The Lone Pine Film Festival: Final Roundup

It's time to wrap up my coverage of this year's 30th Lone Pine Film Festival!

In past posts I reviewed six of the nine films seen at this year's festival -- along with one I watched at the hotel!

The final trio of films seen were BLAZING DAYS (1927), HOPALONG RIDES AGAIN (1937), and KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES (1953).

BLAZING DAYS was a short 48-minute silent film directed by William Wyler, starring Fred Humes, Ena Gregory, and Churchill Ross. The movie was preserved by the Library of Congress thanks to it having been directed by the great Wyler.

The plot, involving sheep ranching and a stagecoach robbery, was unfortunately not very memorable, a real rarity for this director. That said, as always I really enjoyed the live musical score by Jay C. Munns.

HOPALONG RIDES AGAIN was the seventh film in the series which started with HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (1935) just two years previously. I recently wrote about that film at greater length for Classic Movie Hub.

In HOPALONG RIDES AGAIN Hoppy, Windy (George "Gabby" Hayes), Lucky (Russell Hayden), and young Artie Peters (Billy King) are on a cattle drive with a man (Harry Worth) who claims to be a professor studying the area and looking for fossils. In truth, he's a cattle rustler!

It was a particular treat to see this as it was one of four Hoppy films costarring child actor Billy King. I met him at a past Lone Pine festival, and he was a lovely man. He passed away earlier this year at the age of 94. There's a short video on YouTube of part of an interview he did with Rob Word.

This 65-minute Hoppy film was directed by the reliable Lesley Selander and filmed by Russell Harlan, with story and screenplay by Norman Houston. Nora Lane and Lois Wilde costarred.

I previously reviewed KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, seen at the festival on Sunday, in 2014. As I noted in an earlier post, we realized when watching the movie that the opening battle scene had been filmed on Whitney Portal Road, looking down at the valley below.

I noted in my original review that it was windy when the movie was shot and much of the dialogue was obviously looped in later, sounding at times as though it was coming from an echo chamber. That made understanding all of the dialogue from the Blu-ray projected at the festival a bit of a challenge, but at least I had a good idea what was happening due to having seen it before! And watching Tyrone Power is never a hardship, even if the film's soundtrack is less than optimal.

Sunday was also the day we enjoyed the parade down Main Street and the closing campfire at Spainhower Park. Click on any photo to enlarge it for a closer look.

I love the local entries which are mixed in with the festival guests:

Stuntman Diamond Farnsworth, the son of the last actor-stuntman Richard Farnsworth:

Darby Hinton (in red) and Robert Carradine rode horseback:

William Wellman Jr. waves to our camera.  He was accompanied by his wife Flossie.

Actor Michael McGreevey:

Jay Dee Witney, son of director William Witney, and his dog Pixel:

Wyatt and Lisa McCrea:

J.C. Munns played live music as he went down the parade route in the back of a pickup!

The delightful John Gilliland in his Hopalong Cassidy costume:

We spent an hour or so at the closing night campfire. There was live music...

...and a farewell speech by Darby Hinton (below right), speaking with master of ceremonies Larry Maurice. Having been a fan of Daniel Boone as a child, it was fun to see Darby in person this year; he seemed like a nice guy who really appreciated his Lone Pine experience.

In addition to appearing in BILL TILGHMAN AND THE OUTLAWS (2019), which screened on the festival's opening night, he is also in the brand-new Hallmark Channel Christmas film CHRISTMAS WISHES AND MISTLETOE KISSES (2019).

The next morning it was time to head home after another wonderful weekend in Lone Pine. We're hoping to be there again next year, and I'd encourage anyone who's considered it to make 2020 the year to attend!

Tonight's Movie: Last Christmas (2019)

When I saw the trailer for LAST CHRISTMAS (2019) I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. I liked the cast, the London setting, and the seasonal angle but couldn't tell if it was a movie that would be for me.

Our oldest daughter saw it yesterday and pronounced it "lovely," adding that it made her homesick for London, where she spent a semester in college. She encouraged me to see it, which I promptly did, and I agree with her assessment. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

LAST CHRISTMAS tells the story of Kate (Emilia Clarke of GAME OF THRONES), who has recently survived a health crisis. She seems to be in the throes of depression and is starting to circle the drain in terms of self-destructive behavior. Friends are exasperated by her thoughtlessness, and it doesn't help matters that Kate has prickly relationships with her sister Marta (Lydia Leonard) and her controlling Yugoslavian immigrant mother (Emma Thompson).

