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John Wayne was nominated for an Oscar three times across his 50-year career, but he only walked home with one. Wayne starred in around 80 Westerns, so his defining image in pop culture is as a macho, no-nonsense cowboy. This gives a limited view of his range because while he often played variations on the same character, he delivered some layered performances too. The Searchers is Wayne's best and darkest work, while he's genuinely charming in the romantic drama The Quiet Man. Still, Wayne rarely got much respect from the Academy Awards.

Many of the John Wayne/John Ford movie collaborations received great reviews, but somehow, none of the star's Oscar nods came from those films. Wayne also picked up several awards on behalf of other performers, including Gary Cooper for High Noon; this is a little bizarre in hindsight, as Wayne deeply hated High Noon and its moral message. The...

While Ronald Reagan will always be known as the 40th President of the United States, before entering politics, he had a successful career as a Hollywood star. With acclaimed roles in dramas, war movies, and Westerns, Reagans impressive entertainment career showcased him as a heroic leading man and likely influenced the American public's desire for him to then act as the countrys commander-in-chief. While Reagan has continued to remain a prominent figure on the big screen, such as through Dennis Quiads performance in the 2024 biopic exploring his presidency, looking back on his movies, several great roles stand out.

Although many actors have played Reagan in movies and TV shows, the former president himself has also portrayed some truly iconic characters. Reagan's Hollywood career was categorized by variety as he portrayed everything from real-life football legend George Gipp in Knute Rockne, All American to the chimpanzee teaching psychologist Peter Boyd in Bedtime for Bonzo.

Barbra Fuller, who starred as the daughter Claudia on the long-running radio soap opera One Man’s Family, all while appearing in films for Republic Pictures and such TV shows as Adventures of Superman, has died. She was 102.

Fuller, who lived in the Los Angeles area, died Wednesday, her godson J.P. Sloane announced.

On the San Francisco-set One Man’s Family, created by Carlton E. Morse, Fuller played one of the Barbour family’s five kids from 1945 until the NBC Radio drama completed its 27-year run in 1959. Her character, a twin with kids of her own, was gone from the program for a couple of years before she came aboard.

“It was a fun part. Claudia was a good girl with interesting qualities,” she said in Michael G. Fitzgerald and Boyd Magers’ 2006 book, Ladies of the Western.

In 1949, Fuller signed with Republic and was under contract with the B-picture studio for a year,...

Invaders from Mars may have appeared at first glance to be just another cheesy, cheap sci-fi B-movie made during the 1950s. It was, after all, a time when the genre was booming and both major studios and independent film producers started churning out shockers about alien invasions and giant insects at an alarming rate. But thanks to a dedicated cult following and some dogged technical detective work, a brand new 4K Ultra HD restoration of 1953’s Invaders from Mars has finally surfaced to re-introduce us to a surreal classic that had a profound effect on a generation of filmmakers who later gave us little films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Gremlins, and Star Wars, among many others.

“It really turned my world around,” says Steven Spielberg in the booklet accompanying the new 4K Blu-ray release of the movie from Ignite Films. “It certainly touched a nerve in all...

Head back and revisit one of sci-fi's most iconic movies with the Invaders From Mars 4K Ultra-hd restoration. William Cameron Menzies' cult classic '50s film sees a young boy named David work with an astronomer and health-care physician to put a stop to a local alien invasion that's led to his mom and dad being brainwashed, along with many other townspeople.

Jimmy Hunt led the cast of Invaders From Mars as David alongside Arthur Franz, Helena Carter, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke, Morris Ankrum, Walter Sande, Max Wagner, and Milburn Stone. While already a classic in its own right, the Invaders From Mars 4K restoration can go a long way to introducing various new audiences to the sci-fi thriller.

Related: 10 Best Classic Sci-Fi Movies, According To Reddit

In honor of the film's 4K Ultra-hd restoration, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with film preservationist Scott MacQueen to discuss Invaders From Mars, the...

Nearly 70 years after it first came to theaters, Invaders From Mars is finally getting a glorious 4K Ultra-hd restoration. The sci-fi cult classic revolved around a young boy named David who begins to suspect his town is under attack from beings from outer space after witnessing a flying saucer and his family begins exhibiting odd personalities.

