From the DVR: Nothing But a Man (1964)

Thanks to The Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™, I was able to DVR a feature film that’s been on my “must-see” list for many years now. The groundbreaking independent feature Nothing But a Man (1964) was selected to the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry in 1993 (the same year it was restored and…

From the DVR: The Underworld Story (1950)

This past Saturday evening (January 25) saw the premiere of Try and Get Me! (1950; a.k.a. The Sound of Fury) on The Greatest Cable Channel Known to Mankind™ as an offering on their Noir Alley showcase, hosted by the Czar of Noir himself, Eddie Mueller.  TCM ran Get Me at midnight as part of a…

“Never a help—always a hindrance!”

Facebook veterans know that there’s a group on there for every person, place or thing currently in existence (and if it hasn’t been created yet...give it a few seconds) and as a member in good standing since 2009 (my dues are paid up), I know there are some really outstanding Facebook aggregations dedicated to a…

Adventures in Blu-ray: Noir Archive Volume 1: 1944-1954

In Jacobellis vs. Ohio (1964), a U.S. Supreme Court case addressing the First Amendment (an Ohio movie theatre banned the 1958 Louis Malle film Les Amants because they believed it to be “obscene”), Justice Potter Stewart made a famous observation about obscenity that has become a colloquial expression today.  “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I…

Workin’ for the (freeview) weekend

Good news, everyone!  DISH has bestowed upon us a "freeview" weekend of the Epix movie channel...and that's always most welcome here in the House of Yesteryear because while I'll admit their film offerings may suffer from a mild case of same-ol'-same-ol' (we're only getting the free weekend because Epix is promoting a new series entitled…

“This is the only place I’m happy.”

Fourteen is a painful age for any kid...but for young Duncan (Liam James), it’s a real tribulation: he’s shy and unsure of himself, and his divorced mother Pam (Toni Collette) has dragooned him into spending the summer in a coastal Massachusetts beach house with her overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) and his conceited daughter Steph…

Buried Treasures (literally!): The Lost City of Cecil B. DeMille (2016)

In his 1959 autobiography, legendary movie director Cecil Blount DeMille wrote: “If 1,000 years from now, archaeologists happen to dig beneath the sands of Guadalupe, I hope they will not rush into print with the amazing news that Egyptian civilization, far from being confined to the Valley of the Nile, extended all the way to…

Buried Treasures: Danger Street (1947)

Pat Marvin (Jane Withers) is a shutterbug for Flick (“The magazine that’s there when it happens”) …but she may not be employed there much longer.  Larry Burke (Robert Lowery), the editor of Flick—and Pat’s platonic boyfriend—has received notice from the magazine’s owner, “Muscle-Bustle” Turlock (Paul Harvey), that he’s selling the publication due to poor circulation. …

Buried Treasures: Big Town (1947)

Back in April, I did a write-up for Big Town After Dark (1947) as one of the blog’s “Overlooked Films on Tuesdays”—After Dark being the third film in a B-picture franchise lensed by independent producers William Pine and William C. Thomas (a.k.a. “The Two Dollar Bills”) and released through Paramount.  The film series was inspired…

Buried Treasures: Gun Moll (Gang Smashers) (1938)

Harlem’s hottest night spot is The Cellar Cabaret, owned and operated by Gat Dalton (Laurence Criner).  (His mother was frightened by a gun when he was born, apparently.)  Dalton does all right with his nightclub business, but he really rakes in the big bucks with an enterprise known as the “Harlem Protective Association” …a fancy…