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There is perhaps no TV show from the classic era that has stood the test of time better than "The Twilight Zone." Despite its black-and-white coloring, limited budgets, and retro sci-fi stylings, the Rod Serling series remains one of the greatest, most influential shows ever put to American television. Though there have been many attempts to reboot the series, none of which have been as successful as less direct successors like "Black Mirror," the original series from the late 1950s and early '60s remains the best one to watch. Thankfully, its greatest episodes also hold up incredibly well.

Picking just five "Twilight Zone" episodes to recommend is a challenging task, as all five seasons are loaded with classics. Commentaries on war, death, greed, adventures in space exploration, a surprising number of Western-themed "Twilight Zone" episodes, monsters, ghouls, ghosts, deals with the devil, red Scare metaphors -- it's all there and well worth watching.

It's not uncommon for aspiring actors to start young, but there wasn't any time wasted when it came to queer icon Jodie Foster. She started in commercials as young as three and made her television debut as early as six in an episode of "Mayberry R.F.D." Long before she played the vulnerable defendant in "The Accused" or faced off against Hannibal Lecter in "The Silence of the Lambs," the child prodigy slowly made her way into film with roles in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and "Freaky Friday." By the time she was 12, Foster was not only working on her second Martin Scorsese picture with "Taxi Driver," but it was also the role that led her first of five Oscar nominations — and two wins.

In the interim before her big breaks, however, Foster was kept super busy when it came to guest appearances on a plethora of television shows. She...

Sian Barbara Allen, a onetime Universal contract player who appeared in the films You’ll Like My Mother and Billy Two Hats and played a love interest of Richard Thomas’ John-Boy on The Waltons, died Monday. She was 78.

Allen died in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, after a battle with Alzheimer’s, her family announced. She often played characters with “great vulnerability and uncommon empathy,” they noted.

In telefilms, Allen starred with Bette Davis and Ted Bessell as the title character, a housekeeper in a mansion, in 1973’s Scream, Pretty Peggy at ABC; with Claude Akins, John Savage and Patricia Neal in the 1975 tearjerker Eric at NBC; and with Anthony Hopkins and Cliff DeYoung in 1976’s The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case, also at NBC (she played the wife of the famed aviator).

Born on July 12, 1946, in Reading, Pennsylvania, Allen was raised by her mother, Ruth, and her grandmother, Etta.

After she graduated from Reading Senior High School,...

Quentin Tarantino seems to enjoy watching movies rather than making them. There’s still no word about his tenth and final film, yet he has recommended over 300 movies over the years. His fans might be irked by his unwillingness to be as industrious as his peers, but he sure has good taste. That Tarantino is a film fan more than a filmmaker should come as no surprise, considering that he worked at Video Archives, a video store in Manhattan Beach, California, for five years. Additionally, he is a self-taught director, meaning he had to do plenty of research early in his career. "When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them, 'No, I went to films," Tarantino was once quoted saying.

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Rio BravoPassedDramaWesternRelease DateApril 4, 1959Runtime141 MinutesDirectorHoward HawksCastSee...

Oscar-winner John Wayne is one of the most enduring symbols of the Western genre, having ruled the box office for over three decades. Wayne has a mind-boggling one hundred and eighty-four acting credits to his name, and dozens of those roles were in Westerns. With such a robust body of work, it can be hard for the audience to know where to begin, but some of Wayne's films are certified classics.

Working alongside legendary directors like John Ford and Howard Hanks, Wayne helped define the Western genre. Digging into his filmography reveals the origins of many tropes, character archetypes, and storytelling elements that still echo through modern cinema.

The Big Trail Is A Taut Thriller A Young Wayne Establishes His Star Power

Wayne has a reputation for playing the prototypical grizzled cowboy, but his first lead role in The Big Trail shows how he became such a sensation. Set against...

Who knew that French author Pierre Boulle’s slim, satirical 1963 novel, Le Planete des Singes, would lead to one of the most successful science fiction franchises of all time? Consisting of 10 films (to date), two TV series , comic books (including a magazine series from Marvel), toys, games, merchandise and more, Planet of the Apes remains one of the most enduring and unique sci-fi sagas in cinematic history.

The success of the original film, 1968’s Planet of the Apes, led studio 20th Century Fox (which finally made the movie after years of development and stalling) to launch a series of sequels. That wasn’t necessarily unheard of back then, but those sequels—which include Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)—told one complete story, unlike anything done on film before.

This article contains spoilers for "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes."

In 1968's "Planet of the Apes," astronaut George Taylor (Charlton Heston) and his companions find themselves traveling from 1972 to the year 3978 during their voyage, initially assuming they've traveled through space as well as time. Famously, Taylor finds this assumption woefully incorrect, discovering that a malfunctioning spacecraft took him right back to his point of origin: an Earth, but 2,006 years in the future, where humanity has all but destroyed itself with nuclear war, and a race of sentient apes have risen to become the world's dominant species.

While that original film has arguably been surpassed in quality by its subsequent sequels and the modern reboot saga, its cultural impact cannot be matched; everything from its visual iconography and immortal twist ending is firmly ingrained within pop culture. That's a big reason why the "Planet of the Apes" films, even...

Angie Dickinson will be there to kick off the TCM Classic Film Festival next month when she helps introduce a world premiere screening of a 4k restoration of her 1959 film Rio Bravo, it was announced Wednesday.

Dickinson, 91, will chat with TCM host Ben Mankiewicz ahead of the April 13 event at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The Technicolor film has been restored in partnership with Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation as part of the yearlong celebration of Warner Bros.’ 100th anniversary.

