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On August 1, at the age of 77, one of the Hollywood’s most impressive filmmakers died. Reports dropped on several sites, but the news cycle went on, and Jonathan Kaplan’s name faded from the headlines. I believe his work, however, deserves longer reflection.

IndieWire’s own Anne Thompson connected me to Kaplan’s daughter Molly, who in turn directed me to some of Kaplan’s closest friends and colleagues. Thanks to their participation, I was able to stitch together remembrances that better describe Kaplan than a simple obituary or list of credits could accomplish.

We are talking about a resume, though, that includes some buzzy titles — “Unlawful Entry,” “Bad Girls,” and a series you might have heard of called “E.R” among them. He was nominated for five Emmys. He directed Jodie Foster to her first Oscar win in 1988’s “The Accused.” “Love Field,” in 1992, brought Michelle Pfeiffer her third nomination.

Jonathan Kaplan, the five-time Emmy-nominated director/producer of ER and filmmaker behind projects like The Accused, Bad Girls and Unlawful Entry, has died at the age of 77, per multiple media reports.

His daughter Molly Kaplan said he died Friday at his home in Los Angeles of advanced liver cancer.

Kaplan was born in Paris on Nov. 25, 1947 to industry veteran parents, father Sol Kaplan, a film and TV composer, and mother Frances Heflin, a regular on ABC soap All My Children. (He was also the nephew of Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin.)

He began his career as a child actor in the Broadway production of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, helmed by Elia Kazan. Later, Kaplan earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Chicago and studied film at New York University, where he was taught by Martin Scorsese.

It was the Goodfellas director who recommended him to Roger Corman,...

Jonathan Kaplan, who directed Jodie Foster to a best actress Oscar in The Accused and received five Emmy nominations for his work as a helmer and producer on ER, has died. He was 77.

Kaplan died Friday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with liver cancer, his daughter, Molly Kaplan, told The Hollywood Reporter. “He was a loving, supportive father,” she said.

Kaplan, whose parents both worked in show business and whose uncle was Oscar-winning actor Van Heflin, served an apprenticeship with famed B-movie producer Roger Corman and then directed the blaxploitation classic Truck Turner (1974), starring Isaac Hayes, Yaphet Kotto and Nichelle Nichols.

Kaplan also guided Michelle Pfeiffer to a best actress Oscar nomination in the 1960s-set Love Field (1992), and his directing résumé included the Shirley Muldowney biopic Heart Like a Wheel (1983), starring Bonnie Bedelia and Beau Bridges; Bad Girls (1987), the distaff Western starring Madeleine Stowe, Mary Stuart Masterson,...

Jimmy Hunt, the freckle-faced youngster who appeared in Pitfall, Sorry, Wrong Number, Cheaper by the Dozen, Invaders From Mars and 31 other features before he retired from acting at age 14, has died. He was 85.

Hunt suffered a heart attack six weeks ago and died Friday in a hospital in Simi Valley, his daughter-in-law Alisa Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hunt played William Gilbreth, one of the 12 offspring of an efficiency expert (Clifton Webb) and a psychologist (Myrna Loy), in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), then returned to play another son in the family, Fred, in the sequel, Belles on the Toes (1952).

As an orphan, his character fueled the plot in The Mating of Millie (1948), a charming romantic comedy starring Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford, who taught him how to shoot marbles on the set. And in The Lone Hand (1953), Hunt portrayed the son of a widowed farmer (Joel McCrea) and served as...

The 1980s was a lean spell for western fans. After the critical and commercial disaster of Michael Cimino's "Heaven's Gate," Hollywood studios were understandably reluctant to pile lots of money into a moribund genre and notable horse operas were few and far between. With the likes of "Silverado," "Young Guns," and "Three Amigos!" to choose from, Kathryn Bigelow's "Near Dark" was pretty much the best of the bunch, but that was as much a modern vampire movie as a typical oater. The classic western movie looked seriously long in the tooth, and it wouldn't flourish again until Kevin Costner resurrected it with his Oscar-winning "Dances with Wolves."

Then of course there was Clint Eastwood. If ever there was a filmmaker and a star who could buck the trend, it was arguably the best western movie actor to dominate the screen. By the mid '80s, Clint had  been...

Shane, one of the greatest Western movies of all time, is finally coming to 4K Blu-ray. Kino Lorber is releasing the film in a two-disk 4K set this summer. A critical and commercial hit upon its release in 1953, Shane influenced many subsequent films, including the elegiac superhero Western Logan.

The disc features a brand new 4K transfer of the film, taken from a scan of its original 35mm camera negative. It also features the film's original theatrical trailer and two audio commentaries. That includes an all-new commentary by author and historian Alan K. Rode, who is writing a book on the film, and an archival commentary featuring George Stevens Jr. and associate producer Ivan Moffat. The set will also include a standard Blu-ray disc of the film. Shane will be released on July 14, 2025, and will retail for $29.89 Usd.

What Is 'Shane' About?

Shane stars Alan Ladd (This Gun for Hire) as the title character,...

