cigarjoe

The Come On (1956) A Poverty Row Fish Story Director: Russell Birdwell (The Girl in the Kremlin (1957)), written by Whitman Chambers (novel & screenplay) Warren Douglas (screenplay). The film stars a nice compliment of Film Noir veterans, Anne Baxter (I Confess (1953), The Blue Gardenia (1953)), Sterling Hayden ( nine Classic Film Noir) , John Hoyt (The Unfaithful (1947), Brute Force (1947), The Bribe (1949),Trapped (1949), Loan Shark (1952), The Glass Cage (1964)) Alex Gerry (Whirlpool (1949),The Capture (1950), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Between Midnight and Dawn (1950), The Breaking Point (1950), Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) ), and Jesse White (Kiss of Death (1947),Hell's Half Acre (1954)). La Paz, Mexico. Rita Kendrick (Baxter) serious eye candy. Hot stuff. Swimsuit cheesecake. Bikini babe. Man bait. Exposed on a white sand beach. Dave Arnold (Hayden) is a big brute fisherman. Dave Eyeballs Rita. Falls in lust. Rita scopes Dave starring. She's cucumber cool. But things get heated when Hayden comes on hard. They share smokes, Hayden macho-ly nipping off the filter of his tar bar. Cancer scare, who gives a crap Rita (Baxter)Hayden gets frisky. Plants a kiss on Baxter's lips. Baxter fights a faux fight. Baxter is turned on. They make a 10PM date for later at the fish docks. Hayden's gill netter the "Lady Luck" is slated for their romantic hideaway. It ain't exactly a bouquet of roses, but hey this is a poverty row production. The film has a nice patina of trashiness about it. It's cheap production values only help to enhance the entertainment value. This is Anne Baxter's film, she is a gorgeous, peroxide, femme fatale, and she plays it a bit over the top in a good entertaining sort of way. You gotta smile at her dated "granny pantie style, bikini bottoms. If you are in a noir frame of mind you buy the story, hook, line, and sinker, it's a fun film noir. Needs a restoration 6.5 to 7/10 Full review with screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-come-on-1956-poverty-row-fish-story.html

