Monday, November 30, 2020

Sunday, November 29 - Madigan

Madigan (1968)

Policemen Bonaro and Madigan lose their guns to fugitive Barney Benesch. As compensation, the two NYC detectives are given a weekend to bring Benesch to justice. While Bonaro and Madigan follow up on various leads, Police Commissioner Russell goes about his duties, including attending functions, meeting with aggrieved relatives, and counseling the spouses of fallen officers.

Sunday, November 29, 2020

Saturday, November 28 - The Psychopath

The Psychopath (1966)

Inspector Holloway (Patrick Wymark) investigates a series of gruesome murders with one common trait linking them: a tiny doll left next to the victim's corpse. Holloway's investigation ultimately ties the killings to the lost wealth of a German businessman, missing since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, more disturbing clues are uncovered at the home of Mrs. Von Strum (Margaret Johnston), the dolls' owner, and her eccentric son, Mark (John Standing).

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Friday, November 27 - The Midnight Man

The Midnight Man (1974)

A paroled ex-police detective (Burt Lancaster) works as campus night watchman and solves a coed's murder.

Friday, November 27, 2020

Thursday, November 26 - Ten Little Indians & French Connection II

Ten Little Indians (1965)

When a group of 10 strangers is invited to a party at a mansion in the Alps, each arrives expecting entertainment. However, a recorded message from their absent host informs them that each guest has been responsible for someone's death, and consequently each will be killed. Quickly, members of the party begin to turn up dead. American Hugh Lombard (Hugh O'Brian) and the beautiful Ann Clyde (Shirley Eaton) try to determine the identity of the murderer before they become the next victims.


"Popeye" Doyle travels to Marseille to find Alain Charnier, the drug smuggler who eluded him in New York. (This isn't a travel film, he's actually in Marseille when the movie starts.)

Thursday, November 26, 2020

Wednesday, November 25 - Play It Cool (1962)

Play It Cool (1962)

Stars Billy Fury (Britain's answer to Elvis Presley) and features cameos from some other stars from the sixties, with Bobby Vee, Helen Shapiro and Shane Fenton (better known as Alvin Stardust). On a plane is Billy and his band on their way to take part in a song contest, also on board is Ann Bryant, who's been abroad by her wealthy father, to stop her infatuation with popstar Larry Granger. The plane is forced to return to the airport and Billy and his band persuade Ann to join them and together they search London's nightclubs for Larry.

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

Tuesday, November 24 - Tony Rome

Tony Rome (1967)

Ex-cop turned private eye, Tony Rome lives and works in Miami. For $200, he returns a young woman to her father's house after she passes out in a seedy hotel, and he keeps the hotel's name out of it. Trouble is, she's missing a diamond pin. When the pin does turn up, it's fake. The girl's wealthy father hires Tony to find out what happened to the real stones. Bodies pile up.

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Monday, November 23 - Baron Blood

Baron Blood (1972) Gli orrori del castello di Norimberga (original title)

A young man, Peter, returns to Austria in search of his heritage. There he visits the castle of an ancestor, a sadistic Baron who was cursed to a violent death by a witch whom the Baron had burned at the stake. Peter reads aloud the incantation that causes Baron Blood to return and continue his murderous tortures.

Monday, November 23, 2020

Sunday, November 22 - The Burning Court

The Burning Court (1962) La chambre ardente (original title)

A collective of family members gather at an ailing relative’s secluded country estate to discuss matters of finance, only to have their host abruptly shuffle off this mortal coil under less-than-natural circumstances. However, what starts off as a standard “inheritance murder mystery” quickly becomes something significantly chewier; seems that the late Uncle Mathias (Frederic Duvalles) was the last remaining descendant of a policeman who brought a supposed witch to justice in the 1600s, said sorceress cursing his family line with her dying breath. Along with two squabbling brothers, Marc (Jean-Claude Brialy) and Stephane (Claude Rich), understandably eager to get their hands on the family fortune, further thickening the pot is mystery novelist Michel (Walter Giller), down for the weekend to interview Mathias about his dark lineage. And wouldn’t you know it, Michel’s wife Marie (Edith Scob) just happens to be the last remaining descendant of the witch in question… who was also named Marie. The end result is an “old cursed house” supernatural horror whodunit where the suspects are plentiful, one of whom could be an actual ghost!

