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Sunday, March 31, 2019

COLORADO KID 1937 (FILM DETECTIVE)

Fun little B Western from Supreme Studios.

Bob Steele stars as the title character whose real name we never learn.

A baddie named Hines (Karl Hackett) kills a ranch owner named Colonel Gifford (Horace Murphey) and steals his money. The Colorado Kid is framed for this murder and arrested by the Sheriff (Ted Adams).

Colorado is sentenced to be hanged but escapes from jail to clear his name. The crooked Sheriff Bill Hannon and Hines plus hit henchmen, Hendry (Bud Buster) and Leathers (Kenne Duncan) seek to kill Colorado.

Colorado comes upon a friendly man named Toles (Frank LaRue) who offers to hid Colorado and help prove his innocence. Toles daughter Irma (Marion Weldon) falls for Colorado and also helps him. She is actually the one who is instrumental in bring everything to a climax and having the criminals arrested.

Sam Newfield handled the directing chores on this film, and it comes across as a fum but standard B Western. Steel made tons of these films during the 30's and early 40's and I have seen a few of them, and plan on watching many more.

When I was a child my mother and I were watching a western whose title has long faded from memory and it too starred Bob Steele. She made the comment about how much she just disliked this particular actor. I never knew why she disliked Steele so much, but every time I see him in a movie I remember her saying that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Christopher Walken is 76, and Richard Chamberlain is 85.

Saturday, March 30, 2019

SON OF INGAGI 1940 (SINISTER CINEMA)

One of the oddest films I have ever seen, but very enjoyable as well.

This SACK Amusement production concerns a women who has spent most of her life in Africa and brings back an ape man she calls N'Gina (Zack Williams).

After the woman in killed in an accident involving N'Gina a young couple move into her house since it was willed to the young woman named Eleanor (Daisy Bufford). Eleanor's husband Robert (Alfred Grant) suspects something is wrong in the house and that is soon proven by a mysterious murder.

A dim witted but kind policeman named Nelson (Spencer Williams, Jr.) is called in to solve the case. After another killing and Daisy is kidnapped everyone discovers that N'Gina was still living in the basement and committed the crimes.

This is one of the very few all black cast films that was made during the late 30's and early 40's. This is the only one I have seen, but I am tracking down a few of the others. This particular film is well done for what it is. The print isn't in the best of shape as it hasn't been taken care of. I would love to see this re-mastered.

The acting isn't always the best, but that should not stop you from watching this very interesting slice of American film history. This film is done much the way of Monogram and PRC. A HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ODDITY.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

John Astin is 89,and Dana Gillespie is 70.

Friday, March 29, 2019

RIP SHANE RIMMER 1929-2019

The prolific British actor has passed away.

Rimmer appeared in 165 movies over a career that spanned 60 years. He was in such TV series as "Secret Agent", "Space 1999" and many others.

I remember Shane most from such films as "The Spy Who Loved Me", "Diamonds Are Forever" and "People That Time Forgot". Rimmer did a lot of voice over work in his later years, but I know that you've all seen him in something, especially if you have seen and British TV series in the last 35 years.

Shane Rimmer passed away on March 29th at the age of 89.

BIRTH OF THE LIVING DEAD 2013 (GLASS EYE PICS)

Another top notch documentary about one of the most influential films ever made.

This tells the story of how George A. Romero managed to make his ground breaking horror film under incredible circumstances with very little money and trying to get it released in a very turbulent time in American history.

It's always good to hear Romero talk about this film and every documentary about the film always has a few new things to learn.

The most interesting part for me was seeing young children watching this film in a film class and enjoying the hell out of it and the having the professor ask them questions about the film. The answers the children give are amazing.

This documentary also points out very clearly that if it were not for Romero and his film the zombie film as we know it today wouldn't exist, and that is very true. Gale Anne Hurd, Mark Harris, Larry Fessenden and Elvis Mitchell as well as many other tell interesting stories about the film and it's impact on movie history.

A very interesting and entertaining way to spend 76 minutes, and if you're a fan of the film you shouldn't miss it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Lucy Lawless is 51.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

INVASION OF THE SCREAM QUEENS 1992 (WILD EYE)

Another interesting documentary about the world of low budget film.

Donald Farmer directed this look at some of the women who made 70's, 80's and 90's horror films worth seeing.

The first woman is the delectable Brinke Stevens who is always fascinating to listen to. Man I wish I had known women like her when I was in school.She considered herself a freak because she liked horror films and her fellow students often referred to her as a "werewolf" because of her eyebrows. To me she would have been a dream date.

