Christopher Saunders

LATEST ARTICLES ( 659 )

• Point Blank

  

  "Somebody's got to pay!"John Boorman's Point Blank (1967) was overshadowed Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate and other game-changing "New Hollywood" features. Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Killers (1964)

  

  "A man stood still as we burned him, and we'd like to know why."Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" inspired two very different films. Read more

  Posted on 21 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Steel Helmet

  

  "Dead man's nothin' but a corpse. No one cares who he is now." The Steel Helmet (1951) is Samuel Fuller's third movie, presaging his more expansive war films... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Home of the Brave (1949)

  

  "Divided we fall, united we stand, coward take my coward's hand."Mark Robson's Home of the Brave (1949) was an early production by Stanley Kramer, Hollywood's... Read more

  Posted on 19 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Raintree County

  

  Epics don't come much worse than Raintree County (1957). Edward Dmytryk's try at topping Gone With the Wind tries to bludgeon viewers with soap opera... Read more

  Posted on 17 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Wind Cannot Read

  

  (1958) offers a serviceable wartime romance. Nice locations and appealing stars make a familiar storyline work. During WWII, RAF Flight Lieutenant Michael... Read more

  Posted on 16 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Oscar Wilde

  

  "Truth is never pure and rarely simple."Gregory Ratoff's Oscar Wilde (1960) had the misfortune of coming out the same week as Ken Hughes' The Trials of Oscar... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Lineup

  

  "Why be greedy? That'll print well for an epitaph!"The Lineup (1958) started as a spinoff from a popular TV show, featuring Warner Anderson as SFPD Lieutenant... Read more

  Posted on 14 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Old Man and the Sea

  

  Of all Ernest Hemingway's literary works, The Old Man and the Sea seems an odd choice for adaptation. While essentially an adventure story, it's driven more by... Read more

  Posted on 13 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• A Guy Named Joe

  

  Extremely popular in its day, A Guy Named Joe (1943) is an odd concoction. This wartime fantasy feels too heavy for a frothy melodrama, but the silly premise... Read more

  Posted on 12 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Deadly Tower

  

  Fifty years ago, Charles Whitman killed 14 people and wounded 32 others at the University of Texas. While not the first spree killer, Whitman's massacre from... Read more

  Posted on 09 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Dark Victory

  

  (1939) is a quintessential "woman's picture," based on a successful Broadway play. Bette Davis's charm and Edmund Golding's earnest presentation make this... Read more

  Posted on 02 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Gilda

  

  "Hate is the only thing that has ever warmed me."Gilda (1946) gave Rita Hayworth her signature role. From her introductory hair flip to her iconic musical... Read more

  Posted on 01 August 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Support Your Local Sheriff!

  

  Burt Kennedy graduated from Budd Boetticher's favorite screenwriter to directing broad Western comedies. Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) is representative,... Read more

  Posted on 30 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Big Heat

  

  "You can't set yourself against the world and get away with it."Fritz Lang's The Big Heat (1953) might be that auteur's best Hollywood film. Read more

  Posted on 29 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Blue Angel (1959)

  

  Edward Dmytryk's The Blue Angel (1959) is a typically worthless remake. Josef Von Sternberg's 1930 original is a hoary melodrama bolstered by good direction... Read more

  Posted on 26 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Blackboard Jungle

  

  "Kids are people, and people are worthwhile."Richard Brooks' Blackboard Jungle (1955) tackled the hot issue of juvenile delinquency. Read more

  Posted on 25 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• The Sheepman

  

  (1958) offers Glenn Ford an unusual vehicle. George Marshall allows Ford a self-parodying turn in this seriocomic Western.Jason Sweet (Glenn Ford) arrives in a... Read more

  Posted on 24 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Cowboy (1958)

  

  "A man has to have something besides a gun and a saddle." Few list Delmer Daves among the great Western directors, but he spent the '50s making interesting,... Read more

  Posted on 23 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES

• Nevada Smith

  

  Harold Robbins' The Carpetbaggers inspired a monstrously successful film, which in turn inspired a Western prequel. Nevada Smith (1966) boasts veteran director... Read more

  Posted on 22 July 2016 ENTERTAINMENT, MOVIES