Author: womo

A Life at Stake (1954) [Film Noir] [Drama]

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“A Life at Stake” is an American Film Noir directed by Paul Guilfoyle. The film is also known as “Key Man”.

Down-on-his-luck Los Angeles architect and builder Edward Shaw (Keith Andes) is approached by Doris Hillman (Angela Lansbury) with a business proposal: buying land together, on which he would build houses that she would then sell, using her experience as a former real estate broker. Her husband, Gus Hillman, a wealthy businessman, would be willing to contribute half a million dollars as capital for the venture.

Doris quickly seems interested in more than a purely professional relationship. Shaw starts an affair with her and accepts the business offer. However, an accidental discovery leaves him convinced that the Hillmans’ interest lies less in the long-term profits of the venture than in the $175,000 key man insurance policy he took on himself as a precondition for the deal, and that an attempt on his life is imminent.

Madge, the younger sister of Doris, develops a romantic interest in Shaw as well. Without knowing what Doris has planned, she reveals to Shaw that her sister was married previously to a man who died in Wyoming when his car crashed over a bridge. Shaw ends up drugged by Gus Hillman and barely keeps his car from going off a cliff.

The police are skeptical about his story and the insurance company refuses to cancel the policy, Hillman having portrayed Shaw as a man who is trying to steal his wife. Madge teams with Shaw to try to foil her sister’s scheme, but Doris lures him to a mountain cabin and shoots him with a gun. A wounded Shaw sees both Hillmans struggle then fall to their deaths through a clifftop doorway, just minutes before Madge and the cops arrive.

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Directed by Paul Guilfoyle, produced by A.C. Burger (associate producer), Charles Maxwell (executive producer) and Hank McCune (producer), written by Russ Bender (screenplay) and Hank McCune (story idea), starring Angela Lansbury as Doris Hillman, Keith Andes as Edward Shaw, Douglass Dumbrille as Gus Hillman, Claudia Barrett as Madge Neilan, Jane Darwell as Landlady, Gavin Gordon as Sam Pearson, Charles Maxwell as Lt. Hoff, William Henry as Myles Norman, Kathleen Mulqueen as Mary, Dan Sturkie as Officer Biff, Jeane Wood as Mabel, the maid and Robert Haver as Mechanic.

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Source: “A Life at Stake” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 13 June 2013. Web. 16 August 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Life_at_Stake.

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The Bat (1959) [Horror] [Thriller] [Mystery]

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“The Bat” is a mystery film directed by Crane Wilbur. The film’s tagline was “When it flies, someone dies!” The film was based on the 1920 Broadway play “The Bat by Avery Hopwood” and Mary Roberts “Rinehart”, which was previously filmed as “The Bat” (1926) and as “The Bat Whispers” (1930), both directed by Roland West.

Cornelia Van Gorder (Agnes Moorehead) is a mystery author who lives in a town terrorized by a mysterious murderer known only as “The Bat”. The Bat is said to be a man with no face who murders women at night by ripping out their throats with steel claws. Early in the film, The Bat enters Van Gorder’s house and releases a bat, which bites van Gorder’s maid Lizzy (Lenita Lane). With Lizzy in a panic, fearing she may now have contracted “the rabies”, an outbreak of which local papers have reported, Van Gorder calls her doctor, Dr Malcolm Wells (Vincent Price), who is conducting research on bats.

Meanwhile, the whole town is searching for a million-dollar stash of looted bank securities that were recently stolen. Dr. Wells discovers the location of the treasure when the thief confides in him. Wells then murders the thief in cold blood, presumably so that he can take the treasure for himself, which he believes to be hidden in van Gorder’s house.

A series of break-ins and murders by The Bat brings the local chief of detectives, Andy Anderson (Gavin Gordon) to the Van Gorder house. The Bat then murders two people in the Van Gorder house, Mark Fleming (John Bryant) and Judy Hollander (Darla Hood). Anderson attempts to determine the identity of The Bat, suspecting both Wells and Van Gorder’s new butler, Warner (John Sutton). Wells is removed from suspicion, however, when he is murdered by The Bat in his lab.

Miss Van Gorder cleverly manages to capture The Bat inside the secret room in her house. The Bat shoots a detective named Davenport (Robert Williams), he is then shot by Warner. Warner unmasks The Bat and he is revealed to be Lieutenant Anderson.

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Directed by Crane Wilbur, produced by C.J. Tevlin, written by Avery Hopwood, Mary Roberts Rinehart and Crane Wilbur, starring Vincent Price, Agnes Moorehead, Gavin Gordon, John Sutton, Lenita Lane, Elaine Edwards, Darla Hood, John Bryant and Harvey Stephens.

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Source: “The Bat (1959 film)” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 14 March 2013. Web. 16 August 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bat_(film).

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The Sadist (1963) [Thriller] [Horror]

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The Sadist (also known as Profile of Terror and Sweet Baby Charlie) is an black-and-white exploitation film. The film is loosely based on the killings of Charles Starkweather, upon which the films “Badlands” and “Natural Born Killers” were also based.

Three high school teachers, Ed, Doris, and Carl, are driving through rural Southern California on their way to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles. The group’s Chevrolet Belair has some trouble and they are forced to pull off to a gas station/junkyard on the side of the road. After examining the vehicle Ed concludes that the fuel pump will need to be replaced. Doris and Carl search the junkyard looking for the owner, but they cannot find him.

In the residence Carl finds a warm meal with a table set for four, but oddly enough nobody is in the house. The three realize this is very peculiar and start to seriously worry about their situation. At this point Charlie Tibbs, a rather large man wielding a Colt .45, and his girlfriend Judy show up. Charlie and Judy have spent the past several days heading west from Arizona, leaving a trail of corpses behind them. Law enforcement is on the hunt for them, but Charlie has managed to stay a step ahead by changing vehicles frequently and then killing the people who offer their help.

Charlie demands that Ed finish repairing the car and informs him that he and Judy will be stealing the Belair and taking off when Ed is done. Charlie threatens that if the three don’t cooperate “it’ll be the end of them.” During the next several hours Charlie and his girlfriend torment Ed, Doris, and Carl.

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Directed by James Landis, produced by L. Steven Snyder, written by James Landis, starring Arch Hall, Jr., Richard Alden, Marilyn Manning, Don Russell and Helen Hovey.

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Source: “The Sadist (film)” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.. 28 July 2013. Web. 16 August 2013. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sadist_(film).

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Jungle Bride (1933) JUNGLE ADVENTURE

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Stars: Anita Page, Charles Starrett, Kenneth Thomson
Directors: Harry O. Hoyt, Albert H. Kelley
Writer: Leah Baird (story)

A young woman believes that an actor committed the murder for which her brother has been imprisoned, and she gets her fiancé–a newspaper reporter–to accompany her in following the suspected killer aboard a ship headed for South America. While they’re at sea, disaster strikes and the ship is sunk. The three of them, plus the actor’s friend, are washed up on a deserted island.

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