Depending on who you ask, Arizona is known as The Grand Canyon State and The Copper State. But if you ask us, it should also be called The Grand Cinema State or The Celluloid State, based on its proud filmmaking history. Given its proximity to Hollywood and stunning scenery that stretches for miles in every direction, Arizona has been the filming location for westerns, science fiction films, and pretty much every genre under the desert sun. In fact, Old Tucson Studios is known as the "Hollywood In The Desert," and was the site of movies and TV shows like "The Bells of St. Mary's, "Rio Bravo," "Gunsmoke," "Little House on the Prairie," and "Three Amigos!"

You're probably thinking, "Wait a minute, wasn't 'Three Amigos!' set in Mexico, 'Rio Bravo' in Texas, 'Bells of St. Mary's in the inner city?" Yep, you're right on all counts. From "Planet of the Apes,...

The remake of3:10 to Yuma released in 2007 stars Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, and Ben Foster and tells the classic Elmore Leonard story. 3:10 to Yuma came out exactly 50 years after the original movie based on the same story, the 1957 3:10 To Yuma starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. While the 2007 version was highly praised, it lacks the gravitas of what Ford, Heflin, and the rest of the cast had done on screen decades earlier.

In 2007's 3:10 to Yuma, Crowe plays Ben Wade, the leader of a gang of outlaws, while Bale portrays Dan Evans, a Civil War veteran working on a ranch in the Arizona Territory during the 1880s. When Wade is arrested, circumstances arise that leave only Evans to make sure the outlaw boards the train to prison. Full of intensity and engaging power dynamics, 3:10 to Yuma delivers action and drama alike.

As enjoyable as the...

What do Kim Novak, Jim Carrey, John Turturro, and the late Donald Sutherland all have in common? Well, aside from being acclaimed actors, these stars have never (we repeat: never) been nominated for an Academy Award. And that crime is now being celebrated by the annual anti-awards season festival, hosted by the Museum of the Moving Image.

The beloved museum announced its third iteration of the popular “Snubbed” screening series, which reexamines films that have been overlooked by the Academy. The 2025 theme is centered on actors and titled “Snubbed Forever: Great Actors, No Nominations.” The program will run February 1 through March 9, and feature 21 films starring actors who have never been nominated for an Oscar.

Highlights include Kim Novak in the enduring “Vertigo,” John Turturro and John Goodman in “Barton Fink,” Rita Hayworth in “The Lady from Shanghai,” Jim Carrey in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” and Danny DeVito in “Batman Returns.

Born 100 years ago today, Rod Serling was a television man. He came up in the 1950s, at the dawn of the medium, during the days of live televised plays—Kraft Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, The Motorola Television Hour, etc. Big names would star in meaty productions without the opportunity for a second take,...

Throughout the 1970s, audiences couldn’t get enough of disaster movies. The decade began with the all-star blockbuster bomb-on-a-plane thrill ride Airport, based on Arthur Hailey’s best-seller. Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Maureen Stapleton, Van Heflin, Jean Seberg, and Jacqueline Bisset headlined Airport, which became the second-biggest box-office hit of the year and earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and winning Best Supporting Actress for Hayes. Airport also established the template for subsequent movies: trapping all-star casts on a plane, a ship, or a high-rise.

SEEFred Astaire movies: 20 greatest films ranked worst to best

Producer-director-writer Irwin Allen took disaster movies to the next level — so much so he was dubbed “The Master of Disaster.” Allen, who enjoyed great success on the small screen in the 1960s with the series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, The Time Tunnel, and Lost in Space, brought his disaster savvy to the...

Courtesy of Eureka Entertainment

by James Cameron-wilson

In January of this year something extraordinary happened. For the first time, United Artists’ Black Tuesday was shown on British television, having been originally banned for its violence. The film noir classic of 1954 stars Edward G. Robinson, one of the four giants of Hollywood’s gangster genre, alongside James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and George Raft. At the time that Edward G. starred in Black Tuesday, he was in something of a career slump, but, in spite of his modest physical stature, he still manages to bring to bear his characteristically brutal persona. Perhaps even more surprising is how good the film is, a sort of forgotten masterpiece from the Argentinean helmer Hugo Fregonese who, in his time, had directed such stars as Gary Cooper, James Mason, Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Taylor, Lee Marvin and Stewart Granger, but who is largely forgotten today,...

The 1957 classic Western 3:10 to Yuma starring Glenn Ford and Van Heflin is headed to Tubi on Dec. 1 for audiences to stream for free. Heflin stars as a poor rancher named Dan Evans who is hired by a stagecoach line to put the outlaw Ben Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma while Wades gang tries desperately to free him.

The original film, directed by Delmer Daves, which inspired a 2007 remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, focuses on a working-class protagonist in the late 1800s, as opposed to the typical outlaw or lawman in traditional Western movies of the day. The 2007 film has been regarded by some as the greatest remake of a Western movie.

