"Well, I guess you might just as well know now as later. Only accomplishment I got, you fellas evidently overlooked, and well that is I'm the goldarnedest liar that ever hit the pike. Ha! I spin the biggest yarns west of the Rockies! Now, I don't mean exaggeration, I mean lies. L-I-E-S, Lies." - Somerset Frisby
I Want to Live (1958), starring Susan Hayward, Simon Oakland
In I Want to Live, a low-level criminal is convicted of beating an elderly woman to death. She’s then sentenced to die. But the question is, is she guilty? Can a reporter uncover enough evidence to overturn her conviction, before it’s too late? A truly great performance by Susan Hayward.
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With the rise of realism in the U.S. and Neo-realism overseas, most mainstream critics in the late 1940s didn’t have time for Joan Crawford’s latter-day run of rags-to-riches melodramas. I feel rather sorry for them that they didn’t have an aesthetic sufficiently expansive to appreciate just how entertaining they were. Although often looked on as camp today, films like Vincent Sherman’s THE DAMNED DON’T CRY (1950, TCM) were taken very seriously by the audiences who made them profitable in the days before TV took over. In this one, she’s living in poverty in a Texas oil town with husband Richard Egan when their child is killed in an accident. Minus the only thing keeping her there, she takes off for the big city to build a better life and, through clever planning, grit and beauty (underlined by surrounding her with older, less attractive women), she rises to become powerful mobster David Brian’s kept woman. When he sends her to investigate ambitious underling Steve Cochran, however, she gets caught between two volatile men. Crawford puts on a great show. Except for one bout of the heavy breathing she often substituted for acting, she plays the part well, calling on the tough girl persona she’d perfected through three decades of stardom. And she pulls off the transition from classless arriviste to society poseur quite well. More churlish critics might complained that all of the men panting for her are younger than she, but I say more power to her for not letting age hold her back from getting what she wants. There’s even some genuine acting from Selena Royle as the society woman fallen on hard times who sells her taste and connections to help turn Crawford into a lady and Kent Smith as the accountant Crawford lures into working for the mob and then dumps for the wealthier Brian. Cinematographer Ted McCord gets in some good film noir shadows and a powerful overhead shot near the end, Daniele Amfitheatrof writes some funny, sleazy music cues for her early attempts at seduction, and if you look closely you’ll spot Dabbs Greer as a reporter and a younger, thinner Strother Martin jumping off a diving board.
These two articles appeared 23 & 24 June 1961 in two different newspapers (The Daily News Leader and Meriden Record).
Nothing was mentioned in Variety that I could find. IMDB does not list Shotgun Slade as one of De's credits, nor is he listed in the cast under the following episodes (based on release dates):
The Payrollers - Railroad telegraph operators help Slade track down an outlaw gang. (With Lee Van Cleef)
A Gun and a Prayer - Slade must locate a friend who is out to avenge the shooting of his son. (With Roy Barcroft and Dabbs Greer)
It! The Terror from Beyond Space will be released on Blu-ray on October 24 via Kino Lorber. Said to be an influence on Alien, the 1958 sci-fi horror cult classic is celebrating its 65th anniversary.
Edward L. Cahn (Invasion of the Saucer Men) directs from a script by Jerome Bixby (The Man from Earth). Marshall Thompson, Shirley Patterson, Kim Spalding, Dabbs Greer, and Ray "Crash" Corrigan star.
It! The Terror from Beyond Space has been newly restored in 2K from a 35mm fine grain. Special features are listed below, where you can also see the slipcover.
Special features:
Audio commentary by film historians Tom Weaver, Bob Burns, Larry Blamire, and David Schecter (new)
Audio commentary by film historian Craig Beam (new)
Audio commentary by film historian Gary Gerani (new)
TidbITs: Ephemera from Beyond Space - Featurette by film historian Craig Beam
Theatrical trailer
When his crew is brutally murdered on a Mars expedition, Commander Carruthers (Marshall Thompson) becomes the prime suspect. Taken into custody and facing a court-martial back on Earth, he discovers that the real killer—a grotesque, slithering "It"—has stowed aboard the earthbound ship. But the indestructible creature has already begun a harrowing in-flight rampage, knocking off the members of the crew one by one. Now, as the spaceship heads home toward a panic-stricken Earth, the remaining crew must find some way to stop the unstoppable "It."
StreedTV Reviews: The Fugitive #1 Fear In A Desert City (1963)
Review#5
September 4th 2022 I discovered The Fugitive on PlutoTV, the premise sounded really interesting and despite being a classic television aficionado I had never heard of this show
I feel in love with the show immediately after watching the first episode alone, it's a real shame this show is so obscure and rarely talked about and whenever it is, people are always Referring to the Harrison Ford fugitive film which I never knew existed until after I finished season 1
this episode perfectly introduces the mainstay characters like Richard Kimble & Lieutenant Gerard, David Janssen's performance as Kimble was the main reason I grew so immediately attached to the show
Kimble has an endearing sensitivity to him, he's masculine and courageous while still having a heart and sympathy for those in need and I absolutely adore that about him
Barry Morse as the fierce obsessive Lieutenant Gerard does an impeccable acting job, Gerard is less of a man and more of A force of nature as a loved one of mine put it, you can't tell right away his true intentions
all you know is that he's downright obsessed with capturing and apprehending kimble, could it be out of sadism? who knows, one of the things i noticed is that the narration is longer in the first episode
I remember that bugging me when i watched it for the first time but luckily the narration is trimmed down as the show moves along and to be transparent for a second, William Conrad's voice is very seductive and I don't care what anybody says
there's a few familiar actors present here as well, such as Dabbs Greer, Harry Townes and Barney Phillips, the antagonist of the episode Ed Welles is a startlingly realistic adversary
I've known many men precisely like him, I was raised by men like him, I was friends with men like him, I even dated a few men like him.. cold unfeeling brutes devoid of empathy that have left lasting psychological injuries...
