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How does Hollywood sell a gritty, realistic western? With a sexy shot of star Tina Louise! Viewers will be surprised: this fine western is a showcase for the elemental ruthlessness we associate with director André de Toth — its convincing snowbound setting is so intense, we can almost feel the cold. Slick writer Philip Yordan sets up an impossible conflict as a blizzard moves in on a tiny town… Robert Ryan must sort out his feelings for the town beauty Tina Louise, as he negotiates with the he-boss of the killer crooks, Burl Ives. It looks as if Ryan has no choice but to volunteer for a suicide journey — but nature has the last word.

Day of the Outlaw

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1959 / B&w / 1:85 widescreen / 92 min. / Street Date August 27, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Robert Ryan, Burl Ives, Tina Louise, Alan Marshal, Venetia Stevenson, David Nelson, Nehemiah Persoff, Jack Lambert,...

Daniel Pilon died on June 26 after a battle with cancer. He was 77.

Pilon, who had a 50-year career as an actor that reached its peak during the 1970s and 1980s, was born on November 13, 1940, in Montreal.

His first movie role was in Gilles Carle's 1968 drama Le Viol d’une Jeune Fille Douce (The Rape of a Sweet Girl), where Pilon and his elder brother, Donald Pilon, played two of the heroine's three brothers.

That was followed by an appearance in the 1969 British war film, Play Dirty, where Pilon played the role of Capt. Allwood alongside Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport.

During the 1984-1954 season, Pilon guest-starred on primetime soap opera Dallas as Renaldo "Naldo" Marchetta, the villainous tycoon and ex-husband of Jenna Wade.

In daytime soaps, Pilon's most popular role was Max Dubujak on Ryan's Hope (1984-1988). He went on to play Alan Spaulding on Guiding Light (1989-1990) and...

In a war film, what’s the difference between nasty exploitation and just plain honest reportage? André De Toth made tough-minded action films with the best of them, and this nail-biting commando mission with Michael Caine and Nigel Davenport is simply superb, one of those great action pictures that’s not widely screened. To its credit it’s not ‘feel good’ enough to be suitable for Memorial Day TV marathons.

Play Dirty

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 118 min. / Street Date October 17, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Michael Caine, Nigel Davenport, Nigel Green, Harry Andrews.

Cinematography: Edward Scaife

Film Editor: Jack Slade

Art Direction: Tom Morahan, Maurice Pelling

Original Music: Michel Legrand

Written by Lotte Colin, Melvyn Bragg, from a story by George Marton

Produced by Harry Saltzman

Directed by André De Toth

Some movies that were ignored when new now seem far more important, perhaps due to the tenor of times.

Issue #37 (January 2017)

Steven J. Rubin's 40th anniversary tribute to "Rocky"; extensive coverage On the making of this landmark film with exclusive comments from key members of the cast and crew. 

Christopher Weedman celebrates the career of British actress Anne Heywood with insights from the lady herself.

Diane Rodgers' homage to the Monkees' only feature film, "Head"- with a screenplay by Jack Nicholson!

Martin Gainsford diagnoses the problems of bringing Doc Savage to the big screen in the ill-fated 1970s production.

Nick Anez extols the virtues of Sidney Lumet's brilliant but little-scene "The Offence" with a powerhouse performance by Sean Connery.

Tim Greaves examines the creepy-but-neglected chiller "The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane" starring young Jodie Foster.

Did Sergio Leone "ghost direct" the cult Italian Western "My Name is Nobody"? Chris Button examines the case for and against this theory.

Raymond Benson works overtime, providing us with...

This is a Great film noir. A straying husband's 'innocent' dalliance wrecks lives and puts his marriage in jeopardy. Been there, done that?   Dick Powell and Lizabeth Scott are menaced by Raymond Burr, while wife Jane Wyatt is kept in the dark. Andre de Toth's direction puts everyone through the wringer, with a very adult look at the realities of the American marriage contract, circa 1948. Pitfall Blu-ray Kino Lorber Studio Classics 1948 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 86 min. / Street Date November 17, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Dick Powell, Lizabeth Scott, Jane Wyatt, Raymond Burr, John Litel, Byron Barr, Jimmy Hunt. Cinematography Harry Wild Art Direction Arthur Lonergan Film Editor Walter Thompson Written by Karl Kamb from the novel by Jay Dratler Produced by Samuel Bischoff Directed by André De Toth

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Is 'domestic noir' even a category? I think so. Some of the creepiest late- '40s noir pictures take intrigue,...