We also hear from Michelle Bauer, Martine Beswick, Janus Blythe, Ruth Collins, Monique Gabrielle, Elizabeth Kaitan, Mary Woronov and Melissa Moore just to name a few.

My favorites to listen to include Elizabeth Kaitan whom I'll never forget in Slave Girls From Beyond Infinity. A very intelligent woman and well worth listening to. Also Melissa Moore, the 6 ft. blonde bombshell who happens to share the very same birthday with yours truly. Monique Gabrielle is always worth listening to and drooling over.

All of these women made the movies they appeared in better than they should have been and it's a shame women like these just don't exist in the movie world anymore. These women are eye candy for movies yet they can act and know what they want.

All in all a great way to spend 90 minutes looking at some of the delicious women and getting their point of view on what they have done in cinema. RECOMMENDED!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Richard Backus is 74, and Robin Hawdon is 80.

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

THE PSYCHOTRONIC MAN 1980 (AMAZON PRIME)

An amazing film to say the least.

I used to own a VHS copy of this film that was sent to me by the director Jack M. Sell. I first saw this on "Commander USA's Groovy Movies" on the USA Network many years ago.

Peter Spelson stars as Rocky Foscoe, a Chicago barber who for some reason has acquired so amazing mental powers. While trying to cut a childs hair he experiences pain in his head and moving objects. This scene is quite well done and Rocky flees from the shop while the mother is outraged that he didn't finish the job.

Foscoe finds that this strange power he has is getting out of control very quickly and he cannot stop it. He kills a few more people and soon finds the police on his tale.

The movie barely touches on Rocky's bad marriage or his quick affair with a female salon owner and more times than not the story gets out of control. However, this was the first movie to be totally filmed in Chicago, and that is a story unto itself, I just don't have time to write about it now, but suffice to say up until this movie, it was illegal to film in the Windy City.

If you enjoy low budget regional horror films, then I would highly recommend this little obscure gem. A look at a Chicago long gone.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Julian Glover is 84, Talisa Soto is 52, Michael York is 77, and June Wilkinson is 79.

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

STRANGLER OF THE SWAMP 1946 (IMAGE)

One of the best films ever made from PRC.

This film reeks of gothic images and horror. As the movie opens we learn that several people have been murdered in the swamp and many of the locals believe that the killer is the ghost of an innocent man they hung.

A young woman comes out to see her father and discovers he died shortly before she arrived, a victim of the curse. The woman, Maria (lovely Rosemary Le Planche) takes over her father's business of running a ferry across the swamps and soon finds herself wooed by a young man named Christian Sanders (Blake Edwards).

Everything builds to a confrontation between Maria and the killer ghost played by Charles Middleton. Frank Wisbar directed this film and as I stated earlier, this is one of the best PRC films ever made.

We get some pretty haunting photography and ghostly images of Middleton's Ferryman Douglas seeking victims. The beautiful Le Planche was a former Miss America in 1941 and her last film role was in 1949. She married and then concentrated on being a wife and mother of two children. Sadly she passed away way too young at the age of 55 in 1979 from cancer.

This film is simply a MUST see for horror fans, and I believe most of you may have already seen it, but if you haven't you should check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Diana Ross is 75, Joan Harvey 84, and Scotty Morrow is 73.

Monday, March 25, 2019

RIP JOSEPH PILATO 1949-2019

Capt. Rhodes is gone.

Pilato started his career in 1978 in George Romero's "Dawn Of The Dead" and then moved onto "Effects" a bizarre and well made film shot in Pittsburgh.

Pilato appeared in many movies but his best known role was as Capt. Rhodes in George Romero's "Day Of The Dead" in 1985. Joe was a very nice man in real life and loved his fans and was always willing to talk with them wherever he was.

Joseph Pilato just turned 70 less than 10 days ago. He died on March 24th in his sleep. RIP Capt. Rhodes.

BELATED BIRTHDAY TO...

Meiko Kaji turned 74 on March 24th.

CHLOE 1934 (ALPHA)

A pretty good film from Pinnacle Productions.

This is a pretty simple horror tale about a voodoo priestess who comes out of a Louisiana swamp in order to take revenge on a white plantation owner whom she believes killed her husband.

Olive Borden is Chloe, a young woman raised by Mandy (Georgette Harvey) who is a voodoo priestess. Chloe has been told by Mandy that she is her daughter after she rescued her from drowning in the swamp when she was a child.

