Mr. Gorman

If you think HARD TICKET TO HAWAII is "ultra violent" you must be watching some very placid movies, O Nipkow_Disc. The opening scene to THE WILD BUNCH is more violent than the entire 'HARD TICKET TO HAWAII' movie.

GEORGE BRENT isn't awful to RUTH CHATTERTON in "FEMALE" (1933), but he's still nowhere near as nice as he should have been. And she goes off a long-distance automobile ride at the end of the 1 hour movie to chase him down. And I asked myself "Why?" I blame the script more than I blame George because it's too drastic a turnaround. Ruth is In Charge. Ruth is In Control. And then . . . she just tosses it all aside in a flurry to track GB. Good gosh. FEMALE is not one of my favorite oldies.

Xavier Cugat next up: X B.

When I think of 'THE FORTUNE COOKIE' I think of the movie firmly as a Comedy-Drama. It seems to have been marketed as a comedy alone. And it's not. I'd opine that Billy Wilder's 1981 movie BUDDY, BUDDY is a comedy and his 1974 remake of 'THE FRONT PAGE' is a comedy. Very little in the way of dramatics in either of those. Not so with THE FORTUNE COOKIE where there's a number of dramatic moments. I've seen THE APARTMENT twice and that's more of a comedy even with its dramatic moments than THE FORTUNE COOKIE. CatPeoplePerson → If you're a glutton for cinematic punishment try and watch the 1981 release SECOND-HAND HEARTS. It's alleged to be a comedy. If you found "The Fortune Cookie" unwatchable try giving "Second-Hand Hearts" a go.

I received in the mails yesterday 2 more movies related to summer camp: 1) G.O.R.P. (1980) I've never seen it before. It's on HBO/Cannon Video. A mid-80s video release. When I saw the listing on eBay last week it was a tape-only sale. GORP is not on DVD and the other VHS release was on some El Cheapo label like VIDEO TREASURES (Ugh! Remember those horribly cheap tapes from the '90s? 95% of them were in LP or EP mode). 2) STUCKEY'S LAST STAND (1980) [PG]. On LIGHTNING VIDEO, a 1985 release. Not on DVD. In a cut box because that was the cheapest way I could find it! It was $19.95 on eBay. There's a couple of sellers on Amazon that have it for $59.99. Too high! I already have plenty of slasher movies that take place at summer camp and I've been wanting to round up more comedy-oriented Camp Flix for my video collection. The most amateurish summer camp flick I've ever seen is the 1984 Canadian movie ODDBALLS. The only good thing in it is comedian Foster Brooks as the camp's owner. He's pretty good. Everything -- and I mean everything -- else about the movie is amateur night. → I don't have high standards for these kind of movies, but even my low-rent standards were compromised by how dopey this was. Directed by Miklos Lente. It's not on DVD, either, and the world is a more betterer place for it. Jeez what a dumb movie. View at own risk! I had a nice VHS of this on "Lightning Video" and gave it away. --------------------------------- ALSO: I noted below someone recently bought a Blu-Ray release of MEATBALLS (1979). I went in the opposite direction. Until approx. 3 years ago I'd never seen "Meatballs". I never rented it back in the day when I used to frequent video stores looking for take-home rental goodies. Anyway, I got it in my head I wanted to find the 1st video release of "Meatballs" and watch the movie that way. I figured out that PARAMOUNT first put it out in 1980 with the 'gatefold carton'-type box and I was able to find a couple of them on eBay. Neither tape was expensive and both tapes are like bricks. Drop them from a 10-story building on to someone's head and you'll give them something painful to remember! The tape I played look near-new despite it being over 30 years old at the time. I reckon it never rented much back when it was perched on rental store shelves. The videocassette still has its factory-applied oval-shaped 'Scotch'-brand sticker on the tape window. Cool. The thing is: You can buy MEATBALLS on Blu-Ray and DVD. You can also find it on various other later-release VHS labels like Video Treasures (gag!) and HBO Video. And 1 other label, too, I believe. (Can't remember that last label offhand, though). ♦I thought I could have my video cake and eat it, too.♦ I wanted to find a collectible video goodie that still played well. The movie was only a year old when Paramount released it so the tape contains a straight transfer of a film print that was still a new movie. Worked well. I did the same thing about 5 years ago with the 1982 slasher film FRIDAY THE 13th, Part 3. The only drawback is the tape is obviously not in W/S and the movie is a widescreen feature. But I did manage to find the 1st release by Paramount with the numerals on the label 'III' instead of the number '3'. A friend of mine mentioned that's how I could tell the 1st-release videocassette from the later ones as the video box remained unchanged when Paramount issued it again with the '3' on the cassette label. I liked the challenge of finding it. The one I did find had an awful box . . . but it contained the first-issue tape. I got a bit lucky, yet it was an inexpensive chance I took on a $2 tape with an 'Acceptable' box. My analytical mind had concluded if the box was a well-worn 'Rental' release the chances were pretty good it contained a 1st-release tape with the 'III' label. And for $2 + shipping it was worth a 'Buy'. I've played the tape 4 or 5 times since it came in to my possession. Plays like a champ. No doubt it hadn't been used for years before I got it.