Related This 76-Year-Old Humphrey Bogart Classic Is One of the Best Westerns of All Time

The Treasure of Sierra Madre remains one of the most influential Westerns of all time almost a century after it initially debuted.

It seems as though great Westerns were made in droves during the classical Hollywood era. More recently, masterful contemporary Westerns seem less common. There's been a gem here and there with films like Tombstone, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood and Django Unchained. However, they often seem far and few between in more recent Hollywood filmmaking. All of these films have the same things in common: they are wholly original concepts that reflect the visions of their directors.

What's even less common is for a remake to resonate as much as or more than the classical Hollywood original. Yet, that's exactly what happened when James Mangold helmed a Western gem in 2007. While the original 3:10 to Yuma from 1957 is a forever classic, the 2007 remake is a deeper construction of one of the great morality tales ever.

The 1957 Original Established a Story Fit for the Big Screen

While...

Actor James Darren, who evolved from a teen idol to a successful singer and accomplished actor in television and film, has passed away at the age of 88. According to a report by Variety, Darren passed away on Monday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. His son Jim Moret has since revealed that the cause of his death was congestive heart failure. It marks the end of a stellar, diverse career highlighted by the Gidget films of the 1950s and 1960s, the classic film The Guns of Navarone, and the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Darren, born James William Ercolani, is a native of Philadelphia, and earned his start in acting with a small role in the 1956 crime drama Rumble on the Docks, alongside Robert Blake. He continued to find supporting roles in lesser-known films like Operation Mad Ball, and the Van Heflin western Gunman's Walk. His breakthrough role, however,...

The remake of 3:10 to Yuma features an incredibly impressive cast of stars and character actors. Based on a short story that also inspired a 1957 Glenn Ford and Van Heflin film of the same name, 3:10 to Yuma is a compelling character drama filtered through the lense of a western adventure. The film is largely about Ben Wade, a dangerous criminal in the wild west who is unexpectedly captured. Tasked with bringing him to a 3:10 train departing to a courthouse and potential jailtime is the rancher Dan Evans.

The James Mangold-directed 3: 10 to Yuma is a compelling character study bolstered by strong supporting performances on all sides. This film cast two of Hollywood's most enduring modern stars in the lead roles, and fleshed out the rest of the characters with impressive character actors. It all comes togeter for one of the best western remakes ever, and a strong modern example of the genre.

One of the most critically acclaimed Western movie remakes is coming to Netflix on September 1, as James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma lands on the biggest streaming platform. Based on Elmore Leonard's 1953 story "Three-Ten to Yuma" - whose first movie adaptation in 1957 drew comparisons to Western classic High Noon - the 2007 remake assembled a stunning cast.

Russell Crowe and Christian Bale play men on opposite sides of the moral divide, with Bale's former military man Dan Evans charged with escorting Crowe's murderous gang leader Ben Wade to a train to Yuma Territorial Prison. What follows is a tense 122-minute Western drama, surpassed only by True Grit as the most critically lauded remake of a Western movie. 3:10 To Yuma's arrival on Netflix on September 1 makes it an essential watch for all Western fans.

Did You Know: Tom Cruise reportedly expressed interest in playing Ben Wade when Russell Crowe was initially unavailable.

Pale Rider is a homage to 1953's Shane, with major similarities in both characters and story beats. Clint Eastwood's Preacher is a supernatural character, with hints about his ghostly nature sprinkled into the story. Pale Rider is not the only movie to riff on Shane, with various films like Logan borrowing its narrative elements.

Clint Eastwood's underrated Pale Rider took a classic Western from the 1950s and gave it a decidedly supernatural edge. Clint Eastwood's Westerns are some of the most defining of the genre, and he was one of the last major stars to make his name on "Oaters." The failure of Heaven's Gate in 1980 killed Westerns for much of the decade, with studios largely shunning them. There were exceptions, like Young Guns, but they were largely seen by producers as box office poison.

For Eastwood's part, he mostly stepped away from Westerns following 1976's The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Darryl Hickman, a child actor in Leave Her to Heaven and The Grapes of Wrath, died at 92 on Wednesday, May 22, his family said. No cause was given.

Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.

He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.

In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...

Darryl Hickman, who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and Leave Her to Heaven as a youngster before becoming a CBS executive in charge of daytime drama and an actor once more, has died. He was 92.

Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.

He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.

In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.

Hickman had made his first...

It is the spring of “Baby Reindeer.” Netflix’s addictive limited series about a struggling comedian (Richard Gadd) working at a bar who makes the biggest mistake of his life when he gives a lonely woman (Jessica Gunning) a cup of tea on the house is the most watched series currently on the streamer and viewership is growing. And the fact that it’s based on a true story, makes “Baby Reindeer” even more creep and chilling. It’s a must-see voyeur thriller.

The same was true in the fall of 1987 with Adrian Lyne’s “Fatal Attraction.” Audiences flocked to the hard R-rated thriller which starred a wild-haired Glenn Close as an editor with a publishing company who has one-night stand with a happily married attorney (Michael Douglas) whose wife and daughter are out of town. Though it’s “understood” that it’s just a fling, Close’s Alex just won’t let go.