The Come On (1956) A Poverty Row Fish Story Director: Russell Birdwell (The Girl in the Kremlin (1957)), written by Whitman Chambers (novel & screenplay) Warren Douglas (screenplay). The film stars a nice compliment of Film Noir veterans, Anne Baxter (I Confess (1953), The Blue Gardenia (1953)), Sterling Hayden ( nine Classic Film Noir) , John Hoyt (The Unfaithful (1947), Brute Force (1947), The Bribe (1949),Trapped (1949), Loan Shark (1952), The Glass Cage (1964)) Alex Gerry (Whirlpool (1949),The Capture (1950), The Asphalt Jungle (1950), Between Midnight and Dawn (1950), The Breaking Point (1950), Deadline - U.S.A. (1952) ), and Jesse White (Kiss of Death (1947),Hell's Half Acre (1954)). La Paz, Mexico. Rita Kendrick (Baxter) serious eye candy. Hot stuff. Swimsuit cheesecake. Bikini babe. Man bait. Exposed on a white sand beach. Dave Arnold (Hayden) is a big brute fisherman. Dave Eyeballs Rita. Falls in lust. Rita scopes Dave starring. She's cucumber cool. But things get heated when Hayden comes on hard. They share smokes, Hayden macho-ly nipping off the filter of his tar bar. Cancer scare, who gives a ****. Rita (Baxter) Dave (Hayden) just another "fish" Hayden gets frisky. Plants a kiss on Baxter's lips. Baxter fights a faux fight. Baxter is turned on. They make a 10PM date for later at the fish docks. Hayden's gill netter the "Lady Luck" is slated for their romantic hideaway. It ain't exactly a bouquet of roses, but hey this is a poverty row production. Hayden paces the deck. He's hoping for a bounce. He's hoping to trip her switch. Baxter comes down the slanted gangway teetering on glass high heel slippers. She's poured into a hot, tight, white evening gown that shows practically everything she's got. Hayden is panting. Rita is a bit standoffish. She is playing him. He's taken the bait and she's stringing him along. She cranks up his temperature but then cools his jets telling him she's gotta go. Haden is shot out of the saddle. Hayden heads for the nearest watering hole the Cafe La Paz, a couple of shots of bourbon and a friendly senorita will soon clear out his scuppers. He's about to drown his sorrows when he spots Baxter at a table with two men. One man, Harley (Hoyt) is a loudmouth obnoxious drunk. The other man Larry Chalmers (Alex Gerry) is ,we soon discover, a mark. Dave drifts over, and introduces himself, assuming that Harley is Rita's father. He's shocked when he finds out that Harley is her husband. Harley suspects hanky panky between Rita and Dave and smacks Rita, he in turn gets decked by an indignant Hayden who storms out. In the cabin of a yacht we watch as Rita and her husband's acquaintance put Harley to bed. Rita and the man have a very solicitous conversation. He wants Rita to ditch Harley. He wants to put Rita up in a place on Sunset strip. He wants a kept woman. He offers her a grand, she says make it two. Cash for gash. He writes out a check and leaves with visions of Rita's sugar plums dancing in his head. As soon as he's gone Harley comes out of the stateroom stone cold sober. It was all an act. Rita and Harley have been pulling this con for years. Tomorrow, Harley is going to confront Larry with the check, blackmail him with it, and demand more money to keep it all quite. Harley Kendrick, aka Harold King (Hoyt) At this point you wonder if the chance meeting on the beach between Rita and Dave was all part of the same grift. Rita returns to the Lucky Lady and spills the beans to Dave. Maybe she really does dig him. She tells him that Harley really isn't her husband he's just Harold King, a confidence man that she shacks with without benefits. They're working a variation of the old badger Game. Rita tells Dave that she's never known real love till she met him. She wants to dump Harold but she also wants her share of the moola that Harold's been hoarding. Rita tells him she's always been poor and that she's earned that money the hard way. Rita confronts Harold the next afternoon after he's scammed another $25,000 in a certified check from Larry. She tells him she's through, and that she wants her cut. Harold brutally knocks her to the floor. Rita (Baxter) decked by Harlod Rita leaves the yacht and checks into a La Paz dive hotel. She calls the Lucky Lady ship to shore and tells Dave to come to her. Dave arrives and sees Rita with a shiner. Rita has hatched a plan of her own. Maybe Harold can have an accident on their yacht. It'll just take the little dynamite and the timer she bought, and with a full 600 gallon tank of marine gas, Harold with be a crispy critter. Yea right, but the big dumb lug Dave isn't that dumb. He tells her that he'll sell the Lucky Lady and they can move up to San Diego. Dave grabs the stuff she bought for her time bomb and later that day steams out of La Paz in the Lucky Lady and deep sixes the bomb material over the side into the Pacific. Harold isn't that dumb either. He's hired PI J.J. McGonigle (White). McGonigle's been tailing Rita ever since she's left the yacht, and has pictures of her buying dynamite and electronics. In an unexpected twist Dave and Rita are hauled into the La Paz police station and questioned about the death of Rita's "husband", it seems that while leaving the harbor the Kendricks yacht coincidentally exploded. They are released after a statement by McGonigle put them both in the clear. Later at his office McGonigle now blackmails Rita & Dave with his photos and everything of course spirals into Noirsville. The film has a nice patina of trashiness about it. It's cheap production values only help to enhance the entertainment value. This is Anne Baxter's film, she is a gorgeous, peroxide, femme fatale, and she plays it a bit over the top in a good entertaining sort of way. You gotta smile at her dated "granny pantie style, bikini bottoms. If you are in a noir frame of mind you buy the story, hook, line, and sinker, it's a fun film noir. Needs a restoration 6.5 to 7/10 More screencaps here:http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-come-on-1956-poverty-row-fish-story.html

The 3rd Voice (1960) Directed by Hubert Cornfield. Written by Hubert Cornfield (Sudden Danger (1955), (Plunder Road (1957), and based on "All The Way " aka “The Concrete Flamingo” a novel first published in 1958 by Charles Williams (Dead Calm (1989), The Hot Spot (1990)). Cinematography was by Ernest Haller (The Unfaithful (1947), The Come On (1956), ) and music by Johnny Mandel. The film stars Edmond O'Brien (one of the kings of classic noir with 10+ films), Julie London (The Red House (1947), The Fat Man (1951), Crime Against Joe (1956)), Laraine Day (The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)), Olga San Juan, George Eldredge, Tom Hernández, Abel Franco, Tom Daly, and Ralph Brooks. The 3rd Voice is entertaining, it's mostly Edmund Obrien's show with some nice eye candy provided by Julie London. It's essential for a Edmund O'Brien completists or Julie London fans. Screencaps are from a multi-copy avi file, it could use a restoration. 6.5-7/10 Full review with more screencaps in Film Noir/Gangster page TCM here, and here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-3rd-voice-1960.html