By Doug Oswald

Released by Universal in 1967, “Tobruk” opens with the feel of a 1960s spy thriller. Rock Hudson is Major Donald Craig, a Canadian prisoner of war on board a German transport ship anchored somewhere off the North Africa coast in late 1942. A group of frogmen surface near the ship and sneak on board with silencers fixed to their guns in order to capture Craig. The frogmen are led by Captain Bergman (George Peppard) who reveal themselves to be part of a team of German commandos.

The commandos take Craig to a German airfield and fly him to a desert landing strip. They’re unexpectedly greeted by a group of British soldiers led by Colonel Harker (Nigel Green). It’s revealed that Bergman is the leader of a German-Jewish commando unit attached to a group of British commandos operating in North Africa. They secured the rescue of Craig due...

Rushes collects news, articles, images, videos and more for a weekly roundup of essential items from the world of film.Above: Rainer Werner Fassbinder would have turned 70 this week. Can you imagine how many films unfilmed he would have made between 1982, when he died, and now? At his Movie Poster of the Day Tumblr, Adrian Curry has found a fantastic poster for Fassbinder's 1981 film, Lola.fxguide has a terrific exploration of the computer effects used in George Miller's Mad Max: Fury Road.Above: Anna Karina and Jean-Luc Godard. From our Tumblr.New York's essential BAMcinamFest, running June 17 - 28, has announced its 2015 lineup, which features such Notebook favorites as Queen of Earth, Stinking Heaven, and Counting, as well as several premieres including a new short film by our friend and contributor C. Mason Wells.Film Comment's Nicholas Rapold has interviewed with Apichatpong Weerasethakul about Cemetery of Splendour, the best film in Cannes this year.

Little Milton (born Milton James Campbell on September 7, 1934 in Inverness, Mississippi; his father was Big Milton) came up singing the blues and by the '70s had moved into hardcore soul. He was a master of both styles.

In 1953 Ike Turner recruited Milton for the legendary Sun Records. His Sun singles didn't achieve success, and he spent subsequent years hopping from label to label until he started a label, Bobbin, with a St. Louis DJ. When they had a falling out, Little Milton moved to the Chess subsidiary Checker (which had been distributing Bobbin), even bringing at least one track recorded for Bobbin. Soon Milton branched out from performing to producing and managing other performers, and also gained his first hit (on the R&B chart) in 1962, "Mean to Me."

This period of Little Milton's career is well covered on the 16-song Chess CD Greatest Hits in the label's 50th Anniversary Collection series.

Drew Goddard is closing a deal to direct “Sinister Six,” the “Spider-Man” spin-off that he is writing for Sony Pictures. Sony hired the co-writer and director of “The Cabin in the Woods” to write a script about the villains in Spidey's world last December when the studio announced the project. At the same time, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and Ed Solomon were named as the writing team on another “Spider-Man” spin-off, “Venom,” which Kurtzman will direct. See video: ‘Spider-Man’ Stars Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx Play Dirty Game of ‘Never Have I Ever’ With Ellen Goddard was at that time seen as having a.

We're down to the wire on The Walking Dead, and you know what that means: War is coming! The prison group, led by Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), is pinned between a showdown with the Governor (David Morrissey) and zombies everywhere else. Something's gotta give. Tonight marked the season's penultimate episode and, just like Lincoln promised in our juicy interview last week, there was death. And it was not minor. Let's get to this week's nail-biter of a recap! What We Learned Rick Has Decided to Play Dirty. Last episode saw Rick resigned to a war, unwilling to trade Michonne (Danai Gurira) for peace. But tonight, the strategy appears to have changed. Rick recruits Daryl (Norman...

Trailer for Parker, starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez in the Taylor Hackford film "To Get Away Clean, You Have To Play Dirty" Sounds like stain remover commercial, doesn't it? The Film District action crime thriller based on the series of bestselling novels by Donald E. Westlake, opens in theaters on January 25th, 2013, away from big holiday season openers. In the film, Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But on his latest heist, his crew double crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead.

Trailer for Parker, starring Jason Statham and Jennifer Lopez in the Taylor Hackford film "To Get Away Clean, You Have To Play Dirty" Sounds like stain remover commercial, doesn't it? The Film District action crime thriller based on the series of bestselling novels by Donald E. Westlake, opens in theaters on January 25th, 2013, away from big holiday season openers. In the film, Parker (Jason Statham) is a professional thief who lives by a personal code of ethics: Don’t steal from people who can’t afford it and don’t hurt people who don’t deserve it. But on his latest heist, his crew double crosses him, steals his stash, and leaves him for dead.

Here's the thing ... when you meet someone in your life that allows you to come out of your shell to really start living, hold on to them and never let them go. Unless of course they turn out to be a nefarious psychopath. That kind of shit never works out.

Deadline is reporting that Nu Image/Millennium has acquired Playing Dirty, a spec script written by Richard Blaney and Gregory Small. Mandalay Pictures’ Cathy Schulman and Adam Stone will produce, and they closed the deal with Millennium’s Mark Gill.