Film Foundation board members Steven Spielberg and Paul Thomas Anderson also will be on hand to celebrate Warner Bros. Discovery’s multiyear partnership with The Film Foundation, which has restored or preserved more than 950 films since its 1990 launch.

“Any movie with Angie Dickinson is made better by the fact that Angie Dickinson is in it. Certainly, Rio Bravo is no exception,” Mankiewicz said in a statement. “As a bonus,...

Western films have been a staple of American cinema for practically as long as movies have been made.

Movies in the Western genre are set in the American West, typically between the 1850s to the end of the 19th century. While it has been a stable genre — no pun intended! — it has also been the starting ground for several hybrid genres like Western comedies, Western musicals and horror Westerns.

No other genre’s history goes back quite as far as that of Westerns. According to documentarian David Gregory, “It has been estimated that up to 40 percent of all films made before 1960 were Westerns.”

Although the category reached its greatest popularity in the early and middle decades of the 20th century, with several becoming cult classics, films continued to be made even through droughts for Westerns in the late ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. Actors have also made their name starring in Western films,...

It’s time for a new episode of the Revisited video series, and with this one we’re looking back at a TV movie that started a franchise, 1972’s The Night Stalker ((pick up a copy Here)! The Night Stalker was followed by a sequel called The Night Strangler, and then a twenty episode season of a TV series called Kolchak: The Night Stalker. A show that served as inspiration for The X-Files and received a short-lived remake series called Night Stalker in the early 2000s. To find out all about The Night Stalker, check out the video embedded above!

Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey from a teleplay by Richard Matheson, which was based on a novel by Jeff Rice, The Night Stalker has the following synopsis:

After several high-profile newspapers fire him for his difficult attitude, investigative journalist Carl Kolchak finds a job following the police beat for a small Las Vegas publication.

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,...

Before "Star Wars," "Planet of the Apes" was the defining 20th Century Fox sci-fi franchise of the '70s — never mind that the series technically debuted in theaters in 1968, and is based on a 1963 French novel by "The Bridge over the River Kwai" author Pierre Boulle. The original five films spawned a franchise that includes a live-action TV series, a cartoon, comic books, and a line of toys — and remember, this was long before movie-based action figures were a regular presence in stores.

That was only the beginning. Even though the original "Planet of the Apes" films told a complete story with a beginning and an end, there was no way executives would let a series that successful die ... so, the studio tried to reboot it. Twice. One of those occasions resulted in a huge success; the other one, we barely talk about. Yet, in every evolution, the "Planet of the Apes...

Click here to read the full article.

Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, has died. He was 87.

One of the show’s unsung heroes, Metcalfe died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, his wife of 43 years, actress Jan Jorden announced. (She had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on the series.)

Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride.

Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He...

Hello, everyone! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend (or regular weekend for those of you outside of the States). We’re back today with a brand new round-up of horror and sci-fi home media releases that are headed home today, and it includes quite the array of titles. One of my favorite movies of the year - Everything Everywhere All At Once from The Daniels - is being released to 4K as well as Blu-ray and DVD and if you’re looking to indulge in even more 4K entertainment, Edge of Tomorrow is also getting the 4K treatment, too.

Kino Lorber is keeping busy this week with an array of classic titles headed to Blu, including Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo, Ants! (aka It Happened at Lakewood Manor) and Terror Out of the Sky (aka Revenge of the Savage Bees), and IFC is also releasing Ruth Paxton’s...

By Lee Pfeiffer

The Sony Choice Collection has rescued another long forgotten TV movie from obscurity and released it as a burn-to-order title. "Kiss Me...Kill Me" is a crime thriller that was originally telecast in 1976. Compared to similar fare from that era, the film is fairly routine, though it might well be more appreciated today than it was at the time of its original airing. This is due to the fact that it boasts a strong cast of seasoned veteran actors- something that was relatively common in the 1970s, when the concept of TV movies became very popular. Most of these productions had star power and audiences enjoyed seeing some of their favorite movie stars on the small screen. "Kiss Me...Kill Me" stars Stella Stevens as Stella Stafford, an L.A-based investigator for the District Attorney's office. She is assigned to an especially disturbing murder case involving Maureen Coyle...

Prior to the advent of the so-called “eco-vengeance” genre, Italian cinema used animals, or at least the symbolism they naturally encapsulate, in the most disparate contexts, from those coherent with their nature to more unusual and weird derivations. With regard to the singular use of animals in Italian cinema, a reference is certainly owed to Dario Argento’s first films—L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo, Il gatto a nove code, and Quattro mosche di velluto grigio—which were followed by huge commercial success that encapsulated what Argento had learnt from Alfred Hitchcock and the Nouvelle Vague, as well as from the literary heritage of Raymond Chandler, where animals appeared in the titles embodying the characters’ gestures, modus operandi, and personalities—the animal as a metaphor representing the diabolical “human” nature. Although the presence of animals in the titles is often justified, of course, by some narrative solution or gimmick,...

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By Doug Oswald

William Holden commands a newly formed commando group in “The Devil’s Brigade,” available by Kino Lorber on Blu-ray. On the heels of the successful “The Dirty Dozen” from the previous year, “The Devil’s Brigade” is based on the 1966 book by Robert H. Adleman and Colonel George Walton. It chronicles the true events of the 1st Special Service, a joint American and Canadian commando unit assigned to the United States Fifth Army. Inspired by true events, the movie follows the standard tropes of this type of action adventure men- at -war movie. A rag-tag group of soldiers are brought together for a mission, they initially mistrust each other, get into a fight, train together, get into another fight this time working together against another group, graduate from their training and then deploy on their mission to fight the enemy.

