Dana Andrews movies: Film noir actor excelled in both major and minor crime dramas. Dana Andrews movies: First-rate film noir actor excelled in both classics & minor fare One of the best-looking and most underrated actors of the studio era, Dana Andrews was a first-rate film noir/crime thriller star. Oftentimes dismissed as no more than a “dependable” or “reliable” leading man, in truth Andrews brought to life complex characters that never quite fit into the mold of Hollywood's standardized heroes – or rather, antiheroes. Unlike the cynical, tough-talking, and (albeit at times self-delusionally) self-confident characters played by the likes of Alan Ladd, Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart, and, however lazily, Robert Mitchum, Andrews created portrayals of tortured men at odds with their social standing, their sense of ethics, and even their romantic yearnings. Not infrequently, there was only a very fine line separating his (anti)heroes from most movie villains.
- 1/22/2017
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Elia Kazan's third picture is a hard-hitting noir, a true story that honors the efforts of a noble States' Attorney when confronted with a murder case that was a little too open-and-shut. But a close read of the movie uncovers a miasma of social criticism, hiding behind the self-congratulating official narration. A great show. Boomerang! Blu-ray Kl Studio Classics 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat full frame / 88 min. / Street Date November 15, 2016 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95 Starring Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb, Sam Levene, Arthur Kennedy, Cara Williams, Ed Begley, Taylor Holmes, Robert Keith. Cinematography Norbert Brodine Art Direction Richard Day, Chester Gore Film Editor Harmon Jones Original Music David Buttolph Written by Richard Murphy from an article in The Reader's Digest by Anthony Abbot (Fulton Oursier) Produced by Louis De Rochemont, Darryl F. Zanuck Directed by Elia Kazan
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In just his second movie, director...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
In just his second movie, director...
- 11/15/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Theodore Bikel. Theodore Bikel dead at 91: Oscar-nominated actor and folk singer best known for stage musicals 'The Sound of Music,' 'Fiddler on the Roof' Folk singer, social and union activist, and stage, film, and television actor Theodore Bikel, best remembered for starring in the Broadway musical The Sound of Music and, throughout the U.S., in Fiddler on the Roof, died Monday morning (July 20, '15) of "natural causes" at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. The Austrian-born Bikel – as Theodore Meir Bikel on May 2, 1924, in Vienna, to Yiddish-speaking Eastern European parents – was 91. Fled Hitler Thanks to his well-connected Zionist father, six months after the German annexation of Austria in March 1938 ("they were greeted with jubilation by the local populace," he would recall in 2012), the 14-year-old Bikel and his family fled to Palestine, at the time a British protectorate. While there, the teenager began acting on stage,...
- 7/23/2015
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Martha Stewart: Actress / Singer in Fox movies apparently not dead despite two-year-old reports to the contrary (Photo: Martha Stewart and Perry Como in 'Doll Face') According to various online reports, including Variety's, actress and singer Martha Stewart, a pretty blonde featured in supporting roles in a handful of 20th Century Fox movies of the '40s, died at age 89 of "natural causes" in Northeast Harbor, Maine, on February 25, 2012. Needless to say, that was not the same Martha Stewart hawking "delicious foods" and whatever else on American television. But quite possibly, the Martha Stewart who died in February 2012 -- if any -- was not the Martha Stewart of old Fox movies either. And that's why I'm republishing this (former) obit, originally posted more than two and a half years ago: March 11, 2012. Earlier today, a commenter wrote to Alt Film Guide, claiming that the Martha Stewart featured in Doll Face, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now,...
- 11/11/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Boomerang
Written by Richard Murphy
Directed by Elia Kazan
U.S.A., 1947
Elections are won and lost for a multitude of reasons, many of which are of public knowledge.. Even so, the tactics of certain politically oriented manoeuvres in campaigns are just as frequently a secret to the public eye, inviting constant speculation as to what is transpiring behind the well guarded curtain. In a reasonably fair and free democracy, public pressure will, in the event of an election, encourage politicians and their staff to venture down whatever avenue necessary to secure a term in office. Said avenues may not necessarily be kosher, nor morally justified, but then again, all seems fair in politics when the prize is power. Boomerang, directed by the much celebrated Elia Kazan, is another of the auteur’s many projects that took an unflinching look at the various errors of human ways, in this case...
Written by Richard Murphy
Directed by Elia Kazan
U.S.A., 1947
Elections are won and lost for a multitude of reasons, many of which are of public knowledge.. Even so, the tactics of certain politically oriented manoeuvres in campaigns are just as frequently a secret to the public eye, inviting constant speculation as to what is transpiring behind the well guarded curtain. In a reasonably fair and free democracy, public pressure will, in the event of an election, encourage politicians and their staff to venture down whatever avenue necessary to secure a term in office. Said avenues may not necessarily be kosher, nor morally justified, but then again, all seems fair in politics when the prize is power. Boomerang, directed by the much celebrated Elia Kazan, is another of the auteur’s many projects that took an unflinching look at the various errors of human ways, in this case...
- 5/31/2013
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Guys and Dolls remake supposedly to star Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt (photo: Channing Tatum in Magic Mike) Guys and Dolls will be brought back to the big screen by way of 20th Century Fox, according to Deadline.com. Back in 1955, Joseph L. Mankiewicz directed for independent producer Samuel Goldwyn a highly successful movie version of the Broadway musical based on a Damon Runyon short story. Distributed by MGM, that particular Guys and Dolls starred Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, and Vivian Blaine. This time around, Fox supposedly wants Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, whose singing prowess was amply displayed in, respectively, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Dark Knight Rises. And Tatum and Gordon-Levitt can dance, too, as proven at the 2013 Oscar show (and, in Tatum’s case, Magic Mike). But hey, Goldwyn didn’t care that neither Marlon Brando nor Jean Simmons could sing (or dance), either. And Brando...
- 4/25/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The great supporting cast alone (Sam Levene, Jeff Corey,Jay C. Flippen, Sir Lancelot and the first of many pairings of John Hoyt and Whit Bissell) would make Jules Dassin's prison pic a keeper, but as written by Richard Brooks it's a tough, incisive and influential genre piece. Hume Cronyn's career highlight as the sadistic Warden Munsey, who plays Wagner records loudly to hide the sound of beatings. (Picture quality on this trailer is not up to our usual standard.)...
- 4/14/2011
- Trailers from Hell
What's a film noir - or a horror movie? Their definitions are stretched as a marketing hook by some new themed releases.
Elia Kazan's "Boomerang!" (1947) is among three films released this week under the Fox Noir umbrella. Strictly speaking, this is not a stylized noir but one of a series of celebrated documentary-style thrillers produced by Louis de Rochemont.
Noir mainstay Dana Andrews ("Laura"), cast as a district attorney investigating the murder of a Connecticut priest, heads a fine cast including Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and...
Elia Kazan's "Boomerang!" (1947) is among three films released this week under the Fox Noir umbrella. Strictly speaking, this is not a stylized noir but one of a series of celebrated documentary-style thrillers produced by Louis de Rochemont.
Noir mainstay Dana Andrews ("Laura"), cast as a district attorney investigating the murder of a Connecticut priest, heads a fine cast including Lee J. Cobb, Arthur Kennedy and...
- 9/4/2008
- by By LOU LUMENICK
- NYPost.com
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