The 3rd Voice (1960) Directed by Hubert Cornfield. Written by Hubert Cornfield (Sudden Danger (1955), (Plunder Road (1957), and based on "All The Way " aka “The Concrete Flamingo” a novel first published in 1958 by Charles Williams (Dead Calm (1989), The Hot Spot (1990)). Cinematography was by Ernest Haller (The Unfaithful (1947), The Come On (1956), ) and music by Johnny Mandel. The film stars Edmond O'Brien (one of the kings of classic noir with 10+ films), Julie London (The Red House (1947), The Fat Man (1951), Crime Against Joe (1956)), Laraine Day (The Woman on Pier 13 (1949)), Olga San Juan, George Eldredge, Tom Hernández, Abel Franco, Tom Daly, and Ralph Brooks. A man (O'Brien) in silhouette paces before the picture window. We see an early morning nocturne, high atop a crescent bay on a Mexican hillside. The man's sharp voice is aggressively dictating business strategy into a reel to reel tape recorder. He pauses, rewinds the tape and drags on a tar bar while listening to the playback. He stops the playback and replaces the tape with one labeled Harris Chapman. In a voice over the man describes Harris Chapman as a wealthy Seattle businessman that he says he knows everything about but has never met him or anybody ever connected to him except Marian Forbes. In the novel that the screenplay was based on the man's name is Jerry, in the film the character is simply billed as "the Voice". The local is also transposed from Miami Beach to an anonymous Mexican resort town. The new tape plays and we hear Marian Forbes (Day) read a biography of Harris Chapman, birth date, parents names, personal tics, i.e, "he grew a mustache during his stint in the Navy and has worn it ever since. After the service he developed eyestrain and wears glasses, usually horn rims. He's a hypochondriac and carries around a miniature drugstore with him. After the cancer scare he uses a silver cigarette holder along with filtered cigarettes." While Marian speaks we see the man looking at his window reflection, touching his moustache, placing horn rim glasses on, removing a silver cigarette holder from his pocket and placing his lit cigarette into it. "Chapman is 6 feet tall, 195 pounds, grey eyes, 46 years old, brown hair greying at the temples. He usually wears a hat and feels undressed without one." The man places a hat on his head, his transformation is complete. Marion continues, "you may not look like him but based on the general unreliability of descriptions, I'd say you look exactly like him. Hobby, big game fishing, usually Miami, but this year Mexico, the point to all of this is....." The man shuts off the recording and speaks in voiceover, "the point is some of us will do anything for money." The man drives to a small resort town airstrip to pick up Marion. Marion immediately begins to quiz the man on various details of Harris Chapman's life. Marion (Laraine Day) The Voice (O'Brien) Marion: Who's Francis Blane? Man: Fiance, young socially prominent... Marion was the private secretary and former mistress of Chapman. She was the financial brains behind Chapman's business fortunes. Chapman dumped her, and offered her six months salary if she would quit the company. Marion is out for blood and money. Marion's intense grilling of Jerry runs through the day and into the evening. It's now or never. Chapman is arriving at the airport for some deep sea fishing tonight. Jerry drives down to the airstrip. At the arrivals desk he hands a note for Chapman to the clerk, then goes to the phone and dials Marion. He watches Chapman (Ralph Brooks) arrive at the desk and tells Marion over the phone that he's read the note, and he's taking the bait. Chapman angered marches over to the bank of phones. Jerry hangs up as now Champan calls Marion. Marion tells Chapman that he must come up to see her about the 1955 tax return. She appears to be blackmailing him. Chapman hangs up. Jerry calls her back to tell her he got a taxi and is on the way. Marion tells Jerry to wait five minutes and drive back up. When Chapman arrives at the hilltop house Marian blasts him in the living room. Jerry gets there and does clean up. He removes a pre-stored tarp from a closet, rolls his body onto it and methodically empties Chapman's pockets of all effects, eyeglass case, pill capsules, wallet, lighter, passport, pocket knife, etc. Then he strips off his watch, he struggles with getting Chapman's pinky ring, looking at the pocket knife, contemplating cutting his finger off. He wraps Chapman in the tarp and drags the body out to the bathroom dumping it in the tub, while Marian lays on the bed enticingly. After Jerry and Marian get reaquainted he drivers her back to the airstrip for the connecting flights back to Seattle. Jerry changes clothes hooks a boat up to his convertible then drives back up to the hilltop house to take care of Chapman. He dumps the body into the boat and drives to the bay. He backs up to the surf and launches the boat and deep sixes Chapman's body. Back at the hotel Jerry opens Chapman's suitcase and finds a present. It's a book on deep sea fishing from "Angel" Francine Blaine. He gets, coincidently, a call from Angel and thanks her for the present, he cuts the call short telling her that he "has to see a man about a fish." All reviews of the film miss the significance of this last sequence as it actually references the title. Angel is The 3rd Voice. Afterwards Jerry makes the complete transformation into Chapman and starts phase two of Marian's plan. He contacts a Mexican real estate agent and starts the ball rolling on $250,000 down for a $600,000 total investment for a site for a resort hotel and marina. He talks to Seattle and has them wire $10,000 to the Mexican bank in town. He also starts phase one of HIS plan. He asks his taxi driver for a woman. When she shows up at his hotel room she is a blond. This won't do, so he gives her some money and sends her away. Down in the hotel bar he spots a beautiful buxom brunette who he saw earlier in the lobby she tells him her name is Corey Scott (London). He makes small talk and they make a date for later the next day after he goes fishing. Jerry's plan is to frame Marian using Corey Scott. Corey Scott (London) He tells the hotel desk captain he's expecting Marion Forbes and to send her right up but also says that she may be using a different name. In one sequence Jerry, while entertaining Corey, calls a judge and his wife that know Chapman. He almost ran into them at the last hotel he was checked into. They ask if he's down there with Angel. He tells them he's alone. They want to have dinner with him, while Jerry talks to the wife he spills champagne down the front of Corey's dress, her loud exclamation of surprise is heard by the judges wife. The wife is indignant, and of course, Jerry avoids the meeting. He makes sure he's seen all around town with Corey, he even calls her Marian being sure to do so in front of others, apologizing to Corey by telling her that she reminds him of someone. Jerry flashes the money in his wallet to Corey. Jerry pretends to be drunk and passes out figuring correctly that Corey, who he thinks is a hooker, will leave with the cash. Jerry aims to frame Marion and ankle with the whole $250,000. Of course during his final confrontation with Marion, everything inevitably goes sliding down into Noirsville. The 3rd Voice is entertaining, it's mostly Edmund Obrien's show with some nice eye candy provided by Julie London. It's essential for a Edmund O'Brien completists or Julie London fans. Screencaps are from a multi-copy avi file, it could use a restoration. 6.5-7/10 Full review with more screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/08/the-3rd-voice-1960.html

