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The late James Caan considered himself a Jewish cowboy from New York. Caan played the hot-headed son of the Corleone family, Sonny Corleone, in Francis Ford Coppola’s epic crime film The Godfather. However, Caan was alleged to be more like his angry and violent character in real life, too. Caan was accused of being abusive towards his girlfriend Sheila Marie Ryan in the 1980s.

James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather | Paramount Pictures

Caan revealed in an old interview that he hated the ‘big macho slob’ image that was attached to him by the media. Interestingly, the Get Smart actor was one of the first choices of the studio to play Michael Corleone instead of Al Pacino.

James Caan Hated His ‘Big Macho Slob’ Image In The Media

James Caan as Sonny Corleone in The Godfather | Paramount Pictures

During an old interview with Rolling Stone, The Godfather actor...

It was meant to be a festive night for James Caan. It was his forty-first birthday, and friends and celebrities gath­ered at the trendy Moustache Cafe in Hollywood to toast the actor and the release of his latest film, Thief, which was already looking like a hit. But somehow Caan, squished up against the wall, his back to the crowd, lighting one Marlboro after another, jerking his head from side to side, smiling awkwardly at well-wishers, didn’t appear to be having too much fun.

Finally dragged to the center of the room,...

When did murder thrillers become horror pix? This one is horror only by association, and star Basil Rathbone would be a suave leading man if he wasn’t slaying wives left and right. He sets his sights on the rich, conveniently suicidal Ellen Drew, yes (sigh) that Ellen Drew. This atypical Paramount thriller has glamour to spare and also some unexpected sideways sexuality with the sinister Martin Kosleck, who almost steals the movie. But not our hearts — in that department it’s Ellen Forever and Ever.

The Mad Doctor

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1940 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / 90 min. / Street Date November 2, 2021 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95

Starring: Basil Rathbone, Ellen Drew, John Howard, Barbara Jo Allen aka Vera Vague, Ralph Morgan, Martin Kosleck, Kitty Kelly, Sheila Ryan, Norma Varden, Max Wagner.

Cinematography: Ted Tetzlaff

Art Directors: Hans Dreier, Robert Usher

Film Editor: Archie Marshek

Original Music: Victor Young

Written by Howard J. Green...

Witness one Robert Lippert, an American independent producer who flourished in multiple eras of Hollywood. We discuss his adaptation to changes in the movie biz in conjunction with a double bill DVD of two typical Lippert shows from the very early fifties, one produced in Hollywood and another in England. Robert Lippert is the proof that ‘Life Finds a Way’ in the movies as well, a sentiment reinterpreted as ‘staying in the game.’

I’ll Get You + Fingerprints Don’t Lie

Forgotten Noir Volume 6

DVD

Vci / Kit Parker

1951, 1952 / B&w / 1:37 Academy / Street Date April 24 2007, 2020

Starring: George Raft, Sally Gray, Clifford Evans; Richard Travis, Sheila Ryan, Sid Melton.

I’ve wanted to review the two ‘programmers’ in this double-bill disc for some time, not realizing that I was really more interested in a producer associated with them. The name Robert L. Lippert pops up continually in the history of some of my favorite genre pictures.

Wonderful isn't a good enough word to describe this joyful, funny and visually intoxicating Alice Faye musical by Busby Berkeley. Decades later it became part of a big Camp revival, but the real draw is still the Benny Goodman swing music, delightful performers like Carmen Miranda, and Berkeley's bizarre Technicolor visions. The Gang's All Here Blu-ray Twilight Time 1943 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 103 min. / Street Date July 19, 2016 / Available from Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95 Starring Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman and Orchestra, Eugene Pallette, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Tony De Marco, James Ellison, Sheila Ryan, Dave Willock, Jeanne Crain, Frank Faylen, June Haver, Adele Jergens. Cinematography Edward Cronjager Special Effects Fred Sersen Original Music Harry Warren, Leo Robin, Hugo Friedhofer, Arthur Lange, Cyril J. Mockridge, Alfred Newman, Gene Rose Written by Walter Bullock, Nancy Wintner, George Root Jr., Tom Bridges Produced by William LeBaron Directed by Busby Berkeley

Reviewed...

Pioneering woman director Lois Weber socially conscious drama 'Shoes' among Library of Congress' Packard Theater movies (photo: Mary MacLaren in 'Shoes') In February 2015, National Film Registry titles will be showcased at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus Theater – aka the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation – in Culpeper, Virginia. These range from pioneering woman director Lois Weber's socially conscious 1916 drama Shoes to Robert Zemeckis' 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future. Another Packard Theater highlight next month is Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent Western The Wild Bunch (1969), starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine. Also, Howard Hawks' "anti-High Noon" Western Rio Bravo (1959), toplining John Wayne and Dean Martin. And George Cukor's costly remake of A Star Is Born (1954), featuring Academy Award nominees Judy Garland and James Mason in the old Janet Gaynor and Fredric March roles. There's more: Jeff Bridges delivers a colorful performance in...

Netflix has revolutionized the home movie experience for fans of film with its instant streaming technology. Netflix Nuggets is my way of spreading the word about independent, classic and foreign films made available by Netflix for instant streaming.

This Week’s New Instant Releases…

Promised Lands (1974)

Streaming Available: 04/19/2011

Cast: Documentary

Director: Susan Sontag

Synopsis: Set in Israel during the final days of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, this powerful documentary — initially barred by Israel authorities — from writer-director Susan Sontag examines divergent perceptions of the enduring Arab-Israeli clash. Weighing in on matters related to socialism, anti-Semitism, nation sovereignty and American materialism are The Last Jew writer Yoram Kaniuk and military physicist Yuval Ne’eman.

Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen (2009)

Streaming Available: 04/19/2011

Cast: Barbara Sukowa, Heino Ferch, Hannah Herzsprung, Gerald Alexander Held, Lena Stolze, Sunnyi Melles

Synopsis: Directed by longtime star of independent German cinema Margarethe von Trotta, this reverent...

The Gang's All Here (1943) Direction: Busby Berkeley Cast: Alice Faye, Carmen Miranda, James Ellison, Phil Baker, Benny Goodman, Charlotte Greenwood, Edward Everett Horton, Sheila Ryan, Eugene Pallette, Tony De Marco, Bando da Lua Screenplay: Walter Bullock; from a story by Nancy Wintner, George Root Jr., and Tom Bridges Oscar Movies Highly Recommended From the moment The Gang's All Here opens with a nightclub production number presented on a stage as big as a football field, Busby Berkeley's fast-paced Technicolor musical delivers the goods. There is dreamy-eyed Alice Faye, handsome eye-candy James Ellison, craggy-voiced Eugene Pallette, fussbudget Edward Everett Horton, Carmen Miranda at her daffiest, Benny Goodman singing "Minnie's in the Money," and the high-kicking Charlotte Greenwood, whose opening scene is hilarious: the phone rings and she accidentally picks up the cat instead. You first realize that The Gang's All Here is going to be totally absurd when you see...