DVD Collectors Online

The Duke is Tops, a review by Danae Cassandra

The Duke is Tops
Year of Release: 1938
Directed By: William L. Nolte
Starring: Ralph Cooper, Lena Horne, Laurence Criner, Monte Hawley
Genre: Romance, Musical

Overview:
Lena Horne stars as Ethel Andrews, a young featured singer who is given the chance to work a Broadway show but things take a turn for the worse without her fiancee's behind-the-scenes support.

My Thoughts:
Notable for a leading performance from a young Lena Horne; otherwise forgettable.

Bechdel Test: Fail
Mako Mori Test: Fail

Overall: 2/5

(From July Movie Marathon: Musicals (Yes... You read right!) on July 22nd, 2016)

Night and the City, a review by GSyren

Night and the City (5-035673-006153)

United Kingdom 1950 | Released 2007-10-15 on DVD from BFI (British Film Institute), Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

92 minutes | Aspect ratio 1.37:1 | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono, Commentary Dolby Digital 2-Channel Stereo

Directed by Jules Dassin and starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie Withers, Hugh Marlowe, Francis L. Sullivan

Richard Widmark delivers an indelible performance as Harry Fabian, a small-time American nightclub tout and desperate dreamer who tries to worm his way into the wrestling rackets of post-war London. In his path lie the formidable obstacles posed by a vengeful club owner Phil Nosseross (Francis Sullivan) and the racketeer Kristo (Herbert Lom). The club owner's sultry wife (Googie Withers) schemes with him, and a long-suffering girlfriend (Gene Tierney) does her best to save Harry from himself. Like many a noir hero before him, Harry thinks he can outrun his fate. He's wrong. Jules Dassin, under suspicion in Hollywood for his political beliefs, made the film at great speed, shooting night scenes in a London still shattered and skeletal from wartime bombings. Adapted from the lowlife novel by Gerald Kersh, Night and the City is a baroque masterpiece of corruption, paranoia and doom.

My thoughts about Night and the City:

It's always fun to see films shot on location in London. Although there is not a lot of it that I recognize in this film. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. The film itself is very good. It's an interesting story, and I always liked Richard Widmark. Hugh Marlowe seems a bit wasted. Not sure why they would cast such a well known actor in such a nothing role. But other than that, the casting is really good. One would never guess that wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko had no previous acting experience. Herbert Lom looks really menacing, a far cry from his later Chief Inspector Dreyfus character. But there are also a lot of great characters in smaller roles. I really liked the uncredited Maureen Delaney as Anna O'Leary late in the film, for example. Apart from some old Hammer films, I haven't seen a lot of British film noir. But this is an excellent example of the genre, directed by the great Jules Dassin. I always thought that Dassin was a Frenchman. His name sounds French, and his best known film - Rififi - is French. It wasn't until I started reading about this film that I realized that Dassin was in fact a US citizen, born in Connecticut. But this is really Widmark's film. He was a great actor, and he really shines here. I wish Dassin would have had the opportunity to use him in other films, too. They make a great combination. And they make a very good film. Highly recommended.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on March 30th, 2015)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Ultraviolet: Complete Series (1998/United Kingdom) IMDb | Wikipedia Kult TV, Contender Entertainment (United Kingdom) Length: 302 min. Video: Widescreen 1.66 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles:

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Plot:
They look like us.
They act like us.

For centuries vampires have co-existed with humans.
Until now.

Now mankind has the ability to destroy itself, and the vampires need to take control of their threatened food source.

CIB, an elite government force has been formed to combat the threat. But when eternal life is offered, no-one is beyond temptation...


Ultraviolet
Season 1.01 Habeas Corpus
Writer: Joe Ahearne (Writer)
Director: Joe Ahearne
Cast: Jack Davenport (D.S. Michael Colefield), Susannah Harker (Dr. Angie March), Idris Elba (Vaughan Rice), Philip Quast (Father Pearse J. Harman), Stephen Moyer (Jack), Colette Brown (Kirsty), Fiona Dolman (Frances), Ronnie Letham (Pollard), Marc Bolton (Carter), John Ashton (D S Ferman), Lara J. West (Sue), Blondell Taylor (Nurse), Daniel Moynihan (Street Artist), Colin Kerrigan (Computer Operator), Ian Crowe (Pathologist)

As I have just finished watching the third season of "The Vampire Diaries", I thought I would continue with another vampire series. This is a recent blind buy. I was rather bored with the first episode. Though it did show some promise.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on January 4th, 2013)