Sergio Leone Westerns are more Mythic, and I do consider them among the greatest Westerns ever made. Let's put it this way I'm not surprised after your fawning over Shane that you make this comment. I'm not a big fan of most Eastwood Westerns either they are almost all knockoffs, but Sergio Leone's Westerns are artistic, operatic , and combined with the scores of Ennio Morricone are on a level unto themselves

If he was representing the real west, no farmers in their right minds would try and farm at 6,000 ft plus elevation.. ;-)

I've seen The Chase albeit in a many times copied avi file. It's quite bizarre, though I've never read the original story. There are still quite a few Woolrich stories out there that could be filmed, though I think they'd best work as period pieces rather than updates. A couple of my favorites are (and I'm not sure if I'm getting the titles right) Murder in the Air (which took place on an El and an adjoining apartment, and Murder in the Automat, which takes place in a Horn & Hardart Automat. Another is one where a milkman and his horse feature prominently in solving a kidnapping, and another involves a jazz band, marijuana, and murder.

Paris, Texas (1984) Lost And Found And Lost Again Directed by Wim Wenders (The American Friend (1977)) and written by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard. It has an immersive and quite distinctive score composed by Ry Cooder. The beautiful cinematography was by Robby Müller (The American Friend (1977)). If you haven't seen this see it now. The film contains one of the great monologues in cinema history. 10/10 Fuller review with screencaps from the Criterion DVD here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/paris-texas-1984-lost-and-found-and.htm

