple object that signals the beginning or end of a journey, hinting at romance and the tantalizing promise of escape too. Here though any escape alluded to is of a slightly darker hue. Pretty much everybody in the movie is looking for an out, even those who only gradually come to realize it. Alan Curtis (Arthur Kennedy) is one of those types, an American who hasn’t made it back to the States after the war and has instead married an English girl (Joy Shelton) and settled down to a quiet life in the Shires. The trouble for our unlikely estate agent is that it’s become just a little too quiet, too ordered and altogether too predictable. His wife is off on a trip to town and even the car ride with her to the station reveals the restlessness that’s gnawing away at him; this is a man yearning for a taste of excitement once again, and such men are only a step or two away from trouble. Well that trouble will find him soon enough, a stormy night, a breakdown on a lonely stretch of road, and a glamorous woman in need of assistance is all it takes. That woman is Lila (Constance Smith), a night club chanteuse and the person who will not only lift Curtis out of the rut he’s been grouching about but send him spiraling into a nightmarish world of stolen gems, racketeers and sudden death.
They say you ought to be careful what you wish for, well we all know the punchline to that one I guess. In a way that’s slightly reminiscent of Edward G Robinson’s bored professor in The Woman in the Window, Arthur Kennedy sees an apparently innocent flirtation lead to all kinds of unexpected and potentially ruinous consequences. The idea of an essentially average type stumbling into an increasingly dangerous and bewildering set of circumstances, with salvation forever near yet forever dancing back into the shadows with a provocatively ironic laugh every time the poor sap is on the point of grasping hold of it, is such an archetypally noir setup. The screenplay is by director Cy Endfield (although the on screen credit reads Charles de Lautour) and Lawrence Huntington (The Upturned Glass), and the protagonist’s lurch into a twilight world is plausible enough, although noir purists may feel they drop the ball at the end. Personally, I’m not troubled by that aspect and prefer to look at the whole thing as an ethical fable, a warning for the curious if you like, where where it isn’t necessary to take matters to full on Scarlet Street extremes.
Constance Smith’s career was heading towards an abrupt halt at this stage, and indeed her life would take on a distinctly noir shading in the years to come, but none of that is in evidence on the screen. She turns in a good performance as the singer with secrets, and it’s easy to believe in anyone succumbing to her appeal; it’s a confident piece of work, combining humor, sexiness and just a hint of desperation at a couple of key moments. Kennedy is fine too and taps into a nice line in disenchantment, and he’s capable of grit and toughness when the script requires. The focus remains firmly on the two leads, which is fine as it lends a touch of intimacy to the story. Jack Allen provides solid support as Kennedy’s business partner and friend. Joy Shelton doesn’t get a lot to do, which is a pity as I think a little more development of her character might have added a layer of complexity to the drama. Cyril Chamberlain will be an immediately recognizable face to anyone familiar with British films of this era and he pops up here as a persistent henchman. I don’t think I’m straying too far into spoiler territory here if I say that the main villain is played, with suitable oiliness, by James Carney. Impulse was his last role and it appears he died the following year from gunshot wounds (if IMDb is to be believed) but I’ve not been able to learn anything else beyond that.
Impulse probably isn’t the most readily available title, in all honesty. It can be found in Renown’s Crime Collection Vol.2, and it’s in fairly good shape overall – I imagine it pops up from time to time in the UK on TPTV so that’s maybe another option. I have a bit of a soft spot for the output of Robert S Baker and Monty Berman’s Tempean Films, an outfit which may not have produced any especially great movies, but made a lot of entertaining ones nonetheless. The sheer number of crime/noir movies made in Britain in the post-war years is staggering and while some of them are eminently forgettable, there are plenty offering a good deal of viewing pleasure, either in spite or because of their modesty. Impulse is relatively obscure but well worth a look for fans of the director or the stars.
Riding the High Country 
I believe you are correct, Colin, that “IMPULSE” has been on TPTV recently. I agree it is definitely worth catching. Arthur Kennedy is an actor that is always reliable and believable and Constance Smith is suitably sexy and beautiful.
