shark-43

BREAKHEART PASS is one of those 70's flicks that just slipped through the cracks for me - even though I was a fan of the writer Alistair MacLean, star Charles Bronson & director Tom Gries. Finally got to see it on a Blu-Ray & thoroughly enjoyed it. I like a good train flick & Breakheart Pass delivers - and what a cast!! Aside from Bronson & his wife Jill Ireland, you have Richard Crenna, Ed Lauter, Charles Durning, Bill McKinney, David Huddleston, heck even the cook was played by boxing great Archie Moore! I think filmmaker Tom Gries is rather underrated - he made a classic Western with WILL PENNY and the great TV mini-series HELTER SKELTER, he also created the TV series RAT PATROL! His son Jon Gries is a top notch actor, currently starring as the creepy Greg on WHITE LOTUS.

The Valley of Gwangi (1961) is a blast - the legendary Ray Harryhausen created the special effects and the stop motion dinosaurs look great - sure the film is a bit cheesy but it is fun & very entertaining! Harryhausen was the visual effects genius behind Jason & the Argonauts, Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, It Came From Beneath The Sea, etc. C'mon you got cowboys & dinosaurs!! What more do you want?

MONKEY BUSINESS is a fun boat ride - this is one of the best Marx Brothers movies they made. Pure anarchy - they disrupt everything - all the stodginess and entitlement of a luxury cruise is disrupted by the 4 stowaways - Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo & Chico - plus a terrific supporting cast of Tom Kennedy and the great Thelma Todd. There is top notch slapstick & a million fast jokes. Thelma Todd is wonderful as the gangster Alky Briggs' bored wife - Todd will work with many of the great comedy teams before her untimely death at the age of 29. There are so many hilarious scenes in this film but the one where they are trying to get off the ship using Maurice Chevalier's stolen passport is an absolute comedy classic!!