Week of September 18 - 24, 2021

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Which American actor worked with directors Mario Bava, Enzo G. Castellari, Vittorio Schiraldi, Jose Antonio de la Loma, Alberto De Martino and Sergio Martino?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was John Saxon.

Which Italian actress worked with directors Daniele D'Anza, Peter R. Hunt, Giuliano Montaldo, Allen Baron, J. Lee Thompson and Duccio Tessari?

No one has answered this one yet.

Which Italian writer went from collaborating with Federico Fellini to directing Italian skin flicks?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Brunello Rondi.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which actor who made two Italian Westerns reportedly co-founded the Italian Marxist-Leninist Communist Party?

Which actor who appeared in Westerns was born May 24, 1924 in Spain?

Which Spanish actor worked with directors Don Siegel, Leon Klimovsky, Arne Mattsson, Luis Bunuel, and Michael Carreras?

Name the movies from which these images came.

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Michele Girardon in ANTHAR L'INVINCIBILE, aka THE DEVIL OF THE DESERT AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

Miracle Workers Oregon Trail (2021)

Uncnsrd: "Tommy Davidson" (2021)

Mildly enjoyed:

Marvel's What If...? episode six (2021)

BODYGUARD (1948) - Future film director Robert Altman co-wrote the story this film was based on with future producer George W. George. Fred Niblo Jr. and Henry Essex were credited with the final screenplay which was turned into a fun b-movie thriller by director Richard O. Fleischer. Lawrence Tierney made a solid good guy, but co-star Priscilla Lane was sometimes so cheery that she seemed to be in a different film. As she frequently ignored her career in favor of her marriage and her husband's career, this turned out to be Lane's last movie.

CADILLAC RECORDS (2008) - Writer/director Darnell Martin was certainly ambitious in her attempt to relate the story of Chess Records, but a single movie isn't long enough to cover these people. And then one can make a long list of the important people in the story of Chess Records that the movie ignored - like Leonard's brother Phil. The film also gets off to a confusing start with Adrien Brody, as Leonard Chess, making out with Tammy Blanchard and being interrupted by her father. Brody then proclaims that he wants to marry Blanchard and that in the future he'll be driving cadillacs. The next thing we know, Brody is married to Emmanuelle Chriqui and Blanchard is never mentioned again. The issue of fair pay for black performers also gets a little confusing until Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf shows up and refuses the free car and spending money that Brody offers. This highlights Brody's position as "white daddy" who doles out money without the performers realizing that these are loans put against their earnings. A scene in which Brody orders that some of Chuck Berry's royalties be given to Jeffrey Wright, as Muddy Waters, because Muddy isn't making money is indicative of why the real Chuck Berry had a chip on his shoulder for most of his life. Martin has Cedric the Entertainer playing Willie Dixon to narrate the film as if it is his memoir. This doesn't give the film any time to explore Dixon's life. Gabrielle Union gets a few strong scenes as Muddy Waters' life partner, and co-executive producer Beyone Knowles gets a major subplot as Etta James.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS (2006) - Julie Benz looks gorgeous in the two TV14 rated love-making scenes in this Lifetime Movie Network flick. Basically, this is a "who-dun-it", but the storytellers are obviously more interested in the rekindling romance between our heroine and the old high school boyfriend. Benz returns from her New York City career as a dress designer to her small town in Conneticut for a funeral. One of her close-knit circle of girlfriends from high school supposedly committed suicide, but we saw her shot dead by a POV hand held camera. Benz becomes suspicious when she is told that six old high school friends have died in violent "accidents", including her husband, in the last eight months. From the cast list it isn't hard to know who the killer is, but the writers toss in a pile of red herrings trying to cover their tracks. Director Stefan Pleszczynski delivers a pleasant watch, especially if you like looking at Julie Benz. Pleszczynski previously directed episodes of Da Vinci's Inquest, and Venus Terzo from that show appears here. 

DARK SHADOWS (2012) - There are parts of this flick that suggest that this could have been as much fun as SLEEPY HOLLOW, but then stupid things start happening. The thrust of the story should have been Barnabas getting revenge on Angelique while protecting his family and finding love with Josette/Victoria/Maggie. Instead someone felt the film needed gags about Barnabas being freaked out by television and lava lamps. Hell, the love story gets lost for huge chunks of the flick and that's a shame because Bella Heathcote is a pleasure to behold. Setting the film in 1972 gives director Tim Burton an excuse to used The Moody Blues' "Nights in White Satin" for the opening credits and that works very well. Most of the vintage music is enjoyable, but if you're going to have Alice Cooper show up for a live show, you should actually have him do something of use to the plot. Christopher Lee's cameo is a plus.