Great news for fans of obscure old action films. The Daredevil Drivers (1938) is available on DVD From Warner Archives

Racecar driver Bill Foster (Dick Purcell) has the talent to collect racing trophies, but his reckless stunts on the track get him banned from the racing association altogether. Hitting the road with his loyal sidekick, mechanic “Stub” Wilson (vaudeville veteran Charley Foy), Bill crashes into a bus owned by Neeley Transport. Bill is determined to sock Neeley’s president in the nose because of the damage to his race car, only to discover that the president is the attractive Jerry Neeley (Beverly Roberts) – a woman immune to Bill’s charms. Bill goes to work for Tommy Burnell (Donald Briggs), the owner of a rival bus company that is sabotaging Neeley Transport. Once Bill learns he’s working for the wrong side, he goes out of his way to help Jerry save her company.

Great news for fans of director Sam Fuller. His 1962 classic Merrill’S Marauders is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archives

Writer/Director and decorated Army Veteran Sam Fuller lends his considerable storytelling talent and gift for hard-charging understatement to the true tale of one of the most extraordinary and harrowing military campaigns in human history. Brigadier General Frank Merrill (Jeff Chandler) leads Unit Galahad, officially named the 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional), deep behind enemy lines and through miles of dank, dense, disease ridden jungle in a desperate bid to ensure the enemy will never have the ability to link up. Ty Hardin Will Hutchins and Claude Akins play some of the dogfaces that were part of this all-volunteer force in this Sam Fuller production that stands alongside Steel Helmet and The Big Red One as boots-on-the-ground recreations of the misery and the heroics of military life. And all the glory...

It’s well known around these parts of my irrational fear of arachnids – in real life, that is. On film, however, they are (unfairly or not) one of my favorite villains. And yes, I say villains, because dammit they bite and kill people; sure, it’s their “nature”, but mine is breathing and not being paralyzed and/or spun in webbing like so much human Saran Wrap. Okay, now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo (1977), a fun TV movie with more creepy crawlers than you can shake a stick at. (A 10 foot stick if you’re smart.)

Originally airing as part of The CBS Wednesday Night Movies, Cargo had it rough folks; ABC hauled out Charlie’s Angels/Starsky & Hutch, and NBC offered up *checks notes* The Oregon Trail/Big Hawaii. Truth be told, I probably would have been tuning...

Is this Samuel Fuller’s biggest production? He tries to convey the harrowing reality of a military campaign that tested the limits of endurance and punishment that troops could absorb. In his last movie, Jeff Chandler is the famed commander who must ask his special forces to march hundreds of miles in the unforgiving jungle, and then fight a pitched battle. Although Warners interfered with the final cut, it’s still a fine picture.

Merrill’s Marauders

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1962 / Color / 2:35 anamorphic widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date July 23, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Jeff Chandler, Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Andrew Duggan, Will Hutchins, Claude Akins, Luz Valdez, John Hoyt, Pancho Magalona.

Cinematography: William Clothier

Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted

Original Music: Howard Jackson

Written by Milton Sperling, Sam Fuller from a book by Charlton Ogburn Jr.

Produced by Milton Sperling

Directed by Samuel Fuller

Writer/producer/director Samuel Fuller must...

By Todd Garbarini

I was three years-old when John Llewellyn Moxey’s The Night Stalker premiered on the ABC Movie of the Week on January 11, 1972 and it took me nearly twenty years to catch up with it on a late night rerun on a local ABC-tv affiliate. Featuring the terrific late character actor Darren McGavin in the role of Carl Kolchak, an intrepid reporter who wants to print the truth regardless of what his editor says after finding himself in the midst of several murders, The Night Stalker, penned by the great Richard Matheson based on an unpublished novel, is a delightful slice of early 1970s spooky entertainment fare that is most definitely a product of a time that was populated by groovy music on the radio, TV dinners, and little kids getting tossed around in the backs of mammoth station wagons. The Las Vegas of 1971 when this movie was...

Now that October is officially underway, that means we have a big week of Blu-ray and DVD releases to get excited for, and there are some great genre-related titles coming out on Tuesday. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is unleashing both Tales from the Hood 2 and The First Purge on multiple formats, and for fans of action cinema, Death Race: Beyond Anarchy races home this week, too. Kino Lorber is giving both The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler the limited edition treatment, and for those who enjoy indie horror, Feral, Housewife,and Blood Fest are certainly all worth your time.

Other notable releases for October 2nd include Extremity, Molly, The Legend of Halloween Jack, The Evil Dead in 4K, Sleep No More, and West of Hell, with Rob Zombie’s Halloween getting a Steelbook release as well.

The First Purge

Blumhouse Productions welcomes you to the movement that began as...

Hollywood is the cultural Bandwagon Central; if something can be rode and milked until the teat is dry, it will, and the carcass won’t be pretty. Television especially thrives on instantly recognizable content as much as the ads wedged in between; but when horror gives it a go, the content can’t help but be different by even a few recognizable degrees. At least it was in the ‘70s, when an intriguing pilot titled The Norliss Tapes (1973) tried (yet failed) to ride The Night Stalker (’72) vibe into viewers’ living rooms – something the Kolchak: The Night Stalker series was able to do the following year.

Originally broadcast February 21st as part of the NBC Wednesday Mystery Movie; across the dial were CBS’ Medical Center and the ABC Wednesday Movie of the Week, both of which did better, leaving poor Mr. Norliss unable to continue his fight against the supernatural.

Let...

Before the influential Kolchak: The Night Stalker series aired on ABC in the mid-’70s, Darren McGavin brought the titular investigative reporter to life for the first time in the 1972 TV movie The Night Stalker, which is getting a 4K restoration Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber this October, along with its 1973 sequel, The Night Strangler.