Black-and-white Westerns showcase timeless stories, iconic stars, and beautiful imagery with historical and cultural significance. Directors like John Ford crafted classics like 'My Darling Clementine' that delved into Old West legends with depth and respect. Unique films like 'Dead Man' in 1995 continued the black-and-white tradition, offering new perspectives on Western themes.

The Western genre of filmmaking was full of so many incredible black-and-white movies that showcased the enthralling stories of cowboys, gunslingers, and outlaws. While many Western movies have utilized the power of color to showcase beautiful depictions of scenic landscapes as a highly picturesque view of America was presented onscreen, plenty more have traded color for the effective impact of black-and-white filmmaking. While this was a necessity in the early days of Hollywood, as color took over as the primary style of moviemaking, black-and-white films became a more intentional stylistic choice.

The best black-and-white Westerns...

Don Siegel’s 1976 western The Shootist stars John Wayne in his final film appearance, though it’s perhaps just as notable for the muted nature of its regard for the pathology of violence. After all, Siegel is the same filmmaker who half a decade prior made Dirty Harry, in which Clint Eastwood’s renegade cop relishes squeezing the trigger of his 44-magnum revolver whenever the opportunity presents itself.

There’s a propulsive mania to Siegel’s direction of Dirty Harry, tapping as it does into the curious overlap between Harry’s police tactics and a psycho sniper’s bloodlust. Wayne’s J.B. Books in The Shootist has no such compelling correlate. He’s a former sheriff turned gunslinger, now an old man easing the pain of his terminal cancer with swigs of laudanum, and he’s aiming to die in peace. It’s 1901, and the fact that he can’t...

Quick Links Changing the Setup The Explosive Conclusion Analyzing Western Themes and Symbols

American Western films are built on the backs of early samurai movies, so remakes are nothing new to the genre. In 2007, James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma emerged guns-blazing, another modern remake of a classic western. It aimed to pick up the pace of the original film while preserving the complex conversation on respect and morality therein and did so with relative success. Where remakes like True Grit adapt central characters to make them more palatable, eventually detracting from raw and complicated endings, 3:10 to Yuma elevates the archetypal roles of Ben Wade and Dan Evans to make for one of the greatest endings to any modern Western.

Where the original film juxtaposed brutal Western violence with the Code of the West, 2007’s remake is far more character-focused. Crowe’s portrayal of Ben Wade is seemingly much crueler than Glenn Ford’s,...

When it comes to lone acting Oscar nominations, the category with the fewest examples is Best Supporting Actor. After two consecutive years of there being no new additions to that subgroup, Brian Tyree Henry (“Causeway”) became its 54th member in 2023 after having been largely ignored by other awards bodies over the preceding weeks. He directly followed Tom Hanks, who is the only other entrant from the last five years.

Within the last decade, this club has only grown by seven, with those who preceded Hanks and Henry being Robert Duvall, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Shannon, Willem Dafoe, and Christopher Plummer. 2018 marked the fifth instance of two men accomplishing the feat at once, thus tying the category’s record for most bids of this kind in a single year. Contextually, the corresponding Best Supporting Actress record is three, while that of both lead categories is four.

As it happens, the Best Supporting...

There are many films that have quotable last lines such as “After all, tomorrow is another day” from “Gone with the Wind.” And who can forget Humphrey Bogart telling Claude Rains: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” But the beloved 1953 George Stevens’ Western “Shane” perhaps has one of the most endearing and emotional final lines. Young Joey (Brandon De Wilde) wants his idol, the former gunslinger Shane (Alan Ladd), to stay with his family. But the wounded hero continues to ride off.

“Shane………come back,” Joey cries out.

Be prepared to bring you handkerchiefs to the Academy Museum’s 70th anniversary screening Dec 10 at the David Geffen Theatre. Ladd, in his strongest performance, plays a world-weary gunslinger who wants to hang up his six-shooter. He ends up working for an honest, struggling rancher Joe, (Van Heflin), his wife Marian (Jean Arthur) and young son...

Warning: Major spoilers for Justified: City Primeval season 1 below!

Justified: City Primeval season 1 adapted Elmore Leonard's crime novel and if season 2 moves forward, it should tackle his classic Western, "3:10 to Yuma". City Primeval adapted Leonard's work by swapping the original protagonist with Raylan Givens, and season 2 could put a modern spin on "3:10 to Yuma" The series ended with a major cliffhanger, implying at least one more story for Raylan, but a second season has yet to be confirmed.

Justified: City Primeval adapted one of Elmore Leonard's most acclaimed crime novels, and if season 2 moves ahead, there's a classic Western by the late author it should tackle. The late, great Leonard saw many of his works adapted, but often with mixed success. For every Out of Sight or Jackie Brown, there was an almighty turkey like 2004's The Big Bounce. One of the best takes on his work came with Justified,...

