Posted on 05/09/2021 1:39:43 PM PDT by Buttons12
Classic flick about the clash between emotional anti-gun war widow and a WW2 veteran (Sterling Hayden) who is sheriff of a small town where the POTUS is set to pass through. A psycho (Frank Sinatra) is planning to beat the odds and take him out.
Grand old character actor James Gleason plays the lady's father-in-law, and has the honor to deliver the line:
"When the old boys wrote those words 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,' they sounded mighty nice -- but they wouldn't've been worth a plug nickel if somebody hadn't made 'em stick."
(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
Oh yeah, we watched that a couple times. Forget the name of it though.
That is an excellent movie.
> That is an excellent movie. <
It is. And a tip of the hat to Sinatra for taking on an unlikable, bad guy role - which he pulled off brilliantly.
That’s a good movie.
While reading about it, it reminded me of "The Manchurian Candidate" with Sinatra, so I looked that up, too. Netflix said I might enjoy "Ministry of Fear," so I looked that up. It could be produced toady about COVID. Biden needs a new ministry and this is the perfect name.
In the same genre, check out “Canyon City”. About a prison break in Colorado and the manhunt. Lot’s of locals played themselves for the role they played.
But same kind of brave mentality people back then could muster when criminals break in and try to hold them hostage.
One true scene a woman was cooking. This hardened escapee demanded her car keys. She told him he wasn’t going anywhere and he bowed up. She threw him the car keys and said “there’s three feet of snow out there. Go ahead and go. You won’t make it a mile and you’ll freeze to death...” he stands there and suddenly realized she was right. She says “how do you want you eggs?”.
Harder people back then. Great show.
Thanks for the tip, I’ve never seen Ministry of Fear, and I should have, seeing that Fritz Lang directed.
Ray Milland looks a bit like Adam Schiff in that poster. :)
Sinatra was known as “One Take Charlie” when he was filming.
He hated having to repeat scenes over and over, or wait around the studio while other actors did the same.
Since Frank was a big hit maker at that time, he mostly got his way.
He would have had a hard time with certain directors.
Roman Polanski was well known as a director who insisted on multiple takes of the same scene so he could compare them later. Franks 3rd wife Mia thought it was worth her time.
Thanks, Canyon City is in the queue!
Great movie!
Sterling Hayden had a lot of good roles
At 6’5” he dominated the scenes
Nobody was going to sap and impurify all of HIS precious bodily fluids
Speaking of fine old b&w flicks, there’s one called Ransom. Glenn Ford. Leslie Nielsen.
IMHO, better than the remake with Mel Gibson.
The original isn’t on youtube, but available on amazon. (So it’s available elsewhere!)
Ray Milland looks a bit like Adam Schiff in that poster. :)
Oh my, what an insult to Ray Milland.
No offense to Milland. Loved him in “Dial M for Murder” and “Testimony of Two Men.”
Last I looked, Testimony wasn’t available online but there’s an old copy on vhs at my place, recorded straight off the tv from the grainy looks of it. Wonderful movie and Milland was at his best, mean and menacing!
He was in one of the Columbo episodes too. Again a creepy villain.
Sanatra was a surprisingly good actor. I liked him in every movie I saw with him in it. Besides being a good dramatic actor, his Rat Pack movies were fun to watch.
Check out Ray Milland in “Panic inYear Zero”. One of my favorites!
Ooh.....very apt, today.
Sterling Hayden was an interesting guy.
This is a great movie. It was Andy Griffin's first role and he is definitely not what you are use to seeing. The film ran in the 50's but with a few minor changes you'd swear it was about Bill Clinton.
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