Night and the City (1950).

Night and the City (1950). A film noir based on the novel by Gerald Kersh, directed by Jules Dassin. Cast: Richard Widmark and Gene Tierney. Shot on location in London, the picture is considered a classic of the film noir genre. The film's British version was five minutes longer, with a more upbeat ending and featuring a completely different film score. Dassin has endorsed the American version as closer to his vision.

The story begins when, hustler Harry Fabian, borrows the money from his girl friend night club singer Mary Bristol, to open a greyhound racing track. Mary, borrowed the money from, designer Adam Dunn, which was supposed to be used to pay off the thug looking for Harry.

Harry, works as a promoter for a nightclub, The Silver Fox, run by Phil and Helen Nosseross..

Later, at a wrestling match, Harry is about to hustle a couple of customers, but.. is stopped by Kristo's father, Gregorius, a former champion wrestler who is not happy with the phony matches his son is staging. Harry, then promises Gregorius, that he will promote Greco Roman's wrestling matches in London.

Later, Harry asks Phil for financial backing, but.. he refuses. Helen, who is interested in Harry and wants to leave her husband, gives Harry the money on the condition that he will get her a license to reopen a closed nightclub. Thug Fergus Chilk, warns Phil that Harry should be stopped with his plans to promote wrestling. Phil suspects that Harry is having a affair with Helen and decides to "set him up" by becoming his silent partner.

As soon as Harry, books his first promotion, Chilk and Kristo pay him a visit, telling him to leave town. Harry, then introduces them to his partner Gregorius. Kristo warns his father, not to be involved with Harry, who cons more money out of Helen, before he gives her a phony club license. When Kristo tells Phil, he knows that he is Harry's partner, Phil, then promises him that Gregorius will learn that Harry is not a good person. Phil's plan involves telling Harry, that he is backing out of the deal unless Harry books, The Strangler, one of Kristo's better wrestlers.

Harry is forced to agree and talks with The Strangler's manager, Mickey Beer. They force The Strangler, into challenging Nikolas, and Gregorius is tricked into having Nikolas wrestle The Strangler. Harry tells Phil he has secured The Strangler but, as planned, Phil double-crosses him and phones Kristo in the belief that he will have Harry punished for having betrayed his father. Harry tells Kristo, that Gregorius wants the match to take place. Phil then tells Harry, that no one will give him the money he needs for the event. When Adam tells Mary that he has seen Harry near her flat, she finds him ransacking her place and finding her stash of money.

At a gym, The Strangler and Gregorius get into a fight, and Nikolas suffers a broken wrist trying to stop it. Kristo arrives in time to see his father demolish The Strangler. The match has been too much for the old man, who collapses and dies. Kristo blames Harry for his father's death and puts out the word that he will pay £1,000 to the man who gets Harry.

Helen at the end of her rope, tells Phil, that she is going to leave him to go into business with Harry. On the run, Harry phones Figler, king of the beggars, asking him for somewhere to hide. Figler tells him to come to his place, then phones Kristo.

At her new club, Helen is having a meeting with her girls, when a police officer comes to ask why the club is opening. Helen shows him the new license, but.. the officer discovers that it is a fake.

Helen returns to Phil, only to find that he has killed himself. Harry, suspects that he has tipped Kristo has been tipped off and leaves to hide out on a barge owned by Anna O'Leary. Mary finds Harry at the barge and tries to help him escape. He tells her to go to Kristo and collect the reward money on him. Will the police arrive before anybody else is killed?

If you are a film noir fan, who likes sinister, greed creeps. This classic film noir is for you. This is one of Gene Tierney, older performances.

 

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942).

Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942). Adventure film. Director: John Cromwell. Cast: Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Elsa Lanchester, John Carradine and Roddy Mc Dowell. This period swashbuckler film is based on the adventure novel Benjamin Blake by Edison Marshall, who also wrote The Vikings (1958).

In England, a kindly gunsmith Amos Kidder takes responsibility for his grandson, Benjamin Blake, after both his unwed parents died.. Their lives are turned upside down, when Benjamin's uncle, Sir Arthur Blake, who inherited title and lands from his brother,forces him to live with him as a servant.