The saving grace in Kate's life is her job as an "elf" at a London Christmas shop owned by Santa (Michelle Yeoh), yet even that is in jeopardy due to her careless attitude. And then Kate happens to meet Tom (Henry Golding), a handsome man with a dazzling smile who helps Kate start to appreciate the beauty of life and the world around her, drawing her out of her funk.

Tom comes and goes from Kate's life with maddening irregularity, but despite their uncertain relationship, Kate starts to move forward in other areas of her life. She finds meaning volunteering at a homeless shelter, helps play matchmaker for Santa and a Christmas-loving customer (Peter Mygind), begins making reparations to her friends, and inches toward having better relationships with her sister and mother.

If only she knew whether she has a future with Tom...

This was a very satisfying film which does a good job mixing imperfect reality and beautiful fantasy in the Christmas wonderland which is London. There aren't pat answers -- for instance, Kate's mother doesn't suddenly turn into an easy person to get along with -- but there's hope and encouragement. The underlying messages of the good feelings which come from helping others and the beauty to be found in everyday life, exemplified by Tom constantly urging Kate to "Look up!" and notice new things, resonate strongly.

The movie is also a love letter to London, the likes of which I don't think I've seen since NOTTING HILL (1999); in fact, London parks, which I wrote about after seeing NOTTING HILL, play a key role in this film as well. The movie showcases many favorite spots in the city -- for instance, I was delighted by a shot of Kate standing in front of Hamleys Toys -- and anyone who loves the city will enjoy the marvelous visuals of the city decorated for Christmas.

I thought Emilia Clarke, previously seen in SOLO (2018), was excellent, portraying a flawed character without making her completely unlikeable. Earlier this year Clarke disclosed she had dealt with two life-threatening brain aneurysms after winning her role on TV's GAME OF THRONES, and I wondered if that experience helped inform her performance here, as Kate grapples with a kind of "What's it all about?" post-traumatic depression.

Although their characters don't interact, LAST CHRISTMAS features two actors from CRAZY RICH ASIANS (2018), Yeoh and Golding. I love Yeoh, and her character here is much less forbidding; in fact, her crush on the man who loves Christmas as much as she does is downright funny at times.

Golding is impossibly handsome, with a charming smile which causes me to think of Tyrone Power. I hope for good things in his career as he's definitely someone I'd like to see in more films.

Thompson is a wonder, completely disappearing into her loving yet messed-up mother; her frizzy hair and shabby clothes are pitch perfect. Thompson wrote the screenplay with Bryony Kimmings, based on an original story she wrote with her husband, actor Greg Wise.

Thompson and Wise's story has flashes of beloved movies from Christmases past -- a bit of THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947) here, a little IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE (1946) there -- while simultaneously being wholly original.

LAST CHRISTMAS was directed by Paul Feig. It was filmed by John Schwartzman, who also shot the excellent THE HIGHWAYMEN (2019), reviewed here last month.

Other reviews for LAST CHRISTMAS seem to be all over the map; some have been poor, while a review by Katie Walsh published in the Los Angeles Times was quite appreciative. I'm glad I took my daughter's advice to go see it, as I had a most enjoyable afternoon, and I hope my readers who check it out will feel the same.

Tonight's Movie: The House on 56th Street (1933) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

THE HOUSE ON 56TH STREET (1933) is a very good pre-Code melodrama available on DVD from the Warner Archive.

Kay Francis stars and is in a majority of the scenes in this 68-minute film. I've watched a significant number of Francis films thanks to the Warner Archive, and I found this one among the most memorable.

Francis plays Peggy Martin, a showgirl who falls in love with and marries wealthy Monty Van Tyle (Gene Raymond). Monty's mother (Nella Walker) accepts Peggy, who lives a blissful life with Monty in their lovely home on 56th Street. The arrival of baby Eleanor seems to cement their happiness.

Alas, Peggy's former "patron," Lyndon Fiske (John Halliday), begs her to see him when he's in ill health. He is obsessed with Peggy and tries to win her back; he won't take no for an answer and threatens to shoot himself. Peggy is attempting to save Lyndon's life when the gun goes off and he's killed. The sad irony is that Peggy is charged in Lyndon's death and sent to jail for many years.

During Peggy's imprisonment Monty is killed in WWI and Eleanor (played as an adult by Margaret Lindsay) is told that her mother died in prison. Upon Peggy's release, a lawyer tells her that her former mother-in-law left her a nice sum of money, as long as she doesn't contact Eleanor.

