THE TIN STAR: A Worthwhile Little Western

THE TIN STAR (Blu-ray)

1957 / 93 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws

The Tin Star is one of the few westerns Anthony Mann directed during the 1950s that doesn’t star Jimmy Stewart. While no Winchester ‘73, it’s an entertaining film thanks to good overall performances and an engaging (if thematically familiar) story. 

Henry Fonda is Morgan Hickman, a wandering bounty hunter riding into town with the dead body of his latest quarry. He meets idealistic-but-inexperienced sheriff Ben Owens (Anthony Perkins), who got the job after the last one was killed. He doesn’t approve of Morgan’s methods, believing everyone should get a fair trial. However, his righteous resolve is frequently tested by Bart Bogardus (Neville Brand), a local bully who regularly challenges and intimidates him.

Bounty hunters aren’t held in high regard in this town, so when only hotel refuses to rent him a room, Morgan ends up staying with Nona (Betsy Palmer), a widowed dressmaker who lives on the edge of town and is also something of an outcast herself, raising a son she had with a Native-American. As he’s waiting to collect his bounty, Morgan becomes close with them, while Ben, despite his initial misgivings, realizes this stranger is more than he seems. In fact, he’s a former lawman. Somewhat reluctantly, Morgan agrees to teach Ben the ropes.

"Welcome, stranger. We have 12 cabins, 12 vacancies."

Later, when beloved town doctor Doc McCord (John McIntire) is murdered, the mayor demands Ben to form a posse to track down the killers. Ben wants to bring them in alive, while Bogardus and his bloodthirsty bunch plan on lynching the culprits. Despite the bounty placed on the killers, Morgan initially refuses to get involved and implores the inexperienced Ben to think twice about trying to catch them. However, when the boy follows the posse into the hills, Morgan is compelled to try and same them both.

Running a brisk 90 minutes, The Tin Star isn’t a particularly complex film, but it’s generally pretty enjoyable, with well-drawn characters and an interesting story that culminates in a satisfying climax. Fonda doesn’t really stretch himself here, but his indubitable earnestness is just what a character like Morgan needs for us to be invested. On a side note, it’s kind of amusing that two prominent cast members would someday be best-known for playing legendary psychos. Palmer is actually quite a dish in this one (and gets to keep her head).

Fairly light on action until the final act, The Tin Star benefits from a well-written screenplay (which was nominated for an Oscar) and typically confident direction by Mann, both of which compensate for the story’s overall predictability. While not as big or ambitious as some of the more iconic westerns of the genre, it's a worthwhile little western that looks great on this limited edition Blu-ray, which comes which a smattering of interesting bonus features.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

APPRECIATING A MASTER - A pretty thorough appreciation of the film by critic Neil Sinyard.

BEYOND THE SCORE - Elmer Bernstein’s son, Peter, talks about growing up with the legendary composer.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By historian Toby Roan.

TRAILER

IMAGE GALLERY

BOOKLET, MINI-POSTER, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS & REVERSIBLE COVER (not reviewed)

THE SCARFACE MOB is Big Screen TV

THE SCARFACE MOB (Blu-ray)

1959 / 102 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws😺

The original Untouchables was a TV series that ran for five years during the late 50s-early 60s. It starred Robert Stack as real-life federal agent Eliot Ness, who famously took down Al Capone during the prohibition era. The show itself was mostly fanciful fiction, with only the two-part pilot episode being based on actual events.

That two-parter was later recut & released as a theatrical feature, The Scarface Mob, which was pretty violent for its time and boasts a striptease by bombshell Barbara Nichols that would never have made it past TV censors back in the day. It chronicles Ness and his small team of incorruptible cops (and one reformed ex-con) as they try to bust Capone’s illegal operation, one brewery at a time. 

Most of the narrative takes place while Capone (Neville Brand) is in jail, with right-hand man Frank Nitti (Bruce Gordon) running things while he’s gone. Once released, Capone raises the stakes, targeting Ness, his team and even his wife. But of course, Ness won’t be intimidated, even after his wife is assaulted and a trusted partner is murdered.

Extreme hall monitors.

Those who only know of The Untouchables from Brian De Palma’s 1987 classic might find this film a bit quaint, which doesn’t quite escape its episodic TV origins. That’s likely due to time and budget restraints, and why a lot of exposition is urgently provided by narrator Walter Winchell. Still, the story is more or less the same and fitfully entertaining, with some pretty good action and a stoic performance by Stack. As Capone, Brand is suitably menacing, though his Italian accent is terrible.