When Chloe finds out her real father is still alive and reunites with him it send Mandy into a rage and she wants to kill Chloe's father.

This is an extremely low budget affair from a very obscure studio. It is not without merit however and contrary to many liberal claims, it is not racist at all.

I do wish the quality was better, but I am sure nobody will ever remaster a film like this. If you're curious about this film with a mostly black cast I'd say check it out and don;t worry about all the PC bull. Make up your own mind on this one.

The star Olive Borden died young and penniless in a skid row women shelter in 1947 after she left the WACS. A tragic story to a once growing career in the movies.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

RIP LARRY COHEN 1941-2019

One of the greatest directors ever has passed away.

Larry Cohen needs no introduction to people on this blog. Cohen directed many. many genre films including some of my favorites including "Black Caesar", "Hell Up In Harlem", "It's Alive", "God Told Me To", "It Lives Again", "The Stuff" and many more.

Cohen had his own style of making films and every one of them had a special style to them. A typical example was "Q", a great movie about a giant flying monster in New York, a favorite place for Cohen to film.

Larry was a great man who knew what his audience wanted and he gave it to them. He was a film maker whom I admired very, very much. Damn, another one of a kind film makers who is no longer with us. Cohen died on March 23rd at the age of 77.

His legion of fans will miss him, but his legacy will never die. RIP Larry Cohen.

THE TIME TUNNEL VOL. 2 1966-1967 (FOX)

This set contains the final 15 episodes of this very entertaining Irwin Allen series. As you'll see towards the end of the series the writers clearly were running out of ideas, but that does not mean the shows were not entertaining.

THE REVENGE OF ROBIN HOOD 12-30-66...Tony and Doug try and stop King John from capturing Robin Hood and not signing the Magna Carta. An interesting show to say the least.

KILL TWO BY TWO 1-6-67...The two time travelers are stuck on a small pacific island with two Japanese soldiers and must fight for their lives in a bizarre game. Mako, Philip Ahn and Kam Tong star.

VISITORS FROM BEYOND THE STARS 1-13-67...Doug and Tony materialize on a spaceship where two aliens are plotting the destruction of Earth. To make matters worse the time on Earth is the year 1885. Jan Merlin, Fred Beir Ross Elliot and Tris Coffin star. To me this was a very good mixture of genres and ideas.

THE GHOST OF NERO 1-20-67...During a military action between Germans and Italians during World War 1, Tony and Doug are trapped in an old villa and haunted by the ghost of Nero. Again, this is a cleaver mix of ideas and comes off very well. Eduardo Ciannelli, Richard Jaeckel and John Hoyt star.

THE WALLS OF JERICO 1-27-66...One of my all time favorite episodes. Doug and Tony appear outside the tent of Joshua, and he sends the two men as spies to infiltrate the walled city of Jerico. Rhodes Reason is Joshua and the rest of the cast includes Tiger Joe Marsh, Myrna Fahey and the gorgeous Lisa Gaye.

IDOL OF DEATH 2-3-67...The travelers land in Mexico where Cortez is seeking a golden mask and many other riches. Like the previous episode mentioned above, this is an above average episode with plenty of action and violence.

BILLY THE KID 2-10-67...Tony and Doug land in 1881 New Mexico during a jailbreak by outlaw Billy The Kid. Tony is mistaken for the kid and almost lynched in this well told story. Robert Walker is Billy. The others in the cast include Allen Case and Harry Lauter.

PIRATES OF DEADMAN'S ISLAND 2-17-67...Victor Jory stars in this episode where Tony and Doug find themselves captives of brutal pirates off the Barbary Coast in 1805.

CHASE THROUGH TIME 2-24-67...One of the best episodes made. The time travelers find themselves in the Grand Canyon in 1547, but at the same time a spy named Raul Nimon invades the project, kills a scientist and hides a small nuclear device at Operation Tic-Tok HQ. Tony and Doug find themselves chasing Nimon from 1 million AD to 1 million BC in order to find the bomb. Robert Duvall stars.

THE DEATH MERCHANT 3-3-67...At the battle of Gettysburg Doug and Tony must also stop Machiavelli who has traveled in time due to the Time Tunnel. This is another great episode dealing with various people in different times. Kevin Hagen and Malachi Throne star.

ATTACK OF THE BARBARIANS 3-10-67...Doug and Tony must help Marco Polo (John Saxon) defeat the Mongols and Tony falls in love with a beautiful woman named Sarit (Vitina Marcus). Paul Mantee and Arthur Bananides also star.

