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At 88-years-old, beloved character actor Mitchell Ryan has died. The film, television, and stage performer had a career that spanned over six decades, delivering iconic performances as Burke Devlin on the original run of "Dark Shadows," Thomas Gibson's father Edward Montgomery on "Dharma & Greg," the ranch hand Shorty Austin in "Monte Walsh," and the mega-villain Peter McAllister in "Lethal Weapon." Ryan died of congestive heart failure at his home in Los Angeles as reported by his stepdaughter Denise Freed. Additional survivors include his wife, Barbara, and grandchildren Ashley, Jacqueline, Olivia, Kaila, and Noah.

Ryan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in...

The post Mitchell Ryan, Lethal Weapon and Grosse Pointe Blank Actor, Dies at 88 appeared first on /Film.

‘Teach your children well’ they say, but Sondra Locke’s young girl in this show is the victim of parenting so bad it verges on criminal … John Lewis Carlino’s adult murder mystery has excellent imagery courtesy of director William A. Fraker and cameraman László Kovács. But the studio ‘made changes,’ removing explicit adult content and selling the show as horror even though it’s PG and has little to shock an audience. That leaves us with a carefully underplayed drama courtesy of Robert Shaw, Mary Ure, Sally Kellerman and Signe Hasso — and a twisted sex mystery that seems obvious from the get-go. The HD transfer restores Fraker’s elaborate imagery, making us wonder what his intended version might have been.

A Reflection of Fear

All-Region Blu-ray

Viavision [Imprint] 84

1972 / Color / 1:85 / 89 min. / Street Date October 27, 2021 / available from Amazon.au / 34.95

Starring: Robert Shaw, Sally Kellerman, Mary Ure, Sondra Locke, Signe Hasso,...

Growing up among his native Brooklyn’s brick-and-fire-escape facades in the 1930’s, production designer-to-be Albert Brenner often dreamed of the wide open spaces depicted in his favorite Saturday-matinee Westerns. At 16, he landed his first “art job”: dressing windows for a New York City department store.

Two years later, Brenner swapped mannequins for military service and flew in B-24 bombers until World War II ended in 1945. On the G.I. Bill, he attended Yale University, graduating with skills in drafting, and went into summer stock theater under designer Samuel Leve, toiling away on plays like “The Fifth Season” and gaining a union card in the process.

He developed his designer chops in New York on TV shows like “The Phil Silvers Show,” “Car 54, Where Are You?” “Captain Kangaroo” and “Playhouse 90.” His first day on the Silvers show, where he eventually earned $250 a week, was nearly his last, when he...

By John M. Whalen

When the “hardware widow” (Allyn Ann McClerie) asks Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin) if he’d gotten used to the idea of his long-time partner Chet Rollins (Jack Palance) and her being married, Monte says: “I never had so many things to get used to in my whole life, as now.” That line of dialogue in the middle of William Fraker’s “Monte Walsh” (1970) pretty much sums up this first and best film adaptation of Jack Schaeffer’s novel about the end of the Old West in general and the cowboy life in particular. It’s a true classic and even though it features two of the toughest tough guy actors of the sixties and seventies, it’s not a melodramatic shoot-em-up, full of violence, sound and fury. Rather it’s an elegiac portrait of the way it must have really happened, presented in a style as...

Despite it being the directorial debut of five times Oscar nominated cinematographer William A. Fraker, 1970’s revisionist Western Monte Walsh isn’t as well remembered as it possibly should be. Prizing characterization over narrative and ignoring the usual set of genre highlights until its third act, it’s a mellow, melancholy bit of nostalgia about the last days of the Old West. Sporting a handsome cast and imbued with the right touch of technical appropriations, it’s a rather humble offering following on the footsteps of iconic juggernauts of the genre, like True Grit or The Wild Bunch, both of which premiered the year prior. Awards glory and controversial depictions of violence launched those films into the zeitgeist, but Fraker’s has remained an obscure item rooted in realistic, low key tendencies.

As Monte Walsh (Lee Marvin) and best pal Chet Rolling (Jack Palance) descend from the mountains after a long winter,...

This week on Off The Shelf, Ryan is joined by Brian Saur to take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the week of July 28th, 2015, and chat about some follow-up and home video news.

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Episode Links & Notes Follow-up Vudu / Ultraviolet Update to the Hertzfeldt Kickstarter What have we bought / watched lately? Ryan: Barnes & Noble Sale / Amazon UK / Thief and the Cobbler doc / Lost Soul / Man From Uncle Season 1 / Brian: B&N / Best Buy $4.99 Blu-rays News Olive Films September Announcements Scorpion Releasing/Kino – The People That Time Forgot in November New Releases Cherry 2000 The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein Ghost Town Home Justice League: Gods and Monsters Miracle Mile Monte Walsh Mystery Science Theater 3000: Xxxiii Prime Cut White God Zone Troopers Episode Credits Ryan Gallagher (Twitter / Website / Wish List) Brian Saur (Twitter /Website / Instagram / Wish List)

Music for the show...