Whenever an old second-string British thriller turns up on TV (or elsewhere if we are lucky!) under the banner of Tempean Films I know we are in for solid entertainment. Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman had a knack for producing good fare, culminating in the ’60s with the TV series “THE SAINT”.
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I think Baker and Berman did their best work for TV with The Saint and Gideon’s Way for sure but there’s a great deal of pleasure to be derived from their features as well.
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Thanks for this Colin, will keep a look out on TPTV. And I agree, the Tempean films were always well above average Bs.
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I think Tempean films generally used their stars well, and gave them interesting things to tackle. And of course having directors like Endfield here and John Gilling in so many others didn’t hurt either.
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Colin
Nice little “things are not always greener on the other side of the fence” type film. Worth the watch in my opinion.
Gord
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A cautionary tale, of the kind that crop up from time to time among films noir, and it’s all packaged and present quite attractively by Endfield. It’s most definitely worth watching if the opportunity to do so arises.
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ALL….
Here it is from Renown’s Crime Collection. Just showed up today on YouTube………..
Enjoy…….I did.
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That’s quite a nice looking copy.
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Colin’s choice of a Cy Endfield film had me doing a check of his work. I was somewhat surprised just how few of them I had seen. I would have also thought he would have been involved in far more productions.
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER 1971 Not seen
DE SADE 1969 Not seen
SANDS OF THE KALAHARI 1965 Seen
ZULU 1964 Seen
HIDE AND SEEK 1963 Not seen
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND 1961 Seen
JET STORM 1959 Seen
SEA FURY 1958 Not seen
HELL DRIVERS 1957 Seen
CHILD IN THE HOUSE 1956 Not seen
THE SECRET 1955 Seen
IMPULSE 1954 Seen
THE MASTER PLAN 1954 Not seen
THE LIMPING MAN 1953 Not Seen
TARZAN’S SAVAGE FURY 1952 Seen
THE SOUND OF FURY 1950 Seen
UNDERWORLD STORY 1950 Seen
JOE PALOOKA IN THE BIG FIGHT 1949 Not seen
ARGYLE SECRETS 1948 Not Seen
STORK BITES MAN 1957 Not seen
GENTLEMAN JOE PALOOKA 1946 Not seen
Several of these I have never heard of at all. STORK BITES MAN and CHILD IN THE HOUSE are new to me. Thanks, Colin. LOL As if I don’t have enough films to search for!!!!
Gordon
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There are quite a few I haven’t seen either. I kind of curious about both Child in the House and Hide and Seek.
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Well, Gord and Colin, “CHILD IN THE HOUSE” was on TPTV recently, I believe. It is rather a worthwhile film to catch as it stars Mandy Miller (as the child of course) and the superb Eric Portman.
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And Stanley Baker too, whom the director seem to have enjoyed working with.
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Jerry
Wish I has access to said channel.
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Yes, it has been an absolute joy to us ‘old crusties’ over recent years and the channel goes from strength to strength, which rather shows (to me anyway) that the other channels have made a mis-step by never showing old movies any more. There is obviously an audience out here!
Colin, I should have mentioned Stanley Baker too, of course, an actor I enjoy increasingly.
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The whole question of whether or not an audience for more vintage content exists is an interesting one, isn’t it? Conventional wisdom, or at least the thinking driving the scheduling on the front-line or mainstream channels, would suggest there isn’t much of an audience; the concept of broadcasting a black and white movie appears alien to many of those channels these days, and the even the cut off point imposed on color fare gets brought forward all the time. Yet a small specialist outfit such as TPTV does indeed appear to have hit on a formula that works and draws an audience. I suspect it’s down to economies of scale, and the size of that audience relative to the size of the broadcaster.
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What is up for the weekend viewing?
THE OUTCAST 1954 A duster that will be a first time watch
THE HIGH CHAPARRAL 1st episode. Easily one of the best western series to ever grace the small screen. First re-watch in over 20 years
FEAR 1946 Low budget film noir with Warren Willian and Anne Gwynne.
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The Outcast is a good movie.
