The Angry Silence (1960) Walkouts, Trade Unions, Strikes, Scabs & Little Dicky Attenborough

The Angry Silence, a film about Trade Union strikes, pickets and walkouts might sound ridiculously depressing and rather boring to say the least but you would be wrong, well the boring part would be. Yep it has a depressing side to it but like the tagline says, this is Rough, Tough and Deeply Moving and I’ll say that’s the perfect description for this movie.  This is high quality British kitchen sink realism, with strong performances across the board. All pushing the gritty nature of this drama through their emotional character  developments.  With Richard Attenborough and Pier Angeli shining through the gritty, tough and daunting times to come.

Wolfman’s Rating System Explained – We All Have A System Don’t We?

 

Do you do the thumbs up or down system?

With a fair few top marks to grace May’s monthly round up of what’s been beamed directly into Wolfman’s cerebral cortex, I thought it only right to explain my rating system.

Quicksand (1950) Mickey Rooney & Cinema Monolith Show Us The Rules Of Film Noir

I watched pintsized Mickey Rooney get himself into a right pickle last night, in the 1950 film Quicksand. An excellent recommend from tip top Todd over on the Cinema Monolith film blog. You gotta read his knowledgeable and very funny notes on what makes the perfect film noir over on his article Ten Rules Of Film Noir, it hits the genre spot on and above all, it’s very entertaining. So I have put this film up against the Todd test, let’s see how it fairs.

Branded to Kill (1967) Chipmunk, Butterflies, Steamy Japanese Sex & Boiled Rice!

Oh come on now, you really shouldn’t have made such incredible films Mr Seijun Suzuki. My constant buzzing and face of awe makes it hard to concentrate on normal life stuff. My mind wanders off, all day thinking about the pure wonder and excitement that greeted me on the screen. Tokyo Drifter had always been one of my favorite films, it’s just so damn bloody cool but then I got recommended Branded To Kill, well it couldn’t be as good as Tokyo Drifter, that would be impossible, wouldn’t it, surely?

Orders to Kill (1958) To Assassinate A French Resistance Fighter!

After watching the first-rate drama The Browning Version I investigated other films directed by Anthony Asquith. With a keen interest in World War II history, his 1958 film Orders To Kill, based on a former American intelligence operative called Donald Chase Downes novel, it ticked all the right boxes for me.

Opening credits – “The central story on which this film is based is true!”

Lady In A Cage (1964) Like An Animal Orgy House Invasion!

Opening with one of the best opening credit sequences I’ve seen for sometime, inspired Saul Bass on speed. Fast paced bold graphics flashing up harsh lines to the sound of suspenseful pounding free jazz beats. Then the credits change to strange images, with a sinister notion, with snap shots of photography close ups to unease you into this manic rollercoaster ride of a film. This is the sixties alright, the cinematography filming style and music let us know that straight from the get go.

Night of the Comet (1984) Usherette, Cheerleader & Commander Chakotay Fight The Cannibal Zombies

1984 was the year at school we read the John Wyndham novel called The Day Of The Triffids for English. You would of hoped it would be part of all educational learning, to be a forewarning at least for when a breathtaking and magnificent light show of comets appear in the sky. To be taught the first thing you do is bandage your eyes and hide in a windowless room. No matter how mind-blowing and eye-poppingly wonderous the visual light show is, The Triffids pre-warned us, it’s gonna get real bad, real quick!

The Harder They Fall (1956) Humphrey Bogart’s Last Film Is A Smasher

Not until it had finished and went to tick The Harder They Fall off my Humphrey Bogart films I must see list, that it dawned on me this was his final film before he passed away at the young age of 57. I have to say I didn’t realise he was ill whilst watching, he had all those classic Bogart characteristics and mannerisms we all so love. That world weary New York tough guy that hides a heart of gold, a style that you can imagine is naturally his real persona. He’s such a joy to watch and it’s great to know I still have a lot more Bogies to work my way through.

The Dark Mirror (1946) Double Trouble & Psychological Rorschach Tests

I just had to go check, not long into the film, that Olivia de Havilland didn’t in fact have a twin! She had to, right? This is 1946, there is no way camera tricks are this advanced? It seems that, only in the last 10 or so years, they’ve been able to pull off the perfect effect of having the same person play doppelgangers. There always seemed to be a tell of sorts, eyes looking in the wrong place, maybe a slight haze around one of the characters where they have been added, always something that gave it away. Flash forward to the present and we have TV shows like Counterpart where we get two JK Simmons wander around flawlessly interacting with each other but how did they do it 72 years ago? Ok I know there are some a few tale tale signs but it’s really astonishing how they pulled it off so believably, most credit due I must add to Olivia de Havilland’s skillful acting talent.

What’s Been Watched This Month – April 2018

I do like a list, hope you do too! Here’s what has been watched in April 2018.