Announced on Facebook and Twitter, The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler Blu-rays will be released on October 2nd in the Us. Each release will come with a new 4K restoration, a new audio commentary with film historian Tim Lucas, and other new special features.

Below, we have the announcements from Kino Lorber, as well as a look at the new cover art by Sean Phillips. Let us know if you'll be adding these releases to your home media collection, and in case you missed it, read Scott Drebit's It Came From the Tube column...

Bid welcome to five westerns guaranteed to make one fall in love with the genre all over again. Each stars the ultra-virtuous man of the West Randolph Scott, pitted against some of the most colorful antagonists on the range: Richard Boone, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins. Indicator’s extras constitute the best collection of research materials ever assembled on the underrated director Budd Boetticher.

Five Tall Tales: Budd Boetticher & Randolph Scott At Columbia, 1957-1960

The Tall T, Decision at Sundown, Buchanan Rides Alone, Ride Lonesome, Comanche Station

Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

Color / 1:85 and 2:35 widescreen / 380 min. / / Street Date May 28, 2018 / available from Powerhouse Films UK / £42.99

Starring: Randolph Scott.

Leading Ladies: Maureen O’Sullivan, Karen Steele (2), Valerie French, Nancy Gates.

Noble Villains: Richard Boone, John Carroll, Craig Stevens, Pernell Roberts, Lee Van Cleef, Claude Akins.

Hopeful Sidekicks: James Best, James Coburn, Skip Homeier (2), Henry Silva, Noah Beery Jr., L.Q. Jones, Richard Rust.

“It’s under the Big ‘W’!” A smart cop show goes all ‘Dragnet’ on a trio of criminal cases in the good old City of the Angels. To figure out who gunned down a top detective, rough tough FBI agent Broderick Crawford must get to the bottom of three separate dramas, each involving a beautiful woman. The producers know how to get attention for their show — the climactic shootout takes place under the Hollywood Sign.

Down 3 Dark Streets

Blu-ray

ClassicFlix

1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 86 min. / Street Date April 24, 2018 / 29.99

Starring: Broderick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer, Marisa Pavan, Max Showalter, Kenneth Tobey, Gene Reynolds, William Johnstone, Harlan Warde, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Suzanne Alexander, Joe Bassett, Michael Fox, John Indrisano, Milton Parsons, Stafford Repp, William Schallert, Charles Tannen.

Cinematography: Joseph Biroc

Film Editor: Grant Whytock

Production Design: Edward (Ted) Haworth

Original Music: Paul Sawtell

Written by Bernard C. Schoenfeld, ‘The Gordons...

John Wayne plays a German sea captain in a film that goes out of its way to create a favorable image of our former enemy, with hardly a Nazi flag or even a German accent in sight. Wayne and his co-star Lana Turner are as Teutonic as Blondie and Dagwood, yet the film works as a basic adventure – we like the charismatic star, and the sea chase format guarantees extra interest.

The Sea Chase

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1955 / Color / 2:55 widescreen / 117 min. / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: John Wayne, Lana Turner, David Farrar, Lyle Bettger, Tab Hunter, James Arness, Richard Davalos, John Qualen, Paul Fix, Alan Hale Jr., Peter Whitney, Claude Akins, John Doucette, Tudor Owen, Adam Williams.

Cinematography: William Clothier

Film Editors: William Ziegler, Owen Marks

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by James Warner Bellah, John Twist from a novel by Andrew Geer

Produced and Directed...

Time can be a hell of a drug, especially when it comes to the projected image. There’s an inherent danger in revisiting a film we have fond memories of; is it as good as we recall? Conversely, can a film improve after an initial viewing, one that perhaps was initially dismissed with a shrug and a wave of the hand? Case in point: actor David Keith’s directorial debut, The Curse (1987), a film that inspired nothing in me beyond guffaws 30 years ago. But that was then; now it inspires a sense of awe, because if you’ve ever wondered what an American-flavored Lucio Fulci film would look like, clear a spot in your collection for the class clown of the Class of ’87.

Producer Ovidio G. Assonitis is no stranger to fans of the genre; if you’ve seen Beyond the Door (1974), Tentacles (1977), or The Visitor (1979), then you know he...

Sometimes it’s hard to put a fresh coat of paint on an old house. The colors can bleed through no matter how many new layers are added, giving the house a look of desperation from a block away. But sometimes the right paint is used, the restoration is done with love and affection, and the new owners actually care about their surroundings. Such is the case with The Night Stalker (1972), the ABC TV movie that took the vampire out of his crumbling castle and transported him to the seedier side of the modern day Las Vegas strip; and in doing so created one of the most endearingly reluctant monster hunters of all time, Carl Kolchak.

Originally airing as the ABC Movie of the Week on Tuesday, January 11th, 1972, The Night Stalker slayed the competition in the ratings, including CBS’s successful Hawaii Five-o/Cannon lineup. And I mean destroyed...

Randolph Scott's final 'Ranown' western is a minimalist masterpiece, an unusually gentle story about a great westerner on a forlorn romantic quest. It's also a showcase for the underrated Nancy Gates and Claude Akins, and a pleasure to watch in wide, wide CinemaScope. Comanche Station All-region Blu-ray Explosive Media / Alive 1960 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 74 min. / Street Date July 22, 2016 / Einer Gibt Nicht Auf / available at Amazon.de/ EUR14,99 Starring Randolph Scott, Nancy Gates, Claude Atkins, Skip Homeier, Richard Rust. Cinematography Charles Lawton Jr. Film Editor Edwin H. Bryant Music supervisor Mischa Balaleinikoff Written by Burt Kennedy Produced and Directed by Budd Boetticher

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

One must be careful when ordering Blu-ray discs of Hollywood films from overseas. Foreign distributors license American movies that the studios won't release here, but sometimes they don't have access to good video masters. In a few cases the films being offered are simply being pirated.