Personally, I don’t know what I will be watching in the coming days but over the few days I’ve been sampling a fairly eclectic mix, to say the least: Sidney Salkow’s colorful if insubstantial Scarlet Angel (1952), She’s Dressed to Kill (1979) a TV movie with Eleanor Parker, Robert Wise’s Helen of Troy (1956), and a Republic film noir which will remained unnamed for now but will be written up here sometime soon.
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Colin
HELEN OF TROY is the only one that I have seen from those you have mentioned.
You know you got my interest when you mention a REPUBLIC PICTURES film noir. I love their little low rent productions. Some of my fav directors like George Blair, Phil Ford, R.G. Springsteen, Anthony Mann, John Auer and even Fritz Lang turned out films in the noir genre for REPUBLIC.
Gord
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One of those directors you named is responsible for the movie I watched, though I’m not say who that is. And another of those made the picture which will follow that on the blog, although not a Republic one in that case.
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Colin
Looking forward to when you spring said films on us.
Gordon
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Yes, I also am very intrigued by what Colin has in store for us. I have acquired a number of Republic ‘noirs’ in recent months and wonder if any of those will be the one.
For myself – I am catching up with some of the films shown on Talking Pictures TV channel. “THE GIRL ON THE PIER” (1953) was quite interesting for being filmed at Brighton and having Charles Victor in a leading role but otherwise strictly pedestrian. The latter actually STARRED in “THE EMBEZZLER” (1954) and was, I thought, rather good. In fact it was one of those films we were talking about recently that was produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman and directed by John Gilling (good credentials then).
I also watched “THEY KNEW MR. KNIGHT” (1946) with Mervyn Johns heading an interesting cast.
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The Embezzler is a Gilling title I’ve been meaning to catch up on for some time. It’s readily available too, so there’s not much reason for my not doing so if I’m being honest here.
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One of my many film-viewing projects for the next year is to see as many John Gilling movies as possible. Since Gilling both wrote and directed The Embezzler I’m going to order a copy right away.
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It can be found in Renown’s Crime Collection Vol.2
I have Volumes 1 and 4 but not Volume 2. But I guess now I have an excuse to buy it.
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Those sets are pretty good value all told. However, I do have one gripe. Those of us who have bought a lot of their earlier individual or 2-in-1 releases will be discouraged by having to perhaps buy three or four movies we already have just to get hold of perhaps one or two new and desired titles in the sets.
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Since things are a little quiet on here this Bank Holiday weekend I wonder, Colin, if you would mind indulging me in sparking some discussion here? There are many very knowledgable and interesting folk who contribute on this great blog and I would really like to have their ‘take’ on the 1941 film “CITIZEN KANE”. I won’t say too much at the outset except to say that I am known not to hold polls and lists where films are concerned in high esteem as the whole subject is a matter of personal opinion but, as we know, CK has often topped lists as the greatest film ever made, although I find that faintly absurd as I could never name such a film personally as there would be so many candidates.
I took my wife (may even be before we married) to the National Film Theatre to see CK in the 1970s and neither of us cared for it that much ( horror! I hear you say), finding it all rather pretentious while accepting the quality of the film-making present. Never seen it since.
I have just recorded it for a re-watch after all these years but I would love to have the thoughts of my fellow film-lovers……….
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Jerry, I’ve only seen Citizen Kane once as it happens, and that would be thirty years ago, maybe a bit more. I’d need to watch it again to offer any worthwhile comment on it – I have a copy but not to hand right now. That one viewing didn’t leave me thinking of it as the greatest movie ever, as it’s sometimes said to be. Of course that’s a big billing to live up to and I do know i went in to it back then with an awareness of all the weight of that reputation. I’d like to see it again though with a more open mind, just to see how it all plays to me now. Movies do not change, we do and the knowledge of that crucial role played by our own perceptions and expectations can add, let’s say, some perspective.
I know it took more than one viewing for the greatness of Vertigo to become apparent to me, and I have found new points to appreciate on subsequent watches. I could say something similar for The Searchers, I suppose.
OK, that’s not much of an answer, but I do hope some others see your comment and feel inclined to chip in – it’s a good question and deserving of a much better reply than I’ve been able to muster.