that's what makes him so frightening, he's a very real man we all knew or could potentially meet, he's clearly insecure consumed by suspicion, leading him to be violent and destroy everything that comes his way
Vera Miles also does a fantastic acting job as Ed's vulnerable
wife Monica Welles, I felt so bad for her situation and she conveys the sorrow of being in an abusive relationship perfectly
one line particular I found haunting was "his face changed" it's something you notice when someone you love deteriorates and transforms into a completely unrecognizable person.. they look the same but different in a subtle way
the music as well was incredible as ever, with a heavy usage of intense orchestral music, another thing I appreciate about The Fugitive so much is just how cinematic it is, everything from the shots, the music and the camera angles makes it feel like a feature length film
over all, this was an incredible beginning to a superlative show, I wholeheartedly consider it the Breaking Bad of the 1960s with it's immaculate writing, rich interesting characters and it's evocative themes redolent of A time when quality was valued in television
i'd like to give a special thanks to my dear friend who ordered the complete series out of the kindness of his heart so now I can have the pleasure of watching this exceptional show on my own screen, Thank You
Today's joy with Rachel Joy Scott Friday edits is Rest In Peace to those famous stars & angels Verne Troyer, Richard Griffiths, Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Robbie Coltrane, Helen McCrory, Roberts Blossom, Billie Burke, Frank Sutton, Jim Nabors, Judy Garland, Margaret Hamilton, Clara Blandick, Shirley Temple and baby Leroy, Paul Grant, Leslie Phillips, Robert Hardy, Timothy Bateson, Terence Bayler, Robert Knox, Sam Beazley, Paul Ritter, Dave Legeno, Peter Cartwright, Derek Deadman, Hazel Douglas, Alfred Burke, Jimmy Gardner, Elizabeth Spriggs, Bob Newhart, Tom Poston, Dean Martin, Mary Frann, Betty White, Rik Mayall, Brian Nickels, Jerry Reed, Matthew Perry, Raymond Burr, Mary Ann Jackson, Dorothy DeBorba, Mary Kornman, Mildred Kornman, Peaches Jackson, Peggy Cartwright, Darla Jean Hood, Jean Darling, Peggy Montgomery, Bob Barker, Lucille Ricksen, Michael Kenneth Williams, Pat E. Johnson, Richard Burton, Cyril Cusack, Roger Lloyd Pack, Peter Frye, John Boswell, James Walker, Shirley Rosemary Stelfox, Shirley Jean Rickert, Janet Key, June Marlowe, Virginia Weidler, Jane Withers, Peter Michael Falk, Bruce Kirby, Mike Lally, John Finnegan, Robert Culp, Vito Scotti, Val Avery, Fred Draper, Alan Fudge, Gene Wilder, Jack Albertson, Richard Belzer, Richard Bull, Jerome Guardino, Bill Zuckert, Steven Gilborn, Ed McCready, Paul Carr, James Avery, Parley Edward Baer, Sherman Hemsley, Ellen Albertini Dow, Carl Reiner, Alan Wolf Arkin, Michael Jeter, Debbie Lee Carrington, James Caan, Ed Asner, Ana Ofelia Murguía, Paul Newman, Madge Sinclair, Robert Guillaume, Mary Ethel Gregory, Michael Landon, Katherine MacGregor, Kevin Hagen, Dabbs Greer, John Heard, Leonard Stone, John Candy, Victor Edwin French, Robin Williams, Peter Fonda, Geoffrey Palmer, Olivia Newton-John, Eve Arden, Rose Joan Blondell, Alice Ghostley, Darrell Zwerling, Dody Goodman, Lance Reddick, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, Anissa Jones, Bridgette Andersen, Dominique Dunne, Samantha Reed Smith, Heather and Judith Barsi, Fred Rogers, Olivia Twenty Dahl, Roald Dahl, Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Walter Elias Disney, Ruth Flora Disney, Denise Marie Nickerson, Louis XVII, Lois Janes, Marie Thérèse de France, Christopher Plummer, Eazy-E, Peter Cartwright, John William "Johnny" Carson,
Dabbs Greer (Little House on the Prairie) guests as an old prospector, while Radames Pera (Kung Fu) is one of a group of kids who steal from him. Both are very good in their roles. And this is one of the stronger scripts.
It is the final episode to feature Jackson Bostwick as Captain Marvel. He was unjustly fired from the show. And was eventually able to prove it, and get payment for the episodes made after his dismissal.
Bostwick was an excellent Captain, clearly giving 100% to the role and enjoying himself. He gets more to do than usual in this instalment, including some impressive stuntwork. It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the role, such is his conviction.