Paris, Texas (1984) Lost And Found And Lost Again Directed by Wim Wenders (The American Friend (1977)) and written by L.M. Kit Carson and playwright Sam Shepard. It has an immersive and quite distinctive score composed by Ry Cooder. The beautiful cinematography was by Robby Müller (The American Friend (1977)). The film stars Harry Dean Stanton (The Wrong Man (1956), Farewell, My Lovely (1975), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Inland Empire (2006)), Dean Stockwell (The Arnelo Affair (1947), Compulsion (1959), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Blue Velvet (1986)), Nastassja Kinski (Inland Empire (2006)), Bernhard Wicki, Aurore Clément, and Hunter Carson. A Film Soleil, Psychological Noir, Paris, Texas begins in the parched Devil’s Graveyard landscape of West Texas. A man Travis (Stanton), gaunt, seemingly dazed, disheveled, grizzled, wanders out of oblivion, dressed in a dusty, double breasted, pinstripe suit and red baseball cap. He stumbles into a dilapidated ramshackle adobe and trailer roadside pit stop, a de facto wind swept trash rack of haphazard human ephemera, to the accompaniment of Ry Cooder's haunting slide guitar. Travis abruptly keels over. He comes to in Terlingua, Texas, in a doctor's clinic (Wicki). He does not answer the doctor's questions, he acts mute. Is he an amnesiac, or just another ornery desert rat? The doctor checks his personal effects. A business card with the name Walt Henderson (Stockwell) and a Los Angeles phone number is found. A call is made. Walt confirms the man is his, four year missing and presumed dead, older brother Travis. Walt flies out to Texas to get him. He rents a car and drives down into the Big Bend Country. When Walt gets there he finds out that Travis lit out again. Walt disgustedly drives around the few roads searching for him, finally spotting him walking a powerline. Walt is taken back by Travis' appearance, he tells him he "looks like forty miles of bad road." Walt beckons him to the car but Travis seems magnetically pulled to the perspective of the powerline stretching to infinity. Travis only reluctantly gets in the car. Travis finally comes out of his post traumatic trance like state and speaks, and it's seemingly cryptic. He mentions Paris, that he wants to go to Paris. Not France but Paris, Texas, and the empty lot where mom told him he was conceived. It's as if getting back there to ground zero he can start over with a clean slate. In fits and starts we begin to see the whole picture. Walt and his wife Anne ( Clement) live in Los Angeles with Travis's son Hunter (Carson). Hunter was dropped off by Jane (Kinski), who was finding it difficult to take care of him on her own. Jane still deposits various amounts money every month in an account for Hunter. When Travis and Walt make it back to Los Angeles Travis begins to relearn how to be a father to Hunter. Hunter is at first apprehensive, but soon warms to Travis. Travis becomes determined to put back together the pieces of his life and family. The more time he spends with his brother and his wife the more he knows that Hunter should be with his biological mother and he longs for a reunion with Jane. An old family Super 8 movie of Walt, Anne, Travis, Jane, and Hunter back in happier times buoys his perseverance. He finds out from Anne that the deposits that Jane makes are on the same day (the 5th) every month at the same bank. The bank is in Houston. Travis decides to go to Houston and Hunter decides to go with him. They head out on the two lane in his '59 Ford Ranchero. If you haven't seen this see it now. The film contains one of the great monologues in cinema history. 10/10 Fuller review with screencaps from the Criterion DVD here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/paris-texas-1984-lost-and-found-and.htm

topped by..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyvzfyqYm_s

Death Rides A Horse (1967)

It's been recently in rotation on either Movies! TV, Get TV, or Fox Movie Channel. Saw it on again just a few days ago.

I'm surprised they don't mention Stanley Kubrick's Killer's Kiss

The Public Eye (1992) Sleuthing Shutterbug Set in 1942 The Public Eye, is inspired by one of the first of the paparazzi, the great Weegee, aka Arthur Fellig, whose B&W photographs of New York in the 1940-50's not only time captured the city, but has also been suggested as one of the influences of the look of Classic Film Noir. Weegee's nickname was a corruption of "Ouija" board. It was in reference to his magical appearance at crime, fire and accident scenes (he actually had a license for a police radio that he kept in his automobile). Weegee was the original "nightcrawler". The film is beautifully photographed, again as in A Rage In Harlem (1991) Cincinnati fills in very adequately for New York City, other locations being Chicago and Los Angeles. The score by Isham is decent. It should have more recognition. The screencaps are from the Universal Vault Series DVD. 7/10 Full review in Film Noir/Gangster thread, and with more screencaps here:http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-public-eye-1992-sleuthing-shutterbug.html