Peggy meets Bill Blaine (Ricardo Cortez) on a ship and they establish a partnership; Peggy has always had an aptitude for cards and for many years she and Bill make their living playing with wealthy passengers traveling to and from Europe. Then one day Bill takes her to see a speakeasy where they've been invited to work as dealers...and it's the same house on 56th Street where Peggy lived as a young bride.

And Eleanor, who has a gambling problem, will soon have need of Peggy's help, never knowing that she's her mother...

Francis is excellent in this fast-paced film, aging from a glowing young woman in love to a beaten-down inmate to a glamorous, sophisticated, and rather sad card dealer. Thanks to the film's fast pacing and a compelling story, it never becomes drenched in syrup; instead the viewer is interested to see "what happens next."

And boy, the last ten minutes or so are a doozy worth waiting for, a marvelous example of what was different about pre-Codes. I must say I watched with a growing smile as Peggy's speakeasy employer (William Boyd) presented a "solution" to a very delicate situation.

Francis is excellent, and while her wardrobe (gowns by Orry-Kelly) is good, I felt they weren't as "obvious" as in many of the films where Francis dazzles as a clotheshorse. Instead the focus here is very much on the progression of her character over the years, and Francis handles it very well. Her fans will find this film quite enjoyable.

The rest of the performances are solid. I especially enjoyed seeing Lindsay and Philip Reed sharing scenes, over a dozen years before they also costarred in the excellent melodrama HER SISTER'S SECRET (1946).

It's important to note that the William Boyd in this film (seen above with silver-haired Francis) is not the William Boyd of Hopalong Cassidy fame, though stories about this Boyd's dissolute lifestyle inadvertently caused career problems for the other Boyd. This film's William Boyd died in 1935, the same year the "other" Boyd is said to have given up hard liquor in order to accept the role that saved his career -- and then some! The other Boyd would play Hoppy for nearly two decades, becoming a wealthy man thanks to merchandising rights.

THE HOUSE ON 56TH STREET was directed by Robert Florey and filmed by Ernest Haller.

The print seen on this Warner Archive DVD, one of their earlier releases, is scratched here and there but overall is fine, with no major skips or problems to interfere with enjoying the movie. Sound quality is also fine. There are no extras.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from Amazon or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.

Tonight's Movie: Image Makers: The Adventures of America's Pioneer Cinematographers (2019)

One of the aspects of filmmaking which interests me most is cinematography. This interest is reflected in my reviews, which always mention the name of the cinematographer. I'm fascinated by cinematographers' varied styles and their ability to create the artistic images we all enjoy on screen.

I was thus deeply interested in a brand-new documentary from Turner Classic Movies, IMAGE MAKERS: THE ADVENTURES OF AMERICA'S PIONEER CINEMATOGRAPHERS (2019). It will debut on TCM this evening as part of the network's centennial tribute to the American Society of Cinematographers.

The documentary focuses on the work of some of the earliest cinematographers and how they literally created an art form with recently invented equipment; indeed, they sometimes invented the equipment themselves!

The cinematographers highlighted in this documentary are Billy Bitzer, Rollie Totheroh, Charles Rosher, William Daniels, Karl Struss, James Wong Howe, and Gregg Toland. Daniels is seen at the right filming Greta Garbo and Gavin Gordon in Clarence Brown's ROMANCE (1930).

Men such as Bitzer and Totheroh came to the movies without experience -- indeed, there was little experience to be had, as movie-making was a brand-new industry. They teamed with filmmakers such as D.W. Griffith (Bitzer) and Charlie Chaplin (Totheroh), learning and creating as they went.

The documentary creates a real sense of wonder contemplating these men who started their work from scratch over a century ago, simultaneously creating art and developing an industry. The film also explores how integral cinematographers were to the creation of great films; that's one of the elements which has always interested me, that a film can have a great director, writer, or actor, but the one thing it must absolutely have to exist at all is someone to capture it on film.

Historians Kevin Brownlow and Leonard Maltin are among those interviewed for the film. (How was I previously unaware of Maltin's 1978 book THE ART OF THE CINEMATOGRAPHER?! Just ordered it.) Brownlow's enthusiasm, in particular, is delightfully contagious. I love the joy he expresses discussing movies; it may sound funny to call a documentary a "feel good film," but the description is apt thanks to Brownlow.

Maltin also has a great moment when he describes how the coming of sound wiped out the art form which had just peaked with SUNRISE (1927); in some ways it's as though cinematography went back to square one, dealing with static cameras -- or even cameras being boxed! -- to deal with sound equipment, though thankfully the industry quickly progressed onward.

Within a span of years cinematographers had to adapt not only to sound but to Technicolor, while also coming up with innovations such as camera movement and deep focus photography; later on, the '50s would bring widescreen and 3D filming. The American Society of Cinematographers provided a place for photographers to discuss their craft with fellow professionals as they brainstormed new ideas.

IMAGE MAKERS is a top-notch documentary which I enjoyed immensely. It's both interesting and educational. Highly recommended.

IMAGE MAKERS is 91 minutes long and is narrated by Michael McKean. The documentary was written by film critic and historian Michael Sragow, whose work includes a biography of director Victor Fleming.

IMAGE MAKERS was directed by Daniel Raim, the documentary filmmaker whose work also includes HAROLD AND LILLIAN: A HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY (2015) and IN SEARCH OF OZU (2018).

A short trailer is here:



Sincere thanks to Turner Classic Movies for providing an online screener of this film for review.

TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements

In August Turner Classic Movies announced the dates and theme for the 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival.

The 2020 theme is "Grand Illusions: Fantastic Worlds on Film," and the festival will take place in Hollywood from April 16th through 19th.

Today TCM announced that passes will go on sale to the general public on Thursday, November 21st.

Information about pass pricing may be found in my August post or at the festival website.

I note that the Palace Pass does not state which theaters are included, but instead lists what's not included, including the Chinese 6 Multiplex and Club TCM. My assumption is thus that it's probably not yet known if the Egyptian Theatre will be available for the festival if the proposed sale to Netflix is concluded, but I have no additional information on that angle.

The first eight movie titles were also announced today. They include LOST HORIZON (1947), THE BISHOP'S WIFE (1947), HARVEY (1950), and SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980).

Visit the festival website's films page for the complete list. Additional titles will be added to the films page over the next few months, so keep checking that link.

I'm looking forward to another great festival in Hollywood next spring!

Previous Post: TCM Announces 2020 Festival Dates and Theme.

December 13, 2019 Update: Latest TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements.

February 5, 2020 Update: The Latest TCM Classic Film Festival Announcements.

March 5, 2020 Update: New Titles and Guests Announced for 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival.

March 12, 2020 Update: 2020 TCM Classic Film Festival Cancelled.

April 15, 2020 Update: The TCM Classic Film Festival 2020 Special Home Edition.

TCM Star of the Month: Bette Davis

The November Star of the Month on Turner Classic Movies is Bette Davis.

This is Davis's third time as TCM's Star of the Month. She was previously honored in May 1999 and May 2006.

Bette Davis films will be shown every Tuesday in November, beginning at 3:00 a.m. Pacific/6:00 a.m. Eastern, and continuing for approximately 24 hours.

Over 50 Davis movies will be shown, along with a 1983 interview with Johnny Carson.

The complete lineup is below; consult the official TCM schedule for air times in individual time zones.

Please click any hyperlinked title to read my complete review.

November 5th

WATERLOO BRIDGE (1931)
20000 YEARS IN SING SING (1932)
SO BIG (1932)
THREE ON A MATCH (1932)
BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933)
EX-LADY (1933)
THE WORKING MAN (1933)
PARACHUTE JUMPER (1933)
CARSON ON TCM: BETTE DAVIS (1983/2013)
OF HUMAN BONDAGE (1934)
FOG OVER FRISCO (1934)
THE BIG SHAKEDOWN (1934)
FASHIONS OF 1934 (1934)
JIMMY THE GENT (1934)
SPECIAL AGENT (1935)


November 12th

FRONT PAGE WOMAN (1935)
BORDERTOWN (1935)
DANGEROUS (1935)
THE GIRL FROM 10TH AVENUE (1935)
THE GOLDEN ARROW (1936)
THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
SATAN MET A LADY (1936)
IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937)
MARKED WOMAN (1937)
JEZEBEL (1938)
DARK VICTORY (1939)
THE OLD MAID (1939)
THE PRIVATE LIVES OF ELIZABETH AND ESSEX (1939)
ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO (1940)

November 19th

THE LETTER (1940)
THE GREAT LIE (1941)
THE LITTLE FOXES (1941)
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1942)
NOW, VOYAGER (1942)
OLD ACQUAINTANCE (1943)
WATCH ON THE RHINE (1943)
THE CORN IS GREEN (1945)
MR. SKEFFINGTON (1944)
DECEPTION (1946)
A STOLEN LIFE (1946)
JUNE BRIDE (1948)

November 26th

WINTER MEETING (1948)
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
PAYMENT ON DEMAND (1951)
THE STAR (1952)
THE CATERED AFFAIR (1956)
THE SCAPEGOAT (1959)
POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES (1961)
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
DEAD RINGER (1964)
THE NANNY (1965)
BUNNY O'HARE (1971)
THE WHALES OF AUGUST (1987)

Of all these films my favorite is the classic ALL ABOUT EVE. I also really enjoy her films with George Brent, including the relatively minor films SPECIAL AGENT and THE GOLDEN ARROW, as well as their teaming in the weeper DARK VICTORY.

