Tag: 1954

Burt Lancaster and Gary Cooper in the 1954 western by Robert Aldrich

‘Vera Cruz’ – The proto-spaghetti western on Amazon Prime

!Featured, Amazon Prime Video, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, DVD, Hollywood Classic, SVOD, western 04/11/202104/11/2021 Sean Axmaker

“You’re the first friend I ever had,” grins flamboyant mercenary Burt Lancaster to lean, laconic Gary Cooper in with a smile that suggests that he may be the last. They’re a pair of Americans abroad looking to cash in the Mexican revolution by selling their services to the highest bidder in Vera Cruz (1954), Robert […]

Leo Gordon and Neville Brand in the prison drama by Don Siegel

‘Riot in Cell Block 11’ on Criterion Channel

!Featured, American Independent Cinema, Blu-ray, Classic Movie, Crime, Criterion, Criterion Channel, Cult Movies, DVD, film noir, SVOD, thriller 01/26/202101/26/2021 Sean Axmaker

It may not have been obvious at the time but Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954) was a perfect match of film and filmmaker. Don Siegel later made a name for himself with his gritty Clint Eastwood collaborations (not to mention his brilliant Invasion of the Body Snatchers) but was just a promising journeyman director […]

Luis Buñuel’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’ on Amazon Prime

!Featured, Academy Award nominee, adventure, Amazon Prime Video, based on a novel, Classic Movie, DVD, Have You Seen...?, literary adaptation, SVOD 12/30/202012/30/2020 Sean Axmaker

Luis Buñuel is best known for his witty, surreal comedies that satirized society, religion, politics, and sexual mores in the 1960s and 1970s, but he had a long career before his breakthrough as an internationally celebrated satirist. Robinson Crusoe (1954), his first English language movie and his first color feature, was produced not as a […]