HOODWINKED TOO! HOOD VS. EVIL (2011) - Even though many of the filmmakers who worked on the original assisted new director Mike Disa in making this sequel, the 2011 film wasn't as much fun as the 2005 film. How many viewers got the Starsky and Hutch gag at the end?

KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE (1977) - Sketch comedy films are always hit and miss, but "A Fistful of Yen" is great.

Did not enjoy:

BOKEH (2017) - Aside from being a tourist advertisement for Iceland, this film written and directed by Geoffrey Orthwein and Andrew Sullivan seems rather pointless. Maika Monroe and Matt O'Leary are on vacation in Iceland, when she sees a bright light in the sky at about 3:24am. At about 10:02am, O'Leary comes into her bedroom to awaken Monroe to go to breakfast. Everyone in the world seems to have disappeared, so they are too confused to actually get to eating until later. Luckily, they are in Iceland where the power and water continue to operate for months even though the people have disappeared. Monroe, being a preacher's daughter, keeps trying to understand what's happening in religious terms. O'Leary decides to accept the new reality and is happy that at least he has Monroe as a companion. After about two thirds of the film's running time, the couple move into a house on the coast and find old man Arnar Jonsson there. He's run out of food and water, so they help him. However, he's got a fatalistic attitude towards things, saying that it is useless to fight against God's will. The next morning, Jonsson has died in his sleep. After O'Leary attempts to get Monroe to see the beauty in the nature around them, he finds her missing. Eventually, he finds that she's drowned herself. After trying to also drown himself, O'Leary leaves Monroe's dead body and drives off by himself. Slow paced movies in which no one acts as you would believe people would act in those circumstances become dull quickly, especially if they have long winded conversations that amount to nothing. 

THE CLAY PIGEON (1949) - An American survivor of a Japanese P.O.W. camp recognized his former Japanese prison guard on a street in Los Angeles. Reportedly, that was the inspiration for this film, but writer Carl Foreman concocted a rather unconvincing scenario into which to fit that bit. Bill Williams awakens from a two year coma in a military hospital in Long Beach to discover that he's been accused of treason. Williams can't remember what happened, but intense media attention to the story of a P.O.W. reportedly responsible for the execution of another P.O.W. during W.W.2 seems unbelievable. And Williams immediately escaping from the hospital, after two years in a coma, in order to clear his name also seems far-fetched. Naturally, he makes his way to San Diego to seek the help of another P.O.W. only to discover that this friend is the guy he's supposedly got killed. Thankfully the dead guy's wife, Barbara Hale, is there, so he can force her to help him get to Los Angeles where a third P.O.W. might help straighten out our hero's fuzzy memories. Of course, Hale falls in love with Williams (who were married to each other off-set), Williams sees the former Japanese prison guard, Richard Loo, in a restaurant in Chinatown and it turns out that the third P.O.W. is in a criminal conspiracy with Loo. As someone who has spent a lot of time in L.A.'s Chinatown, I enjoyed seeing shots of the area in the late 1940s, especially the China City shopping area which was destroyed in an arson fire shortly after this movie was made and was never rebuilt. I feel jaded that I was disappointed that no one shoots anyone in this movie. Foreman would soon prove his talent with his next films CHAMPION and HOME OF THE BRAVE. It would take director Richard O. Fleischer three more years before he proved himself with THE NARROW MARGIN.

DEAD EASY (1982) - Scott Burgess is a low rung criminal in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia. After informing his boss, Joe Martin, that he knew Tony Barry was responsible for the firebombing of the camera club, Burgess is given the chance to run the dilapidated Aphrodite Club. Smitten with Rosemary Paul from the camera club, Burgess tries to give her a break. Finding her suffering from drugs withdrawal, Burgess neglects the club just as the bad guys attack. As Martin's muscle, Barney Combes, gets crippled, Burgess is blamed. Barry wants Burgess to locate Martin's son for kidnapping, but he informs Matin, who gets him to set up Barry to be killed. Fired policeman, Tim McKenzie, says that Burgess could be a witness against Martin, so Burgess and Paul are on the run from those wanting him dead. Paul thinks McKenzie can help them get away, but the police want order and are willing to let all three be killed. This is another movie in which it looks like somebody dropped the film and wasn't quite sure how to reassemble it. Much of the editing is very choppy with a number of scenes seemingly missing. McKenzie turns out to have a getaway car that shows that Australians liked whacked out motor vehicles outside of MAD MAX movies. The film ends without informing us if Paul will ever let Burgess kiss her. 