Dirty cops were a movie vogue in 1954, and Edmond O'Brien scores as a real dastard in this overachieving United Artists thriller. Dreamboat starlet Marla English is the reason O'Brien's detective kills for cash, and then keeps killing to stay ahead of his colleagues. And all to buy a crummy house in the suburbs -- this man needs career counseling. Shield for Murder Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1954 / B&W / 1:75 widescreen / 82 min. / Street Date June 21, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Edmond O'Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile Meyer, Carolyn Jones, Claude Akins, Herbert Butterfield, Hugh Sanders, William Schallert, Robert Bray, Richard Deacon, David Hughes, Gregg Martell, Stafford Repp, Vito Scotti. Cinematography Gordon Avil Film Editor John F. Schreyer Original Music Paul Dunlap Written by Richard Alan Simmons, John C. Higgins from the novel by William P. McGivern <Produced by Aubrey Schenck, (Howard W. Koch) Directed by Edmond O'Brien, Howard W. Koch

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Here's the kind of '50s movie we love, an ambitious, modest crime picture that for its time had an edge. In the 1950s our country was as blind to the true extent of police corruption as it was to organized crime. Movies about bad cops adhered to the 'bad apple' concept: it's only crooked individuals that we need to watch out for, never the institutions around them. Thanks to films noir, crooked cops were no longer a film rarity, even though the Production Code made movies like The Asphalt Jungle insert compensatory scenes paying lip service to the status quo: an imperfect police force is better than none. United Artists in the 1950s helped star talent make the jump to independent production, with the prime success stories being Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas. But the distribution company also funded proven producers capable of putting out smaller bread 'n' butter movies that could prosper if costs were kept down. Edward Small, Victor Saville, Levy-Gardner-Laven. Aubrey Schenck and Howard C. Koch produced as a team, and for 1954's Shield for Murder Koch co-directed, sharing credit with the film's star, Edmond O'Brien. The show is a smart production all the way, a modestly budgeted 'B' with 'A' ambitions. O'Brien was an industry go-getter trying to channel his considerable talent in new directions. His leading man days were fading but he was in demand for parts in major films like The Barefoot Contessa. The producers took care with their story too. Writers Richard Alan Simmons and John C. Higgins had solid crime movie credits. Author William P. McGivern wrote the novel behind Fritz Lang's The Big Heat as well as Rogue Cop and Odds Against Tomorrow. All of McGivern's stories involve crooked policemen or police corruption. Shield for Murder doesn't tiptoe around its subject matter. Dirty cop Detective Lt. Barney Nolan (O'Brien) kills a hoodlum in an alley to steal $25,000 of mob money. His precinct boss Captain Gunnarson (Emile Meyer) accepts Barney's version of events and the Asst. D.A. (William Schallert) takes the shooting as an open and shut case. Crime reporter Cabot (Herbert Butterfield) has his doubts, and lectures the squad room about the abuse of police power. Barney manages to placate mob boss Packy Reed (Hugh Sanders), but two hoods continue to shadow him. Barney's plan for the money was to buy a new house and escape the rat race with his girlfriend, nightclub cashier Patty Winters (Marla English). But a problem surfaces in the elderly deaf mute Ernst Sternmueller (David Hughes), a witness to the shooting. Barney realizes that his only way forward is to kill the old man before he can tell all to Det. Mark Brewster (John Agar), Barney's closest friend. Once again one of society's Good Guys takes a bite of the forbidden apple and tries to buck the system. Shield for Murder posits an logical but twisted course of action for a weary defender of the law who wants out. Barney long ago gave up trying to do anything about the crooks he can't touch. The fat cat Packy Reed makes the big money, and all Barney wants is his share. Barney's vision of The American Dream is just the middle-class ideal, the desirable Patty Winters and a modest tract home. He's picked it out - it sits partway up a hill in a new Los Angeles development, just finished and already furnished. Then the unexpected witness shows up and everything begins to unravel; Barney loses control one step at a time. He beats a mob thug (Claude Akins) half to death in front of witnesses. When his pal Mark Brewster figures out the truth, Barney has to use a lot of his money to arrange a getaway. More mob trouble leads to a shoot-out in a high school gym. The idea may have been for the star O'Brien to coach actors John Agar and Marla English to better performances. Agar is slightly more natural than usual, but still not very good. The gorgeous Ms. English remains sweet and inexpressive. After several unbilled bits, the woman often compared to Elizabeth Taylor was given "introducing" billing on the Shield for Murder billing block. Her best-known role would be as The She-Creature two years later, after which she dropped out to get married. Co-director O'Brien also allows Emile Meyer to go over the top in a scene or two. But the young Carolyn Jones is a standout as a blonde bargirl, more or less expanding on her small part as a human ashtray in the previous year's The Big Heat. Edmond O'Brien is occasionally a little to hyper, but he's excellent at showing stress as the trap closes around the overreaching Barney Nolan. Other United Artists budget crime pictures seem a little tight with the outdoors action -- Vice Squad, Witness to Murder, Without Warning -- but O'Brien and Koch's camera luxuriates in night shoots on the Los Angeles streets. This is one of those Blu-rays that Los Angelenos will want to freeze frame, to try to read the street signs. There is also little downtime wasted in sidebar plot detours. The gunfight in the school gym, next to an Olympic swimming pool, is an action highlight. The show has one enduring sequence. With the force closing in, Barney rushes back to the unfinished house he plans to buy, to recover the loot he's buried next to its foundation. Anybody who lived in Southern California in the '50s and '60s was aware of the massive suburban sprawl underway, a building boom that went on for decades. In 1953 the La Puente hills were so rural they barely served by roads; the movie The War of the Worlds considered it a good place to use a nuclear bomb against invading Martians. By 1975 the unending suburbs had spread from Los Angeles, almost all the way to Pomona. Barney dashes through a new housing development on terraced plots, boxy little houses separated from each other by only a few feet of dirt. There's no landscaping yet. Even in 1954 $25,000 wasn't that much money, so Barney Nolan has sold himself pretty cheaply. Two more latter-day crime pictures would end with ominous metaphors about the oblivion of The American Dream. In 1964's remake of The Killers the cash Lee Marvin kills for only buys him a patch of green lawn in a choice Hollywood Hills neighborhood. The L.A.P.D. puts Marvin out of his misery, and then closes in on another crooked detective in the aptly titled 1965 thriller The Money Trap. The final scene in that movie is priceless: his dreams smashed, crooked cop Glenn Ford sits by his designer swimming pool and waits to be arrested. Considering how well things worked out for Los Angeles police officers, Edmond O'Brien's Barney Nolan seems especially foolish. If Barney had stuck it out for a couple of years, the new deal for the L.A.P.D. would have been much better than a measly 25 grand. By 1958 he'd have his twenty years in. After a retirement beer bash he'd be out on the road pulling a shiny new boat to the Colorado River, like all the other hardworking cops and firemen enjoying their generous pensions. Policemen also had little trouble getting house loans. The joke was that an L.A.P.D. cop might go bad, but none of them could be bribed. O'Brien directed one more feature, took more TV work and settled into character parts for Jack Webb, Frank Tashlin, John Ford, John Frankenheimer and finally Sam Peckinpah in The Wild Bunch, where he was almost unrecognizable. Howard W. Koch slowed down as a director but became a busy producer, working with Frank Sinatra for several years. He eventually co-produced Airplane! The Kl Studio Classics Blu-ray of Shield for Murder is a good-looking B&W scan, framed at a confirmed-as-correct 1:75 aspect ratio. The picture is sharp and detailed, and the sound is in fine shape. The package art duplicates the film's original no-class sell: "Dame-Hungry Killer-Cop Runs Berserk! The first scene also contains one of the more frequently noticed camera flubs in film noir -- a really big boom shadow on a nighttime alley wall. Kino's presentation comes with trailers for this movie, Hidden Fear and He Ran All the Way. On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Shield for Murder Blu-ray rates: Movie: Good Video: Very Good Sound: Excellent Supplements: Trailers for Shield for Murder, Hidden Fear, He Ran All the Way Deaf and Hearing Impaired Friendly? N0; Subtitles: None Packaging: Keep case Reviewed: June 7, 2016 (5115murd)