The greatest Western movie endings of all time come from throughout the genre's long history. As it is the last thing that viewers see, great endings are crucial in influencing how a movie is remembered by its audiences. From romantic rides into the sunset and heroic farewells, to brutal final showdowns and the bleak or poignant endings of revisionist anti-Westerns, the genre's best third acts are a mixed bag of thematic conclusions.

Apart from movies that are critically acclaimed as the best Westerns ever made, less popular and more recent entries into the genre have contributed their fair share of perfect endings as well. With the American Western being as old as filmmaking itself, it's difficult to determine exactly how many Westerns ended on a perfect note, but there are many that deserve a place in this special category. For those looking for movies about the Wild West that are...

What do the 76th annual Tonys have in common with the 17th annual awards?

Stephen Sondheim.

The late, great influential composer is represented in this year’s Tonys with the acclaimed, popular revivals of his 1979 classic “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Street” earning eight nominations and 1987’s “Into the Woods” receiving six.

Sixty years ago, it was Sondheim’s musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which dominated the Tony Awards with six wins: best musical, best producer for Harold Prince, best director for George Abbott, best author for Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, leading actor for Zero Mostel and featured actor for David Burns. Ironically, Sondheim failed to earn a nomination for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater. He would not win for his tunes until “Company” in 1971. Vying in that category were “Stop the World I Wanted...

Having just arrived in Los Angeles, Prince Philip faced a covey of reporters with photographers snapping away. “You asked about my mission to America,” he said. “The Queen and I are dedicated to helping the underprivileged. Mind you, we realize that an underprivileged child in Los Angeles is one who doesn’t have his own swimming pool.”

This was a jaunty, relaxed Prince Philip, circa 1966, unworried about the social media (there weren’t any) as he made his rounds of Hollywood. Joining him for meals and visits to sets were Natalie Wood, Shirley MacLaine, Dick Van Dyke, Gregory Peck and Joey Bishop, who, observing the Prince’s chain of jokes, said, “He’s so funny, I may run for Prince.”

The tension-packed forays of William and Kate this week, with their dire media overtones, seemed in sharp contrast to the loose, pre-woke royal expeditions of the ‘60s. While there was...

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Michael Callan, the actor and dancer who portrayed Riff in the original Broadway production of West Side Story before starring in such films as Gidget Goes Hawaiian, The Interns and Cat Ballou, has died. He was 86.

Callan died Monday night of pneumonia at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, his daughter Rebecca Goodman told The Hollywood Reporter.

A contract player at Columbia Pictures, Callan made about a dozen movies at the studio, starting with They Came to Cordura (1959), a Western starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin and Tab Hunter.

On the 1966-67 NBC comedy Occasional Wife, Callan starred as a confirmed bachelor who sets up a woman (Patricia Harty) in an upstairs apartment so she can pose as his wife in order to help him advance at the baby food company where he works. (His boss believes...

This Civil War thriller has so much truth to say about War, Patriotism and combatant-vs.-civilian terror that we can hardly believe it was released in 1954. It’s based on a true event from 1864, a daring undercover mission that hit the Union far away from the conventional fighting. Van Heflin is the vengeance-seeking advance agent, Anne Bancroft a war widow, Richard Boone a maimed Union veteran and Lee Marvin a loose cannon with a hair trigger. The anti-war message is stronger than anything from the Vietnam years! The 20th-Fox release is not on quality home video, and is in great need of restoration.

The Raid

Not on Home Video

CineSavant Revival Screening Review

1954 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 83 min.

Starring: Van Heflin, Anne Bancroft, Richard Boone, Lee Marvin, Tommy Rettig, Peter Graves, Douglas Spencer, Paul Cavanagh, Will Wright, James Best, John Dierkes, Helen Ford, Lee Aaker, Claude Akins, John Beradino, Robert Easton,...

The third ‘Essential’ noir collection is easily [Imprint]’s best, with two genuine classics of the style plus two excellent and equally entertaining thrillers. The directors are first-rank: Lewis Milestone, Mitchell Leisen, William Dieterle and William Wyler. Top stars are present too: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lisabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, William Holden, Alexis Smith, Edmond O’Brien, Humphrey Bogart, Fredric March. The high-quality suspense and jeopardy are uniquely noir: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, No Man Of Her Own, The Turning Point and The Desperate Hours. [Imprint] taps bona fide experts for the xtras.

Essential Film Noir Collection 3

Blu-ray (Region-Free)

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, No Man Of Her Own, The Turning Point, The Desperate Hours

Viavision [Imprint] 148, 149, 150, 151

1946 – 1955 / B&w / 1:37 Academy (3), 1:78 widescreen (1) / 411 min. / Street Date August 31, 2022 / Available from Viavision [Imprint] / au 139.95 , Amazon / 136.64

Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lisabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas; Barbara Stanwyck, John Lund, Lyle Bettger; William Holden, Alexis Smith,...

“It takes a good man to prevent a catastrophe, milady, and a great man to make use of one.”