MERLIN THE MAGICIAN 3-17-67...Tony and Doug are stolen in time by Merlin The Magician to aid King Arthur. A very bizarre episode starring Vincent Beck.

THE KIDNAPPERS 3-24-67...A Time Tunnel member, Dr. Ann MacGregor (Lee Meriwether) is kidnapped by an alien from the future played by Del Monroe who was a regular on "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" as Kowalski. Doug and Tony are sent 6000 years into the future to save her and the entire human race. Michael Ansara stars.

RAIDERS FROM OUTER SPACE 3-31-67...As you can see the final four episodes of this show were bizarre indeed. This time Tony and Doug are sent to 1883 during the Battle Of Khartoum and not only get caught up in that battle but must also fight aliens who are trying to destroy all life on Earth. Kevin Hagen stars.

TOWN OF TERROR 4-7-67...The final episode of the series. Doug and Tony arrive in 1978 and stumble upon aliens planning on draining the Earth of all of it's oxygen. Vincent Beck is the alien leader and beautiful Heather Young also stars. Young would go on to star in Irwin Allen's "Land Of The Giants".

I really like this show and wish it had run a few more years, but the final four episodes really show that the writers were running out of ideas, although these were indeed bizarre and entertaining stories. If you have never seen this show, I suggest you check it out. They actually tried to revive this show in 2002, but as usual they couldn't. That pilot is also available on Vol. 2 as well as a TV movie called "The Time Travelers" which I will review here in the near future.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

William Smith is 86, and C.J. Perry is 34.

Saturday, March 23, 2019

THE DEVIL'S DAUGHTER 1939 (ALPHA)

Another interesting film from SACK Amusement.

This is an all black horror film dealing with a young woman named Sylvia Walton (Ida James) returning to a Jamaican banana plantation after being in New York for several years.

Her half sister Isabella (Nina Mae McKinney) resents her for returning as she wants the entire plantation for herself and the man she loves. Isabella decides to take matters into her own hands when Sylvia says she is staying and running the operation.

Isabella then uses local "obeah" superstitions to manipulate the locals and turn them against Sylvia. This plan almost works, but the descends into bloodshed and violence.

The ending has Sylvia and Isabella somewhat making up and deciding the hatred isn't worth and more loss. The beautiful Ida James only made three films in her career and this was her first. She did have a good singing career however. Nina Mae McKinney was also a very lovely woman who was billed later in her career as "The Black Garbo" and her life was cut short at the age of 54 from a heart attack. It's a shame she has become so forgotten in this day and age.

This film isn't for everyone, but it is much more than just an artifact as I have read elsewhere. I liked this creaky little film and some of the light comedy was good to.

If you're so inclined, check it out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Corinne Clery is 69, Barbara Rhoades is 73, and Monique van Vooren is 92.

Friday, March 22, 2019

THE TIME TUNNEL VOLUME 1 1966-1967 (FOX)

Volume 1 of this one season show contains the first 15 episodes. This show starred James Darren and Robert Colbert as the time travelers. The supporting cast included Lee Meriwether as Dr, Ann McGregor, Whit Bissell as General Heywood Kirk and John Zaremba as Dr. Raymond Swain.

RENDEZVOUS WITH YESTERDAY 9-9-66...This is the pilot episode for the show. In this episode we are introduced to Project Tic-Toc, a super secret Government project involving time travel. Two scientists, Dr, Tony Newman (James Darren) and Dr. Doug Phillips (Robert Colbert) are trapped in the corridors of time after a test for a Government official. In this episode they are aboard the Titanic and desperately try to warn the Captain of impending disaster. Michael Rennie stars. Show creator Irwin Allen directed this episode.

ONE WAY TO THE MOON 9-16-66... Tony and Doug are hurled from the Titanic onto a spaceship headed for the moon ten years in the future. Warren Stevens stars in this unique episode.

END OF THE WORLD 9-23-66...Tony and Doug end up 1910 during a huge mining disaster. They find nobody is interested in helping the men escape from the caved in mine as they all believe that the world is coming to an end because of Halley's Comet. Paul Fix stars.

DAY THE SKY FELL IN 9-30-66...Doug and Tony arrive in Pearl Harbor the day before the Japanese attack and Tony tries to make contact with his father whose body was never found after the attack. Linden Chiles and Susan Flannery star.

THE LAST PATROL 10-7-66...Doug and Tony are caught by the British army during one of the last bloody battles of the war of 1812. Carroll O' Conner stars.