NICK ADAMS starred in a 1968 Sci•Fi feature with Darren McGavin that was released a few months after Adams' death in February 1968 (at 36). It's MISSION MARS. Also stars George DeVries (an actor I'd never heard of until I watched the movie). Low-budget fun for those in the mood. The old Unicorn VHS release (from circa 1984/85) I watched it on is so primitive the special effects aren't damned obvious so that's actually a +plus+!

I'd never even heard of it until after the Oscar ceremonies ended and I looked on here and noted what picture won BP and the screw-up that went with the presentation. I had at least heard of LA LA LAND and MANCHESTER BY THE SEA before Oscar night.

My last couple of homevideo purchases were not DVD's, but I don't see any reason to create another section for 'Recent Used VHS Buys'. Besides, a couple of my recent purchases are of movies not on DVD anyway. Purchase #1: Summer Camp (1979) [R] Released in 1982 by MEDIA Home Entertainment in a box with a flap. I thought my copy of this movie went mouldy so I snagged another one a few days ago. Turns out I was wrong and my 1st tape is still ok. Alreet then . . . so I've got a spare of "Summer Camp". I've never seen a legal DVD release of this film. Purchase #2: Cartier Affair, The (1984-Tvm) Joan Collins, David Hasselhoff, Telly Savalas, Ed Lauter. On 'Karl-Lorimar Video'. Nice old heavy tape. I have a number of made-for-Tv movies on the Karl-Lorimar label, but I'd never seen this one before. The temptation was too great for me to pass it up. So I bought it. There's still more TVM's I want to get my greedy lil' hands on from 'Karl-Lorimar Video', but I'm pleased as punch to have added "The Cartier Affair" to my video stash.

DAMIEN: THE LEPER PRIEST (1980-Tvm) C-100m. David Janssen worked on this tele-film for just a day or two before he died as 'Father Damien'. Ken Howard replaced Janssen in the role. next: Movie about the advertising business

Post #5 below: ZAGER AND EVANS would be proud, Fedya. If they're still alive! I liked S.F. BROWNRIGG's low-budget Texas film nuggets better than LARRY BUCHANAN's. Buchanan made more movies (some of which had Brownrigg on the crew), but I think Sherald Brownrigg's were better. (S.F. Brownrigg made 4 slow-paced horror/suspense films from 1972-76 and then a comedy in 1986 called THINKIN' BIG. I've never seen "Thinkin' Big", but I have seen all four '70s movies more than once).

Ah, ok. So you're saying PATRICK WARBURTON played a character on "Seinfeld" named 'David Putty'. Now I got it.

What made you think I was kidding, DownGoesFrazier? I'm not a 'noir expert'. I have no idea if there's such a thing as a color 'noirish' film? That's why I asked! Also, I never watched SEINFELD and I have no idea who 'David Putty' is supposed to be and no desire whatsoever to look it up.