The Scarface Mob features solid, no-nonsense direction by Philip Karlson, whose extensive film noir background keeps things fast moving and visually interesting. As gun & gangster epics go, it’s no classic, but certainly an agreeable way to kill a few hours...and an enjoyable trip down memory lane for those who might recall the original TV show.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

GANG BUSTERS - video essay about director Philip Karlson

PHILLIP KEMP ON THE SCARFACE MOB - The film critic discusses Elliot Ness and his depiction in the media, including this film and up to 1987’s The Untouchables.

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IMAGE GALLERIES - Posters, stills, lobby cards & publicity photos.

BOOKLET, MINI-POSTER, LOBBY CARD REPLICAS & REVERSIBLE COVER (not reviewed)

THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT: One of Raoul Walsh's Best

THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT (Blu-ray)

1940 / 95 min

FROM WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😹

They Drive by Night is an excellent film with a loaded cast, a couple of whom were on the verge of stardom when this was released. What begins as a rough & tumble road movie eventually evolves into a stunning slab of film noir, with romance and a surprising amount of humor in between. It’s all seamlessly assembled by director Raoul Walsh.

Joe & Paul Fabrini (George Raft & Humphrey Bogart) are a couple of loyal brothers struggling to make a living as freelance truckers while avoiding a loan shark trying to repossess their rig. During one run, Joe meets and gives a lift to Cassie (Ann Sheridan), who just quit her waitress job. The two eventually fall in love. 

Meanwhile, during another run, an overtired Paul crashes the truck and loses his arm. Racked with guilt over the incident and now without a vehicle, Joe takes a job working for old buddy Ed Carlsen (Alan Hale), who owns a successful trucking business. Ed’s married to Lana (Ida Lupino), who barely masks contempt for her husband’s constant drinking and lack of class. She’s also obsessed with Joe, who rebuffs her repeated advances out of loyalty to Ed (and love for Cassie)…

Guess who's getting stuck with the check.

…so Lana murders her husband, making it look like an accident. She then offers Joe an equal partnership in the business, which he agrees to on the proviso that their relationship remains professional. He even brings Paul onboard as a dispatcher. However, upon learning Joe plans to marry Cassie, Lana becomes so enraged that she tells authorities she murdered Ed because Joe forced her to. 

From beginning to end, this is great stuff, punctuated by sharp dialogue and top-notch performances from the main cast, who seem to be taking turns stealing scenes from each other. Lupino, in particular, wonderfully transforms from sultry femme fatale to raving lunatic over the course of the story. It's no wonder she became a star soon after. Same with Bogart, who isn’t really in the film all that much after the first act, but is an indelible screen presence. 

Walsh keeps things moving at a lively pace with his usual directorial flare. They Drive by Night isn’t among his most-remembered work, but it’s arguably one of the best he made while under contract at Warner Brothers. While the movie can’t really be pigeonholed into one particular genre, it’s definitely a must-see for film noir fans. So far, this is the best Warner Archive Blu-ray release of the year.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - Divided Highway: The Story of They Drive by Night is an excellent 10 minute retrospective doc, with insights and history from critics & historians like Leonard Maltin.

WB SHORT - Swingtime in the Movies is a 20 minute 1938 comedy with cameos by a few notable WB stars, including Humphrey Bogart.

LUX RADIO THEATER BROADCAST - From 1941, this radio adaptation of They Drive by Night features George Raft and Lana Turner.

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VIOLENT ROAD and the Small Wages of Fear

VIOLENT ROAD (1958)

Starring Brian Keith, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Merry Anders, Sean Garrison, Dick Foran, Arthur Batanides, Perry Lopez. Directed by Howard W. Koch. (85 min).

ESSAY BY D.M. ANDERSON💀

If you haven't seen Violent Road (which is quite likely), this essay contains a spoiler.

William Friedkin’s Sorcerer has been one of my favorite films since I was 13 and first caught it at the Southgate Quad as the bottom half of a double feature. Released at a time when the movie industry was increasingly focused on high concept blockbusters with wide audience appeal, the film was crushed under the wheels of the Star Wars juggernaut, coming and going nearly unnoticed by everyone except for the two studios (Universal and Paramount) who footed the bill for its bloated budget.  