The Public Eye (1992) Sleuthing Shutterbug Written and directed by Howard Franklin; director of photography, Peter Suschitzky; edited by Evan Lottman; music by Mark Isham; production designer, Marcia Hinds-Johnson. The film stars Joe Pesci (R. Leon Bernstein), Barbara Hershey (Kay Levitz), Jared Harris (Danny the Doorman), Stanley Tucci (Sal Minetti), Jerry Adler (Arthur Nabler), Farinelli (Richard Foronjy), David Hull (Thatcher Grey), and Dominic Chianese (Spoleto). Set in 1942 The Public Eye, is inspired by one of the first of the paparazzi, the great Weegee, aka Arthur Fellig, whose B&W photographs of New York in the 1940-50's not only time captured the city, but has also been suggested as one of the influences of the look of Classic Film Noir. Weegee's nickname was a corruption of "Ouija" board. It was in reference to his magical appearance at crime, fire and accident scenes (he actually had a license for a police radio that he kept in his automobile). Weegee was the original "nightcrawler". Consistent with the film's theme the title sequence consists of a series of developing photographs similar to Weegee's work. Pesci is Leon Bernstein aka "Bernsy" and "The Great Bernzini" a notorious tabloid photographer, a shutter-bug. His rolling office is a 1939 Ford De Luxe Club Coupe, outfitted with a police radio, and a complete darkroom in the trunk. His tools of trade are various cameras, but primarily a Speed Graphic. 1939 Ford Coupe De Luxe Club Coupe trunk darkroom Bernsy at work He's a schlub who slinks around wearing a fedora and chopping on a stogie. He carries in his overcoat a light meter, film, and flash bulbs. He cruises the drags with a roving eye for depictions of street life and with one ear cocked for police squeals. He makes his living off of the denizens and dreggs of the city who mostly come out after dark. He takes pictures of fires, car accidents, hookers, mobsters, servicemen, meat packers, bums, politicians, fishmongers, drunks, crooks, firemen, gamblers, celebrities, cops, gangster whacks, robbery victims, and domestic murders. A lot of his subjects are at room temperature. Sometimes he gets there before the cops and he's not above rearranging the corpse to get a better more sensational shot. He makes $3 per photo, and gets his byline in the rags, but he dreams of bigger things, he wants his work published, he wants a show in a museum. When he gets an appointment with a big publisher the head man tells him that they only print fine art and that what Bernzy has submitted are mere pictures of New York. Your pictures are too sensational, too vulgar, not art. Bernzy is a loner. His almost ghoulish fascination with capturing death and depicting misery casts him as the ultimate outsider. He knows lots of people on a first name basis but has few true friends, and has no love life what-so-ever. Kay One day Benzey gets an invite to a hoity-toity club Cafe Society. He has a personal note from Kay Levitz (Hershey) the late owner's wife. When Bernzy meets Kay he is visibly smitten by her beauty and instantly under her spell. Kay takes Bernzy up to her private office. Lou Levitz, Kay's husband, once told her that Bernzy knows all the crooks and all the cops in New York and that he never took sides because that would get in the way of Bernzy getting access. Bernzy's motto is "don't get involved". Kay tells him that Lou's brother is contesting the will. Rumor has it that Kay was a gold digger who married Lou for his money. But Kay has bigger problems she points out a guy in light evening jacket and asks Bernzy if he knows him. Bernzy doesn't. Kay shows him a letter from an attorney. The man is named Emilio Portofino and claims that Lou owed him money and that he is now her partner. If she doesn't accept it he'll go to Kay's brother-in-law and help prove that the will is invalid. Bernzy tells her that he'll find out who he is for her. Bernzy apparently gets a cop he knows to check NYPD files on Portofino, we segue to Bernzy at a cop shop he's passing cigars to the booking officer. The officer tells him that there are two guys named Portofino with records but not with the age and description that Bernzy gave him. So Bernzy continuing his amateur sleuthing goes to pay a social call on Portofino. Portofino is past talking. Portofino is ready for a toe tag and the horizontal phone booth. Bernzy calls the police and reports the murder, and before he can give them the address they tell him they'll be right there. He next calls Kay and tells her the news and that it looks like a mob hit. When the cops show the FBI is tagging along. Bernzy is dragged downtown for questioning. They want to know who he's working for . They want to know how he knows Portofino. Bernzy feeds them BS. As soon as he's cut loose the mob braces him. They take him for a ride to Frank Farinelli. Big Frankie wants to know why Bernzy called the FBI. Wants to know who he's working for. Wants to know how he knows Portofino. Bernzy feeds him some BS. Frankie gives some advice forget about Portofino. Farinelli's Bernzy continues to investigate, creatively sneaking into the FBI offices after hours to look at their files. He discovers that Portofino is involved with "Black Gas". It doesn't take long for him to connect the dots, gas ration coupons are worth gold. The Farinelli and Spoleto families are at war the Portofino hit was the spark. Kay is involved through her late husband, and someone in the Farinelli family is ratting to Spoleto (Dominic Chianese). Bernzy breaks into the Spoleto estate and takes snaps. The photos reveal that Sal Minetto (Tucci) is the informer. Bernzy confronts Sal Minetti who spills that Portofino was a punk from DC who was fronting for Thatcher Grey (Hull) in DC who works for the OPA. He can't unload the gas ration cards because he knows nobody. The heads of the five families won't touch them directly since they are getting amnesty from the Feds because they are working with the Italian mobs against Mussolini. Portofino hears that Lou Levitz was an old time bootlegger so maybe he knows how to unload them. Levitz was interested because there were millions involved and all Levitz had to do was turn the stamps over to Spoleto for a fat percentage. When Levitz died Portofino went to Farinelli, signing his own death warrant. Now Spoleto is gonna kill Farinelli's whole gang and Sal is going to finger it. Bernzy wants in on the location so that he can take photos. Noirsville I wish a bit more of Bernzy's work of photographing gritty New York would have been depicted, the Bowery, the srtrip joints, the beer gardens, the arcades, the Broadway scene. The Public Eye glides along never reaching iconic levels, and there really are no cinematic sparks between Pesci's Bernzy and Hershey's Kay, it's not quite believable, but maybe that's what Franklin was going for. There are, though, some great dialog sequences that will leave you chuckling. Spoleto: (nodding towards Bernzy and Kay) Look it's like Quasimodo and Sarsaparilla. Henchman: I think you mean Esmeralda The film is beautifully photographed, again as in A Rage In Harlem (1991) Cincinnati fills in very adequately for New York City, other locations being Chicago and Los Angeles. The score by Isham is decent. It should have more recognition. The screencaps are from the Universal Vault Series DVD. 7/10 Full review with more screencaps here:http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-public-eye-1992-sleuthing-shutterbug.html

