Movie Magazine International Blog

By Monica Sullivan "The Frightened City" has oodles of repeat value because the plot will zoom out of your head five minutes after you see it. Herbert Lom and John Gregson star as Waldo Zhernikov & Detective Inspector Sayers and Sean Connery is billed third as Paddy Damion. His hairline is quite high here, so I suspect that IS a rug he's wearing in 1962's "Dr.No" and all the subsequent Bond films. All the pretty girls wear tight, low-cut dresses and director John Lemont never misses a chance to emphasize their best assets including their navels during one dance sequence in a nightclub. He's wise to do that because all the musical numbers here are ghastly. We see Connery doing manly things from the start, like judo, and then we watch him take a shower and change into an undershirt, slacks and tight pullover shirt with no tie. There's plenty of American style thugs in this one with names like Tanky Thomas, Nero, Sanchetti, Salty Brewer, Lippy ...

By Monica Sullivan Ah, the joys of 1957 when men were men and women twiddled their thumbs. Kathy Ferguson (Barbara Stanwyck) begins the movie "Crime of Passion" with an exciting job as a columnist for a San Francisco newspaper. She even plays a key role in clearing up a murder case. She's en route to Manhattan on a fast-paced career track when she makes a quick stop in Los Angeles to meet Detective Lieutenant Bill Doyle of the Los Angeles Police Department (Sterling Hayden) for dinner. One thing leads to another and before you can say "darn my socks for me darling" she is Mrs. Bill Doyle, trapped in a suburb with no outlet for her tremendous energy. She's bored with her life and she hates Bill's friends on the force and their wives, so she takes up a new hobby, promoting Bill's career. This means sleeping with the boss, Inspector Tony Pope (Raymond Burr) and alienating him from other detectives who might get the job she wants Bill to have. See what h...

By Monica Sullivan "The Tenant" is my all-time favorite movie about apartment living. Director Roman Polanski casts himself as Trekolvsky, a meek little Polish file clerk by day who does his best to be a conscientious & thoughtful tenant at night, but only succeeds in getting pushed around by his neighbors. Trekolvsky discovers that his predecessor in his Paris apartment bumped herself off & he fears that a similar fate is in store for him. "The Tenant" is a surreal blend of terror & humor with a conclusion that has to be seen to be believed. It makes sense within the context of the story, but when you think twice about it (& you will think about "The Tenant" again & again), you may wonder how any filmmaker would dare to get away with it. Polanski at his best is in a class by himself & if he could get away with slicing up Jack Nicholson's nose in 1974's "Chinatown," he could certainly get away with the operati...