Anthony Asquith’s unusual look at wartime espionage garnered good notices in 1958, perhaps from reviewers rebelling against the trend toward ruthless screen violence. Star Paul Massie is fine as an emotionally-stricken Allied assassin who balks at carrying out his mission; the acting support from Irene Worth and Leslie French is superb. Screenwriter Paul Dehn was an ace at sharp, no-nonsense thrillers, but this story is soft around the edges — it seems to be explaining non-chivalric warfare to your sweet old grandmother. Which reminds us, Lillian Gish has a small role, too.
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
Orders to Kill
Blu-ray
Powerhouse Indicator
1958 / B&w / 1:75 widescreen / 112 93 min. / Street Date September 20, 2022 / available from Amazon / 34.99
Starring: Eddie Albert, Paul Massie, Lillian Gish, James Robertson Justice, Leslie French, Irene Worth, John Crawford, Lionel Jeffries, Sandra Dorne, Lillabea (Lillie Bea) Gifford, Anne Blake, Sam Kydd, Ann Walford, Denyse Alexander, Ralph Nosseck.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Art Director: John Howell
Film...
- 9/17/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Van Johnson steps into adventure-guy shoes more suitable for Humphrey Bogart in this European-shot thriller. Daring Martine Carol provides the sex appeal as the mystery dame who entices Johnson to smuggle a man out of Red Albania. The movie is practically a proto- James Bond film: it’s directed by Terence Young, includes Sean Connery and Anthony Dawson in the cast list, and features a fight in a gypsy camp. But Herbert Lom steals the show from them all as a monocle-wearing, oversexed gypsy bandit who can’t abide Commies. Oh, and the disc has special treat in store for discerning, high-toned art-movie intellectuals: this is the film’s hotter Continental version.
Action of the Tiger
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date April 14, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Van Johnson, Martine Carol, Herbert Lom, Gustavo Rojo, José Nieto, Helen Haye, Anna Gerber, Anthony Dawson, Sean Connery,...
Action of the Tiger
Blu-ray
Warner Archive Collection
1957 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 93 min. / Street Date April 14, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99
Starring: Van Johnson, Martine Carol, Herbert Lom, Gustavo Rojo, José Nieto, Helen Haye, Anna Gerber, Anthony Dawson, Sean Connery,...
- 4/4/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Konga
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1961/ 1:85 / 90 min.
Starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns
Directed by John Lemont
Like any actor worth their salt, Michael Gough contained multitudes. And so did his fans – from the West End to 42nd Street they gathered as one to sing his praises. Born in Kuala Lumpur and educated in England, Gough bolted Wye College for the Old Vic, eventually graduating to roles in films like Richard III and The Horse’s Mouth. Haunting the studio by day, he tread the boards at night showing a special talent for light comedy and, in the words of critic Caryl Brahms, an “extraordinary capacity for pent-up emotion.”
In 1959 Gough’s day job took a turn for the weird – producer Herman Cohen offered him the lead in Horrors of the Black Museum, the grisly tale of a crime enthusiast with a fetish for eccentric torture devices. And absolutely no capacity for pent-up emotion.
Blu ray
Kino Lorber
1961/ 1:85 / 90 min.
Starring Michael Gough, Margo Johns
Directed by John Lemont
Like any actor worth their salt, Michael Gough contained multitudes. And so did his fans – from the West End to 42nd Street they gathered as one to sing his praises. Born in Kuala Lumpur and educated in England, Gough bolted Wye College for the Old Vic, eventually graduating to roles in films like Richard III and The Horse’s Mouth. Haunting the studio by day, he tread the boards at night showing a special talent for light comedy and, in the words of critic Caryl Brahms, an “extraordinary capacity for pent-up emotion.”
In 1959 Gough’s day job took a turn for the weird – producer Herman Cohen offered him the lead in Horrors of the Black Museum, the grisly tale of a crime enthusiast with a fetish for eccentric torture devices. And absolutely no capacity for pent-up emotion.
- 11/16/2019
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
Critics compare this sophisticated spy thriller to Carol Reed’s earlier Triumph set in Vienna with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles — but it’s a different story altogether, not about black-market evil but the perils of moral compromise in a divided Berlin. James Mason and Claire Bloom are stunningly good together, in a moody suspense that’s completely serious — no comic relief or ‘fun’ jeopardy to distract from the fascinating, you-are-there setting, a Berlin trying to rebuild itself. With Hildegard Knef, and an extended, beautifully filmed nighttime chase that seals an unlikely romance.
The Man Between
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone, Aribert Wäscher, Ernst Schróder, Dieter Krause, Hilde Sessak, Karl John, Ljuba Welitsch, Reinhard Kolldehoff.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Original Music: John Addison
Written by Harry Kurnitz,...
The Man Between
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1953 / B&w / 1:37 flat Academy / 102 min. / Street Date November 5, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: James Mason, Claire Bloom, Hildegard Knef, Geoffrey Toone, Aribert Wäscher, Ernst Schróder, Dieter Krause, Hilde Sessak, Karl John, Ljuba Welitsch, Reinhard Kolldehoff.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Film Editor: Bert Bates
Original Music: John Addison
Written by Harry Kurnitz,...
- 11/9/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
The frights of Horror Hotel are back in an improved presentation in this 2018 Limited Edition. Set in New England but filmed in Old England, this creepy shocker is a favorite not just for the presence of Christopher Lee, but also the wonderfully mortiferous Patricia Jessel and the cadaverous Valentine Dyall.
