Based loosely on dozens of 1950s American sci fi thrillers, especially the 1954 mutant-ant classic “Them!”, It Came from the Desert challenges both your mind and your might. When you boot up the game, a gorgeous red-orange desert panorama scrolls by as a narrator warns that, because man has meddled where he should not have, this desert will become living proof that the Biblical prophesy “the meek shall inherit the earth” is about to come true.
Band of Angels contains some of the most laughable dialogue of the 1950s, pseudo-epic puffery complete with a star-studded cast and a wardrobe budget exceeding the entire annual income of Guam. Scored by Max Steiner and directed by the legendary Raoul Walsh, one would think that this movie could at least have some entertainment value, but it struggles to provide even that.
After some delay, Warner Archives has released a 2-disc set of all six of the Perry Mason films from 1934 through 1937. To commemorate the release, I thought I’d bring over one of my old posts from the SBBN archives, a quickie summary of all six Mason films from 2009. This was written back before…
That’s Clara Bow in a cute little checkered short-all outfit, hanging out with some depressed ghosts. Over the years I have collected a bunch of Halloween-themed pictures, yet at some point lost a specific set I’d collected of vintage starlets in Halloween cheesecake pics, often using the same props from one year to the next,…
Dick Clark was especially cranky that August afternoon in 1966. For a decade he had been asking harmless questions of both guests and giggly teens on “American Bandstand,” but today’s silly subject irritated him, made him self conscious. A professional study had recently claimed most men within a few years would be wearing long hair.…
“One of these days I’m going to write a song that makes someone want to cry.” — Neil Diamond, Teen Screen Magazine, March 1967 When The Neil Diamond Collection arrived in the mail last month, I had forgotten I ever ordered it. For most of my 39-ish years, Neil Diamond was simply never on…
Bette Davis guest starred in three episodes of “Wagon Train,” and BBFF Ivan tipped me off to a rerun of her second appearance in “The Elizabeth McQueeny Story”. This 1959 episode featured Ward Bond in the lead as wagon master Seth Adams leading a wagon train to, er, somewhere in the west. I don’t really…
The Star (1952) tries so hard to be the All About Eve of film, to mix real life with cinematic license, but it never quite succeeds at its lofty intentions. It’s possible The Star was conceived as pastiche, but I truly doubt it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a worthwhile film, because it is campy…
That Certain Woman (1937) is, thus far, one of my favorite Bette films and a real delight to stumble upon during this Project. Sadly, my copy of the film is poor, which you’ll confirm by looking at my screencaps. It’s available on DVD now, so if you get a chance to see this film, do!…
Front Page Woman (1935) was released a mere six weeks after The Girl from 10th Avenue, and it shows. These two programmers share six cast members and even some of the same sets. Long-time readers will remember how tired I have become of George Brent playing the guy trying to keep a woman in the home where she belongs. Well, folks, Front Page Woman is by far the worst offender in that category… thus far.