Directed by Richard Fleischer. Screenplay by Earl Felton, story by Martin Goldsmith & Jack Leonard. This film begins – like, even before the main title screen pops up – with a shot of a train barreling down some nighttime train tracks. Throughout the opening credits, the train continues to barrel, while also (!) blowing its […]
Directed by King Vidor. Screenplay by Lenore J. Coffee, from the novel “A Man Without Friends” by Margaret Echard. The film begins with a visit to a prison’s “death cell” and a reversal of the usual Pre-Execution Forgiveness narrative; here, the Priest (Father Paul, played by Rhys Williams) is the one who is pleading for […]
Directed by Alfred L. Werker. Screenplay by Dale Van Every, Oliver H.P. Garrett, & Roy Huggins, from the novel “The Gaunt Woman” by Edmund Gilligan. “Foreword: When war engulfs the world, giant forces are marshaled for conflict. Smashing victories are won and heroes are heralded far and wide. Often forgotten are the small victories, the […]
Directed by Richard Wilson. Story and screenplay by Wilson & N.B. Stone Jr. The opening title design (some white, serif letters on top of a zoomed-in shot of – to our eyes – grey, woven fabric) is arguably the most boring I’ve seen lately. Like…why even bother with the unremarkable-as-shit fabric? Why not just make […]
Directed by Arthur Penn. Screenplay by Leslie Stevens, from the (tele)play “The Death of Billy the Kid” by Gore Vidal. First thing inescapably first: the deeply warbled title song backing the opening credits is fucking awful. “This is the story This is the song Of a left-handed bo-oy Who never meant wrong.” – “Toll, toll […]
Directed by Anthony Mann. Screenplay by Burden Chase, based on the novel “Bend of the Snake” by Bill Gulick. Burden Chase did not have a super extensive career as a screenwriter – though it’s worth noting he was responsible for the screenplays of several more highly regarded Westerns: RED RIVER (1948)(for which Chase received his […]
Directed by Francis Searle. Screenplay by Leo Marks & Searle, from Marks’s play (of the same name). Leo Marks, TCM’s Noir Eddie helpfully clues us in, served as a cryptographer for the British Army’s SOE unit in World War II. CLOUDBURST is about a cryptographer/war veteran, so…it’s neat to know that there’s plenty of real-life […]
Directed by Don Weis. Screenplay by George Wells, story by László Vadnay, with additional dialogue by Ruth Brooks Flippen. I’m a fan of the design of the opening credits – after Debbie Reynolds spies us over her shoulder, she writes the film’s title in red lipstick (to be clear, the text was digitally added – […]
Directed by Joseph Anthony. A successful Broadway stage director, this was Anthony’s first time directing a feature-length film – something he would go on to do only 5 more times over the course of his career. Screenplay by N. Richard Nash, from his play by the same name. Burt Lancaster is Bill Starbuck, the titular […]
Directed by John Farrow. “Farrow?” you say. “Directing a movie featuring Maureen O’Sullivan?” Yes. It’s true! Let’s see – within the timeline of their 26+ year marriage…this appears to be positioned almost exactly halfway through it. (Though they met on the set of 1930’s JUST IMAGINE, they did not get married until 1936 – and remained married […]
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