1940 - THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT, typical Warner studios movie

This film about independent truck drivers is actually half of a really good action drama and half a ridiculously turgid soap opera plot towards the end.  George Raft and fourth billed Humphrey Bogart are brothers who are trying to establish themselves as independent trucks.

The first half of the movie has all of the good stuff, lots of snappy dialog as Raft flirts with Ann Sheridan and some good driving stuff courtesy of director Raoul Walsh.  Unfortunately things come to a grinding halt when Raft gets involved with Ida Lupino the wife of The trucking line they eventually end up working for.

Lupino has the hots for Raft and she is so in love with him that it drives her to insanity in an incredibly improbable but entertaining way.  In fact Lupino is so nuts that it almost redeems the last half of the film.

Since this is a Warner Brother's film the production values are good and the film does move along at a fast clip  the film is a brisk hour and a half.

95 minutes, written by Jerry Wald and  Richard Macaulay.

1962 - KING KONG VS GODZILLA - Toho's monster mash

I suppose it was inevitable that Toho Studio's would get their hands on the King Kong character and have him face off against their monster Godzilla.  Sure enough somebody got stuffed into a monkey suit and squared off against the guy stuffed into the Godzilla suit

This is not a very good film but it is a rather entertaining one.  As usual if you are a lover of toys and little miniatures, Toho studios exceeds at creating this stuff.  It's almost too bad that the monsters have to stomp around and destroy these beautifully detailed models.  It really was a different time in the world of special effects.   

The film was directed as usual by Ishiro Honda a good Toho company man apparently.  

This version of King Kong Vs Godzilla has additional scenes added on by some American producer who bought the rights to this film.  These scenes mostly consist of some actor pretending to be a news anchor and rehashing scenes from the movie.  They are kind of unnecessary and interrupt the flow of the film.

97 minutes, written by Shinichi Sekizawa.

1966 - ONE MILLION YEARS BC, the dinosaurs and bikini epic

Hammer Studios remake of the rather shoddy original film from the 1940's is an adolescent male fantasy.

The film has some of Ray Harryhausen's best animation work with some great monsters.

The film also was a breakout part for an ungrateful Raquel Welch who apparently didn't want to have anything to do with the film.  Well she still looks great with her cave girl false eyelashes and makeup job.

The film was patronized by the critics when it was released but it is an entertaining "B" movie adventure film.

100 minutes. Written by producer Michael Carreras who has his name all over a lot of these Hammer Films.

1971 - STRAW DOGS, a violent mess of a film

Sam Peckinpah's film is usually called controversial.  However so much time has passed since the film was released and film violence has seen the bar raised to new levels about the only thing controversial about this film is the rather shoddy story structure.  I still wouldn't let the kids watch this film if you are looking for a fun family night at the movies.

Dustin Hoffman plays the wimp college professor living in Cornwall England with his little too sexy for her own good wife played by Susan George who specialized in these trampy parts.  After lots of what can only be called sexual harassment leading too non consensual sex (maybe) the film hits its climax with a violent attack on Hoffman's home by a bunch of the locals.  The point of this all appears to be that Hoffman discovers his ability to kill while defending his home.

For a guy who started his career as a writer and who took a writer's credit on this film.  The story structure is really a mess.  Hoffman's character is a very unpleasant guy so you can't work up much sympathy for him.  Susan George has the truly thankless role of being the tease who starts all the trouble.  Peckinpah is apparently trying to make some point about violence and sex but what?  Being a naughty girl can get you in trouble?

Even as a director this is a disappointing film.  There is none of his famous slow motion violence and the Cornish countryside is certainly not filmed to exploit it's scenery.  But who am I to say this film is considered a classic.

117 minutes written by Sam Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman.