RIP HARRY DEAN STANTON 1926-2017

One of the best character actors of the screen has passed away.

Stanton began his 63 year career in 1954 in an episode of the Inner Sanctum TV show and never looked back.

He had many, many roles in TV shows thru the 50's and 60's and some of his most memorable movie roles as well. I remember him from Two Lane Blacktop, Dillinger, and Farewell, My Lovely, and those are all 70's films.

The two movie appearances that stick in my mind most however are Alien in which Stanton played Brett and the Escape From New York as Brain. Both of these roles were standouts for Stanton.

His performances were always a bit off the wall, but that is what made Harry so damned unforgettable in the world of cinema. He was one of a kind and he will be missed.

Harry Dean Stanton passed away on Sept. 15th, 2017 at the age of 91.

ONE MILLION B.C. 1940 (VCI) BLU-RAY

Finally, this classic gem comes to home entertainment.

For years the only way I had seen this was from a 200' reel of film from Castle Films and then many years later on a copy I taped from TCM.

Now VCI has made this available and it's a very welcome addition to my Blu-ray collection. Victor Mature and Carole Landis star in this Hal Roach film about two people from different prehistoric tribes that meet and have many challenges together.

The dinosaur footage has been used in countless thousands of low budget 50's sci-fi films, but it's fun to see it complete and unexpurgated here. Mature is good in his role of Tumac, but it's Landis who steals the show as Luana.

the actress who dies way too young at the age of 29 is extremely striking here and brings across a naive energy to her role. Lon Chaney, Jr. is the leader of the violent tribe from which Tumac belongs.

Hammer remade this in 1966 with Raquel Welch and John Richardson in the roles, and I love that film too, but this is the one to watch first, and the Blu-ray presentation has this movie looking fantastic. Everything about this film works, and I highly recommend it.

This was a very ambitious production for 1940.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Jennifer Tilly is 59, and Linda Henning is 73.

SHEENA 2000-2002 (MILL CREEK)

This TV show ran for 2 years and I found it entertaining for a variety of reasons.

The first reason is, of course Gena Lee Nolin in the title role. An eye popping Sheena for sure. The second is that most of the 35 episodes were all very interesting and had some unique ideas in them.

Season one consisted on 22 episodes while season 2 only had 13. I didn't watch the show during it's original run as I was too busy with business. The presentation from Mill Creek is very well done.

John Allen Nelson also stars as Cutter, a man running a guide service in Africa who befriends Sheena and they have a lot of adventures together. If you like action and adventure mixed with fun I cannot see why you wouldn't like this show.

Sheena has the ability to change into any animal she wants as well as a demonic beast called the Darak'na which she does when things get really out of hand.

This show came to TV and ended right on the cusp of the TV industry turning into a swamp of garbage and trash which is still is today and from what I can see will always be.

So, if you want to see what TV was like just before it changed, here is your chance, and you could do a lot worse. Again, I enjoyed the show a lot and I think you will to.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Henry Silva is 89.

RASPUTIN THE MAD MONK 1963 (TCM VIEWING)

Don Sharp directed this interesting Hammer film starring Christopher Lee.

This has always been considered an odd film for Hammer to tackle, but it's not too bad. I hadn't seen this film for years since I owned the VHS, and, of course, it's not available on DVD or Blu-ray here in the USA.

Lee stars as Raputin, a lowly monk who quickly rises to power in the Russian hierarchy to become a very powerful figure. After he cures an very sick and fevered woman in a small tavern he seduces another young woman, gets into a fight, chops off a man's hand and disappears.

Rasputin falls in love with a beautiful woman named Sonia (Barbara Shelley) and immediately puts her under his total control. Slowly thru mind control he works his way to power and a few people see that he must be stopped before others die.

Lee is perfect as Grigori Rasputin and he tackles the role with great energy. There has always been a lot of criticism of this film because it doesn't pay attention to the Russian politics of the day, but it really matters not. This is, after all, a movie, and yep it's a lot of fiction, but that is how it should be.

The rest of the cast includes Richard Pasco, Francis Matthews, Suzan Farmer and Josh Ackland. I am still waiting for this to come to Blu-ray in the USA.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Joey Heatherton is 73, and Ashlyn Gere is 58.

AN EYE FOR AN EYE 1966 (TCM VIEWING)

Here is another western I had never heard of until I saw it on TCM.

One of my favorite actors, Robert Lansing stars in this fine film. He plays a former bounty hunter, Talion, whose wife is raped and killed along with his young child at the beginning of the film.

He seeks revenge on the three men who committed the crime and he teams with a younger bounty hunter to get the deed done. The younger man is Benny Wallace (Patrick Wayne) and they soon become good friends with a similar cause. Both men are seeking the same three killers led by Ike Slant (Slim Pickens).

Pickens has a great time playing the baddie here and he does one hell of a job. Lansing's cool laid back style is a perfect contrast to Pickens grinning, laughing killer.

As the story progresses Talion is shot in his gun hand and Wallace is blinded by a gunshot, yet the two men never stop their pursuit of the killer.

This is a well written story by Bing Russell and Sumner Williams with the directing chores handled by Michael D. Moore (no not the liberal scumbag). The rest cast includes Clint Howard, Gloria Talbott (her final film), Paul Fix, Strother Martin, Rance Howard and Henry Wills.

If you are a fan of westerns, I suggest you try and find this film. It's a good one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Alexandra Delli Colli is 60.

SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE 1955-1956 (MILL CREEK)

One of the best 50's TV shows.

I have seen many episodes of this show from various companies over the years and all have been of varying quality. There are five episodes available from Mill Creek on their Sheena set, and for the most part they are watchable.

The five episodes are "The Rival Queen", "The Leopard Men", "The Renegades", "The Sacred River" and "The Test". Irish McCalla played the jungle queen and she set the standard high from the get go.

She looks great in her leopard skin outfit and can handle any situation. I believe I read somewhere that some of the episodes of this show are lost and that really sucks. It ran for one season which is also a shame.

I was hoping someone would turn out all of these episodes someday on a remastered set. It was nice to see the five they have included here, but I can never get enough of Irish McCalla.

As I mentioned, there are other episodes from other companies, so if you want to see anymore, check em out. Highly recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Tiffany Shepis is 38, Earl Holliman is 89, Lola Falana is 75, and Paul Heyman is 52.

THE SWIMMER 1968 (GRINDHOUSE RELEASING) BLU-RAY

This could be the oddest movie I have ever seen.

Burt Lancaster stars in this bizarre film from Frank Perry. Lancaster is Ned Merrill, who appears one day out of the woods and in a friends swimming pool.

He meets and greets all of the people he knows and they have a warm friendship. Merrill tells them of his plan to swim all of the pools in the neighborhood until he reaches his home on the other side. This strikes people as bizarre, but then again Merrill always had strange ideas, at least that is the prospective we pick up listening to conversations.

As he slowly makes his way home the relationships he has with people start to deteriorate into fights and arguments and self doubt. Ned even finds himself getting cold from all the swimming. Even the quality of the pools begins to go down as we are treated from everything starting with a luxury pool at the beginning to a very crowded public pool towards the end.

There are a lot of allegorical symbolism in this film and you really have to pay attention to see it, at least for a while. The ending is shockingly sad and unnerving. As you watch the film unfold you get the idea that something is wrong, but you don't know how wrong it really is.

Sadly the film did nothing at the boxoffice back in 1968, and I believe that is because the film was and still is misunderstood by many film fans. It is ONE OF A KIND.

There are several interpretations to the ending one could use, an I will let everyone decide for themselves. Director Perry made some very unique films, and for some reason most of the are not available, which simply blows my mind.

This and "Ladybug, Ladybug" are my two favorite Perry movies I have seen. If you get a chance, check out this stunning Blu-ray presentation and entertain yourself with one of the most bizarre films ever made. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Judy Geeson is 69, and Fred Olen Ray is 63.

LADYBUG LADYBUG 1963 (TCM VIEWING)

One of the best films I have ever seen!!

Why this film isn't available on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray astonishes me. It's a Frank Perry masterpiece.

At a secluded rural school a nuclear alarm goes off and the principle cannot seem to find out why it is going off. He then proceeds to evacuate the school as per the rules of the times.

Some of the children are bused home but others are split into two groups and taken on foot by teachers to their respective homes. Along the way we learn of the children and their likes, dislikes and their thoughts on nuclear war. Some of the children are terrified and when they arrive home they cannot their parents to believe them.

When several children go to one girls house they hold up in a bomb shelter and the conflicts start almost immediately. This film is a master work in dealing with how children of all ages and many different backgrounds would react to imminent nuclear war.

The end of the film is both shocking and totally unforgettable. Two very interesting characters meets tragic ends by no fault of their own. I guess what this boils down to is that good intentions can go seriously wrong.

I saw this many years ago on a PBS station and hadn't seen it until last week, but it was always in my mind. A truly stunning film and one that should be more widely available.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Jeffrey Combs is 63, Rachel Hunter is 48, and David Emge is 71.