Ray Milland and Gene Tierney in DAUGHTER OF THE MIND (1969) Ray Milland sees dead people. Or to be more precise, Ray Milland begins seeing the ghost of his dead daughter in the made-for-TV movie DAUGHTER OF THE MIND (1969). I thought I’d kick start my year-long look at telefilms with this compelling thriller based […]

In the weeks leading up to the 85th Academy Awards the usual flood of articles about the so-called “Oscar Curse” or “Oscar Jinx” have started to appear. Journalists who write these superstitious stories usually play fast and loose with the facts in an effort to grab headlines and appeal to the public’s unhealthy obsession with […]

When I first saw Karl Freund’s MAD LOVE (1935) 20 odd years ago I was somewhat disappointed by it. I had spent decades looking at still photos from the movie in various books I came across and I had anticipated seeing a very different film than the one that eventually greeted me. Chilling photos of […]

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, horror is my favorite film genre. But that doesn’t stop me from occasionally getting aggravated by some of the female stereotypes that populate it. From madwomen in the attic to resilient final girls and overprotective mothers, horror is a genre that rarely deviates from the tired […]

Jon Finch in Roman Polanski’s MACBETH (1971) “… Out, out, brief candle. Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more …” – Macbeth, William Shakespeare Writing obituaries is never easy but when I decided I wanted to memorialize the British […]

One of the best gifts I received during the holidays was a set of books that I’ve been eager to get my hands on, Michael Karol’s ABC Movie of the Week Companion and David Deal’s Television Fright Films of the 1970’s. I grew up watching and enjoying telefilms and last year I spent a lot […]

William Edward Cronenweth photographing Rita Hayworth (1947) In my ongoing quest to learn more about the talented men and women who were responsible for taking the imaginative studio portraits and set photos we all love but too often take for granted, I recently became fascinated with the work of William Edward Cronenweth. Trying to compile […]

I love a good heist film. They’re often formulaic and follow a well-worn path originally etched out by classic capers such as John Huston’s THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950), Jules Dassin’s RIFIFI (1955), Alexander Mackendrick’s THE LADYKILLERS (1955), Jean-Pierre Melville’s BOB LE FLAMBEUR (1955) and Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING (1956) but the best heist films take […]

I celebrate my birthday on December 26th and this year I woke up to the sad news that the man who was responsible for some of my favorite childhood memories had passed away on the same day that I was born. It’s not the kind of news you want to hear when you’re trying to […]