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When mixing black and white movie characters as either friends or foes on the big screen should not produce any gray areas at all. Whether amiable or adversarial the pairing of interracial tandems makes for an interesting sociological study in cinema where tension, togetherness, stereotypical profiling and mutual or reluctant acceptance makes for some captivating film fodder.

Sure, in many ways it is an overused cliched in the movies to produce racial tandems for the sake of the entertainment to allow the creative juices to overflow. In Salt and Pepper: Top 10 Black and White Movie Tandems we will take a look at various “salt and pepper” teams as they come together in the name of law and justice, hostile necessity, friendly frivolity or professional attachment to bring movie audiences a sense of adventure and curiosity in the name of comedic or dramatic license. Maybe you have your favorite cultural...

Joe Don Baker was marketed as a martial arts star in the 1974 actioner Golden Needles, a movie I saw at the Des Peres 4 Cinema back when it was new and haven’t been able to track down since. It had never been released on VHS or DVD so I was psyched to see it’s now out as part of the “MGM Limited Edition” DVD-r series . Before starring in the hit Walking Tall in 1973, Baker had bounced around Hollywood mostly doing TV work . After Kris Kristofferson turned down the role of Buford Pusser, producers offered the role to Baker who had made an impression as Steve McQueen’s younger brother in Sam Peckinpah’s Junior Bonner in 1972.Walking Tall, a true tale about a Tennessee sheriff confronting corruption and gangsters with a large wooden club and a mean attitude, was a surprise success and Baker was soon starring in a...

Michael York dashes onto the cinematic scene as the blundering but very enthusiastic D'Artagnan in Richard Lester's hugely enjoyable period comic romp. The late great Roy Kinnear is the long-suffering vassal of aristocratic swordsmen Oliver Reed, Richard Chamberlain and Frank Finlay, whilst Raquel Welch and Faye Dunaway shine as heroine and villainess, respectively. Producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind filmed the following year's sequel back-to-back with this more successful first part, which approach they would revisit shortly for Superman and Superman II. Dumas with wit, energy and integrity.

Notable Quotable: "That man in his time has insulted me, broken my father's sword, had me clubbed to the ground, laid violent hands on the woman I love! He is inconvenient. "

Martin Anderson

Mike Nichols and Buck Henry achieve what seemed impossible, at least on the evidence of an earlier attempt: to transliterate the pitch-dark war humour of Joseph Heller into a cohesive,...