For more on TCM in November 2019, please visit TCM in November: Highlights and Quick Preview of TCM in November.

Tonight's Movie: Pittsburgh (1942) - A Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

PITTSBURGH (1942) is a Universal Pictures film starring Randolph Scott, Marlene Dietrich, and John Wayne. It was recently released on Blu-ray by Kino Lorber.

PITTSURGH was released in December 1942. It was a reteaming of Scott, Dietrich, and Wayne after their success in THE SPOILERS (1942), released in June 1942. I recently reviewed THE SPOILERS, which is also available from Kino Lorber.

Any film with this trio of leads is worth checking out at least once, but it must be admitted that PITTSBURGH is not of the same caliber as their earlier film. While THE SPOILERS is a rollicking good time, PITTSBURGH is a drawn-out and somewhat depressing melodrama, with Wayne's character acting like a jerk for the majority of the film's running time.

Scott and Wayne play Cash and Pittsburgh ("Pitt"), coal miners who are inspired to make something more of their lives by Josie (Dietrich), a coal miner's daughter who aspires to a better life.

The men come up with an idea for a coal business which proves successful, but Pitt quickly loses his way; despite his love for Josie, he marries Shannon Prentiss (Louise Allbritton), daughter of a wealthy man (Samuel S. Hinds) who has a big contract with his company.

Pitt is arrogant enough to think Josie will entertain having a relationship with him despite his marriage, but she's over and done with him and starts realizing the virtues of straight arrow Cash -- especially as Pitt continues to demonstrate a lack of loyalty to the friends and business contacts who helped make him a success.

As was the case with THE SPOILERS, Wayne is billed third but is the center of the movie; if only his character were as likeable in this film! The story's saving grace is that thanks to an introduction in which the contributions of Cash and Pitt's business to the war effort are celebrated, we know that Cash will eventually get his head back on straight, but it's simply not very pleasant watching him mistreat people for a majority of the film's 92-minute running time, and it's a poor use of such an appealing actor.

Whereas Scott was the villain of THE SPOILERS, here he's the honest guy who gets the girl -- and also takes on Wayne in a whale of a fistfight. Dietrich's Josie is pleasant but it's a less memorable character than her role in THE SPOILERS.

I did like the way the war effort was used as a dramatic device late in the film to move the story and Pitt's redemption forward, but prior to that the film is close to being sunk by its tiresome story. The movie is worth seeing for Wayne and Scott completists -- I consider myself one -- but of this cast's two films together in 1942, it's THE SPOILERS which will draw me for repeat visits.

PITTSBURGH was directed by Lewis Seiler and filmed in black and white by Robert De Grasse. Several writers worked on the script, including Tom Reed, who cowrote THE SPOILERS (1942).

The supporting cast includes Thomas Gomez, Frank Craven, Shemp Howard, Paul Fix, and Nestor Paiva.

The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is a good-looking print, as always, with a strong soundtrack. The extras on this Blu-ray are the movie's trailer and a gallery of seven additional films available from Kino Lorber starring Wayne, Scott, or Dietrich.

Thanks to Kino Lorber for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray.

Tonight's Movie: King of the Pecos (1936) at the Lone Pine Film Festival

Saturday morning at the Lone Pine Film Festival we watched an early John Wayne film, KING OF THE PECOS (1936), followed by a tour of its locations.

KING OF THE PECOS was a solid film of its type, briskly directed by Joseph Kane.

Wayne plays Texas lawyer John Clayborn, who as a child (Bradley Metcalfe) had witnessed the murders of his parents (Mary MacLaren and John Beck) by hired guns working for Stiles (Cy Kendall). Stiles, a ruthless cattle baron, wanted to claim the Clayborns' property and water rights as his own.

When the adult John returns to his childhood home for the first time in many years, he uses both the law and his guns as he unites local ranchers to go against Stiles both in court and on the range.