CRACK OF DOOM 10-14-66...The two time travelers find themselves on Krakatoa between Java and Sumatra just a few short hours before Krakatoa explodes. Torin Thatcher stars as a scientist who is living on the island with his daughter and doing research on the island.

REVENGE OF THE GODS 10-21-66...Tony and Doug are transported to the year 1200 BC. They find themselves in the middle of a war between the Trojans and the Greeks.Both are mistaken for Gods by Ulysses (John Doucette). Dee Hartford, Paul Carr and Joseph Ruskin also star.

MASSACRE 10-28-66...The two men find themselves in the summer of 1876. They find several soldiers slaughtered by Indians. Captured by the Indians they realize that they are soon to witness the battle of Little Bighorn. Joe Maross stars.

DEVIL'S ISLAND 11-11-66...One of the best episodes of the series finds Doug and Tony stuck on Devil's Island with very little hope of survival. They plot an escape but it doesn't work out as planned. Oscar Beregi and Marcel Hillaire star.

REIGN OF TERROR 11-18-66...Doug and Tony find themselves in the French Revolution and involved in a plot to rescue Marie Antoinette (Monique LeMaire). Another great episode also starring David Opatoshu.

SECRET WEAPON 11-25-66...An interesting premise on this episode. Doug and Tony find themselves in Russia in 1956. They soon receive a message from the Time Tunnel to meet someone called "Alexis". They do and this mysterious person takes them to a lab where they are to help complete a Time Tunnel being built by a scientist named Anton Biraki (Nehemiah Persoff). Michael Ansara also stars.

THE DEATH TRAP 12-2-66...Doug and Tony are transported to February 1861 and must stop an attempted assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Scott Marlowe and Tom Skerritt star.

THE ALAMO 12-9-66...Tony and Doug arrive at The Alamo just a few hours before the fatal battle. This is one of the bleakest episodes as it carries a heavy message of doom from beginning to end. Rhodes Reason, John Lupton and Jim Davis star.

NIGHT OF THE LONG KNIVES 12-16-66...Doug and Tony find themselves in 19th century Asia and meet Rudyard Kipling who is currently writing for a British newspaper and covering an uprising.

INVASION 12-23-1966...In occupied France in 1944 Doug is brainwashed into becoming a Nazi officer and his orders are to kill Tony. Meanwhile Tony helps the French underground while awaiting June 6th, 1944 to arrive in just 48 hours. Lyle Bettger and John Wengraf star.

So ends the first 15 episodes of the series. Irwin Allen put a lot of heart and soul into this show as he did all of his productions. As we will see when I review the final 15 episodes, the quality started to go down as rating were not what ABC liked and so, as usual everything started to go down hill.

However, there were still plenty of great little episodes left in the series.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

William Shatner is 88, and May Britt is 86.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

REVENGE OF THE VIRGINS 1959 (FILM DETECTIVE)

An odd western to say the least.

I'd heard of this but never had a chance to view it until the other day. Ed Wood gets credit for writing the story under the name Pete La Roche and if it's true then so be it.

A small group of people including actor Henry Darrow as Wade Conner, set out looking for gold at a place called "Gold Creek" which also happens to be in Indian territory.

On the journey they are spied upon by topless Indian women and soon find their little group joined by two deserters from the Cavalry. One of these deserters is played by none other than Del Monroe who went on to play Kowalski on "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" for all four years of it's run.

The lovely Indian women kill off members of the party one at a time. You rarely see the women in the same scenes with the other actors, and there are many day for night shots, which is not uncommon for low budget films.

I hate to admit it, but I liked this film because it is unlike anything I have seen in a very long time, if ever. Henry Darrow is an actor most people will remember from "High Chaparral" and seeing him in this was quite a shock. but everyone has to start somewhere. The music is by Guenther Kauer and is the same that was used in the film "Astounding She Monster". Hearing that music applied to a western is a dis-jointed affair and tends to affect the mind to some degree.

The movie only runs 58 minutes and it actually does move along fairly well. Jewell Morgan, Nona Carver and Betty Shay are just three of the topless Indians women shooting arrows and killing people. The film is narrated by Kenne Duncan who acted in many of Ed Woods films.

If you want to see something odd, then check this out.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

DEATH RAGE 1976 (MILL CREEK)

Odd crime thriller from Mill Creek.

Antonio Margheriti directed this well done but somewhat lackluster film.

Yul Brynner is Peter Marciani a retired hit man who travels to Italy to kill a mobster named Gallo (Giancarlo Sbragia) who is responsible for the death of Peter's son.

