“Gypped in the Penthouse” (1955) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Gypped in the Penthouse (1955)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Felix Adler

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Jean Wiles, Emil Sitka and Al Thompson

Tagline: Goofs vs. gold-digger!

The Plot…

The boys are all in love with the same gold-digger.  She’s playing each of them, and they are unaware of her other suitors.  But they’re about to find out.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Although Larry and Shemp are members of The Woman Hater’s Club, this 1955 short is not a remake of the Stooges 1934 outing Woman Haters.

In the scene where Moe is thrown out of bed he can clearly be seen hitting his head on the nightstand.  This wasn’t in the script.

Loco Boy Makes Good earns 4 of 5 stars.

“No Holds Barred” (1952) starring The Bowery Boys / Z-View

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No Holds Barred (1952)

Director:  William Beaudine

Writer:  Tim Ryan, Bert Lawrence, Jack Crutcher

Stars: Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Marjorie Reynolds, Bernard Gorcey, Henry Kulky, David Gorcey, Benny Bartlett, Sandra Gould, Tim Ryan, Murray Alper and Ray Walker

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When Slip (Gorcey) discovers that Sach (Hall) has different body parts that feel no pain and give him super-strength, he turns Sach into a professional wrestler.  Although the super-strength body part changes from time to time, they are able to take advantage of this.  Sach is winning all his matches and this draws the attention of a crooked manager and the former champ.  Soon Sach will have to face manager’s wrestler in the ring… what could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

No Holds Barred is a fun Bowery Boys outing.  The outfit Sach wears in his final match is actually Klaatu’s  (Michael Rennie) spacesuit from The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).

Each time the power would move to a different body part (head, elbow, toes, etc.) Slip would change Sach’s wrestling moniker.  When the power moved to the last body part Slip started to give Sach a new wrestling name, but Sach breaks the fourth wall and says, “You say it and we’re out of pictures!”

No Holds Barred earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Creature from the Black Lagoon” (1954) starring Richard Carlson, Julia Adams & Richard Denning / Z-View

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Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954)

Director:  Jack Arnold

Writer:  Harry Essex, Arthur Ross from a story by Maurice Zimm

Stars: Richard Carlson, Julie Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio Moreno, Whit Bissell, Ricou Browning, Ben Chapman, Perry Lopez and Rodd Redwing

Tagline: Not since the beginning of time has the world beheld terror like this!

The Plot…

When a huge fossilized hand containing webbed fingers/claws is found on the banks of the Amazon, an expedition is formed to look for the rest of the skeleton.  The mission consists of Dr. Carl Maia (Moreno), Dr. David Reed (Carlson), David’s girlfriend Kay Lawrence (Adams) and Dr. Edwin Thompson (Bissell).  They are piloted by Captain Lucas on his small steamer into the depths of the Amazon.

Far out of contact with civilization, in an area known as the Black Lagoon, the group discovers a living gill-man. When they attempt to capture the creature, they learn it is strong, smart and now hunting them.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Creature from the Black Lagoon is one of Universal’s Classic Monsters.  I’ve watched this film as many times as any other horror movie.  It never loses its effectiveness.

Jack (The Incredible Shrinking Man) Arnold helms another horror classic.  He’s smart to allow the audience to see the creature’s huge webbed claw a couple of times before we see the full gill-man.  Richard Carlson and Richard Denning are at home in science fiction/horror films.  Has there ever been a prettier female lead in a horror film than Julie Adams?  Kudos to  Henry Mancini (!), Hans J. Salter and Herman Stein for the music.

The Creature from the Black Lagoon earns 5 of 5 stars.

“Kiss the Blood Off My Hands” (1948) starring Burt Lancaster & Joan Fontaine / Z-View

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Kiss the Blood Off My Hands (1948)

Director:  Norman Foster

Writer:  Leonardo Bercovici (screenplay),Walter Bernstein, Ben Maddow (adaptation), Hugh Gray (dialogue), Philip MacDonald (uncredited) based on the novel Kiss the Blood Off My Hands by Gerald Butler

Stars: Joan Fontaine, Burt Lancaster, Robert Newton, Jay Novello and Reginald Sheffield

Tagline: “A Hunted Man! A Love-Haunted Woman! Caught! With Every Kiss More Reckless, More Dangerous Than the Last”

The Plot…

Bill Saunders (Lancaster) is a former POW suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. He’s on the run for accidentally killing a man.  In order to escape the police, Bill enters a window. Jane Wharton (Fontaine) wakes to find a stranger in her room.  Jane believes Bill that the man’s death was an accident.

