Classic motion pictures and Lifestyle with a dip into the underside, the seedy and off beat through the eyes of Canadian Writer TERRY SHERWOOD.
Lists like this - no matter the subject - always seem to leave something out. How do you pick the “best” of someone who has a body of work like Peter Cushing and be fair to him? Viewing the works from North America, I was only accessing versions of films whose titles may be different;... Continue Reading →
Vampires, werewolves, mummies that come back to life after three thousand years, can such thing be?’ That was the opening phrase that Boris Karloff spoke to you as you played AN EVENING WITH BORIS KARLOFF and FRIENDS LP record. English born William Henry Pratt made a startlingly long and varied career of playing men of... Continue Reading →
Not everyone that works in film can be a star or be a top creative person. Many toil in the shadows as actors, technicians, directors and writers. Take George Zucco. Zucco was a working actor, often playing the heavy or the elegant villain. He was in many films that inevitably varied in quality. You may... Continue Reading →
The heist film is a subgenre with classics back to Hollywood’s beginnings. One of the masters of chronicling gangsters and assorted low life is French film maker Jean Pierre Melville. His last and fitting ending is the masterpiece of style and cool called UN FLIC (1972), or DIRTY MONEY. UN FLIC stars the superb Alain... Continue Reading →
One of the fascinating aspects of film is that it is essentially an international language. Genres occur in many countries just in different forms, usually stylistic approaches. Actors are used, although you do get some cross pollination, and, of course, story. Film Noir is easily transferable as it is common to have cities both... Continue Reading →
Auto racing is a particularly special subject for a film. The speed, the danger, the flashy cars and people make for a larger than life story. Technically, race day (and night depending if you are doing a 24 hour event) offers the opportunity for interesting camera work. All these come together in WINNING (1969), plus... Continue Reading →
Being gay in Hollywood was not a thing. It was reduced to a smile or a look the other way. What makes the 2017 documentary SCOTTY AND THE SECRET HISTORY OF HOLLYWOOD (2017) extraordinary is its scope and genuine sadness. Director Matt Tynaur weaves a story of Scotty Bowers by following his life today as... Continue Reading →
There are some curios that were released during the early thirties in those glorious days of Pre code Hollywood (1929 to mid-1934). The treatment of women, the institution of marriage and reverence to the Church, lead of by the Catholic Legion of Decency, are some of the subjects often under fire. Hence that... Continue Reading →
The British musical drama DANGEROUS YOUTH (1957) or THESE DANGEROUS YEARS (1957) represents two of my great interests: the film is an early rock and roll story and it is set in Liverpool. The significance of Liverpool is self-explanatory to the music history; my interest is in the city itself and the football... Continue Reading →
Stories about quick jabs and combinations get to me. Boxing has figured a lot in film. It is a double edged blade as the fight game was depicted as a last resort for poor people or a dubious game of revenge controlled by nefarious folk that doesn’t end well. It does not help that I... Continue Reading →
STARDUST AND SHADOWS 