Masculine Movie Icon Alan Ladd As the Wounded Outlaw Hero
Red Mountain and Botany Bay showcase masculine movie icon Alan Ladd in his glory, playing wounded heroes on the wrong side of the law.
William Dieterle
Film-Noir ‘Peking Express’ Is Hollywood’s First Encounter with Red China
The 1951 film-noir Peking Express (not to be confused with Shanghai Express) should be seen as Hollywood’s first attempt to deal with Communist China in the context of the Red Scare.
Real-Life 1950s Gang Busting Inspired Film Noir ‘The Turning Point’
Remastered and on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is William Dieterle’s The Turning Point, a noir film at the intersection of several crossroads in America’s early ’50s.
Vincente Minnelli’s ‘Kismet’ Is a Mix of ‘Arabian Nights’ and Hollywood
Warner Archive offers Vincent Minelli’s 1955 version of Kismet, which contrasts nicely with William Dieterle’s 1944 counterpart.
‘The Devil and Daniel Webster’ Compete for the Souls of Their Constituencies
Beyond The Devil and Daniel Websters soul-bartering story, it concerns the collision of “ole time religion” and new world realities, agrarian life crashing headfirst into business, bankruptcy, and “progress”.