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Saturday, November 22 - Telefon

Telefon (1977)

The KGB is looking for one of their people, a man named Dalchimsky because he has stolen something important but, unfortunately, he manages to get through the border and later in the U.S. some seemingly ordinary people after receiving a phone call go out and destroy key American military installations while back in the U.S.S.R. General Strelsky and Colonel Malchenko send for Grigori Borzov, a KGB agent who has been to the U.S. on missions before and inform him that after the U-2 incident in fear of the possibility that a war with the U.S. will occur; they were part of an operation called TELEFON that involved recruiting young agents and then brainwashing them into believing that they are Americans who would assume the identity of an American who died a long time ago and who would be their age now and would be situated in a city that is near or where a key U.S. military installation is located and were also programmed to destroy upon receiving the command phrase but have been fortunate that they have never had to send them on their missions and they believe that Dalchimsky stole the book that lists all the TELEFON agents and is now sending them out on their suicide missions and it also seems that the current KGB Chairman is unaware of TELEFON so Strelsky and Malchenko want Borzov to go to America and find Dalchimsky before he starts World War 3 so Borzov, who is endowed with a photographic memory, memorizes the second TELEFON book and goes to America and is aided by Barbara... (whew!)

Saturday, November 21, 2020

Friday, November 20 - Ritual of Evil

Ritual of Evil (1970)

When Dr. Sorel's most recent patient, troubled heiress Aline Wiley disappears one dark and stormy night, he visits her California mansion. There Sorel confronts Aline's tipsy aunt: faded movie star Jolene Wiley and equally troubled kid sister Loey . Both of whom are haunted by strange nightmares involving the ritual murder of a young hippie as part of a possibly Satanic ritual. The next morning Aline's dead body is found on the beach by musician Larry Richmond . Since Larry is black local cops quickly label him a suspect but Dr. Sorel is unconvinced. He is far more intrigued by a friend of the Wiley's, glamorous photographer Leila Barton who seems to exert an unholy influence on the whole family...

(Sequel to Fear No Evil (1969))

Friday, November 20, 2020

Thursday, November 19 - The Opposite Sex

The Opposite Sex (1956)

The story concerns Kay Hilliard (June Allyson), a former nightclub singer who discovers her husband Steven (Leslie Nielsen) is having an affair with showgirl Crystal Allen (Joan Collins). Kay is the last to find out among her circle of gossiping girlfriends. Kay travels to Reno to divorce from Steve who then marries Crystal, but when Kay finds out that Crystal isn't true to Steve, she starts fighting to win her ex-husband back.

(Remake of 1939's "The Women")

Thursday, November 19, 2020

Wednesday, November 18 - Rasputin: The Mad Monk

Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966)

In the Russian countryside, Rasputin heals the sick wife of an innkeeper (Derek Francis). When he is later hauled before an Orthodox bishop for his sexual immorality and violence, the innkeeper springs to the monk's defence. Rasputin protests that he is sexually immoral because he likes to give God "sins worth forgiving" (loosely based on Rasputin's rumored connection to Khlysty, an obscure Christian sect which believed that those deliberately committing fornication, then repenting bitterly, would be closer to God). He also claims to have healing powers in his hands, and is unperturbed by the bishop's accusation that his power comes from Satan.

Rasputin heads for Saint Petersburg, where he forces his way into the home of Dr Zargo (Pasco), from where he begins his campaign to gain influence over the Tsarina (Asherson). He manipulates one of the Tsarina's ladies-in-waiting, Sonia (Shelley), whom he uses to satisfy his voracious sexual appetite and gain access to the Tsarina. He places her in a trance and commands her to cause an apparent accident that will injure the czar's young heir Alexei, so that Rasputin can be called to court to heal him. After this success, he hypnotizes the Tsarina to replace her existing doctor with Zargo (who has previously been struck off after a scandal).

However, Rasputin's ruthless pursuit of wealth and prestige, and increasing control over the royal household, attracts opposition. Sonia's brother, Peter (Landen), enraged by Rasputin's seduction of his sister, enlists the help of Ivan to bring about the monk's downfall. Peter, in challenging the monk, is horribly scarred by acid thrown in his face, and suffers a lingering death.