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Jerry about 1980
I first saw CK in the old arthouse cinema that Calgary had in 1978-79. I was bored senseless as was the date I was with. I then took it in again about 5 years ago, after recording it off TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES. I took 2 nights going over it. There were of course bits I had failed to understand or just plain missed the first time around. Still, the end result is not something I would ever watch again. Every one is entitled to their own take on the film, but it does not make any list of best films of mine. Hope that is not a hanging offence.
Gord
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Opps
Mixed up the years. It was sometime between 1978 and 82 I saw CK the first time.
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My problem with any best of lists, is that I am unable to pick a number one. For that matter, I would be stuck going less than a top 50 list. And those would be in no particular order. One week would be one film and the following week something else. And of course the memory is not what it once was. LOL, An empty space according to some!
Gord
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I feel it’s quite natural to acknowledge and allow for fluidity in these matters. After all, these are artistic questions being discussed and subject to personal interpretations and responses, there are no rigid mathematical formulae to be applied here.
I ran a number of “Best of” lists here in the past and was well aware of not only the difficulty of making or ordering them but also the fact that I might well feel different about them the very next day. I remember being careful to name them “Ten of the best…” as opposed to “The ten best…” in an effort to address that, but even that is an imperfect system.
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Like Gordon, I would be stuck to limit the list to 50 even! So many films that cannot and should not rate comparison – I mean is it even fair to compare a Johnny Mack Brown B western to a John Ford classic western, yet I have room in my heart for both.
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Fair enough, although I think it’s also a matter of what terms of reference you decide to apply. Those 10 of the best lists I referred to, while challenging to attempt to compile in some respects, were easier to manage since I was looking at actors and directors and thus allowed myself the luxury of having bodies off work to survey. A list of 10 of the best movies would be different matter entirely.
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Very true, Colin.
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Jerry, it is fair to compare a Johnny Mack Brown film with any other.
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Whenever I’ve attempted “best of” lists I usually make it clear that they’re my personal favourites. I figure that all “best of” lists reflect the personal prejudices and idiosyncrasies of the person compiling the list (there’s no objective way to judge movies) so I don’t worry about the fact that my lists tend to be very idiosyncratic. I don’t worry about the fact that I rate Russ Meyer’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! more highly than Citizen Kane. And Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! was technically innovative.
As far as Welles is concerned I rate Macbeth much more highly than Citizen Kane. For me Macbeth is the definitive Orson Welles film.
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Dfordoom, I like your answer and viewpoint.
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Colin, Jerry
I get where you two are going with lets say, MY BEST 10 JOHN FORD FILMS. Those are ones that make for fun back and forth between collectors, fans etc. There was a site i used to hit some years back, that had some getting upset if you did not agree with their picks. Gee whiz, it is just a movie. No longer hit the place.
Gord
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There’s nothing wrong with a bit of debate and I actually enjoy coming across a well articulated challenge to my own ideas, anything which gets you thinking about your position is healthy has value. Getting upset over someone’s alternative view has little point, unless of course it’s been expressed in an offensive manner or something. But talk and exchanging ideas in general is good; isn’t that the principal reason why we do this in the fist place?
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I agree wholeheartedly. The only valid reason for making “best of” lists is to stimulate debate and discussion. If someone makes such a list and includes some eccentric choices that’s a good thing. If the person is then prepared to offer a spirited defence of those eccentric choices you can get a really interesting discussion as a result. They might not convince you, but the discussion can be fun and can be enlightening.
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I am all for debate. This site I was speaking of had several folks get downright mean and nasty if you did not take their view as gospel. Name calling etc just drives me elsewhere. We are all really just looking for information on something. That is what I love in particular with RTHC. Ask about a film, and you get several diff points of view.
Gord
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Frankly, I would not tolerate abusive behavior and anyone doing so would have their comments immediately deleted and be blocked. For what it’s worth, I’ve never had to go down that route in all the years I’ve had this place online.
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R.I.P. Johnny Crawford.
Johnny Crawford who played Chuck Connors’ son on the popular RIFLEMAN television series has passed at age 75. Watched it as a kid.