Visit DVD Savant's Main Column Page Glenn Erickson answers most reader mail: dvdsavant@mindspring.com

Text © Copyright 2016 Glenn Erickson...

By Doug Oswald

Randolph Scott plays a bounty hunter returning a former Indian captive in “Comanche Station,” a 1960 Columbia release directed by Bud Boetticher and written by western regular Burt Kennedy.

Jefferson Cody (Scott) trades rifles and other items with a group of Comanche Indians in exchange for a captive settler, Nancy Lowe (Nancy Gates). Her husband has offered a large reward for her return. After the exchange they’re met by outlaw Ben Lane (Claude Akins) and his sidekicks Frank (Skip Homeier) and Dobie (Richard Rust) who help Cody during an Indian attack at Comanche Station. Lane and Cody are old enemies and he and his men have been searching for Nancy. Lane wants a piece of the $5,000 reward in return for helping protect Nancy on the journey to her husband. Cody reluctantly agrees and forms an uneasy alliance due to the Indian threat.

Cody befriends Dobie, who wants...

Ahead of Scream Factory’s February 23rd home media release of The Curse and Curse II: The Bite double feature, we’ve been provided with three Blu-ray copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.

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Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of The Curse and Curse II: The Bite double feature.

How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “The Curse / Curse II: The Bite Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on February 26th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.

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“The Curse

Life on the family dairy farm is difficult for young Zach Hayes (Wil Wheaton, Stand by Me): hard work, long hours and the normal family squabbles.

Take a double shot of '80s horror with The Curse and Curse II: The Bite on Blu-ray from Scream Factory on February 23rd. Below, we have a Blu-ray clip and official trailer for The Curse as well as a Blu-ray clip from Curse II: The Bite.

Press Release: On February 23rd, get ready for a double dose of ‘80s horror with the release of The Curse and Curse II from Scream Factory! Available on Blu-ray for the first time, fans can pre-order their copies of this double feature by visiting ShoutFactory.com.

The Curse

Life on the family dairy farm is difficult for young Zach Hayes (Wil Wheaton, Stand by Me): hard work, long hours and the normal family squabbles. But after an ice-blue meteor plunges through the midnight sky and lands on their property, it gets worse. Zach and the local doctor discover that something inside the...

Last November, Scream Factory announced that The Curse and Curse II: The Bite would be released as a double feature on Blu-ray on February 23rd. Now in 2016, the Blu-ray is available to pre-order on Shout Factory's website.

Press Release: On February 23rd, get ready for a double dose of ‘80s horror with the release of The Curse and Curse II from Scream Factory! Available on Blu-ray for the first time, fans can pre-order their copies of this double feature by visiting ShoutFactory.com.

