
The real “message to Garcia” was delivered by an American lieutenant to Cuban rebel General Garcia, asking for the General’s help in the Spanish-American war. The fact that the lieutenant made his way to Garcia in absolute safety was ignored in 20th Century-Fox’s Message to Garcia–which is just as well, since otherwise the movie would have been eight minutes long. In the film version, lieutenant John Boles is guided through the treacherous Cuban jungle by Barbara Stanwyck, doing her best to convince us that she’s an Hispanic senorita. Also along for the trip is renegade marine Wallace Beery, who may not be as friendly as he seems. Fighting off Spaniards and spies at every turn, Boles successfully completes his mission. As history, Message to Garcia is about as reliable as the Hearst newspaper dispatches which triggered the Spanish-American war in the first place.
Read More »
Tag Archives: USA
Pecos River (1951) Fred F. Sears, Charles Starrett, Jock Mahoney, Anne James, Western

Steve is a Government Agent looking for the gang that stole the U.S. Mail. When Old Henry kills an outlaw trying to rob the stage, the outlaws gun down Henry at his home. His son Jack, just back from the East, is taught to shoot by the Durango Kid. Steve appears to join the gang in order to catch them.
Read More »
The Psycho Lover / The Lovely Touch (1970) Robert Vincent O’Neill, Lawrence Montaigne, Jo Anne Meredith, Elizabeth Plumb, Crime, Horror

The only thing worse than being a homicidal maniac is being treated by a doctor who’s just as crazy! Marco, a Psycho Lover who strangles women that “threaten his maleness,” becomes a patient of lizard-like Dr. Kenneth Alden, who uses wacky nightmares to brainwash Marco into killing the doc’s nasty wife who won’t give him a divorce. A gaudy mix of sex, violence, pop-psych, and even some quick necrophilia, this drive-in shocker is a fun descent into B-movie psychosis.
Read More »
Nightmare Circus / Terror Circus (1974) Alan Rudolph, Andrew Prine, Manuela Thiess, Sherry Alberoni, Horror

Three showgirls on their way to Las Vegas have car trouble and are stuck all night out in the desert. The next morning cheerful Andre offers them help in fixing their car. However, Andre is really a maniac with a lot of family problems; his mother ran out on him when he was a child so now he keeps kidnapped women chained up in his barn and trains them to perform circus tricks. Andre’s father is still around of course, but because the old homestead is next to a nuclear test site he has been transformed into a raving homicidal mutant that Andre keeps locked up in a shed.
Read More »
Ship of Fools (1965) Stanley Kramer, Vivien Leigh, Simone Signoret, José Ferrer, Drama, Romance, War

Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in that era. The crew is German, including the ship’s doctor who falls in love with one of the passengers, La Contessa. A young American woman, Jenny, is traveling with the man she loves, David. Jenny is fascinated and puzzled by just who some of the other passengers are. The once famous Mary Treadwell gets much of her attention.
Read More »
Don Juan Quilligan (1945) Frank Tuttle, William Bendix, Joan Blondell, Phil Silvers, Comedy

In this comedy, a barge captain with an Electra complex marries two women. He married the first because she laughed like his late mother. He married the other because she cooks like his mom. He soon finds himself in over his head. A good friend helps extricate him by devising an ingenious plot. The captain is to be blamed for a murder. He can then escape his wives by pretending to be sent to prison.
Read More »
Girls About Town (1931) George Cukor, Kay Francis, Joel McCrea, Lilyan Tashman, Comedy

Gold-diggers Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman meet susceptible lonely businessmen at conventions in this ribald preproduction code story. The millionaires lavish the girls with expensive gifts. Francis falls for poor but virtuous Joel McCrea. Eugene Paulette is a copper king who gives Tashman jewelry. His wife reacts not with jealously but by trying to imitate her rival’s style.
Read More »
The Toughest Man in the World (1984) Dick Lowry, Mr. T, Dennis Dugan, John P. Navin Jr., Comedy, Drama

Mr. T’s first starring made-for-TV movie role has him playing a tough and scowling, but softhearted, nightclub bouncer who finds himself involved with a bunch of kids after being conned into taking over a youth center.
Read More »
Nowhere to Land (2000) Armand Mastroianni, Jack Wagner, Christine Elise, James Sikking, Thriller

A pilot must safely land a 747 on which deadly nerve gas has been planted.
Read More »
Durdy Game (2002) Samad Davis, Tawny Dahl, Janisha Faith, Jay Barron, Drama

Tired of abusive relationships, best friends CoaCoa, Sha and Meeka embark on a plan to seduce and rob wealthy men. When their betrayals backfire, the women become enveloped in a world of deceit and murder, as they discover that in some games there are no winners.
Read More »