With hindsight, it was easy to see why. Who the hell wanted to endure a grimy, depressing flick about criminals on a 10 mile-an-hour suicide mission for an $8000 payday when you could catch Luke Skywalker rescue a princess and defeat an empire? And trucks loaded with explosives certainly doesn’t sound as fun as the Bandit driving cases of Coors across the state line. Hell, the only reason I actually saw Sorcerer was because it was the only movie at the Southgate I hadn't yet watched. But I fell in love with every aspect of the film…the dark tone, stunning imagery, gritty aesthetic, nerve-jangling set-pieces, Tangerine Dream’s haunting score and a team of morally ambiguous characters played by a great international cast led by Roy Scheider. 

Best of all was the premise…four fugitives from various parts of the world who end up in a godforsaken poverty-ravaged South American village where escape means buying your way out. When an American oil platform explodes 200 miles away, the only way to kill the raging fire is to blow it out with dynamite. Unfortunately, the only cases available are so old and unstable that the slightest jolt will cause them to explode. Worse yet, the only way to get them there is to drive a couple of trucks through mountains, swamps and jungle. With nothing left to lose, these four desperate fugitives take the job.

Another meeting that could've been an email.

Sorcerer has been rediscovered and reassessed over the years, becoming something of a cult film. Though its initial failure exacerbated Friedkin’s career descent into mediocrity (from which he never truly recovered, in my opinion), it’s now widely considered one of his best. Today, there are cinephiles and critics worldwide who appreciate Sorcerer for the neglected masterpiece it really is. But I knew it all along.

What I didn’t know - for many years - was that my beloved Sorcerer was actually a remake of Henri-Georges Clouzot’s 1953 French classic, The Wages of Fear. It’s an excellent film, similarly bleak with heaping helpings of cynicism thrown in. Still, it took some time for me to warm up to it and I still prefer Sorcerer’s aesthetic, tension and unsavory characters (perhaps because it’s the version I grew up on).

Another thing I didn’t know, until just recently, was that Sorcerer wasn’t even the first remake of The Wages of Fear. That honor actually goes to a little-seen film called Violent Road. 

Released in 1958 and directed by Howard W. Koch (probably best remembered for producing Airplane! and some Oscar broadcasts), Violent Road doesn’t officially acknowledge Clouzot’s film or Georges Arnaud’s original novel (just like Akira Kurosawa was never credited for inspiring The Magnificent Seven). However, it features the exact same premise and plot, though with less creative ambition and a lower budget. Based on the cast, perfunctory direction and conveniently commutable Southern California locations, it’s obvious Warner Brothers simply wanted a quick & dirty potboiler. 

There are few minor differences between this one and The Wages of Fear. Instead of two trucks and four guys transporting unstable nitroglycerin, six people are hired by Cyclone Rockets to drive three trucks carrying explosive & corrosive fuel components to a new factory. Barred from using the main highways, they’re forced to make the two day trek over treacherous desert mountain backroads.

"No one goes shirtless but me."

Leading the team is Mitch Barton (Brian Keith), an experienced career trucker who needs the work after running afoul of his former boss. His crew includes down-and-out war veteran Frank ‘Sarge’ Miller (Dick Foran), reckless young race car driver Ken Farley (Sean Garrison), chronic gambler Ben (Arthur Batanides), resourceful mechanic Manuelo (Perry Lopez) and Cyclone’s rocket fuel expert George Lawrence (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.). As with The Wages of Fear, there’s a beautiful woman waiting for Mitch when (and if) the job is done...Carrie (Merry Anders), with whom he recently had a whirlwind fling. With the possible exception of Sarge, none of these characters convey a similar sense of desperation to those in Wages and Sorcerer. There’s a big payday, for sure, but at no point does the job seem like a last option for any of them.

Nor does the overall journey feel as perilous. There are no scenes as tension-filled as the jaw-dropping bridge sequence in Sorcerer or the decaying turning platform in Wages. At no point does the trek seem utterly hopeless, with potentially insurmountable obstacles prompting the characters to consider giving up in despair. There’s danger, of course, but for much of the trip, these guys don’t even drive like their payload could blow them sky high at any moment. The only time Violent Road comes close to achieving the same level of suspense as Wages and Sorcerer is when the brakes in Mitch’s truck give out as he’s barrelling down the mountain. The movie even has the audacity to tack on an upbeat ending.

But while Violent Road is never particularly thrilling or memorable, it’s well made on a low budget and certainly watchable, with solid overall performances. Keith, in particular, is enjoyably stoic, studly and cynical. I think it might be especially interesting to those who’ve already seen The Wages of Fear or Sorcerer. This film never approaches the technical or thematic artistry of either - nor does it really try - but if nothing else, Violent Road earnestly adheres to the same basic premise and structure.