Jimmy Hunt led the cast of Invaders From Mars as David alongside Arthur Franz, Helena Carter, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke, Morris Ankrum, Walter Sande, Max Wagner, and Milburn Stone. Even as the genre has changed over the years, William Cameron Menzies' sci-fi film remains one of the more influential of the genre, having inspired everything from Don Coscarelli's Phantasm to Brad Bird's The Iron Giant, and still holds up as a chilling effort seven decades later.

Related: 10 Classic 50s Sci-Fi Movies That Still Appeal To A Modern Audience

In honor of the film's 4K Ultra-hd restoration,...

The disc of the year has finally arrived and it’s 1000 worth the wait. William Cameron Menzies’ flight into schoolboy paranoia now really looks like it ought to hang in the Louvre; the entire show is inspired Modern Art. When Martians conduct a brain-snatching takeover of Middle America little David MacLean must save the day, with an assist from an astronomer buddy and a sexy city nurse. The review is mostly concerned with how the new Ignite release looks and sounds. The rejuvenation of this fantasy masterpiece will turn fans of the 1950s sci-fi boom back into delighted ‘Gee Whiz’ kids.

Invaders from Mars

Blu-ray

Ignite Films

1953 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 81 min. / Street Date September 27, 2022 that was the plan … delivery expected . . . ? / Available from Ignite Films / 55.00

Starring: Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Jimmy Hunt, Leif Erickson, Hillary Brooke, Morris Ankrum, Max Wagner, William Phipps, Milburn Stone, Janine Perreau, Barbara Billingsley, Peter Brocco, Richard Deacon,...

Sorry, this is not for a new disc. From 23 years ago, this was the first article that convinced me that there might be a real audience for my review page, then called DVD Savant. It’s about time that the illustrated essay was brought up to date and moved to CineSavant. It probes the ‘primitive sophistication’ and weird appeal of William Cameron Menzies’ most accomplished job of direction: the paranoid nightmare that haunted our childhood dreams. It’s slightly rewritten and has improved images. There’s so much to talk about: Near-experimental visuals! Strange editing choices! The idea for the essay is the same as ever, to inspire somebody to properly remaster the show . . . it’s not like we’re going to live forever.

A two-part examination of a Sci-fi classic that, at least

in Savant’s opinion, should be showing in the Louvre.

Alas and alack! As of 12.16.21, there...

As the psychotic delivery man whose hatred is reserved for women, Arthur Franz found the perfect vehicle for his flinty personality in this 1952 policier from director Edward Dmytryk. Produced by Stanley Kramer, the film is notable for cinematographer Burnett Guffey’s neo-realist take on the Bay Area locale. Franz must have been disappointed that this didn’t make him a star, but the loyal Dmytryk managed to find roles for him in many of his big budget assignments over the years.

The post The Sniper appeared first on Trailers From Hell.

The Wade Williams Collection yields another ’50s sci-fi notable, Monogram Pictures’ ambitious space travel movie filmed in glorious green-challenged Cinecolor. Cameron Mitchell and Arthur Franz sign up for a semi-suicidal space expedition, but instead of murderous Bat-Rat-Spider-Crabs, waiting for them on Mars is the glamorous, mini-skirted Marguerite Chapman. It’s core sci-fi fun from early in the Golden Era. The Film Detective adds a commentary, two new featurettes and an insert booklet; the film itself is lovingly restored to its original Cinecolor brilliance.

Flight to Mars

Blu-ray

The Film Detective

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 72 min. / Street Date July 20, 2021 / Available from The Film Detective / 24.95

Starring: Marguerite Chapman, Cameron Mitchell, Arthur Franz, Virginia Huston, John Litel, Morris Ankrum, Richard Gaines, Lucille Barkley, Robert Barrat, Russ Conway, Edward Earle, Everett Glass.

Cinematography: Harry Neumann

Production Designer: Ted Haworth

Film Editor, Associate Producer: Richard Heermance

Special Effects: Jack Cosgrove, Irving Block, Jack Rabin

Original Music:...

Nope, it’s not on disc but it’s getting written up here because so few people know it and it’s been difficult to see my entire adult life. The fourth Gardner/Levy United Artists horror/sci-fi picture of ’57-’58 is another trip into a jungle’s Heart of Darkness, where awaits a deadly satellite fallen from orbit. Have we missed something Spectacular? Fantastic? Incredible? This seventy minutes of cheap program filler is nobody’s favorite, but CineSavant embraces Sci-Fi orphans of every description. Stars Arthur Franz and Kathleen Crowley can’t have been pleased by the result.