The City of the Dead
Remastered Limited Edition Blu-ray
Vci
1960 / B&W /1:66 widescreen / 78 min. / Horror Hotel / Street Date March 27, 2018 / 12.89
Starring: Venetia Stevenson, Patricia Jessel, Christopher Lee, Betta St. John, Valentine Dyall, Dennis Lotis, Tom Naylor, Ann Beach, Norman Macowan.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Production Designer: John Blezard
Film Editor: John Pomeroy
Original Music: Douglas Gamley, Kenneth V. Jones
Written by George Baxt from a story by Milton Subotsky
Produced by Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky, Donald Taylor
Directed by John Moxey
Vci has released an improved Blu-ray of The City of the Dead, hereby designated their Remastered 2018 Limited Edition. Having been...
The City of the Dead
Remastered Limited Edition Blu-ray
Vci
1960 / B&W /1:66 widescreen / 78 min. / Horror Hotel / Street Date March 27, 2018 / 12.89
Starring: Venetia Stevenson, Patricia Jessel, Christopher Lee, Betta St. John, Valentine Dyall, Dennis Lotis, Tom Naylor, Ann Beach, Norman Macowan.
Cinematography: Desmond Dickinson
Production Designer: John Blezard
Film Editor: John Pomeroy
Original Music: Douglas Gamley, Kenneth V. Jones
Written by George Baxt from a story by Milton Subotsky
Produced by Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky, Donald Taylor
Directed by John Moxey
Vci has released an improved Blu-ray of The City of the Dead, hereby designated their Remastered 2018 Limited Edition. Having been...
- 5/15/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A Study in Terror
Blu ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1966 /1:85 / Street Date April 3, 2018
Starring John Neville, Donald Houston, Anthony Quayle
Cinematography by Desmond Dickinson
Written by Donald Ford, Derek Ford
Directed by James Hill
From master criminals like Professor Moriarty to Sebastian Moran, Sherlock Holmes faced his fair share of danger – but his greatest nemesis may have been the man who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle. Exasperated by his brainchild’s overwhelming popularity, the weary scribe groused, ”I think of slaying Holmes… and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.”
Doyle tried to kill off his cash-cow on at least one occasion but the great detective had the last word, maintaining a firm grip on our imagination decades after other seemingly invincible literary characters dropped down the memory hole – perhaps because Holmes is far more mysterious than any mystery he himself might have...
Blu ray
Mill Creek Entertainment
1966 /1:85 / Street Date April 3, 2018
Starring John Neville, Donald Houston, Anthony Quayle
Cinematography by Desmond Dickinson
Written by Donald Ford, Derek Ford
Directed by James Hill
From master criminals like Professor Moriarty to Sebastian Moran, Sherlock Holmes faced his fair share of danger – but his greatest nemesis may have been the man who created him, Arthur Conan Doyle. Exasperated by his brainchild’s overwhelming popularity, the weary scribe groused, ”I think of slaying Holmes… and winding him up for good and all. He takes my mind from better things.”
Doyle tried to kill off his cash-cow on at least one occasion but the great detective had the last word, maintaining a firm grip on our imagination decades after other seemingly invincible literary characters dropped down the memory hole – perhaps because Holmes is far more mysterious than any mystery he himself might have...
- 5/12/2018
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
By Darren Allison
City of the Dead (Aka Horror Hotel) 1960 Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, Starring Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Venetia Stevenson, Betta St. John and Dennis Lotis. Arrow 2 disc Blu-ray and DVD released: 24th April 2017
When filming began on The City of the Dead, Christopher Lee was already established as a leading horror star. Hammer was paving the way with a new brand of horror and Lee had played a huge part in their success playing the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Mummy. The City of the Dead provided the perfect opportunity for Lee to spread his wings further within the genre by moving into the realms of witchcraft, the occult and American gothic.
Set in a small New England village (and hardly a city as the title suggests), Lee plays Professor Driscoll, an authority on the occult who persuades one of his students Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) to research his hometown of Whitewood,...
City of the Dead (Aka Horror Hotel) 1960 Directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, Starring Christopher Lee, Patricia Jessel, Venetia Stevenson, Betta St. John and Dennis Lotis. Arrow 2 disc Blu-ray and DVD released: 24th April 2017
When filming began on The City of the Dead, Christopher Lee was already established as a leading horror star. Hammer was paving the way with a new brand of horror and Lee had played a huge part in their success playing the Frankenstein monster, Dracula and the Mummy. The City of the Dead provided the perfect opportunity for Lee to spread his wings further within the genre by moving into the realms of witchcraft, the occult and American gothic.
Set in a small New England village (and hardly a city as the title suggests), Lee plays Professor Driscoll, an authority on the occult who persuades one of his students Nan Barlow (Venetia Stevenson) to research his hometown of Whitewood,...
- 4/10/2017
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
This horror almost-classic has Christopher Lee and great atmosphere. Keep a sharp lookout for All Them Witches: they're not easy to spot... if you're as unobservant as Venetia Stevenson's sexy grad student. Were she studying sharks, this girl would wrap herself in fresh meat and jump into the middle of a mess of 'em. The City of the Dead Blu-ray Vci 1960 / B&W /1:78 widescreen / 78 min. / Horror Hotel / Street Date March 29, 2016 / 24.99 Starring Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Christopher Lee, Tom Naylor, Betta St. John, Venetia Stevenson, Valentine Dyall, Ann Beach, Norman Macowan. Cinematography Desmond Dickinson Production Designer John Blezard Film Editor John Pomeroy Original Music Douglas Gamley, Kenneth V. Jones Written by George Baxt from a story by Milton Subotsky Produced by Max Rosenberg, Milton Subotsky, Donald Taylor Directed by John Moxey
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Interest has been high for Vci's new The City of the Dead, a movie...
Reviewed by Glenn Erickson
Interest has been high for Vci's new The City of the Dead, a movie...
- 4/9/2016
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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