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Nunnally Johnson hands us a well-written spy & hostage drama set in Cold War Berlin, with plenty of intrigue and good humor to boot. Gregory Peck is the troubled negotiator and Broderick Crawford a Yankee galoot sticking his nose where it isn’t wanted. This one has been out of reach for quite a while — and it works up some fun suspense.

Night People

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1954 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date July 25, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Gregory Peck, Broderick Crawford, Anita Björk, Rita Gam, Walter Abel, Buddy Ebsen, Max Showalter, Jill Esmond, Peter van Eyck, Marianne Koch, Hugh McDermott, Paul Carpenter, Lionel Murton, Ottow Reichow.

Cinematography: Charles G. Clarke

Film Editor: Dorothy Spencer

Original Music: Cyril Mockridge

Story by Jed Harris, Tom Reed

Associate Producer Gerd Oswald

Written, Directed and Produced by Nunnally Johnson

An intelligent cold war thriller about distrust and passive aggression across the East-West divide in Berlin,...

The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come along in quite a while, but it’s not alone. The annual box office is – and has been, for quite some time – dominated by big, action-packed blockbusters of one sort of another. The Bonds aren’t even the only action-driven spy flicks (Mr. James Bond, I’d like you to meet Mr. Jason Bourne and Mr. Ethan Hunt).

That’s not to take anything away from the superb entertainment Skyfall is, or the sentimentally treasured place the Bonds hold. It’s only to say that where there was once just the one, there are now many.

Charles Barkley, the former Philadelphia 76ers standout, has offered to pay for the funeral of the three Philadelphia children that were killed in a carjacking hit-and-run last weekend.

Charles Barkley Paying For Children's Funeral

“Like most Philadelphians, many Americans, and people across the world that heard about this and were moved, [Barkley] wanted me to know that he wanted to pay for the funeral for these three children, and I put him in touch with the family so he can do that," Philadelphia district attorney Seth Williams told Philly.com.

Barkley confirmed that he offered to pay for the funerals to NBC10.com. However, the athlete did not want to comment further, as he didn’t want to take attention away from the tragedy.

Last Friday, Keiearra Williams, 15, Thomas Reed, 10, and Terrence Moore, 7, were killed when a carjacked SUV swerved onto the sidewalk where they were selling fruit for a church fundraiser,...

(*My apologies for this coming so long after Sound on Sight’s celebration of 50 years of James Bond, but I’ve been swamped with end-of-semester work and only just now managed to finish this. Hope you all still find this of interest.)

As a coda to the Sos’s James Bond salute, there’s still a point I think deserves to be made.

The Bond franchise which has been with us so long, has become so deeply entrenched in popular culture, that we often forget what it was that first distinguished the Bonds a half-century ago. Skyfall might be one of the best of the Bonds, and even, arguably, one of the best big-budget big-action flicks to come along in quite a while, but it’s not alone. The annual box office is – and has been, for quite some time – dominated by big, action-packed blockbusters of one sort of another.

CBS’ midseason police drama The 2-2 aka Rookies, will launch April 15 with the official title NYC 22. The show, which follows six diverse NYPD rookies as they patrol the gritty streets of Upper Manhattan, has been assigned the Sunday 10 Pm time slot, where it will replace CSI: Miami. To make room for the newbie, the current 10th season of the CSI spinoff was trimmed to 19 episodes, so the veteran will have completed its run of originals by April 15. NYC 22, from CBS TV Studios and Tribeca Prods, was created by Richard Price, who executive produces with Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, Ken Sanzel and James Mangold. The series stars Terry Kinney, Adam Goldberg, Leelee Sobieski, Stark Sands, Judy Marte, Harold “House” Moore, Tom Reed and Felix Solis.

Part of a series by David Cairns on forgotten pre-Code films.

Edward L. Cahn—how shall I sing your praises? Perhaps before seeing this film I wouldn't have bothered, though It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) is a genuinely exciting sci-fi horror, and a clear precursor to Alien. Apart from that, Cahn seems to resemble W. Lee Wilder (Billy Wilder's idiot brother), in that he was capable of semi-decent Z-grade noirs, but concentrated much of his attention on science fiction, a genre he seemed to have no understanding of and nothing but contempt for. Cahn's Invisible Invaders (1959) may safely be recommended to anybody who likes really, really stupid movies. Movies so stupid they forget to breath.

Above: The chain gang chorus line—a surprisingly uncommon trope.

But decades earlier, things were different. Cahn was already churning out several quickies a year, with snap-brimmed titles like Homicide Squad (1931) and Radio Patrol (1932). The difference was,...

Farewell (L’Affaire Farewell)

Releases on DVD, Other Formats April 19, 2011

“The most important espionage case of the 20th Century” --Ronald Reagan

www.farewellthemovie.com

Culver City, CA/Vancouver, BC, Canada—March 24, 2011—Vancouver based NeoClassics Home Entertainment will release the critically acclaimed film Farewell, (L’Affaire Farewell) from Academy Award nominated Director Christian Carion and starring Emir Kusturica and Guillaume Canet, on DVD in the Us April 19, 2011. The film will be available on release from Amazon, Blockbuster, iTunes, Sonic, Sony, Verizon, and is scheduled to be on Vudu and YouTube. Dish, In Demand and Tvn have all picked up the film for video-on-demand (VOD) for April 12.

This French film has garnered significant acclaim and box office success since its Us theatrical debut last July. It played in dozens of cities over a period of five months, staying in release through November 2010. The film world-premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and...

Wisconsin Democrats won President Obama's attention and inspired other states by bolting the capital to protest a crackdown on unions. David Graham on the history of the political walkout.

You can't win a vote when you've got fewer votes than your opponents. But Wisconsin Democrats are discovering a centuries-old corollary truth this week: you can't lose a vote if you don't let it happen. And that's why 14 of them have fled out of Madison and across the border into Illinois, hoping to prevent a vote that would cut benefits for public-sector workers and curtail the right to collective bargaining.

Related story on The Daily Beast: Election Night Fallout

There aren't enough Democrats to block the plan in the state Senate, but without their presence at the capitol, there isn't a quorum in the body, and without a quorum the Republican minority can't vote on the bill. It's a desperate tactic,...