The Flame Barrier

Blu-ray

Savant Revival Screening Review

1958 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 71 min. / Not On Home Video

Starring: Arthur Franz, Kathleen Crowley, Robert Brown, Vincent Padula, Rodd Redwing, Kaz Oran, Pilar Del Rey.

Cinematography: Jack MacKenzie

Film Editor: Jerry Young

Makeup: Dick Smith

Original Music: Gerald Fried

Written by Pat Fielder,...

It’s lurid, it’s soapy, it’s forbidden: where does the line form? Joseph E. Levine made hay from Harold Robbins’ best seller, with prose that The New York Times said belonged more properly “on the walls of a public lavatory.” So why is the picture so much fun? When the performances are good they’re very good, and when they’re bad they’re almost better. Plus there’s a who’s who game to be played: If George Peppard is Howard Hughes and Carroll Baker is Jean Harlow, who exactly is Robert Cummings? I think this is the first time on Blu for this title, and playback-wise it’s A-ok for Region A.

The Carpetbaggers

Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 9 (Australia)

1964 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 150 min. / Street Date August 26, 2020 / Available at [Imprint] 34.95

Starring: George Peppard, Alan Ladd, Robert Cummings, Martha Hyer, Elizabeth Ashley, Martin Balsam, Lew Ayres, Carroll Baker, Ralph Taeger, Archie Moore,...

The William Castle Classic Crime Double Feature Hollywood Story and New Orleans Uncensored is available on Blu-ray From Mill Creek. Ordering info can be found Here

While legendary Hollywood filmmaker, William Castle, is commonly referred to as The King of Gimmicks, his legacy extended into other film genres, including two crime dramas from the Film Noir era, Hollywood Story and New Orleans Uncensored. This thrilling double feature denotes the high-definition debut of both landmark films filled with danger, death and intrigue.

Hollywood Story (1951) stars Richard Conte as a stage producer with dreams of being in the movie business who decides to shoot a documentary about the mysterious death of a silent film director only to find himself in danger of suffering a similar fate. The film is loosely based on the real-life murder of film director William Desmond Taylor in 1922.

Stars Richard Conte, Julia Adams, Richard Egan, Henry Hull, and...

Gee whiz, sci-fi sure was simple in the early ‘50s, wasn’t it? Slap a little Red Scare subtext here, a damsel in distress there, scientists, the military, and of course aliens rounding out the films that beamed from every drive-in on a Saturday night. One of the earliest (and best) of the bunch is Invaders from Mars (1953), which sets itself apart by employing a unique viewpoint and having spectacular and surreal production design. Don’t write this off as a cheap time waster, you whippersnappers.

Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox near the end of April, this independent production received some favorable notices and made a swift return on its $290,000 budget, for good reason – seen through a child’s eyes, it captures that imagination and runs with it for 78 minutes, shoddy getups and all. Invaders from Mars is told with the fervor of an excited youth playing catch up with an exploding imagination.

Scream Factory is looking to give you plenty of reasons to scream for joy this summer with their latest announcements of upcoming Blu-ray releases, including the Hammer's Frankenstein Created Woman (featuring Peter Cushing), three Universal horror movies from the ’50s, and the chilling supernatural film The Entity (which will include a new interview with Barbara Hershey).

Frankenstein Created Woman Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "It’s the year of Hammer Films for us as you can already tell and we have yet another one planned for the Summer. Frankenstein Created Woman (starring legendary star Peter Cushing) is being prepped in Collector’s Edition Blu-ray release!

Here are the early details we have at present time:

• National street date for U.S. only (Region A) is June 11th.

• Release will come with a slipcover (guaranteed for three months after its original release date).

• The newly-commissioned artwork pictured comes to us from Mark Maddox...

1965: Four new daytime soap operas premiered: Morning

Star and Paradise Bay on NBC, along with The Nurses and

Never Too Young on ABC."The best prophet of the future is the past."

― Lord Byron

"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...

1962: Primetime serial The Nurses premiered on CBS. The was titled was changed to The Doctors and The Nurses a year later.