China Moon (1994) Body Heat Redux Directed by John Bailey, written by Roy Carlson, cinematography by Willy Kurant. The film stars Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Charles Dance, Patricia Healy, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Powell, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film was completed in 1991 and not released till 1994. 60 years after James M. Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, 51 years after its first uncredited screen adaptation Ossessione (1943), 48 years after its official adaptation Tay Garnett's The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and 13 years after both Lawrence Kasdan's update Body Heat (1981) and Bob Rafelson's remake The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) come's China Moon, the same basic story of housewife Rachel Munro (Stowe) out to do her husband Rupert Munro (Dance) harm. The film even takes place again like Body Heat in Florida. The tweeks on the basic story are that this time the housewife is abused physically and mentally. Her husband, a bank president, is a wealthy philanderer. This go round the wife cozzies up to a homicide detective Kyle Bodine (Harris). China Moon is worth a view, it's a good primer on how a neo noir ought to at least look, but it's not an essential, it's like a "B" grade Neo. Watch for Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers during the JJ's Lounge sequence. Screencaps are from the MGM DVD. 6.5-7/10. Review in Film Noir/Gangster and with more NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/china-moon-1994-body-heat-redux.html

China Moon (1994) Body Heat Redux Directed by John Bailey, written by Roy Carlson, cinematography by Willy Kurant. The film stars Ed Harris, Madeleine Stowe, Charles Dance, Patricia Healy, Benicio Del Toro, Tim Powell, and Pruitt Taylor Vince. The film was completed in 1991 and not released till 1994. 60 years after James M. Cain's novel The Postman Always Rings Twice, 51 years after its first uncredited screen adaptation Ossessione (1943), 48 years after its official adaptation Tay Garnett's The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) and 13 years after both Lawrence Kasdan's update Body Heat (1981) and Bob Rafelson's remake The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981) come's China Moon, the same basic story of housewife Rachel Munro (Stowe) out to do her husband Rupert Munro (Dance) harm. The film even takes place again like Body Heat in Florida. The tweeks on the basic story are that this time the housewife is abused physically and mentally. Her husband, a bank president, is a wealthy philanderer. This go round the wife cozzies up to a homicide detective Kyle Bodine (Harris). The film starts with a sequence of an illicit tryst at the Calypso Heaven Motel between Rupert and one of his bank employees Adel (Healy). The two are caught by a peeper on camera. We segue into a crime scene. Low rent neighborhood. A woman has been murdered. Two homicide detectives Bodine and a very Hispanic looking Lamar Dickey (Del Toro) arrive to investigate. Bodine is the lead detective, Dickey appears to be still somewhat in training. Bodine is efficient, smart, and deduces the situation within minutes. Benicio Del Toro, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Ed Harris We do the followup to the coroner's. Après autopsy Bodine and Dickey wind down to the Blues at JJ's Lounge. Beer & Blues. Kyle kicks back. Lamar gets loose. Kyle is kind of shy around women. He's a lonely man, strong but vulnerable. Beer and nature takes it's course and Kyle gets a wandering eye. He oogles ravishing Rachel. Rachel gives him the hook look. Kyle is smitten. Kyle takes the bait. Kyle is love sick. Rachel (Stowe) Kyle (Harris) Rachel plays hard to get. Kyle comes on strong. Rachel has to split, mission accomplished. Kyle can be played. The photos of Rupert's hot sheet motel shenanigans eventually make their way into Rachel's hands. At this point we assume that Rachel has hired a PI to get the dirt on Rupert. Their marriage is disintegrating fast. Bodine and Dickey catch a domestic violence squeal to Rachel and Rupert's house. Rachel's nose is bloodied, it sets the stage for what is to come. Rupert is off business tripping. Rachel and Kyle go skinny dipping. Rachel gets randy. Kyle is cooked. Hook set hard. Rachel decides to leave Rupert for Kyle. She makes plans. Romantic rendezvous. Rupert comes home early. Finds Rachel packin'. Rupert starts slapin'. He bounces her around the room. Rachel is ready. Rachel's 9mm starts barkin'. Rupert is rubbed out. Rachel calls Kyle. Tells him the score. He comes to investigate. Kyle tells Rachel to call the police. Rachel tells Kyle she bought the gun black market. Looks bad. Looks premeditated. Kyle decides to help cover it up. Of course it all goes Noirsville in a predictable manner but with some interesting twists along the way that are admittedly filmed beautifully. Noirsville Ed Harris is good as the sympatico Kyle Bodine. Madeleine Stowe treads familiar femme fatale territory she has a slight Elizabeth Taylor vibe going for her. Benicio Del Toro though is a bit miscast as Dickey, and his portrayal seems a bit uneven. He goes from a bit of a fumbler on the first case depicted to a seasoned expert when he, all of a sudden out of left field, takes the lead on the Munro murder investigation.Even if it's depicted the way it is to convey that Dickey is just playing dumb, it is not convincing. It's a bit of a jar. It is either the fault of the screenplay or that of the director. The ending also seems both rushed and flawed, and it's too syrupy too sweet. China Moon is worth a view, it's a good primer on how a neo noir ought to at least look, but it's not an essential, it's like a "B" grade Neo. Watch for Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers during the JJ's Lounge sequence. Screencaps are from the MGM DVD. 6.5-7/10. Review with more NSFW screencaps here: http://noirsville.blogspot.com/2016/07/china-moon-1994-body-heat-redux.html