Tricking Rasputin into thinking his sister Vanessa (Farmer) is interested in him, Ivan arranges a supposed meeting. However, Zargo has poisoned the wine and chocolates, which the Monk starts to consume. Soon Rasputin collapses, but the poison is not enough to kill him. In the ensuing struggle between the three men, Zargo is stabbed by Rasputin and quickly dies. Ivan manages to throw Rasputin out of the window to his death.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Tuesday, November 17 - China

China (1943)

Allan Ladd plays a cynical war profiteer, a part well chosen for him. He sells to the highest bidder: the Imperial Japanese waging war against the Nationalist troops, short of money, but not in men. And then there's doe-eyed Loretta Young, born and bred in China and with missionary fervor remains in China to aid and assist her students, refugees. William Bendix as Ladd's side kick has a tender heart and is a sucker for an abandoned baby.

Of course, Ladd has a change in heart, helps the Chinese to entrap Japanese troops. And in that he's ennobled by his sacrifice for all that's good and pure in America.

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Monday, November 16 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: The Better Bargain

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): The Better Bargain (Season 2 | Episode 11 -  aired 9 December 1956)

Louis Koster is a middle-aged mobster, now running a more-or-less legitimate business and enjoying a beautiful young wife. That is, until he suspects his wife of having an affair. A mousy little private eye confirms it. Now the only thing Louis "The King" Koster has left to do is hire Harry Silver. Silver is the best hitman in the business, but his price may come too high.

Monday, November 16, 2020

Sunday, November 15 - The File of the Golden Goose

The File of the Golden Goose (1969)

A trail of counterfeit hundred dollar bills has been discovered in several places around the world. When this comes to the attention of the Secret Service, they assign one of their top men, Pete Novak (Yul Brynner), to the case of finding out who is producing and distributing them.

Pete realizes that this is an assignment that demands his full attention, so he immediately breaks up with his girlfriend in preparation for the journey he must take. Before Pete can even begin his search, he is ambushed by a gang of hoodlums trying to shoot him down as they drive by outside his home. He concludes that the gang must have been tipped off by someone on the inside of the service about his new assignment. He manages to kill them, but discovers afterwards that the killers has accidentally shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in the process.

The killing of the girlfriend makes the whole assignment very personal for Pete. To begin the search for the counterfeit distributor, he travels across the Atlantic to London, England, to visit Scotland Yard headquarters, since they are in charge of the counterfeit investigation in Europe. There, he meets up with Superintendent Sloane (John Barrie) of the Yard, who arranges for him to be partnered by an investigator by the name of Arthur Thompson (Edward Woodward). Arthur is a very happily married jolly old (fairly young, actually) copper, who manages to ignore all of Pete’s remarks about the inappropriateness of being a married man working as an agent or policeman.

Pete and Arthur start infiltrating the counterfeit organization, posing as members of the Golden Goose gang - a gang that has been all but erased from the face of the earth by the police. They use their fake identities to hide their undercover infiltration from the head of the illegal operation, The Owl Harrison (Charles Gray), and are ultimately successful in stopping the counterfeit operation (except that Arthur is killed by the gang and the Owl is not really the head of the gang, although I can't blame anyone for not watching to the end).

Sunday, November 15, 2020

Saturday, November 14 - Rasputin and the Empress

Rasputin and the Empress (1932)

Desperate to cure her hemophiliac son, Czarina Alexandra (Ethel Barrymore) resorts to seeking out the services of mystic healer Grigori Rasputin (Lionel Barrymore). Despite his unconventional methods, Rasputin appears to be curing the sickly child. However, Rasputin has a sinister side, and he begins back-door maneuvering in a bid for power. Suspicious of Rasputin, Prince Paul Chegodieff (John Barrymore) attempts to thwart the scheming mystic before he destroys the Russian empire.

Saturday, November 14, 2020

Friday, November 13 - Scorpio

Scorpio (1973)

Cross (Burt Lancaster) is an experienced assassin for the CIA who decides he's quitting the business. When he announces his intentions, however, the CIA decides they'd rather have him dead than retired. They assign Scorpio (Alain Delon), a French assassin whom Cross has mentored for years, to do the job. A complicated game of cat and mouse follows, during which Cross relies on his many contacts and years of experience to elude the man he's taught everything he knows.