1965: Two new Ted Corday daytime soap operas, Morning Star and Paradise Bay, premiered on NBC. Both shows lasted less than a year, with the final episodes airing on July 1, 1966.

1965: The Nurses premiered on ABC. The show, set at Alden General Hospital, was a daytime continuation...

By John M. Whalen

It goes without saying that Kirk Douglas is a Hollywood icon. From his first role as Walter O’Neill in “The Strange Love of Martha Ivers,” (1946) to “Spartacus” (1960) and beyond that until his last, so far, appearance in a made for TV movie, he remains—even in retirement after a stroke and a helicopter crash— one of those larger than life movie stars, the kind they just don’t make any more. He had a look and a style. Those shiny white teeth could as easily smile charmingly at you or snarl like a barracuda. His bright blue eyes could be full of tenderness one minute, as in his love scenes in “Spartacus,” or fierce and mean as in “Gunfight at the Ok Corral.” He played complex characters that were always a mix of good and bad, but never evil.

Such a character is Johnny Hawks,...

Dana Andrews movies: Film noir actor excelled in both major and minor crime dramas. Dana Andrews movies: First-rate film noir actor excelled in both classics & minor fare One of the best-looking and most underrated actors of the studio era, Dana Andrews was a first-rate film noir/crime thriller star. Oftentimes dismissed as no more than a “dependable” or “reliable” leading man, in truth Andrews brought to life complex characters that never quite fit into the mold of Hollywood's standardized heroes – or rather, antiheroes. Unlike the cynical, tough-talking, and (albeit at times self-delusionally) self-confident characters played by the likes of Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and, however lazily, Robert Mitchum, Andrews created portrayals of tortured men at odds with their social standing, their sense of ethics, and even their romantic yearnings. Not infrequently, there was only a very fine line separating his (anti)heroes from most movie villains.

Joan Fontaine movies: ‘This Above All,’ ‘Letter from an Unknown Woman’ (photo: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine in ‘Suspicion’ publicity image) (See previous post: “Joan Fontaine Today.”) Also tonight on Turner Classic Movies, Joan Fontaine can be seen in today’s lone TCM premiere, the flag-waving 20th Century Fox release The Above All (1942), with Fontaine as an aristocratic (but socially conscious) English Rose named Prudence Cathaway (Fontaine was born to British parents in Japan) and Fox’s top male star, Tyrone Power, as her Awol romantic interest. This Above All was directed by Anatole Litvak, who would guide Olivia de Havilland in the major box-office hit The Snake Pit (1948), which earned her a Best Actress Oscar nod. In Max Ophüls’ darkly romantic Letter from an Unknown Woman (1948), Fontaine delivers not only what is probably the greatest performance of her career, but also one of the greatest movie performances ever. Letter from an Unknown Woman...

Humphrey Bogart movies: ‘The Maltese Falcon,’ ‘High Sierra’ (Image: Most famous Humphrey Bogart quote: ‘The stuff that dreams are made of’ from ‘The Maltese Falcon’) (See previous post: “Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall Movies.”) Besides 1948, 1941 was another great year for Humphrey Bogart — one also featuring a movie with the word “Sierra” in the title. Indeed, that was when Bogart became a major star thanks to Raoul Walsh’s High Sierra and John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon. In the former, Bogart plays an ex-con who falls in love with top-billed Ida Lupino — though both are outacted by ingénue-with-a-heart-of-tin Joan Leslie. In the latter, Bogart plays Dashiel Hammett’s private detective Sam Spade, trying to discover the fate of the titular object; along the way, he is outacted by just about every other cast member, from Mary Astor’s is-she-for-real dame-in-distress to Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nominee Sydney Greenstreet. John Huston...

From SneakPeekTV.Com,  take a look at the original 1953 science fiction feature "Invaders From Mars", directed by William Cameron Menzies, based on a story treatment by John Tucker Battle who was inspired by a dream recounted by his wife.

Produced independently by Edward L. Alperson Jr., the film stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter and Arthur Franz:

"...late one night, young 'David MacLean' (Hunt) is awakened by a thunderstorm. From his bedroom window he sees a large flying saucer descend and disappear into the sandpit area behind his home. After rushing to tell his parents, his scientist father (Leif Erickson) goes to investigate David's claim.