This was a nicely done little film which presents an interesting story in just 54 minutes. There's a good mix of courtroom drama with action scenes; John and his neighbors cleverly thwart an attempted ambush as they head to file claims, and there's some good poetic justice in the climactic gun battle filmed in the Alabama Hills.

Wayne, who was 28 at the time this was filmed, is an appealing screen presence, though not yet the authoritative star he would soon become. This film, like so many others of the '30s, was part of his movie-making education which prepared him for major stardom in STAGECOACH (1939) and the next four decades.

The supporting cast includes Muriel Evans, Jack Rube Clifford, Arthur Aylesworth, Herbert Heywood, Edward Hearn, and Yakima Canutt. The movie was filmed by Jack Marta, who shot many "B Westerns over the course of his long career.

The screenplay was by a trio of writers, Bernard McConville, Dorrell McGowan, and Stuart E. McGowan, based on McConville's story. It's interesting to note that the movie was edited by future director Joseph H. Lewis (MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS, THE BIG COMBO).

KING OF THE PECOS is available in a nice-looking DVD from Olive Films.

Shortly after the screening it was time to gather for our tour in the parking lot of the Museum of Western Film History.

This year's tours were all car caravan tours; typically more than one tour would be falling into line at the same time, well organized with cones, signs, and volunteers.

The majority of tours at the festival begin with a drive out of town on Whitney Portal Road, headed to its intersection with Movie Road:

Here's the first page of our screen shot booklet, looking towards the homestead location seen in the photo on the upper right.

A clear shot of the area where the Clayborn cabin is located at the start of the movie:

Tour participants explore another area seen in the movie:

Our guide, Don Kelsen, is an expert on Lone Pine locations, with an impressive ability to match up movie scenes with the countless rocks in the Alabama Hills. We've enjoyed several of his tours over the last few years.

The wagon accident pictured in the color lobby card higher up in this post was filmed right here:

Here's a good example of another screen shot, seen at the lower right...

...and how it matches up with the rocks:

Famed stuntman Yakima Canutt, seen at right in the screenshot below, played one of the bad guys in this film...

...and that scene was shot right here, where our guide Don is standing behind the rock:

The big rocks seen here were also in a scene. We showed a family camping in a nearby trailer that John Wayne had once been there.

Exploring film locations at the festival is great fun, a wonderful mix of film history and enjoying the great outdoors, not to mention good exercise! As always, I highly recommend the experience.

For looks at the two other tours I participated in at this year's festival, please visit my posts on BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) locations, posted here, and the HOP-A-LONG CASSIDY (1935) tour, posted at Classic Movie Hub.

Tonight's Movie: Jailbreak (1936) - A Warner Archive DVD Review

JAILBREAK (1936) is a Warner Bros. "B" movie which was released on DVD earlier this year by the Warner Archive.

Joe King plays Mike Eagan, a former criminal who has been on the straight and narrow for several years. When he's threatened by mobsters (headed by Dick Purcell) that help them with a crime or be killed, he slugs a cop, hoping to be put in jail for a month for his own protection.

Mike unfortunately receives a much longer prison sentence than expected, but once the bad guys' plot is uncovered he's granted parole. Sadly, on the day of Mike's scheduled release, he's found dead in his cell bunk.

It's up to Mike's loyal secretary Jane (June Travis) and a gung-ho reporter named Ken (Craig Reynolds) to get to the bottom of the murder, aided and sometimes hindered by Detective Captain Rourke (Barton MacLane).

It's a fast-paced and pretty entertaining 60 minutes. There's a lot of story in the short running time, but it remains fairly easy to follow, which isn't always the case with these types of crime stories.

The movie may not be particularly notable, but this is the kind of "B" film I enjoy spending an hour with on a weekend afternoon, and I suspect my fellow fans of the "B's" may feel the same way.

There aren't any big stars in the film, but the solid cast of character actors keeps things interesting. Joseph Crehan plays the prison warden, with Charles Middleton and Addison Richards as lead prison guards. The cast also includes George E. Stone, Eddie Acuff, Mary Treen, Robert Emmett Keane, Douglas Wood, and Milton Kibbee.

JAILBREAK was directed by Nick Grinde and filmed by Arthur Todd. The screenplay by Robert D. Andrews and Joseph Hoffman was based on a story by Jonathan Finn.

There are no extras on the DVD. The print and sound were both of good quality.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this DVD. Warner Archive releases are MOD (manufactured on demand) and may be ordered from the Warner Archive Collection at the WBShop or from any online retailers where DVDs and Blu-rays are sold.