Gene Kelly, Van Heflin, Lana Turner and Vincent Price in The Three Musketeers (1948) will available on Blu-ray February 15th from Warner Archive. It can be purchased at the Warner Archive Amazon Store Here

Gene Kelly stars as the swashbuckling young French nobleman D’Artagnan who, possessing nothing more than his title, travels to Paris to join The Three Musketeers. D’Artagnan no sooner arrives in the capital, than he insults Athos (Van Heflin), Porthos (Academy Award winner Gig Young) and Aramis (Robert Coote), the most feared of the musketeers. Challenged to a duel by each, D’Artagnan earns their respect with his courage, if not by his fighting prowess. But his courage, skill and wit are quickly needed to help the musketeers thwart a plot by the powerful Prime Minister Richelieu...

The former head of the ACLU discusses some of the movies – and sports legends – that made him.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Mighty Ira (2020)

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950)

42 (2013)

Shane (1953)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

Last Year At Marienbad (1962)

The Seventh Seal (1957)

La Strada (1954)

Wild Strawberries (1957) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary

The Virgin Spring (1960) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Last House On The Left (1972) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary

A Walk In The Sun (1945) – Glenn Erickson’s review

Paths Of Glory (1957) – George Hickenlooper’s trailer commentary, John Landis’s trailer commentary

All Quiet On The Western Front (1930) – Ed Neumeier’s trailer commentary

Lonely Are The Brave (1962)

Casablanca (1942) – John Landis’s trailer commentary

On The Waterfront (1954) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

12 Angry Men (1957)

Inherit The Wind (1960)

Judgment At Nuremberg (1961)

Witness For The Prosecution (1957)

Anatomy of a Murder (1959)

The Verdict (1982)

Twelve Angry Men teleplay (1954)

The Front (1976)

Judgment At Nuremberg teleplay...

Lana Turner in Green Dolphin Street (1947) will be available on Blu-ray April 13th from Warner Archive

The Academy Award® winner about star-crossed love that spans the years – and the globe. After her triumph as the lunchroom temptress in the crime classic The Postman Always Rings Twice, Lana Turner expanded her range with Green Dolphin Street. Set in 19th century Europe and New Zealand, this sweeping romance tells the story of two beautiful sisters, one headstrong (Turner) and one gentle (Donna Reed), and of the man (Richard Hart) who marries one even though he loves the other. The film’s riptides of emotion are matched by breathtaking physical tumult: a fierce Maori uprising plus a catastrophic earthquake and tidal wave that earned the film a 1947 Oscar for special effects. With its dramatic story and spectacular visuals, Green Dolphin Street drew huge audiences for epic moviemaking, being one of the top-ten box office hits of the year.

If there’s one thing we know to be true about Oscar voters, it’s that they love to award young women and old men for their acting prowess. That’s why it would be noteworthy if Daniel Kaluuya took home the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in “Judas and the Black Messiah” come April 25, as he would become the seventh youngest actor to ever win the award, at just 32 years, 60 days old.

Kaluuya, who is competing alongside his “Judas” co-star Lakeith Stanfield after voters nominated the latter actor in supporting instead of lead where he was campaigning, is currently in first place in Gold Derby’s combined odds to win the Oscar. Thirteen Experts are currently predicting him to triumph over the competition, which includes, in order, Sacha Baron Cohen, Leslie Odom, Jr., Paul Raci and Stanfield (9/2 odds).

Should he prevail, Kaluuya will join an...

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By John M. Whalen

In “Wings of the Hawk” (1953), Van Heflin stars as Irish Gallagher, an American mining for gold down in Mexico. He and his partner Marco (Mario Siletti) are ripped off by local military ruler Coronel Paco Ruiz (George Dolenz), who takes over the mine and kills Marco. Irish barely manages to escape on horseback and is rescued by insurrectionists led by Raquel Noriega (Julia Adams), who gets a bullet in the shoulder for her trouble. Irish patches her up in exchange for his freedom and romance rears its ugly head. Jealousy also flares when revolutionary leader Arturo Torres (Rudolpho Acosta), who had been her lover, sees what’s going on. Enter Pascual Orozco who asks for Arturo’s help in taking Ciudad Juarez. They’ll need $5,000 to buy 200 rifles but the revolutionaries have no money. However, they come up with a brainstorm.

Above: Easy LivingIn football, the American film industry found a setting to prattle its American platitudes—their -isms and -ivenesses that titivate the truth. By making a mill from America’s most popular sport, which was already riddled with truisms, Hollywood strove to insulate itself with lush banalities of American exceptionalism. They glommed to the mythology and readymade drama of the gridiron. Underdogs with long odds, inner crises, and familial strife—all seem to be absolved on the football field. Yet, as Don DeLillo writes in End Zone, the regnant work of fiction on football, “whatever complexities, whatever dark politics of the human mind, the heart—these are noted only within the chalked borders of the playing field. At times strange visions ripple across that turf; madness leaks out.” The tired tropes of the sport give way to something else, something unpolished but no less telling, all braced by...