I'm sorry to see that ROBERT OSBORNE has passed on. I wonder what his favorite movie was? Or maybe he didn't have 1 particular favorite but a number of them? Can't remember . . . I fully expect him to rest in peace.

Something just popped into my head; maybe I've thought this before but just never typed out a comment . . . Are there any color films that are considered 'film noir'? I can't think of any, but I'm not a 'noir' expert of any sort. ♣SHAMELESS PLUG♣: The black-and-white 1999 movie "THE WOMAN CHASER" starring Patrick Warburton and directed by Robinson Devor. It's set in early '60s Los Angeles with Warburton as a used car dealer who aspires to be a filmmaker. Apparently there was a version of this movie released on cable in color, but I've only seen the VHS release which is in the proper B&W. The movie has that 'look' that can be considered 'noirish'. I've seen it thrice via the tape. Perhaps some of y'all on here might like it as well. I've gotta admit to having read the Leonard Maltin review of this movie in his guide and that's what motivated me to try and find it. I'd never heard of "The Woman Chaser" until I was rifling through my Maltin guide one day over a decade ago and ran across the review. He gave it **½ out of ****. It runs 90 minutes.

TED CASSIDY (1932-1979) was more likely to be related to RICHARD KIEL than Jack or David Cassidy. Also, 'john_m': I believe you're thinking of MARTY INGELS (1936-2015) instead of MARTY ALLEN. (Marty Allen is still with us at age 94. Soon to be 95 later this month). JACK CASSIDY made a couple of appearances on the '70s version of MATCH GAME with Gene Rayburn. On one episode of MATCH GAME '75 Jack opened the show wearing these big, blue electrical gloves and when Gene asked what he was doing he said 'My name is Alec' and then continued 'Alec Trician'.

Speaking of LARRY BUCHANAN movies . . . I bought a Buchanan flick from Something Weird Video. It's THE NAKED WITCH (1964). Filmed in Dallas in 1961 with the sound recording done by future director S.F. BROWNRIGG (the 'S' stood for 'Sherald'). I endeavoured to watch it one day and was done in by quality control 'issues'. At the 51-minute mark of the movie the screen went black so I never saw the end of it. It's not a good movie, but I did want to watch it all the way through. The insert artwork doesn't even depict the correct movie on the front; it shows and describes the 1969 movie 'THE WITCHMAKER'. And so it goes . . .

Huh? I know there's no 'T' is 'masses'. → But there is a 't' in Truth and I capiTalized it. The day I become a 'full-time thinker' my head will explode, btw.

From the 1983-release MORTUARY (filmed in 1981, btw): A deranged BILL PAXTON (to David Wallace): "I will embalm you before you die!!"

If you're seeking more info on JACK CASSIDY you can go to findadeath.com and read about what happened early in the morning on Dec. 12, 1976. It is noted Cassidy owned the building he resided in and lived on the top floor. There's lots of other nuggets of info there, too. Like his Death Certificate. Some of the info is morbid since he didn't die of natural causes surrounded by loving family members. He was 49. Jack appeared in a number of made-for-television films, including one that was aired on television after his death. Dig this tele-flick review from the 1990 Leonard Maltin's TV Movies and Video Guide: Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977) C-76m. D: Ron Satlof. Starring Terry "Dead Bernie" Kiser, Tim Thomerson, Jack Colvin (who later got a nice Tv gig on "The Incredible Hulk"), Jane Seymour, Jack Cassidy, Hugh O'Brian, Pat Harrington, Rodney Dangerfield, Marty Allen, George Gobel, Bobby Troup, Dick Gautier. PLOT: Cops moonlight as Vegas performers to thwart kidnapping of top entertainer. Banal adventure; busted Tv pilot. Below Average Another JACK CASSIDY tele-pic → The Phantom of Hollywood (1974-Tvm) C-78m.

I, MR. G, am a part-time thinker. I speak Truth to the masses with a capital 'T'. Just today -- three little minutes ago while reading other posts on this thread -- I concluded ballet dancers are thoughtful when they need to get up at night for any reason. They walk on their tippy-toes so as not to wake anyone else up. Also . . . more Truth: It's easy to win a popularity contest when you're the only one running.

