Karl Malden

One-Eyed Jacks

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Rio and Dad Longworth

There is a legendary aspect to One-Eyed Jacks. The only film Marlon Brando ever directed, it became notorious because of Brando’s extravagant shooting style – miles of expensive film run through VistaVision cameras to catch the right wave, days waited for the light to be just right and so on. The results were mixed. Brando has undeniably made a fantastic-looking film, and it features the man himself in a lead role when he was still beautiful and pumping pheromones. But it flopped badly on its 1961 debut and never really got another look-in, until the Film Foundation, with Spielberg and Scorsese backing, stumped up the money for a restoration. I watched the Criterion … Read more

Boomerang!

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Father Lambert with a gun to his head

Boomerang! – what a great movie. Fully justifying that screamer, this movie from 1947 doesn’t get the love it deserves. For two reasons, of which more later. But first let’s clear away the baggage. It’s not a film noir, though it’s often described as one. Instead it’s one of those “ripped from the headlines” crime dramas that came along a bit later, relying on “you are there” levels of authenticity to bolster its dramatic credentials. In a written preamble we’re told that not only was the film shot on the same locations as the events it relates, but it uses some of the same people. The first is not true. The real-life incidents … Read more