Raymond Chandler's cynically idealistic hero, Philip Marlowe, has been played by everyone from Humphrey Bogart to James Garner--but no one gives him the kind of weirdly affect-less spin that Elliott Gould does in this terrific Robert Altman reimagining of Chandler's penultimate novel. Altman recasts Marlowe as an early '70s L.A. habitué, who gets involved in a couple of cases at once. The most interesting involves a suicidal writer (Sterling Hayden in a larger-than-life performance) whom Marlowe is supposed to keep away from malevolent New-Ageish guru Henry Gibson. A variety of wonderfully odd characters pop up, played by everyone from model Nina Van Pallandt to director Mark Rydell to ex-baseballer Jim Bouton. And yes, that is Arnold Schwarzenegger (in only his second movie)... Learn More
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"Come on, Oscar--let's you and me get drunk." This caustic Bette Davis line is not aimed at a co-star but at the Academy Award itself, which down-on-her-luck actress Margaret Elliot cradles bitterly at the beginning of an inebriated evening. As you can guess, Davis is at full-throttle in his ripe melodrama, which came a couple of years after All About Eve and serves as a kind of less-classy companion piece to that classic. As the movie begins, Margaret has lost her career and family because of her own demanding nature. Rescued by a roughhewn boatbuilder (Sterling Hayden) she once befriended, she confronts what's most important--being a star, or being a (ahem) woman.
The dark urban world of The Asphalt Jungle is one of the essential destinations in film noir, but be warned: despite tough guy Sterling Hayden's dreams of bucolic escape, there is no way out. John Huston directed this superbly calibrated crime classic, which displays his usual wry appreciation of fringies and down-and-outers. This time the task for Huston's eccentric ensemble is a jewel robbery, which--this being a Huston film--can't possibly work out as well as its plan. The cast includes Sam Jaffee, indelible as a criminal mastermind, and the pre-stardom Marilyn Monroe. Hayden plays the kind of mug he would revisit in Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, which is an informal homage to this film. And the film's look is definitive: both artful and gritty, it creates a noir... More Info About This DVD Actor(s): Sterling Hayden - Louis Calhern Director(s): John Huston DVD Release Date: Released the 06 July 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Directly in the wake of his Oscar-winning comeback in From Here to Eternity, Frank Sinatra took on the role of a psychopathic hit man in this taut, low-budget film noir. The choice shows how interested Sinatra was in serious acting during the mid- to late '50s; there's nothing remotely likable about this angular, neurotic assassin. He's in the small town of Suddenly to kill the president, who is passing through on a quick train stop. Sinatra makes hostages of a local family and sheriff Sterling Hayden, and the film is basically a countdown to the president's arrival, with Sinatra's patter getting loonier as the day goes on. Aside from the interest of Sinatra's performance (very focused and downright perverse at times), and the film's place in the American noir tradition,... More Info About This DVD Actor(s): Frank Sinatra - Sterling Hayden Director(s): Lewis Allen DVD Release Date: Released the 18 May 2004 Usually ships within 24 hours
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"Crime of Passion" is a solid basic film noir. It lacks much of the dark exteriors, night shots, strange camera angles and gloomy interiors of a complete noir film but this is still the real thing. Barbara Stanwyck is a successful newspaper columnist in San Francisco. She impulsively marries an L.A. cop, Sterling Hayden. The suddenness of the marriage might signal some future "problems". The newlyweds settle down to a neat little suburban house, which would appear right at home on an "Ozzie and Harriet" set. Hayden is happy as a clam but not the Mrs! She wants more! She quickly becomes bored with the stilted little dinner parties and catty gossip of the other police wives. Who could blame her! Then Stanwyck over reaches! She has an affair with her hubby's boss. The intent was getting him... More Info About This DVD Actor(s): Barbara Stanwyck - Sterling Hayden Director(s): Gerd Oswald DVD Release Date: Released the 02 December 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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I was happy to see that my DVD of LOVING showed up yesterday. It's a great, little known, film that stands, I think, as a "missing link" between such European classics as LA NOTTE and later Hollywood films like AMERICAN BEAUTY and THE ICE STORM. The transfer is nice and the sound fine. The trouble is that for such an expensive DVD, there is a startling lack of extras. In fact I've never seen a DVD with LESS extras. While there are chapter stops and English subtitles-which they'd have to do anyway for the deaf and hard of hearing-there are no subtitles in any other language, there's no original trailer for the film, no filmographies, and no commentary tracks. This latter omission is puzzling considering the director Irvin Kershner is still with us, as are the film's two stars (George Segal... More Info About This DVD Actor(s): George Segal - Eva Marie Saint - Sterling Hayden Director(s): Irvin Kershner DVD Release Date: Released the 29 July 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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These are the kind of movies you discover in your quest to own every western ever made. Man oh man, where to begin?
Ok, hang on...I have to stop giggling first. I dont think I've ever seen the Shrimp and Lobster Platter being served up in a saloon before but I suppose that's supposed to be a metaphor for something. Sebastian Cabot makes for a decent fancyman villain but it's hard to look classy when you're scarfing down the seafood feast. And he's got a black threaded gunman that is doing a pretty good Dr.No imitation complete with a steel right hand and long black leather toxic chemical disposal gloves. Somebody discovered oil, you see, so Sebastian has got Dr.No running around killing everybody and stealing their land. Makes sense right? Probably weren't enough U-Haul trailers to go... More Info About This DVD Actor(s): Sterling Hayden - Sebastian Cabot Director(s): Joseph H. Lewis DVD Release Date: Released the 20 May 2003 Usually ships within 24 hours
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