Friday, November 13, 2020

Thursday, November 12 - Somewhere I'll Find You

Somewhere I'll Find You (1942)

Gable is Jonny Walker and Sterling is Kirk Walker, brothers who work together as war correspondents for a New York newspaper, just returning from overseas. They aren't home for long before they are competing for the affection of Paula Lane (Turner),  a reporter who flip-flops between the two.  When Paula is sent on assignment to Indochina and disappears, the brothers are commissioned to find her. Once they do find her, Pearl Harbor happens and the three of them end up in Bataan: Jonny reporting for the paper, Kirk as a solider and Paula as a Red Cross nurse. The film was a "flag waver" meant to inspire war bond sales.

Thursday, November 12, 2020

Wednesday, November 11 - The Glass Bottom Boat

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)

Jennifer Nelson and Bruce Templeton meet when Bruce reels in her mermaid suit leaving Jennifer bottomless in the waters off Catalina Island. She later discovers that Bruce is the big boss at her work (a research lab). Bruce hires Jennifer to be his biographer - only to try and win her affections. However, there's a problem. Bruce's friend General Wallace Bleeker believes that Jennifer is a Russian spy, and he has her placed under surveillance. Then, when Jennifer catches on...Watch Out!

Wednesday, November 11, 2020

Tuesday, November 10 - Tangier

Tangier (1946)

Maria Montez plays a firebrand Spanish dancer named Rita who is determined to find the Nazi war criminal who killed her father (and brothers). The trail takes her dancing feet (she's already here when the movie starts) to North Africa where she meets down-and-out journalist Paul Kenyon (Paige) who is seeking to revitalize his career (and get close to Maria!) by exposing a series of murders perpetrated in pursuit of a huge diamond, including death via elevator (this happens later and doesn't really have anything to do with the diamond).

Tuesday, November 10, 2020

Monday, November 9 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Crack of Doom & Jonathan

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955–1962): Crack of Doom   (Season 2 | Episode 9 - aired 25 November 1956)

In the club car of a New York-Chicago streamliner, Mason Bridges adamantly refuses his friends' request to join him in the next car for a game of penny-ante. One of the friends presses him about this refusal, and Mason tells him a story of the time he had unwittingly become a thief. Years before, he was an office manager for a real-estate firm. An unpleasant business associate named Sam Klinker gives him $10,000 to put in the company safe--and then invites him to a no-limit game of poker. Circumstances conspire to bring Mason Bridges to the brink of ruin. And a single card will make all the difference.


Gil Dalliford has an unnaturally close relationship to his father, whom he calls by his first name, Jonathan. "Every important moment of my life is a moment I had with Jonathan," he says. But after eighteen years of being a widower, Jonathan finds he's ready to settle down with a new wife. Before Gil even meets her, he declares his everlasting hatred for her. And that hatred only intensifies after his father dies. Of a heart attack, the doctor said. But Gil suspects foul play.

Monday, November 9, 2020

Sunday, November 8 - It Takes a Thief: The Thingamabob Heist

It Takes a Thief (1968–1970): The Thingamabob Heist (Season 2 | Episode 4 - aired 15 October 1968)

Al must retrieve a new jet fuel called "Palium", a compound that can take any shape. Its inventor has been killed and no one knows what form the fuel has taken. The Palium is on a heavily guarded estate owned by Nick Grobbo, who plans to fence it. The only way onto the estate is by invitation, so Al steals the "Hobarth Diamond" in order to get invited in

Sunday, November 8, 2020

Saturday, November 7 - From Beyond the Grave

From Beyond the Grave (1974)

Anthology film from Amicus adapted from four short stories by R. Chetwynd-Hayes strung together about an antique dealer who owns a shop called Temptations Ltd. and the fate that befalls his customers who try to cheat him. Stories include "The Gate Crasher" with David Warner who frees an evil entity from an antique mirror, "An Act of Kindness" featuring Donald Pleasence, "The Elemental", and "The Door".

Saturday, November 7, 2020

Friday, November 6 - St. Ives

St. Ives (1976)

 Raymond St. Ives is a crime writer who's currently in need of some cash. He's hired by a devious career criminal, Abner Procane (John Houseman), who's written down several journals of his misdeeds. It seems that Procanes' journals have been stolen, and he needs St. Ives to act as a "go between", or deliver money to the thieves while retrieving the incriminating documents. But nothing goes as planned, and St. Ives, an inquisitive sort as well as a cool customer, becomes determined to find out what he's gotten himself into.