In Playing Dirty, a young law student learns to let loose and explore his adventurous side after meeting a sexy and mysterious stranger. After some exhilarating nights of debauchery, car chases and threesomes, things go awry when the student finds himself the target of her psychotic plans.

More as it comes.

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London, Feb 5: Sir Michael Caine, who is 78 years old, has revealed his secrets staying youthful, which include his grandchildren, his career and his beautiful wife.

The 'Play Dirty' star also said that never looking at his own reflection in the mirror makes him feel young.

"I don't feel very old, but I never look in a mirror so I always think I'm about 38," the Mirror quoted him as saying.

Caine, who has been married for 40 years, first saw the Miss World finalist in a TV ad for Maxwell House coffee. He was a bit of a playboy at the time with lots of girlfriends, but was instantly smitten.

"Oh we're.

Play Dirty (1969) is a nakedly opportunistic cash-in on Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967), produced by James Bond bankroller Harry Saltzman, but somewhere something went wrong and some actual filmmaking quality and wit and energy got into the mix. When star Michael Caine signed up for the ride, he thought he was getting René Clement as director, and was disappointed to be saddled with Hungarian cyclops André de Toth. Hard to see why, except that de Toth was tough to work with, and I guess by 1969 his name carried far less cache than the fashionable Clement. De Toth had just produced The Billion Dollar Brain, Saltzman's third Harry Palmer film with Caine, directed in inimitable style by Ken Russell. Here, more or less forced back into the director's chair, he adopts a notably unsentimental style, aided by screenwriters Melvyn Bragg (The Music Lovers) and an uncredited John McGrath (Bragg's collaborator...

So last year I joined Twitter and desperately struggled to figure out a good use for it. Assuming most people following my account might come from the Film Junk podcast, I thought it might be an idea platform to keep track of what films I've been watching and what ratings I give them. My first post was March 9th, 2009 with David Cronenberg's The Brood (3.5/4) and since then I've managed to check out a good number of great films over the last year. (Jacques Tati's Play Time and Wim Wender's Paris, Texas are definitely two stand outs on this list.) Many of these are first time viewings, but a there are also a lot of movies I just felt the urge to revisit. So what do you think? Any favourites? Have a look for yourself after the jump! The Brood, (Cronenberg, 1979) 3.5/4 Operation Crossbow (Anderson, 1965) 3.5/4 Watchmen, (Snyder, 2009) 3/4 Pontypool, (McDonald, 2008) 4/4 Pinocchio,...

Last night, Universal held a special Blu-ray and DVD launch party for Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds at New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. The festivities included cast and crew appearances, as well as a screening of the film. But of all the happenings of the night, perhaps the most interesting was before the screening, when Tarantino introduced the cast in attendance and showed several 35mm trailers from his own famous personal collection of films. He explained that these were some of the films that influenced him to make Inglourious Basterds. And since Basterds is one of the favorites films of 2009 around here, I thought I would put together the list of 9 trailers that were shown last night, along with an IMDb link, plot synopsis and trailer (or clip) for each film. It goes without saying that if you loved Inglourious Basterds, these too should be in your Netflix queue: The Dirty Dozen A Major with an...

The final five teams crossed the Baltic Sea to explore Estonia on Sunday's The Amazing Race. Things got heated -- and not just on the sauna bus -- as brothers Dan and Sam engaged the Harlem Globetrotters in a foot race to the pit stop. Here are a few dos and don'ts as the Race's end draws near. --Carrie Bell 1. Get a taxi at any cost. All-Americans Meghan and Cheyne cut off a cabbie in the middle of the road to get directions to the ferry. Mr. America Brian, who hung out the window and waved his arms, said he was "lassoing taxis." And when the two teams spotted a cab simultaneously, Mr. America let the other team take it but asked their driver to call for another cab. As their cabbie was going to make the call, the All-Americans told him to forget it. "We don't care about them,...

Who knew that the Nazis -- one of the most brutal regimes in the history of brutal regimes -- would be responsible for such fun, mind-blowingly awesome entertainment? The second I see a dude in a grey German uniform and an eye patch enter the frame, I’m like ‘Whoa. That Nazi is going to provide me a great amount of entertainment this evening’. So, with Inglorious Bastards having recently premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, I figured I'd put together a list of some awesome WW2 films as a resource for anyone wanting to beef up their WW2 film knowledge before checking out Tarantino's self-proclaimed 'masterpiece'. It's worth noting that I focused on older films -- pre-1980 for the most part -- and only the stories featuring Nazi's. It was tough to cut this down to 15 films, but I'm sure you all will be able to come up with...