Side Street (Anthony Mann, 1950). This sweaty film noir casts the ever-wooden Farley Granger as Joe Norson, a down-on-his-luck postal worker who decides to steal some cash from a law office on his route. What he believes to be a … Continue reading Then Playing — Side Street; Smithereens; The Batman
The Alphabet Murders (Frank Tashlin, 1965). The primary curiosity of this adaptation of an Agatha Christie mystery is the oddity of Tony Randall being positioned as the U.S. answer to Peter Sellers. The Alphabet Murders was released one year after … Continue reading The Playing — The Alphabet Murders; The Man from Laramie; Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind
Cold Pursuit (Hans Petter Moland, 2019). Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland makes his English-language debut with a remake of one of his own previous features, presumably because the narrative framework was well-suite to the very-particular-set-of-skills era of Liam Neeson’s career. … Continue reading Then Playing — Cold Pursuit; The Book of Henry; The Naked Spur
Devil’s Doorway (Anthony Mann, 1950). This nail-tough western from the heart of Anthony Mann’s career (released the same year as Winchester ’73) boldly examines vicious bigotry against Native Americans at a time when most Hollywood Westerns still cheerily trafficked in … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Devil’s Doorway; Split; Isle of Dogs
Coffee for Two 