Check out Doc (1971) for another comparison

Just finished watching it. I haven't seen it since it came out in 77. Pretty much agree with all you say.

You have to separate the kid Westerns from the more adult Westerns as far as the "display piece" Westerns ;-)

I remember seeing one post golden age Western where on a barbed wire fence, instead of round posts, some clueless set designer substituted 2x2" square lath for pots. Even the remake of 3:10 to Yuma, had an already ridiculous sequence where actors are running on the roof peak of a new construction made even more ridiculous by having the stapled bar codes still showing on the roof rafters.

Yea but if you have your beer goggles on it's hard to tell sometimes ;-)

Me I prefer 50s through early 70's with a few outliers beyond and before.

Really? not Lust In The Dust (1985) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089523/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Talking about improving The Magnificent Seven reminded me of some thoughts I had on the decline of the Western. Factors effecting the Decline of the Western Westerns and early cinema you could say almost say go hand in hand. 1903’s “Great Train Robbery “ was filmed while the West was still “Wild”. Harvey Logan “Kid Curry” (one of the last of the Wild Bunch) robbed his last train outside of Parachute, Colorado, in 1904. So Westerns in effect were contemporary cinema at the time they were first filmed. Even as progress spread rapidly on both coasts in the interior US West it reached only major towns and cities while isolated pockets remained off the grid for decades, even today there remain areas off the grid entirely. Most old timers I’ve interviewed concur that noticeable progress didn’t take effect until the post WWII era when tracked vehicles replaced horse and steam. (I actually knew a guy who grew up next to an "alumni" of Custer's Last Stand", his father was a teamster who drove a supply wagon in Eastern Montana). The artisans who were responsible for early Westerns lived in that contemporary twilight of the West Era. They, especially if they were born West of the Mississippi or had emigrated to the West from Europe, grew up rubbing shoulders with Native Americans, cowboys, prospectors, a hands on knowledge of how to work horses, they drove horse drawn vehicles, saw steam power, saw the last of the Transcontinental Railways (The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific RR) completed in 1909, used telegraph lines, kerosene lamps, barbed wire, saw the first motor cars, the first telephones networks, the first electric power grids. That knowledge of the West they applied to the films they made regardless of the scripts and overly melodramatic screenplays. This knowledge was passed down by those responsible for motion picture production and the companies that employed them (Thomas Edison's Manufacturing Company, American Mutoscope, Biograph Co., Republic Pictures, etc., etc.). Thomas Ince invented the studio system, he produced detailed scripts with new situations and characters for a vast number of classic westerns. Bison Company production studios (known as Inceville) purchased the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and the Wild West Show to use their props and performers for assembly-line, mass-produced films. In the early 1910s, Francis Ford (John Ford’s older brother) was directing and starring in westerns in California for producer Ince, before joining Universal and Carl Laemmle in 1913. Time passed from the Silent Era to the Sound Era to the Color Era and so did the original knowledge and the hands on creativity learned over the years. The popularity of Westerns expanded and again evolved to television production reaching a peak in the late 1950‘s early 1960‘s. This continued until the early 1970’s. Its in the 70’s where the breakdown becomes evident in production numbers. Factors that seen to be involved would be the increasing injection of heavy handed politics into Western themes from the 1950‘s onward, public taste, the newer generations total lack of personal familiarity (or total rejection) with the culture of the past, the exposing light shown on the brutal historical record of manifest destiny, the disruption of the studio system and the stability it provided, and the loss of the handed down knowledge of how to make a Western that looks and plays like a Western when Westerns weren’t being made at the same time the old school filmmakers died off. But we are really not getting Westerns any longer Westerns as we knew them are DEAD, we are in the Neo Western Age.