Gord
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Yes, I noticed that Toby had flagged that up over at 50 Westerns the other day.
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Colin, sorry offtopic. I am never a fan of Peter Graves as a leading man. Saw Fort Yuma on Youtube lately and found it fast moving and entertaining. This was from Bel Air, who gave us War Drums starring Lex Barker. Not surprising, at least to me, the former is better, entertainment wise with the able direction of Lesley Sealander!
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Interesting. Fort Yuma is a movie I still need to get round to – I’ve had a copy for years now. As for Graves, my impression is that, outside of Mission: Impossible, he did some of his better work either as a villain or the second lead. The last movie I watched him in was Canyon River and I liked what he did in that.
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I ran into Peter Graves in London some thirty years ago when he was hosting the Biography Series, and my impression was wholly positive; he had a good career but was unlucky enough to not show up in important feature film product.
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Barry, I’ve never read anything bad about Peter Graves. People enjoyed working with him and knowing him.
Graves wasn’t the lead in THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER(1955), but I thought his part was memorable.
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Jerry and Colin, First of all, I’m a movie fan and not a critic. I couldn’t make a top 100 list of the best movies ever made, much less a top 10, or a number 1. I think these “Best” lists are very subjective and everyone has an opinion of their own and when it comes down to brass tacks, it is only an individual opinion of what someone likes and dislikes. In my humble opinion, I think we need to approach these lists with that in mind. For me personally, I prefer lists of “Favorites” with reasons as to why, although sometimes you may not know exactly why. For a movie to be a “Favorite,” it has to make an impact upon me. So, if a movie doesn’t have an impact on me in some way, or other, then it won’t be a “Favorite.” Low and behold, I could be viewing a movie that many critics and fans think is the greatest movie ever made, but if it doesn’t have an impact on me, is it actually the greatest ever, much less a “Favorite” of mine?
Jerry asked about CITIZEN KANE(filmed 1940, released 1941). I first viewed the movie on Memphis, Tennessee WHBQ Channel 13’s TUESDAY NIGHT MOVIE, during the early 1970’s. I’ve viewed it since then and I think it deserves its place in Movie History. I think it was a groundbreaking movie in 1941 by way of its use of sound, photography, and style. For me, a movie begins with a good and interesting story and CITIZEN KANE’s story is nothing out of the ordinary. Many movies have been made loosely about real people with the names changed to protect the innocent and guilty. All the latest technological techniques that are used to tell stories, for the most part, don’t really make the stories any better.
This may just be my thinking, but I think that the average movie fan doesn’t place CITIZEN KANE quite as high up on a pedestal as much as do critics, directors, and movie students. These people are more interested in the nitty gritty of how movies are put together. Too me this makes some sense. CITIZEN KANE is an 119 minute film school in moviemaking techniques, galore. I think this is why Spielberg, Scorsese, and so many others love the movie and hail it as the greatest movie ever.
Did CITIZEN KANE have an impact on me? No, not really, but I do respect it historically and intellectually for what it is. Is the movie a “Favorite” of mine? No. This is my 2 cents worth and at the end of the day it’s all an individual’s opinion.
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In a nutshell, Walter! Thanks for your insight and personal feelings about “CITIZEN KANE”, which are largely my own view on that particular film. Thanks also to Gordon and Colin for making helpful and interesting viewpoints.
Actually, I think it is worth a whole lot that Colin has never had to delete rude comments from his blogsite over all these years. RTHC is a haven for good folk to meet up and exchange points of view with no rancour. A place to make friends.
Chris mentioned Peter Graves. My earliest experience of him was as a leading man in the long-running TV series “FURY” in the 1950s where he was a decent rancher with an uncannily similar voice to that other good fellow, Marshal Matt Dillon of “GUNSMOKE” (or “GUN LAW” as it was changed to in the UK for several years).
Then I found out that of course they were brothers, Peter and James Aurness.
Then around 1960 Peter Graves went down to Australia to star in the British series “WHIPLASH” as the true character Christopher Cobb who ran the earliest stagecoach and freighting line there in the 1850s.
