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As a youngster, I loved the juvenile antics of the Bowery Boys and must have seen all their movies on a local TV station. Even the silliest films reflected an appreciation for classic vaudeville comedy with a duo comprised of a wisecracking straight man and a not-so-bright funny guy. I don't think L read more

There’s nothing to distinguish Midwich from any other rural English village—except that one day, every living inhabitant passes out for four hours. A man slumps over the steering wheel of a tractor as its runs in circles. An unconscious telephone operator doesn’t hear the constant read more

Did you know that there is no nationwide day dedicated to celebrating classic movies? My goal is to change that in 2015 by introducing the first National Classic Movie Day on May 16th. I recently realized that classic movies have been totally ignored when it comes to large-scale, single day tribute read more

How are I Walked With a Zombie and Jane Eyre connected? In this edition of the connection game, you will once again be given a pair or trio of films or performers. Your task is to find the common connection. It could be anything--two stars who acted in the same movie, two movies that share a c read more

What is classic cinema's most important decade? I suppose the answer depends on one's criteria. I'd argue that I could make a strong case for almost any decade prior to 1980. However, my personal pick is the most transitional period in movie history. I'm not talking the transition from silent films read more

Best known for her roles on the classic TV series Dark Shadows, Kathryn Leigh Scott continues to find success in both the entertainment and publishing industries. She has remained in demand as an actress since she made her television debut as Maggie Evans in Dark Shadows in 1966. Over the next five read more

By her own admission, Piper Laurie didn't get a lot of good roles as a contract player at Universal in the 1950s. However, one of the exceptions was the blandly-titled Smoke Signal, an above-average Western that avoids the genre's most common cliches. The action gets off to a quick start when a sma read more

1. Pollyanna. The penultimate Hayley Mills film features her as a young orphaned girl—an optimist if there ever was one—coming to live with her wealthy, spinster aunt circa 1913. Pollyanna pretty much shakes up the whole town, bringing lonely people together and reminding everyone that t read more

Having recently enjoyed Gene Barry portraying a meticulous murderer, I decided to check out other films made by the star of Bat Masterson and Burke's Law. That's how I stumbled upon his film debut, The Atomic City, a taut 1952 suspense film that earned an Oscar nomination for Best Story an read more

Bogart--after we finally see his face. As regular Cafe readers know, I'm a big fan of writer-director Delmer Daves. My definition of "filmmaker" is one who both writes and directs a film. Frankly, it always irks me when a director--who shoots another person's script--uses the credit "A John Smith F read more

The Ava Gardner Museum opened its doors at its permanent location officially in October 2000 in downtown Smithfield, North Carolina--which is eight miles west of Ava's birthplace. However, the idea for it was conceived much earlier by Thomas M. Banks, who met Ava when he was 12 and she was 18 in Atl read more

This should be a pretty easy quiz for 007 fans, but it might be more challenging for others. Since we specialize in pre-1985 films at the Cafe, you won't find many questions about the Dalton, Brosnan, and Craig movies. As always, please don't answer more than 3-4 questions daily, so others can play, read more

By 1968, the British spy craze in film and television was on a downward trajectory. Sean Connery had departed (temporarily) from the Bond films. Patrick McGoohan's long-running Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) TV series had ended. The Avengers had moved on without Diana Rigg. Still, ITC Enter read more

By 1968, the British spy craze in film and television was on a downward trajectory. Sean Connery had departed (temporarily) from the Bond films. Patrick McGoohan's long-running Danger Man (aka Secret Agent) TV series had ended. The Avengers had moved on without Diana Rigg. Still, ITC Enter read more

At the height of the 1960s James Bond craze, several major studios tried to launch their own spy movie franchises with the Matt Helm series, the two Bulldog Drummond films, and Our Man Flint and its sequel. One of the most interesting misfires was the second outing of British secret a read more

Evil terrorist organization SPECTRE is planning to steal a Lektor, a cipher machine, from the Russians. Rosa Klebb (Lotte Lenya), aka #3, a member of SMERSH who defected from Russia, gives an assignment to agent Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi), who is unaware that Klebb is a member of SPECTRE read more

It's somewhat of a backhanded compliment to call Our Man Flint the "best James Bond spoof." It is that, but it's also a very clever secret agent film in its own right. Unlike the broadly comedic Austin Powers films or Get Smart, Our Man Flint replicates the elements of a 007 outing and exa read more

For much of the 1950s, Universal Studios paired Rock Hudson with its most promising young actresses in modestly-budgeted films. Sometimes, he was the star (Captain Lightfoot); other times, he played a supporting role (Bend of the River). He appeared in five movies with Julie Adams, four with Yvonne read more

Boris Karloff as Mr. Wong. Let me start by addressing the most uncomfortable aspect of the Mr. Wong movies produced by Monogram Pictures from 1938 to 1940. Mr. Wong, who is Chinese, is played by Boris Karloff, a British actor, in five of the six films. This was neither the first nor the last time t read more

I've seen thousands of movies. I remember most of them, but am sure I've forgotten quite a few. Curiously, I can recall some pretty obscure films. For no apparent reason. Most of my classic film friends have never heard of these movies, but they do exist. So today, I wanted to share seven obscu read more