Perhaps I could blow the minds of some of America's hipster utes. I'll make up some dopey acronym and they'll go bonkers trying to figure out what it means . . . Instead of typing ROFL (Rolling On Floor Laughing, I think) how 'bout QZDJVXUMFS! ? Quit Zayin' Dis Jive Vass Xzhit U Mo Fo's! Now I feel super-intelligent and downright 'urban' for coming with the nonsense above.

It occurred to me that RICHARD BURTON played a priest several times in film (defrocked in NIGHT OF THE IGUANA, a strict headmaster in ABSOLUTION and the head of the school in THE SANDPIPER) and I note JOAN COLLINS is playing a nun to whom Burton is attracted in THE SEA WIFE. Hmm . . . reminds me of that old joke. Q: What kind of meat do priests eat? A: Nun!

The low-brow 1985 prison-based comedy DOIN' TIME premiered on TCM a couple months ago. I'd seen it before and watched it again. It's only 1 hr 20 mins. And it's not a good movie, but there are some laughs to be had if you're in the right mood. Note that Ben M. and director Frank D. made mention before DOIN' TIME started it was not high art. Not even close. FAST FORWARD: Now we have tonight's 'comedy' SECOND-HAND HEARTS (filmed in '79 and only released in NYC and LA in 1981 according to Ben). I tried to watch this movie once years ago. Not on homevideo as this film was so bad it never rated a U.S. VHS or ßeta release by Paramount or Warner or any other company. The Leonard Maltin review of this picture is quite accurate I feel. I could not get through the whole movie because it is a pointless and confusing mess of uninvolving and unfunny scenes. And that's being KIND! GAWD what an awful film. I did not note on the intro Ben mentioning just how atrocious 'Second-Hand Hearts' is like he and Frank Darabont hinted in regards to DOIN' TIME. "Second-Hand Hearts" is worse. I haven't found a single laugh to be had as I've been forcing myself to watch it. ♦This has got to be one of the worst movies ever made of any genre.♦ Robert Blake made an average comedy in 1980 with Dyan Cannon called COAST TO COAST where he plays a truck driver. It looks quite good in comparison to this festive feature of badness. If someone reading this has any idea what director Ashby and/or scriptwriter Eastman were trying to 'achieve' with this film I'd be most curious to know. Looking at the dates Hal Ashby made this right after BEING THERE with Peter Sellers and then made LOOKIN' TO GET OUT right after SECOND-HAND HEARTS. (Bert Remsen appeared in both, but not "Being There"). SECOND-HARD HEARTS was finally released on DVD-R by Warner Archives a few years ago. Those lucky viewers who bought the disc thinking it was "hidden gem" will find out otherwise very quickly once they start watching! Yikes. Bring on COAST TO COAST. It's at least watchable.

Y'know, film lover 293, you might just dig another monster movie. It's GODZILLA VS. THE CADILLAC ALLANTE (1990). It seems The Big Fella really didn't like two-seat '80s roadsters so GodzyBaby done got all huffed up and tried to send Allante's off the road for good by swapping the small-but-fancy Caddy's engine! → During the night Godzilla would, uh, sneak around replacing every Allante engine he could find with an early '70s Vega aluminum four -OR- he'd be even more sneakier and put that 8-6-4 variable displacement engine Cadillac used circa 1981 that didn't go over very well into the remaining Allante's he found. Heh Heh. The movie has a happy ending. Or something. A group of drug-addled engineers at GM finally mow down Godzilla with a Gatling Gun and leave Godzi-Guts all over a used car lot. It's a corker of a finish! Blood, guts and more Godzilla innards everywhere.

Thanks for the info, Lawrence. I never would've remembered 'PROMISE HER ANYTHING'. And I note the recent Beatty flick title is 'RULES DON'T APPLY'. With Jack Nicholson being in almost 3 times the number of movies as Beatty I'd be lucky to remember 30 of his movies out of the 63. One thing I recall: Nicholson directed, but did not star in, the 1972 movie "Drive, He Said".