This was all quite a while before “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” of course.
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Walter, well done, and apparently, Orson Welles did not think Citizen Kane was the Best Picture of all time or evenhis best picture. I agree with him and nominate The Magnificent Ambersons and Lady From Shanghai.
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Barry, thank you. My favorite Orson Welles movies are THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI(1947), THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS(1942), and TOUCH OF EVIL(1958). Also, I can listen to him narrate anything.
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Ah yes Walter……..THE TOUCH OF EVIL is an all time film noir favorite of mine. Different in so many ways with that Welles touch. Most memorable is that haunting honkytonk music that engulfed the surrounding of Marlene Dietrich and her abode. Another film I would include is THE THIRD MAN (1949). Most memorable to me is the zither musical score of Anton Karas and the final departing scene with Joseph Cotton and Valli.
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Scott, THE THIRD MAN(1949) is a top-notch “Favorite” of mine and is indeed one of the most memorable roles of Orson Welles’ career. I’ve read that he wrote his own “cuckoo clock” dialogue. Producer/director/co-screenwriter Carol Reed made a masterful movie with outstanding atmospheric photography, acting performances, and Anton Karas’ wonderful zither musical score. A movie that has stood the test of time.
For the life of me, I can’t recall another movie using zither music.
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Include me as another who loves The Third Man.
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And me – definitely!
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Pretty much all of Carol Reed’s films from the 40s and 50s are terrific. One of the truly great film-making talents.
And when you have Carol Reed directing and Graham Greene writing the script you really can’t go wrong.
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Yes, I’d go along with that. There’s not much of his output from those years, or not much that I can think of at any rate, which doesn’t please me in some way.
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Jerry, thanks for the info on Graves ie the ‘nice’ voice and being brother of James Arness. Graves have a slight resemblance with another character actor, Kevin Maccarthy.
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Chris, Jerry
I see that both series, FURY and WHIPLASH are up on You-Tube. Full seasons from the look of it.
Gord
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Jerry, I’d like to concur with you concerning Colin’s RIDING THE HIGH COUNTRY blog. It is a good place to be. Also, I’m like-minded in your wonderful statement, ” I mean is it even fair to compare a Johnny Mack Brown B western to a John Ford classic western, yet I have room in my heart for both.” You hit the nail on the head of the way I feel about movies in general.
Colin, I enjoyed your fine write-up on IMPULSE(1954), which is a good British “Suburban Noir.” I think Constance Smith gave a really good performance, as did Arthur Kennedy. Also, thanks to Scott for the YouTube link. I had never viewed IMPULSE before. While watching the movie, I was reminded of the Andre De Toth directed movie PITFALL(1948)starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, and John Litel. This movie is really good and worth watching.
Has anyone heard from Frank Gibbons, because he and his wife both had the dreadful coronavirus. I’m concerned.
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Walter, I’m pleased you saw and enjoyed the movie, it’s nice when a recommendation brings a positive result.
I haven’t been in touch with Frank, but I did notice he popped in here the other day and registered a like for this post.
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Walter
I exchanged e-mails with our man Frank the other day. They are doing fine as far as I know.
Gord.
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Gordon, thank you for this information. I’m glad Frank and his wife are okay,
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Walter
I exchanged E-mails with Frank a couple of days ago. All seemed well.
Gord
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Just finished binge watching Network’s DIAL 999 TV Series all 39 episodes. The transfers are excellent and the series great fun the constant
gritty location work pre figures later series like THE SWEENEY and THE PROFESSIONALS. The stunt work is outstanding,I thought, especially for a TV series of that era. 50’s Nostalgia buffs will delight in catching glimpses of a now vanished past-signs for Benskins Brewery and the Odeon Temple Fortune then a 2,800 single screen cinema showing LAW AND DISORDER. The Odeon closed April; 1974 and was demolished May 1982 and a block of flats stands on the site…that’s progress I guess. DIAL 999 gets my highest recommendation for 50’s nostalgia buffs.
Veteran Bernard Knowles directed some of the very best episodes.
