* contains spoilers A Girl in Every Port (1952) would be one of Groucho’s last feature films he starred in. Also starring William Bendix (1906-64 lobar pneumonia) and Marie Wilson (1916-72 cancer). It seems like another RKO torture movie. And it is odd Groucho is in a film with Bendix – but this is RKO…
*contains spoilers This article looks at the back end of comic genius Groucho Marx’s (1890-1977 pneumonia) later career around the end of the comedy team that was the Marx Brothers. They made over a dozen features together. Groucho starred in a few films without his brothers Chico (1887-1961 arteriosclerosis) and Harpo Marx (1888-1964 after heart…
* contains spoilers Gordon made one of my favourites when he got 50s sci-fi star Richard Carlson (1912-77 cerebral haemorrhage) to do Tormented (1960) for Allied Artists now that he had fulfilled his contract with AIP with four quick fire movies, something which must have left the director exhausted. It is Carlson’s last starring role…
*contains spoilers Director Bert I. Gordon (1922-) worked through from the mid-1950s until his last feature film in 2015. He was known as Mr B.I.G. because of his initials and for his propensity for his films to have special effects that showed giant animals and humans. The movie Tormented (1960) is one of my favourite…
*contains spoilers The Real Macaw was made as a family follow-up to Andreacchio’s critical, and runaway financial success, with another family film he directed and co-wrote entitled Napoleon (1995). That film was about a golden retriever pup that escapes his city home and goes on a trek cross country with the help of a galah.…
Read more The Versatility of Director Mario Andreacchio (Part Two)
*contains spoilers Adelaide-based director Mario Andreacchio (1955-) was at the heart of the growth of the film industry in South Australia in the 1970s and 1980s. Part of a core group of directors in that state, he began with a series of varied short films and then moved on to features. The features he has…
Read more The Versatility of Director Mario Andreacchio (Part One)
*contains spoilers Deranged, at the time of its production, was the most accurate portrayal of the life of the Butcher of Plainfield – Ed Gein (1906-84 liver cancer), who dug up corpses and kept parts of them around his home as trophies and paraphernalia. He apparently even made furniture out of skin and bone. The…
Read more The Slightly Deranged Screenplays of Alan Ormsby (Part Two)
*contains spoilers It is reported that screenwriter, and sometime director, Alan Ormsby (1943-) was inspired in the late 1960s after seeing a screening of the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) with some university friends. “Let’s do something like that,” said Ormsby after seeing the movie in downtown Miami one evening. The result would…
Read more The Slightly Deranged Screenplays of Alan Ormsby (Part One)
* contains spoilers Name: CameronAge: 59 Occupation: Former Pay Clerk Favourite Movie: Psycho (1960) First Saw It: I was seventeen on tv at home Starring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin and Martin Balsam Plot: Director Alfred Hitchcock adapts the novel by Robert Bloch which was based on the life of killer Ed…
Read more My Cult Movie: “… It’s still got the power to shock”
* contains spoilers There may be a few vampire movies that may be worth a look as they appear to have been forgotten over the years. They are no masterpieces… but they are better after a single viewing, which is always a good sign. Those movies are Dracula’s Widow (1988), Nightlife (tv movie 1989) and…
Read more The Cult of Director Christopher Coppola’s Dracula’s Widow (1988)
Cult Film Alley 