"When his father returns much later in the morning, David notices an unusual red puncture along the hairline on the back of his father's neck; his father is now behaving in a cold and hostile manner. David soon begins to realize something is...

The Cool Ones (1967). Directed by Gene Nelson. Written by Nelson, Joyce Geller, Robert Kaufman.

Nothing ages more quickly and more embarrassingly than a movie or TV show which had worked so hard to be cool in its time. You disagree? Feathered hair, big lapels. Oh, God – mullets! You gonna honestly tell me that stuff still works for you as anything but a laugh-getter?

Lead times for some movies are so long, some crazes burn out between the pitch meeting and opening weekend. Roller disco was dying (if not dead) by the time Roller Boogie (1979) and Xanudu (1980) hit theaters, and did anybody still care about The Village People when Can’t Stop the Music (1980) had movie-goers wishing they could?

The only thing even more embarrassing is a movie that’s lethally uncool even before the first frame of film runs through the camera, not because it’s late to the party,...

A Jack Arnold feature!

A late entry in the 1950s Universal International monster gallery, this is mostly composed of leftover ideas and props from the glory days. Still, there’s a level of studio professionalism that its indie competitors could never match. Perennially affordable sci-fi leading man Arthur Franz, infected with the blood of a prehistoric fish, turns into a Neanderthal who chases pretty coeds and comes to (natch) a bad end out on the backlot.

Click here to watch.

I think it was John Landis who once told us that every movie is better if there’s a guy in an ape suit. Let’s find out!

On Monday, September 26, join David DeCoteau for the trailer to Monster on the Campus.

A late entry in the 1950s Universal International monster gallery, this is mostly composed of leftover ideas and props from the glory days. Still, there’s a level of studio professionalism that its indie competitors could never match. Perennially affordable sci-fi leading man Arthur Franz, infected with the blood of a prehistoric fish, turns into a Neanderthal who chases pretty coeds and comes to (natch) a bad end out on the backlot.

On Wednesday, September 28, join Katt Shea for the trailer to Altered States.

William Hurt, in his screen debut, experiments with that nostalgic 80s pastime, sensory deprivation, which culminates in biological devolution. Writer Paddy Chayefsky, credited onscreen...

I saw quite a bit this week, but some of it I have already detailed such as my reviews for Trucker and Tormented. I also watched the Blu-ray for Love, Actually (a personal favorite and a review is forth-coming) as well as the following three films.

The second two (The Sniper and 5 Against the House) are both from the November 3 release from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Film Noir Collection Volume One. You can get more details on the complete set right here and I hope to discuss the other three films (The Big Heat, The Lineup and Murder by Contract) next Sunday or perhaps in a complete review.

As always, remember you can keep tabs on my personal Netflix queue right here. I now have 50 friends on the movie rental site and would love to have a few more if those of you out there with accounts are interested. Now,...

Franc. Reyes has been hired to write and direct the remake of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt for Regency Enterprises. The original film was one of the last English-language films from writer-director Fritz Lang. It starred Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz, Philip Bourneuf and Ed Binns. The story centers on a newsman who intentionally frames himself for a murder he didn't commit in order to point out the dangers of circumstantial evidence and to expose an overzealous district attorney who has manipulated evidence in the past to gain convictions. Everything is going as planned until his friend, the one person who can exonerate him, is killed.

Regency Enterprises -- which along with Fox 2000 produced this past weekend's top-grossing movie, Man on Fire -- has found the truth in David Collard's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Collard's spec script is a remake of the 1956 RKO film of the same name. The original Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was one of the last English-language films from writer-director Fritz Lang. It starred Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz, Philip Bourneuf and Ed Binns. The story centers on a newsman who intentionally frames himself for a murder he didn't commit to point out the dangers of circumstantial evidence and to expose an overzealous district attorney who has manipulated evidence in the past to gain convictions. Everything is going as planned until his friend, the one person who can exonerate him, is killed. The Collard script, developed internally at RKO, will be produced by Regency topper Arnon Milchan along with RKO's Ted Hartley. Nine Yards Entertainment's Aaron Ray, who repped the project and sold it to Regency's Sanford Panitch and Peter Cramer, will receive executive producer credit. Collard is repped by Endeavor.