All hail Blu-ray 3-D … a format still hanging on as one of the best features of home theater. Budd Boetticher’s trim action meller gives us Van Heflin (good) and Julie Adams (respectable) in a Mexican rebellion mini-epic with a backlot feel but rather good 3-D. The 3-D Film Archive’s experts have optimized the depth effect and included a colorful, very depth-y Woody Woodpecker cartoon. And Boetticher advocate Jeremy Arnold provides the audio commentary.

Wings of the Hawk

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 81 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date February 9, 2021 / 29.95

Starring: Van Heflin, Julie Adams, Abbe Lane, George Dolenz, Noah Beery Jr., Rodolfo Acosta, Antonio Moreno, Pedro González González, Paul Fierro, Mario Siletti, Rico Alaníz, Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr., Rosa Turich, Lyle Talbot.

Cinematography: Clifford Stine

Film Editor: Russel Schoengarth

Original Music: Frank Skinner

Written by James E. Moser, Kay Lenard from the novel by Gerald Drayson Adams...

Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson (1942) is currently available on Blu-ray from Warner Archive

Tennessee Johnson provided M-g-m an opportunity to showcase the impressive talents of studio newcomer Van Heflin, who had just earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar(r) for the 1941 crime hit Johnny Eager. The studio found an ideal role for Heflin in Andrew Johnson, the Tennessee tailor-turned-senator who broke with the South, rose to the vice presidency under Abraham Lincoln and soon became – after Lincoln’s assassination – the first U.S. president to face impeachment.

With inspired direction by William Dieterle, Heflin convinces as Johnson “by the sheer sincerity and strength of his performance” (The New York Times). Studio stalwart Lionel Barrymore portrays Johnson’s nemesis, Thaddeus Stevens, and Ruth Hussey plays Johnson’s devoted wife.

The post Van Heflin in Tennessee Johnson Available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive appeared first on We Are Movie Geeks.

The director of Over The Edge and The Accused takes us on a journey through some of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

The Student Teachers (1973)

Night Call Nurses (1972)

White Line Fever (1975)

Truck Turner (1974)

Heart Like A Wheel (1983)

The Accused (1988)

Over The Edge (1979)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

Manhattan (1979)

Some Like It Hot (1959)

The Apartment (1960)

North By Northwest (1959)

Moon Pilot (1962)

Mr. Billion (1977)

White Heat (1949)

The Wizard of Oz (1939)

The Three Musketeers (1973)

The Four Musketeers (1974)

Superman (1978)

Superman II (1980)

The Three Musketeers (1948)

Shane (1953)

The 400 Blows (1959)

8 ½ (1963)

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

Richard (1972)

Millhouse (1971)

The Projectionist (1970)

El Dorado (1966)

The Shootist (1976)

Woodstock (1970)

Payback (1999)

A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962)

Billy Liar (1963)

Ford Vs Ferrari (2019)

The Wild Bunch (1969)

The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

Bad Girls (1994)

Masters of the Universe (1987)

Giant (1956)

The More The Merrier (1943)

The Graduate (1967)

The Victors (1963)

…And Justice For All (1979)

Citizen Kane (1941)

An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn...

” I have just received a dispatch that Santa Anna has captured San Antonio. Colonel Travis, with less than 200 men, has withdrawn across the river to the Alamo to prepare for its defense. At the moment, that is the only military force between the Mexican army and the Sabine River… and those men need help!”

Two lavishly produced Mexican war epics, The Man From The Alamo and They Came To Cordura make their high-definition debut in this star-studded double feature spotlighting the talents of Glenn Ford, Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Julia Adams and many more!

The Man From The Alamo (1953) stars Glenn Ford as John Stroud, a heroic survivor of the brutal battle at The Alamo who is branded a coward for fleeing to warn the local townsfolk of the approaching Mexican armies. He sets out to clear his name and avenge those who killed his wife and child.

Directed by...

A group of young, scrappy and brilliant writers penned some of the most accomplished dramas presented live during the Golden Age of TV in the 1950s. Writers such as Paddy Chayefsky, J.P. Miller (“The Days of Wine and Roses”), Reginald Rose (“Twelve Angry Men”), Tad Mosel (“The Haven”), James Costigan (“Little Moon of Alban”) and Horton Foote.

But the most influential and best-known of these writers was Rod Serling, who became a superstar as not only creator and writer but host of the landmark 1959-1964 CBS sci-fi/fantasy anthology series “The Twilight Zone,” for which he won two Emmys for his writing. “The Twilight Zone” and even his less successful 1970-73 NBC anthology series “Night Gallery” has overshadowed his earlier work for which he won three Emmys for his writing.

Among his earliest work was the 1953 “Kraft Television Theatre” presentation “A Long Time Till Dawn,” which gave a 22-year-old James Dean...