Ten years pass and Benjamin vows to avenge himself against his cruel a uncle. During this time, Benjamin, works as a grooms man and falls in love with his cousin Isabel. On the evening, Benjamin tells Isabel that he is running away, he makes her promise to wait for him. Arthur catches them together and he beats Benjamin.

Later that night, Benjamin confronts Arthur, who holds a gun on him. Benjamin escapes with his life and stows away aboard the Tropic Star. Benjamin is befriended by Caleb Green, who tells him about a tropical island where they can find pearls.

Later, they both desert ship and swim to the island. My favorite part of the movie is when, Benjamin and Caleb enjoy their peaceful lives while they collect pearls with a native woman, called Eve by Benjamin.

 

The couple live as husband and wife, over time Benjamin, becomes homesick and makes plans on returning home to claim his birthright.. What will he find when he returns to home to England?

SON OF FURY, is a wonderful classic adventure film. One of Tyrone Power's best films. Gene Tierney, although very beautiful.. really did not look like a native girl. Alfred Newman's score is also a big part of the movie..

John Carradine (February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. Was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history. He was married several times, had several children and was the patriarch of the Carradine family acting dynasty. It includes four of his sons and four of his grandchildren.

first film credit was Tol'able David (1930), but he claimed to have done 70 pictures before getting billing. Carradine tested, along with Conrad Veidt, William Courtenay, Paul Muni, and Ian Keith, for the title role in Dracula, but all contenders lost out to Bela Lugosi. Carradine would later play the Count in the Universal Studios Dracula sequels House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula.

Lugosi and Carradine both also tested for the monster role in Frankenstein (1931). By 1933, he was being credited as John Peter Richmond, perhaps in honor of his friend, John Barrymore. He adopted the stage name "John Carradine" in 1935 and legally took the name two years later.

By 1936, Carradine had become a member of John Ford's stock company and made 11 pictures with Ford, including his first important role, as Preacher Casy in The Grapes of Wrath (1940). Other Ford films in which Carradine appeared include: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and Stagecoach (1939), both with John Wayne.

He also portrayed Aaron in, The Ten Commandments (1956). Carradine did stage work, which provided him with the opportunity to work in dramas. He toured with his own Shakespearean company in the 1940s, playing Hamlet and Macbeth. His Broadway roles included: Ferdinand in a 1946 production of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi, the Ragpicker in a 13-month run of Jean Giraudoux's The Madwoman of Chaillot, Lycus in a 15-month run of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and DeLacey in the expensive one-night flop Frankenstein in 1981.

He also toured in road companies of such shows: Tobacco Road and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, in which he was properly emaciated as the cancer-ridden Big Daddy, a part, he said, which Tennessee Williams wrote for him. Carradine claimed to have appeared in more than 450 movies, but only 225 movies can be documented (his count is closer to fact if theatrical movies, made-for-TV movies and TV shows combined).

He often played eccentric, insane or diabolical characters, especially in the horror genre with which he had become identified as a "star" by the mid-1940s. He occasionally played a heroic role, as in The Grapes of Wrath, in which he played Casy, the ill-fated "preacher", and he occasionally played a sympathetic role, as in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake, in which he played Blake's shipmate, who escapes with him to a tropical island full of riches.

He appeared in dozens of low-budget horror films from the 1940s to finance a touring classical theatre company. He sang the theme song to one film in which he appeared briefly, Red Zone Cuba. He also made more than 100 television appearances, including CBS's My Friend Flicka and Place the Face, NBC's Cimarron City as the foreboding Jared Tucker in the episode "Child of Fear" and on Overland Trail in the 1960 episode "The Reckoning," and on ABC's Harrigan and Son and The Legend of Jesse James.

Carradine also made recurring appearances as the mortician, Mr. Gateman, on CBS' The Munsters. In 1985, Carradine won a Daytime Emmy Award for his performance as an eccentric old man who lives by the railroad tracks in the Young People's Special, Umbrella Jack. In 1982, he supplied the voice of the Great Owl in the animated feature The Secret of NIMH.

One of Carradine's final film appearances was Peggy Sue Got Married in 1986. Carradine's last released film credit was Bikini Drive-In, released years after his death. Carradine's deep, voice earned him the nickname "The Voice". He was also known as the "Bard of the Boulevard," due to his idiosyncratic habit of strolling Hollywood streets while reciting Shakespearean soliloquies, something he always denied.