It is quite remarkable that Fitzcarraldo (a story of one man’s crazy obsession) got made at all. It is a story of a man determined to drag a steamship over a mountain in Peru. To film it, director Werner Herzog (himself known as a crazy obsessive) chose to drag a full size steamship over a…
Rebel Without A Cause
Rebel Without A Cause was James Dean’s second and arguably most iconic leading movie role. Nicolas Ray’s classic 1955 film was a social commentary on disaffected middle class teenagers, going through emotional trauma, and the generation gap to their parents. It was shot in the new widescreen Cinemascope format and released a month after Dean’s…
High Noon
High Noon is one of the the most famous Westerns of all time. Gary Cooper (who won as Oscar for the role) stars as the upright sheriff awaiting a posse of bad guys to arrive on the noon train. The cowardly townspeople refuse to help him so he (and ultimately his new wife, played by…
Jekyll’s Inferno
Jekyll’s Inferno (aka The Two Faces Of Dr Jekyll aka House Of Fright) is one of the very few early Hammer horrors I’ve never seen, despite it featuring Christopher Lee in a supporting role and being directed by Terence Fisher. The twist on the old Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde formula in this 1960 release…
The Terminator
“I’ll be back…!” It is one of the most famous line in cinema history, as endlessly recycled by star Arnold Schwarzenegger in his subsequent movies. James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi was made on a limited budget compared to its sequels, but it remains for me by far the best of the Terminator series. Before Arnie started…