"David Zelag Goodman, a screenwriter best known for such 1970s films as the controversial psychological thriller Straw Dogs and Lovers and Other Strangers, a comedy that earned him an Oscar nomination, has died. He was 81." Dennis McLellan in the Los Angeles Times: "Goodman's other film credits as a co-writer include Monte Walsh, a 1970 western starring Lee Marvin and Eyes of Laura Mars, a 1978 thriller starring Faye Dunaway. He also wrote the screenplays for Farewell, My Lovely, a 1975 adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel starring Robert Mitchum as Philip Marlowe; and Logan's Run, the 1976 science-fiction film starring Michael York."

"Goodman's work proved enduring," notes Carmel Dagan in Variety. Monte Walsh "was remade in 2003 as a TNT telepic starring Tom Selleck; Rod Lurie's remake of Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs was released two weeks ago; and a remake of Logan's Run, to star Ryan Gosling, is in the works at Warner Bros.

David Zelag Goodman (pictured, right), an Oscar-nominated screenwriter who teamed with Sam Peckinpah on the original "Straw Dogs," died Monday in Oakland, California after battling a brain disorder. He was 81. According to his daughter, Goodman died at an assisted-living facility of progressive supranuclear palsy. Goodman shared an Oscar nomination with Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor for co-writing the screenplay for "Lovers and Other Strangers," a 1970 comedy based on the couple's play. His other credits include "Monte Walsh" (1970), a western starring Lee Marvin; "Farewell, My Lovely" (1975), an adaptation of Raymond Chandler's novel starring Robert Mitchum; Faye Dunaway thriller "Eyes of Laura Mars" (1978); and the sci-fi classic "Logan's Run" (1976). He also wrote episodes of TV's "The Untouchables" in the early 1960s and penned the 1979 miniseries "Freedom Road" starring Kris Kristofferson and Muhammad Ali, in which the boxer played an ex-slave in 1870s Virginia who gets elected to the Senate.

Oscar-winning Straw Dogs screenwriter David Zelag Goodman has died, aged 81.

Goodman penned the script for the original 1971 psychological thriller and he went on to win an Academy Award for his work on Lovers and Other Strangers.

He died on Monday at an assisted-living facility in Oakland, California.

Goodman also co-wrote scripts for the western Monte Walsh, Faye Dunaway thriller Eyes of Laura Mars, Farewell, My Lovely and cult sci-fi film Logan's Run.

The remake of Straw Dogs hit cinemas in the U.S. earlier this month.

MPAA ratings: Aug. 11, 2010. The following feature-length motion pictures have been reviewed and rated by the Classification and Rating Administration pursuant to the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program. Each of the designated ratings is defined as follows under the Motion Picture Classification and Rating program.

G -- General Audiences. All ages admitted.

PG -- Parental Guidance Suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG -13 --Parents Strongly Cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

Nc-17 -- No One 17 And Under Admitted.

Film Distributor Reason Rating 127 Hours   

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

Rated for language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images. R Alpha and Omega  Lionsgate

Rated for rude humor and some mild action.  PG Avatar Special Edition Re-Release

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.

Rated for intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking.

Here are the new MPAA ratings from Bulletin No: 2133.

127 Hours Rated R For language and some disturbing violent content/bloody images. Release Date: November 5, 2010 Alpha And Omega Rated PG For rude humor and some mild action. Release Date: September 17, 2010 Avatar Special Edition Re-Release Rated PG-13 For intense epic battle sequences and warfare, sensuality, language and some smoking. Release Date: August 27, 2010 Note: Edited Version. Content Is Different From "PG-13" Rated Version, Bulletin No. 2097 (11/24/09). Black Swan Rated R For strong sexual content, disturbing violent images, language and some drug use. Release Date: December 1, 2010 Buried Rated R For language and some violent content. Release Date: September 24, 2010 Don't Let Me Drown Rated R For pervasive language and some sexual references. Easy "A" Rated PG-13 For mature thematic elements involving teen sexuality, language and some drug material. Release Date: September 17, 2010 Inside Job Rated PG-13 For some drug and sex-related material. Release Date: October 8, 2010 Mandie And...

Keri Russell is set and Josh Brolin is in negotiations to join the cast of TNT's epic 12-hour limited series Into the West, from executive producer Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks TV. Also coming on board the project is helmer Simon Wincer (TNT's Monte Walsh), who has signed on to direct one of the series' six two-hour parts. Russell and Brolin join previously cast Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Settle. Into the West, budgeted at about $50 million, tells the story of the opening of the American West in the 19th century through the eyes of two multigenerational families, one of white settlers and one of Native Americans.

Isabella Rossellini has been cast in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Earthsea. Rossellini will play High Priestess Thar, a pivotal character in the epic chronicle of a young wizard in a mystical land. Earthsea is written by Gavin Scott (The Mists of Avalon) and executive produced by Robert Halmi Sr. (Merlin), Lawrence Bender (Kill Bill-Vol. 1) and Kevin Brown (Roswell). The four-hour miniseries, a joint production of Hallmark Entertainment and Bender-Brown Prods., is scheduled to air over two nights in December. The miniseries is adapted from author Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea novels. The first in the series, A Wizard of Earthsea, was published in 1968. Rossellini made her American stage debut this year in Terrence McNally's The Stendhal Syndrome. Other recent credits include TNT's Monte Walsh, A&E Network's biopic Napoleon and the 2002 feature Roger Dodger.