Martin Balsam is a police commissioner who learns that Marciani has arrived in Rome and wants to stop him. Meanwhile a small time hood named Angelo (Massimo Raineri) offers to help Peter with his killing and Peter shows him how to kill people quickly and efficiently.

Peter also falls in love with a lovely young woman named Anny (Barbara Bouchet) and while this complicates matters a bit, it still isn't going to stop the killing.

Peter finally succeeds in his mission only to be shot down himself. Angelo flees the scene and at a funeral kills the man who killed Peter, and you can just tell his rise in organized crime has started.

This isn't too bad of a film, but it does have the tendency to go all over the place. Bouchet is gorgeous as always and it's interesting to note that she and Brynner played loves on screen but didn't like each other in real life. She thought he was a very rude and cruel man.

It's a good way to kill 90 minutes, but nothing special as far as crime films go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Ursula Andress is 83, A.J. Mendez is 32, and Jeanne Roland is 82.

Monday, March 18, 2019

MORE HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES...

Peggy Dow is 91.

RIP JOHN CARL BUECHLER 1952-2019

The man Roger Corman called "the best make-up effects man in the business" has died.

John Carl Buechler was one of the last great make-up effects men in the movie business. He worked on many, many genre films and I bet you've seen some of his work.

His two most famous films were "Cellar Dweller" and "Mausoleum". He also worked on such classics as "Deathstalker", "Re-Animator", "Bride Of Re-Animator", "Dolls", and "Forbidden World" just to name a few.

Buechler also handled the directing chores on "Cellar Dweller", "Troll" and many others.

A multi talented man who made low budget films enjoyable with some of his incredible creations. He passed away on March 17th at the age of 66 from prostate cancer. Thank you Mr. Buechler for making my movie going experience a little better.

DANGER! DEATH RAY 1967 (AMAZON PRIME)

A pretty uneventful Italian spy film.

Gordon Scott stars as secret agent Bart Fargo.

His mission is to find the kidnappers of a scientist who has developed a death ray. You know, usually I like films like these, but this one is terrible.

I cannot fathom how a movie with Gordon Scott, Delfi Mauro and Silvia Solar can be so bad. This is one of my favorite "sub-genres" of movies and nothing works. The opening sequences involving the kidnapping are very well done, but everything else just falls flat.

The action sequences are slow and lame and nothing really seemed to be working during the making of this film. This is short and sweet because I really don't like tearing films apart and I really consider this movie a waste of 90 minutes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Vanessa Williams is 56, and Charley Pride is 81.

Sunday, March 17, 2019

RIP DICK DALE 1937-2019

The godfather of surf guitar has died.

Dale wrote the 1961 hit "Misirlou" which became a sensation and rocketed Dale to stardom.

His fifth single in 1961 entitled "Let's Go Trippin" is credited as being the first surf rock instrumental and also started the 1960's craze of surf music.

Dick Dale and The Del Tones appeared in several motion pictures and Dale was always one of my favorites. His kind of music isn't made today. He had legions of fans around the world and his legacy will live forever.

He died on March 16th at the age of 81.

RIP RICHARD ERDMAN 1925-2019

A prolific character actor has died.

Erdman's acting career began in 1944 and ran for 75 years. He appeared in hundreds of TV shows and movies.

Some of his most notable movies include such films as "Cry Danger", "Blue Gardenia" and "Stalag 17". His TV shows were many and included an episode of the "Twilight Zone" which most of us remember entitled "A Kind Of Stopwatch" where he could actually stop time. He pays big time in the end.

His other TV appearances include episodes of "Green Acres", Petticoat Junction", "Perry Mason" and "The Beverly Hillbillies".

Erdman died on March 16th at the age of 93.

THE LIVING GHOST 1942 (AMAZON PRIME)

I have always enjoyed this film.

William Beaudine directed this nifty little murder mystery.

James Dunn stars as Nick Trayne, a former detective hired by a wealthy family to investigate the disappearance of a family member. The missing man, Walter Craig (Gus Glassmire) turns up back at the mansion, but in a zombie-like state.

Nick and a family friend named Billie Hilton (beautiful Joan Woodbury) investigate the strange goings on and eventually fall in love. However, the movie moves along at a brisk pace and is very lighthearted.

A couple of more murders occur and finally Nick solves the case. This fun little Monogram feature also has some interesting double entendre dialogue that you might or might not understand.

Not much on plot, but a fun way to kill a little over an hour. Recommended, and yes this is available on a few different DVD labels including MGM I believe.