………Love watching the live Sunday podcasts with Leonard and Jessie Maltin. “Maltin on Movies.” (Available on You Tube/Instagram/Face Book).
An hour of movie discussion with a chance to comment and ask Leonard and his daughter Jessie questions. Often about current films, but I usually sneak in something vintage and Leonard is such a fund of knowledge.
Recently he talked about the career of Preston Sturges – no notes, simply a lifetime of loving films.
Jessie has been following in her father’s footsteps, confident in front of the camera and sharing her opinions on the film scene.
Jessie and Leonard Maltin
http://www.leonardmaltin.com
Noir heaven is back in the U.S. after cancellation last year. Noir City: Hollywood returns in April 2022 at the Hollywood Legion Theater, presented by The Film Noir Foundation, the Hollywood Legion Theater in association with the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the American Cinemateque.
Hosted by Eddie Muller and Alan K. Rode, the usual ten day festival is shortened to a three day event and featuring eight Noirs in glorious 35mm prints.
Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier.NO WAY OUT.
THE ARGYLE SECRETS (1948) has been restored by The Film Noir Foundation. A reporter ( played by William Gargan) sets out to find a album with the names of war profiteers and traitors.
Lloyd Bridges and Frank Lovejoy star in TRY AND GET ME, the story of a kidnapping which goes wrong.
Evelyn Keyes and Van Heflin tangle in THE PROWLER.
Considered the more faithful version of the Ernest Hemingway story – most of us know the earlier TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT. I suppose I should catch up with this one being a fan of John Garfield.
Noir fans in Seattle also had a festival in February,2022, hosted by Eddie Muller and featuring another super group of thrillers – THE KILLERS, SHAKEDOWN, NAKED ALIBI, THE STORY OF MOLLY X, HE WALKED BY NIGHT, THE KILLER THAT STALKED NEW YORK.
………Catching up with Lee Marvin ‘s hit TV series ,”M -Squad” (1957-1960) in which Marvin plays Lt. Frank Ballinger of M SQUAD, a special unit of the Chicago Police.
Marvin made 117 half hour episodes , all of which are available on dvd. ( I saw some episodes on You Tube.)
Similar to DRAGNET, the stories are police procedural. The Marvin character has no private life or sidekicks. The only regular character is Paul Newlan who plays his boss.
The series boasts a host of Hollywood faces. I’ll name a few – Morris Ankrum, John Hoyt, June Vincent, Whit Bissell, Kent Smith, Ted de Corsica, Connie Gilchrist, Percy Helton, Jack Elam, Mike Mazurki, Myron Healey.
There was location shooting in Chicago but the city’s mayor Daley refused cooperation since one episode had a city cop taking bribes. And the portrayal of the city as crime-ridden.
Lee Marvin (whose company Latimer Productions co-produced the series) said:
“We’d shoot locations twice a year. No,permit,no cooperation. They didn’t want any part of us. We’d shoot and blow.”
Marvin did plenty of TV guest spots in the early 60’s but three films with John Wayne set off his film career into high gear and television was left behind. THE COMMANCHEROS, THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE, DONOVAN’S REEF.
………Too easy, but name the film ,director and Bogie’s costar.
……..Not so easy. Who’se this enjoying himself fishing.
Vienna's Classic Hollywood
Vienna, good write-up and good choice of pictures. I think the picture of Humphrey Bogart is from KNOCK ON ANY DOOR(filmed 1948, released 1949). Nicholas Ray would be the director and John Derek a co-star.
The second picture is a hard one, but it looks like Stan Laurel with Diamond Head, Hawaii in the background.
Well done, Walter. Right on both counts. I didn’t don’t get Stan Laurel .
Vienna, the only way I knew that the photo was Stan Laurel was that I had seen it before.
I liked the second photo of Lee Marvin, which is from his tv show M SQUAD(1957-60). The photo above for the M SQUAD dvd set was from the movie POINTBLANK(1967). Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson acted together several times over a thirty year period. Bronson guest starred in “The Fighter” episode in 1958.
Most stars like Bronson only guested once on M Squad.