Bill and Jane slowly develop a relationship.  All is going well until, Harry Carter (Newton) a local hood, recognizes Bill from the fight that killed a man.  Carter says he will go to the police unless Bill helps him with a planned robbery.  Bill wants no part of the deal, but knows if he goes to jail he’ll lose Jane.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands was ahead of it’s time in the portrayal of PTSD.  Yet, the love affair and ending of the film is right out of the 40s.

Kiss the Blood Off My Hands earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Loco Boy Makes Good” (1942) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Loco Boy Makes Good (1942)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Felix Adler, Clyde Bruckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, Symona Boniface, Heinie Conklin, Vernon Dent, Charles Dorety and Bud Jamison

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When the boys learn that an old woman is going to lose her hotel, they decide to help her raise money to save the place.  Our guys help her spruce up the joint (with their usual success).  They then put on a big show with Curly accidentally ending up wearing a magician’s coat.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Four years after Loco Boy Makes Good‘s release, Harold Lloyd, the silent film star, sued Columbia Pictures for copyright infringement.  Lloyd won.  Clyde Buckman, the director of Loco Boy Makes Good also directed Lloyd’s film Movie Crazy.  Both featured the same magician’s coat sequence.

Loco Boy Makes Good earns 4 of 5 stars.

“Sisu” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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One of the folks on our message board posted the trailer to Sisu.  I loved it and found the poster to share both here. (Check out that poster – with the reflection of Nazis in his blade!)  Release in the US is set for April 28th.  Deal me in.

When an ex-soldier who discovers gold in the Lapland wilderness tries to take the loot into the city, Nazi soldiers led by a brutal SS officer battle him.

“Rabbit Hole” starring Kiefer Sutherland – The Full Trailer is Here!

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Deception is reality. Kiefer Sutherland stars in Rabbit Hole, coming to Paramount+ 27th March. Get ready for a mountain of entertainment from Paramount+, the brand-new streaming service that’s always worth watching. With blockbuster movies, new originals and exclusive series plus a huge variety of iconic drama, action, reality, comedy, documentaries and kids shows, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

“Quiz Whizz” (1958) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Quiz Whizz (1958)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Searle Kramer

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Besser, Greta Thyssen and Emil Sitka

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

When Joe is scammed out of $15,000 of quiz show winnings, the boys go to get back the cash.  The scammers convince our guys to pose as children for a rich couple.  What the Stooges don’t know is that the rich couple was in on the scam and plan to kill our guys!

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Quiz Whizz features Joe Besser as one of the Three Stooges.  Many fans don’t appreciate his comedy, but I’m not one of them.  While I prefer Curly and Shemp, I don’t mind Joe Bessor joining the team.  I like that he had his own persona and didn’t try to copy what had been done before him.

Quiz Whizz earns 3 of 5 stars.

“Boston Strangler” starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon – The Trailer is Here!

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Boston Strangler starring Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon looks good. Since it’s going to be on HULU watching will be a no-brainer.

Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon star in the true-crime thriller Boston Strangler, streaming March 17 on Hulu.

“Boston Strangler” from 20th Century Studios and writer/director Matt Ruskin premieres March 17, 2023, exclusively on Hulu in the U.S., Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ under the Star banner in all other territories. The trailer for the true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders of the 1960s is available now.

“Boston Strangler” stars two-time Oscar® nominee Keira Knightley (“The Imitation Game,” “Pride & Prejudice”), Emmy® nominee Carrie Coon (“Fargo,” “The Gilded Age”), Alessandro Nivola (“Amsterdam”), David Dastmalchian (“Dune”), Morgan Spector (“Homeland”), Bill Camp (“Joker”), and Academy Award® winner Chris Cooper (“Adaptation”). Written and directed by Matt Ruskin (“Crown Heights”), the film is produced by Ridley Scott (“The Martian”), Kevin J. Walsh (“House of Gucci”), Michael Pruss (“American Woman”), Josey McNamara (“Promising Young Woman”), and Tom Ackerley (“I, Tonya”), with Michael Fottrell (“The Fate of the Furious”) and Sam Roston serving as executive producers. Sam Roston is overseeing for Scott Free and Bronte Payne for LuckyChap.