Friday, November 6, 2020

Thursday, November 5 - P.J.

P.J. (1968)

New York City private eye P.J. (Peter Joseph) Detweiler needs the work, so he accepts an offer to be a bodyguard to protect Maureen Preble, the mistress of shady millionaire William Orbison.

Orbison takes the family to the Bahamas, where a romantic attachment between P.J. and the married Maureen seems to be growing. Orbison's business partner, Grenoble, is shot dead and P.J. is arrested by the police. It becomes clear to P.J. that he has been set up by the Orbisons, who wanted to rid themselves of Grenoble and needed a fall guy.

P.J. is released by the authorities and makes it back to New York, where he confronts the masterminds of the plot. About all he can do is stand by as Orbison and his mistress end up doing away with one another.

Thursday, November 5, 2020

Wednesday, November 4 - Dragonwyck

Dragonwyck (1946)

For Miranda Wells (Gene Tierney), moving to New York to live in Dragonwyck Manor with her rich cousin, Nicholas (Vincent Price), seems like a dream. However, the situation gradually becomes nightmarish. She observes Nicholas' troubled relationship with his tenant farmers, as well as with his daughter (Connie Marshall), to whom Miranda serves as governess. Her relationship with Nicholas intensifies after his wife dies (yeah, they get married, in fact), but his mental imbalance threatens any hope of happiness.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020

Tuesday, November 3 - Fear No Evil

Fear No Evil (1969)

A psychiatrist specializing in the occult becomes involved in the case of a man who seems to have been possessed by an antique mirror. After he's killed in an alleged car accident, his fiancee sees him in the mirror and is beckoned into that realm...but is it really him?

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Monday, November 2 - The Horror of Frankenstein & One Night in the Tropics

The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

Victor Frankenstein, a cold, arrogant and womanizing genius, is angry when his father forbids him to continue his anatomy experiments. He ruthlessly murders his father by sabotaging the old man's shotgun, consequently inheriting the title of Baron von Frankenstein and the family fortune. He uses the money to enter medical school in Vienna, but is forced to return home when he impregnates the daughter of the Dean.

Returning to his own castle, he sets up a laboratory and starts a series of experiments involving the revival of the dead. He eventually builds a composite body from human parts, which he then brings to life. The creature goes on a homicidal rampage until it is accidentally destroyed when a vat where it has been hidden is flooded with acid.


One Night in the Tropics (1940)


Jim "Lucky" Moore (Allan Jones), an insurance salesman, comes up with a novel policy for his friend, Steve (Robert Cummings): a 'love insurance policy', that will pay out $1-million if Steve does not marry his fiancée, Cynthia (Nancy Kelly). Encouraged by Jim's argument that Jim has never had to pay out on a policy so that the marriage is a sure thing, Steve accepts.

The upcoming marriage is jeopardized by Steve's ex-girlfriend, Mickey (Peggy Moran), and Cynthia's disapproving Aunt Kitty. The policy is underwritten by a nightclub owner, Roscoe (William Frawley), who sends two enforcers – Abbott and Costello – to ensure that the wedding occurs as planned. 

Everyone involved in the situation winds up sailing or flying to San Marcos (a fictional South American country), where another complication arises, when Lucky falls for Cynthia. Lucky winds up marrying Cynthia, but Roscoe does not have to pay the $1-million because Steve ends up marrying Mickey.

Monday, November 2, 2020

Sunday, November 1 - It Takes a Thief: The Bill Is in Committee

It Takes a Thief: The Bill Is in Committee  (Episode  Season 2 | Episode 3 - aired 8 October 1968)

Mundy's mission is to steal compromising negatives from a ruthless dictator's personal safe. He goes undercover as a famous magician. The problem, though, is that Mundy doesn't know any magic.

Sunday, November 1, 2020

Saturday, October 31 - House of Dracula

House of Dracula (1945)

This monster movie focuses on the iconic vampire, Count Dracula (John Carradine), and Lawrence Talbot (Lon Chaney), better known as the Wolf Man. Both beings of the night are tired of their supernatural afflictions, so they seek out Dr. Franz Edelmann (Onslow Stevens) for cures for their respective curses. While trying to aid the imposing creatures, Edelmann himself develops a transformative condition, adding to the many ghouls lurking around the foreboding landscape.