The Curse

Life on the family dairy farm is difficult for young Zach Hayes (Wil Wheaton, Stand by Me): hard work, long hours and the normal family squabbles. But after an ice-blue meteor plunges through the midnight sky and lands on their property, it gets worse. Zach and the local doctor discover that something inside the meteor is infecting the local water on their farm. Fruits,...

Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon (1947-1988) was one of the most celebrated adventure comic strips of the 1950s. The blond, square-jawed hero was on the cutting edge of action as he took to the skies and had adventures around the world. Caniff populated the strip with memorable supporting characters and adversaries so it was a rich reading experience.

The strip was so popular that when Captain Action was introduced in 1966, Canyon was one of the first heroes he could turn into. Somewhat earlier, Canyon also served as inspiration for an NBC prime time series that, sadly, bore little resemblance to the strip (a common problem back then).

In 2008, John R. Ellis brought us this forgotten gem with The Complete Steve Canyon on TV Volume 1 and followed up a year later with Volume 2. The silence until late last year when the anticipated Volume 3 finally arrived, completing the run. Thankfully it came...

Germany's Explosive Media company has a serious itch for American westerns, and they have a trio of new releases. One is a minor Hollywood classic with major graces, from the late 1950s. A second sees an American producer based in England filming in Italy with a rising international star, and for the third an established American star goes European  to stay in the game. The best thing for Yankee buyers? The discs are Region-free.

Gunman's Walk, Land Raiders, A Man Called Sledge Three Westerns from Explosive Media Blu-ray Separate Releases 1958-1970 / Color Starring Van Heflin, Tab Hunter; George Maharis, Telly Savalas; James Garner

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

The majority of American studios now choose not to market their libraries for digital disc, and license them out instead. Collectors unwilling to settle for whatever's on Netflix or concerned about the permanence of Cloud Cinema, find themselves increasingly tempted by discs from Europe,...

Although it's not the New Year yet, Scream Factory's already gearing up for 2016 by announcing two double feature Blu-ray releases for February 23rd: The Curse / Curse II: The Bite and Millennium / R.O.T.O.R.

From Scream Factory: "More retro double features are planned for blu-ray release in the beginning of the new year! Read on for all the details:

The Curse & The Curse II

- The Curse (1987) Young Zach Hayes' (Wil Wheaton, Stand by Me) life on the family dairy farm is what anyone would expect. Hard work, long hours and the normal family squabbles. When an ice-blue meteor plunges through the midnight sky, Zach sees in hand on their property. Zach and the local doctor discover that something inside the meteor is infecting the local water on their farm. Fruits, which looked perfect on the outside are teeming with worms… and Zach's family is beginning to change…...

First-time director Richard Wilson's B&W '50s western is different. Robert Mitchum is on-task as a town tamer with believable problems, both in exterminating gunslingers Claude Akins and Leo Gordon, and with making peace with his estranged wife, Jan Sterling. That's not to mention Mitchum's attraction for pacifist Karen Sharpe, and ditzy showgirl Barbara Lawrence. And don't forget an incredibly young Angie Dickinson. Man with the Gun Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1955 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 83 min. / Deadly Peacemaker / Street Date September 25, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Robert Mitchum, Jan Sterling, Karen Sharpe, Henry Hull, Emile Meyer, John Lupton, Barbara Lawrence, Ted de Corsia, Leo Gordon, James Westerfield, Jay Adler, Claude Akins, Joe Barry, Norma Calderón, Angie Dickinson, Mara McAfee, Maidie Norman, Robert Osterloh, Maudie Prickett, Stafford Repp. Cinematography Lee Garmes Film Editor Gene Milford Original Music Alex North Written by N.B. Stone Jr., Richard Wilson Produced by Samuel Goldwyn Jr....

Throughout the vast history of cinema the profession of law enforcement has been portrayed heavily and made its mark on the big screen in both dramatic and comical fodder. Whether it be straight up cops and robbers or crooked officers on the take in gangster flicks or ant-hero gun-slinging loners trying to buck the system the presence of crime-busting cads never fail to add compelling, if not at times over-exaggerated, insight into the world of law-enforcing personalities.

The one element of the law-enforcing community that seems somewhat limited but still registers mightily in some cinematic arenas is the concept of the sheriff. Sheriffs do cast a prominent shadow in all sorts of fields in the movies: westerns, medieval times, contemporary country car-chasing farces and even some urban melodramas.

In Arresting Developments: Top Ten Sheriffs in the Movies we will take a look at some of the notable on-screen sheriffs in...

Each year, the Library of Congress selects 25 films to be named to the National Film Registry, a proclamation of commitment to preserving the chosen pictures for all time. They can be big studio pictures or experimental short films, goofball comedies or poetic meditations on life. The National Film Registery "showcases the extraordinary diversity of America’s film heritage and the disparate strands making it so vibrant" and by preserving the films, the Library of Congress hopes to "a crucial element of American creativity, culture and history.” This year’s selections span the period 1913 to 2004 and include a number of films you’re familiar with. Unless you’ve never heard of "Saving Private Ryan," "The Big Lebowski," “Rosemary’s Baby” or "Ferris Bueller's Day Off." Highlights from the list include the aforementioned film, Arthur Penn’s Western "Little Big Man," John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, “Luxo Jr.," 1953’s “House of Wax,...

Spanning the years 1913-2004, the 25 films to be added to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry for 2014 include Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan, Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, Arthur Penn’s Little Big Man, John Hughes’ Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski. The annual selection helps to ensure that the movies will be preserved for all time. This year’s list brings the number of films in the registry to 650.