Helping you stay sane while staying safe… featuring Leonard Maltin, Dave Anthony, Miguel Arteta, John Landis, and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Plague (1979)

Target Earth (1954)

The Left Hand of God (1955)

A Lost Lady (1934)

Enough Said (2013)

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939)

Heaven Can Wait (1978)

Down to Earth (2001)

Down To Earth (1947)

The Commitments (1991)

Once (2007)

Election (1999)

About Schmidt (2002)

Sideways (2004)

Nebraska (2013)

The Man in the Moon (1991)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Casablanca (1942)

The Lady Vanishes (1938)

The Night Walker (1964)

Chuck and Buck (2000)

Cedar Rapids (2011)

Beatriz at Dinner (2017)

Duck Butter (2018)

The Good Girl (2002)

The Big Heat (1953)

Human Desire (1954)

Slightly French (1949)

Week-End with Father (1951)

Experiment In Terror (1962)

They Shoot Horses Don’t They? (1969)

Ray’s Male Heterosexual Dance Hall (1987)

Airport (1970)

Earthquake (1974)

Drive a Crooked Road (1954)

Pushover (1954)

Waves (2019)

Krisha (2015)

The Oblong Box (1969)

80,000 Suspects (1963)

Panic In The Streets (1950)

It Comes At Night (2017)

Children of Men (2006)

The Road (2009)

You Were Never Really Here...

To get everyone in the mood for his ninth film, director and cult film guru Quentin Tarantino has something special in mind for the Sony Movie Channel. From the 5th of August Tarantino’s ‘Swinging Sixties-a-Movie Marathon’ will showcase nine films which perfectly set the tone for Once Upon a Time …in Hollywood, which comes out in cinemas on the 14th of August.

Each of these films has been specially curated, having influenced the director’s new film, and will play individually or as double features. As always with the director, there are some surprises here. In amongst ’60s classics Easy Rider and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice are secret agent specials, violent Westerns and a little bit of love in all its complicated forms. In short – it’s a masterclass in movie mood – just the thing to dive into before you take a trip back to the...

On July 16, 1969, Variety ran a package of stories under the headline “Greatest Show Off Earth,” detailing the three TV networks’ fever over the July 19 moon landing. CBS exec producer Robert Wussler predicted “the world’s greatest single broadcast.” Variety called it a “31-hour TV super-special,” running all day Sunday through midday Monday. The networks and four radio companies pooled resources and spent a then-huge $13 million collectively. NBC was handling the action at Kennedy Space Center, CBS at Mission Control in Houston, with ABC assigned “downrange pickups.”

But each network also wanted to plant its own distinct footprint on the moon landing. CBS offered Arthur C. Clarke, Walter Cronkite and Orson Welles (think “War of the Worlds”). ABC had Rod Serling, Isaac Asimov and Marshall McLuhan; ABC also commissioned Duke Ellington to compose a piece of music. NBC had a special hosted by John Chancellor and Danny Kaye, which Variety described...

1967: The widows called Dark Shadows' Elizabeth. 1987: Guiding

Light's Lacey & Cam left the Bauer Barbecue via hot air balloon.

2008: Cyndi Lauper visited As the World Turns' Oakdale.

2013: Theresa returned to Days of our Lives' Salem."History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images."

― Anselm Kiefer

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1939: Radio soap opera The Man I Married premiered on NBC Radio. Van Heflin starred as Adam Waring.

1967: On Dark Shadows, Elizabeth (Joan Bennett) heard the voices of the widows calling to her.

1969: On Another World, Rachel (Robin Strasser) tried to convince Russ...

“Avengers: Endgame” might have surpassed 2009’s “Avatar” when it comes to its domestic box-office — besting James Cameron’s sci-fi fantasy’s $750 million handily by taking in $816 million since its opening on April 26. But it is still a far cry from 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” still the champ with $937 million in domestic ticket sales.

But on social media, there has been some discussion beyond the big bucks about whether “Endgame” with its multitudes of Marvel-ous superhero actors might have the most Oscar winners and nominees ever for a cast of a feature film. I know there is an ongoing thread in the forums about just this topic with various permutations on who counts or not. But for my purposes, actors who won or were nominated in categories other than acting do not qualify. Same with honorary trophies.

By that measure, I count seven winners among the names: Brie Larson,...

Twilight Time goes for a Blu-ray upgrade of the western remake with the all-star cast. Forget that there was ever a John Ford or a John Wayne and it’s a perfectly presentable wild west story, but the mileage may vary for classic western fans inclined to make comparisons to the 1939 classic. Top billing goes to an enthusiastic Ann-Margret… but we’re sorry to report that her hip-swinging rock number, ‘Viva Geronimo!’ was cut at the last minute.

Stagecoach

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1966 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 16, 2019 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies / 29.95

Starring: Ann-Margret, Red Buttons, Michael Connors, Alex Cord, Bing Crosby, Bob Cummings, Van Heflin, Slim Pickens, Stefanie Powers, Keenan Wynn.

Cinematography: William H. Clothier

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith

Written by Joseph Landon from the screenplay by Dudley Nichols from a story by Ernest Haycox

Produced by Martin Rackin

Directed by Gordon Douglas

The Hollywood western...