The film follows Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter for the Record-American newspaper, who becomes the first journalist to connect the Boston Strangler murders. As the mysterious killer claims more and more victims, Loretta attempts to continue her investigation alongside colleague and confidante Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), yet the duo finds themselves stymied by the rampant sexism of the era. Nevertheless, McLaughlin and Cole bravely pursue the story at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.

“Goof on the Roof” (1953) starring The Three Stooges / Z-View

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Goof on the Roof (1953)

Director:  Jules White

Writer:  Clyde Buckman

Stars: Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard

Tagline: The Fix-It Boys…Out-Foxed Again!

The Plot…

When the boys learn their roommate is getting married, they decide to save him some money and install a television antenna themselves.  What could go wrong?

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Goof on the Roof’s story has the boys destroying a house to install a tv antenna.  There’s not much we haven’t seen before and without a cast to interact with, it becomes a bit redundant.  My favorite part is probably the “glug-glug-glug” sounds made when a bucket of water ends up on a Stooge’s head.

Shemp, who had replaced Curly due to his declining health caused by strokes, suffered a mild stroke himself with two weeks of completed filming of Goof on the Roof.

Goof on the Roof earns 3 of 5 stars.

RIP: Barbara Bosson

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Barbara Bosson died on February 18, 2023, at the age of 83.

After her high school graduation Barbara Bosson moved to New York and worked a variety of jobs (secretary, production assistant, Playboy bunny) as she pursued an acting career.

Barbara Bosson’s first acting credit is as a nurse in the Steve McQueen classic, Bullet.  Barbara Bosson would go on to act on television and feature films for the rest of her career.  She was nominated for 5 consecutive (1981 – 1985) Prime Time Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work in Hill Street Blues.  In 1996, she was nominated for a sixth Prime Time Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work in Murder One.

Some of Barbara Bosson’s television appearances include: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (5 episodes); Mannix; Longstreet; Emergency; Alias Smith & Jones; Ironside; McMillan & Wife (2 episodes); Richie Brockelman, Private Eye (5 episodes); Calendar Girl Murders; Hill Street Blues (103 episodes); LA Law (2 episodes); The New Mike Hammer; Hotel; Murder She Wrote; Hooperman (42 episodes); Cop Rock (11 episodes); Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; NYPD Blue; Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (2 episodes); Murder One (41 episodes) and Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer (6 episodes).

Some of Barbara Bosson’s feature film appearances include: Bullet; Capricorn One and The Last Starfighter.

It’s hard for me to say where I first saw Barbara Bosson.  Early in her career she appeared on several shows that I regularly watched.  I can say for sure that my favorite Barbara Bosson role was on Hill Street Blues.  I wasn’t alone.  She was nominated 5 years in a row for a Prime Time Emmy for her performance in that role.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Barbara Bosson’s family, friends and fans.

RIP: Jansen Panettiere

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Jansen Panettiere died yesterday at the age of 28.  No cause of death was announced.

Jansen Panettiere followed his older sister into an acting career.  In addition to television and feature film roles, Mr. Panettiere also did voice work.

Some of Jansen Panettiere’s television appearances include: Third Watch; Blue’s Clues (voice – 4 episodes); Tiger Cruise; The X’s (voice – 15 episodes); Everybody Hates Chris; Major Crimes and The Walking Dead.

Some of Jansen Panettiere’s feature film appearances include: Racing Stripes (voice); Robots (voice); Ice Age: The Meltdown (voice); The Babysitters and The Forger.

The majority of Jansen Panettiere’s resume includes projects not geared to my demographic.  I did hear his voice work in Blue’s Clues (watched with my grandson) and his acting in The Walking Dead.

It’s sad whenever someone dies at such a young age.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Jansen Panettiere’s family, friends and fans.