Also on the list are John Lasseter’s 1986 animated film, Luxo Jr; the original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder; and Howard Hawks’ classic 1959 Western Rio Bravo. Documentaries and silent films also make up part of the selection which represents titles that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant; they must also each be at least 10 years old. Check out the rundown of all 25 movies below:

2014 National Film Registry...

‘Starry Eyes’: The feel disturbed movie of the year

This film is at its very core a success story. A very demented, gory, horrifying and darkly comical success story – one with tinges of satanic cult horror wrapped in psychological terror. The plot follows a young aspiring actress, Sarah, as she is called back to audition for a horror film that is being produced by a mysterious production company that pushes her to her limits – a dark exchange for fame and fortune… click here to read the article.

‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part I’ is all prologue

In a previous review of the second instalment of The Hunger Games series for this website, I expressed some dismay that Catching Fire didn’t really have a conclusion to speak of, with its cliffhanger ending reminding me less of The Empire Strikes Back and more of The Matrix Reloaded orPirates of...

Darkroom

Showcase Inventory

Created by Peter S. Fischer

Produced by Universal TV

Aired on ABC for 1 season (7 episodes; 16 segments) from November 27, 1981 – January 15, 1982

Cast

James Coburn as the Host

Show Premise

Darkroom was a thriller anthology series, much in the vein of Night Gallery, where each story had an image to present before it began. The series was hosted by James Coburn, who introduced each story segment as a photographer in his darkroom, developing photographs and tales. The innovative aspect of this particular anthology series was that the story segments had free range to be as long or as short as the story needed to be, as long as the segments fit within the hour duration. Most episodes contained two stories, but at times there were three.

The tone of the stories presented on the series were mostly frightful tales, with grim twist endings that were enhanced with dark humor. The...

I got a real treat for ya my ghouls: more of what you love… namely, yours cruelly! Ya see, creeps, this here bit o’ wretched writing debuts a brand new format from the ol’ Ouija Board Kid, wherein I annoy—err—entertain you with even more revoltin’ reviews, insane interviews, and other assorted ass-foolery! I present to you the Giant-Sized Man-Thing Treasury Edition Super Special debut of The Outre Eye Of Daniel Xiii!

This week I turn my unblinking third eye upon the following fearsome flicks: Beneath, The Human Race, The Twilight Zone Essential Episodes, and Septic Man!

Release Date: Available Now on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Prime, Xbox, Time Warner, Comcast and Direct TV Written By: Patrick Doody, Chris Valenziano Directed By: Ben Ketai Starring: Jeff Fahey, Kelly Noonan, Brent Briscoe

Can You Get A Grip On The Thrills Of Beneath’S Long, Dark Shaft?

Caves and mines: not...

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ trailer: New trailer for 2014 ‘Planet of the Apes’ film shows humans are the most dangerous apes of them all (image: Caesar in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’) The new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer is out. Caesar and his fellow genetically modified apes enjoy a peaceful existence until created-in-God’s-image apes — that’s self-delusional humans — discover the Gmo apes’ hiding place in a lush forest. Much like gays were blamed for the AIDS virus a few decades ago, the virtuous and righteous humans (Gary Oldman among them) blame the Gmo apes for a virus that all but wiped out humankind. Enter the military, ever eager to save the world for peace and happiness by way of some heavy-duty weaponry. Needless to say, I’m ardently rooting for Caesar (Andy Serkis) and his fellow Gmo apes. Check out the...

‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ trailer: 2014 ‘Apes’ movie pits Gmo apes against Gmo-eating apes (photo: Simmering Caesar means business in ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ teaser trailer) The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer — or rather, teaser trailer — has been unleashed. Caesar and his fellow genetically modified apes find themselves threatened by a bunch of genetically modified food-eating apes (i.e., humans) who survived the pandemic of the previous decade. Whereas throughout their existence humans used to do battle with one another because of their different nationalities, ethnicities, soccer teams, and/or favorite god(s), they’ve now banded together to face off against the hairier apes. Check out the Dawn of the Planet of the Apes below. "I want you to know, it’s not just about power," a disembodied voice explains in the trailer. "It’s about giving us the hope to rebuild,...

Paul Walker dead at 40: ‘Fast and Furious’ actor dies in fiery car crash Paul Walker, best known for his role as the former cop Brian O’Conner in the Fast and Furious movie franchise, died today, November 30, 2013, in a fiery car crash in Valencia, a community in the city of Santa Clarita, located in the northern outskirts of Los Angeles County. Early reports indicated that two (unidentified) people had died after a red Porsche crashed into both a tree and a light pole, bursting into flames, in Rye Canyon Business Park. According to police, speed was a likely factor in the crash. Paul Walker was 40. (Photo: Paul Walker.) Walker was a passenger in the car of Roger Rodas, CEO of Always Evolving Performance Motors, described as "a performance shop for high end vehicles," and one of two Valencia-based companies owned by Walker. (As per Santa Clarita’s Khts, the...

Jeanne Crain: Lighthearted movies vs. real life tragedies (photo: Madeleine Carroll and Jeanne Crain in ‘The Fan’) (See also: "Jeanne Crain: From ‘Pinky’ Inanity to ‘Margie’ Magic.") Unlike her characters in Margie, Home in Indiana, State Fair, Centennial Summer, The Fan, and Cheaper by the Dozen (and its sequel, Belles on Their Toes), or even in the more complex A Letter to Three Wives and People Will Talk, Jeanne Crain didn’t find a romantic Happy Ending in real life. In the mid-’50s, Crain accused her husband, former minor actor Paul Brooks aka Paul Brinkman, of infidelity, of living off her earnings, and of brutally beating her. The couple reportedly were never divorced because of their Catholic faith. (And at least in the ’60s, unlike the humanistic, progressive-thinking Margie, Crain was a “conservative” Republican who supported Richard Nixon.) In the early ’90s, she lost two of her...