We were talking about Australian actor Ron Randell recently and I did not realise that 4 episodes of his 50’s TV series were directed by Robert Siodmak,I’ll really look out for those if Talking Pictures TV should pick
up that series. I never really fully understood what happened to the later careers of Siodmak and John Brahm especially considering the sheer brilliance of their 1940’s work.
Other than that I thought I’d give THEY CAME TO CORDURA another look and again I was underwhelmed. The first quarter of the film is excellent and bodes well apart from an odd scene where Robert Keith chews Coop out,especially with Keith going full blast and Coop just standing there and taking it. The themes,I guess are similar to LORD JIM, a film Gordon mentioned recently;the thin line between a hero and a coward;I enjoyed LORD JIM at the time but have not seen it since. THEY CAME TO CORDURA drags on and on with never ending day for night scenes and a climax for me that falls totally flat. Furthermore Van Heflin and Richard Conte are wasted in nothing roles.
Being in the mood for lengthy epic sort of films I re watched Anthony Mann’s CIMARRON a film I feel need a reappraisal. The films major flaw is that the first half is far superior to the second half but apart from that I feel the film has a lot going for it. As an attempt to make an epic scale Western (and how many of them have there been in the last 60 years?) it does pretty good and the racial issues are handled powerfully and with sensitivity.
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All 39 episodes! I’m impressed, John.
I’ve been watching and quite enjoying some Cooper myself, not saying exactly what though just now as I might try to cobble together some thoughts on it, if I can get myself organized!
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John K, if you think THEY CAME TO CORDURA(1959) was a downer, Glendon Swarthout’s novel, which is the source for the movie, was more so, especially the ending.
I also think that CIMARRON(1960) should receive a reappraisal. It is a good movie, especially the first half. Yes, there was a very powerful racial issue presented in the movie, which was very emotional and has stuck with me ever since I first viewed the movie over 50 years ago. Eddie and Dawn Little Sky, who portrayed Ben and Arita Red Feather, were Lakota. They were the real deal and they lived an amazing life, which should be written about. Eddie passed away in 1997 and Dawn, 91 years young, is still with us. She is a really good artist.
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Whoops the Ron Randell TV series I forgot to mention was
OSS and the way Talking Pictures TV are going I should imagine
that’s on they are likely to pick up.
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Colin-
My “Binge Watch” of DIAL: 999 was me trying to get
ahead of myself-my KARLOFF AT COLUMBIA set arrived
this morning (lovely packaging I might add) and Indicator’s
Film Noir Vol 3 out in a week or two.
I’ve been trying to source an affordable price for Warner Archive’s
EACH DAWN I DIE but for some reason the price has gone through
the roof…I blame the wretched Brexit for all of this those “Little
Englanders” have made things so tough for film collectors all sorts
of import charges are suddenly appearing that were never there before.
Perhaps it’s time to source films closer to home with the Network
999 set and Indicator’s superb Noir collections that’s viewing aplenty
to keep me going,for now at least.
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Yes, I feel your pain on that score. There seem to be all kinds of charges and restrictions popping up all over the place. I’ve noticed that the cost of shipping anything from the UK to Greece has recently become obscenely expensive, or at least Amazon’s shipping charges are. What’s more, I ran into difficulties trying to send some stuff from Amazon Germany to my parents’ place. Despite the fact Northern Ireland remains in effect in the EU by dint of the Protocol I discovered that Amazon,de said the address was not one they could ship to. Annoying in the extreme.
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Wow, John, 39 episodes watched already????!!!! Some feat LOL. I have watched the first 6 or 7 episodes and am thoroughly enjoying the whole thing. In the episode “Robbery With Violence” I recognised the High Street in Borehamwood where the police found the cleaners shop they were after. Just round the corner from Elstree where the series was made. I grew up quite near there.
Walter, thanks for your kind words, my friend, much appreciated.
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Jerry, you’re most welcome.
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John
I caught a 1965 episode of WILD, WILD WEST last month with Ron Randell as the main baddie. He played the leader of a gang of Mexican bandits. LOL, I would love to see the complete DIAL 999 series. I have only seen the 7-8 episodes I had found years ago.
Gord
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