KATE (2021) - I'll watch just about anything featuring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and this is less irritating than BIRDS OF PREY: AND THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN. But this stew made up from D.O.A., NIKITA, JOHN WICK and THE CHALLENGE is only interesting in how it shows that the cliches about Japanese culture have changed since I was a kid. French visual effects "artist" turned director Cedric Nicolas-Troyan doesn't let the mayhem reach The Walking Dead levels, but he knows the tools for graphic but unconvincing gore.

THE HYPNOTIC EYE (1960) - Unable to come up with enough scripted material to get the film to feature length, director George Blair and his associates toss in a scene at a beatnik cafe during which the "King of the Beatniks" Lawrence Lipton reads an obnoxious poem. The big set piece of the film is a demonstration of "HypnoMagic" in which star Jacques Bergerac spends about fifteen minutes encouraging the viewing audience to participate in a demonstration of suggested behavior, before threatening them with the electronic "hypnotic eye". Is it stage hypnotist Jacques Bergerac who is getting beautiful women to disfigure themselves, or is it his assistant Allison Hayes? If a disfigured face can so easily be covered up with a false face mask, why don't any of the disfigured women get one for themselves? Joe Patridge plays the slow-witted detective on the case, Marcia Henderson is his more adventurous girlfriend and Guy Prescott is the medical doctor consulting on the case. 

Titans (2020) - So WONDER WOMAN (2017) remains the only DC Universe entry that I don't hate.

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David Deal enjoyed:

RAWHIDE (51)

GET CARTER (71)

THE GO-GO's (20)

HOT MONEY GIRL (59)

THE EARTH DIES SCREAMING (64)

Mildly enjoyed:

CHALLENGE THE DEVIL (63)

SCORPIONS AND MINISKIRTS (67)

HAND OF THE ASSASSIN (67)

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE SECRET WEAPON (42)

SHERLOCK HOLMES IN WASHINGTON (43)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1953) B&W. The old routines are quite monotonous. Uses virtually the same soundtrack as A & C MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

MARTIAL LAW 2; UNDERCOVER (1992) Canadian practitioner of karate Jeff Wincott teams with Ms. Rothrock to take down a drug lord who has corrupted the police captain (Billy Drago).

SHE DEVIL (1957) B&W. Doctors Jack Kelly and Albert Dekker want to try a new adaptive serum on a desperately ill young woman. She ( Mari Blanchard) revives to sublime physical health even invulnerability immediately but begins to suffer from malicious personality traits.

Range Rider television series: Stuntmen and super horseback riding actors Jock Mahoney and Dick Jones star in 1951 Gene Autry Enterprises. (B&W).

Episodes are good guys vs. bad guys in a cartoonish and playful.manner.

'Blind Trail' Guests James Griffith and Micky Simpson. Quirky line,"I tied him up tighter than a fat woman's corset."

'Marshal From Madero' Guests Harry Lauter and Stanley Andrews. Quirky line, Range rider,"Ever hear of the spider and the fly?" Dick's response,"Is that like the birds and the bees?"

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon series from 1985. Filmation makes effective  use of rotoscoping for animation but with just a handful of repetitive angles.

Episodes:

The Arena

Battlecat

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed: 

News of the world (2020, Paul Greengrass)

Jean Ray le ténébreux (doc) (1965, Jean Antoine)

Frankenstein 1970, (1957, Howard W. Koch)

Enjoyed:

Hashoter hatov – season 1 – episode 8

Du rififi dans le surimi (doc)(2021, Philippe Lespinasse)

Un homme est mort (1972, Jacques Deray)

Shadow and bone – season 1 – episodes 1 to 8

Diablero – season 2 – episode 1

Lansky (2021, Eytan Rockaway)

Mildly enjoyed

Indiana Jones à la recherche del’âge d’or (doc) (2021, Clelia Cohen & Antoine Coursat)

El vecino – season 1 – episode 2

La casa de Papel – season 1 – episodes 1 & 2

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Week of September 11 - 17, 2021

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Which Sicilian born actor played Richard Harrison's brother in a Western directed by a Spaniard?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew it was Claudio Ungari, aka Robert Hundar, from EL SABOR DE LA VENGANZA, aka GUNFIGHT AT HIGH NOON, directed by Rafael Romero Marchent.

Can you name a Western starring Gianni Garko in which he does not play Sartana, but that name is used in the title?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was UN PAR DE ASESINO, aka SARTANA KILLS THEM ALL.

Which character from The Bible that was played by Gianni Garko?

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was David in SAUL AND DAVID.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American actor worked with directors Mario Bava, Enzo G. Castellari, Vittorio Schiraldi, Jose Antonio de la Loma, Alberto De Martino and Sergio Martino?

Which Italian actress worked with directors Daniele D'Anza, Peter R. Hunt, Giuliano Montaldo, Allen Baron, J. Lee Thompson and Duccio Tessari?

Which Italian writer went from collaborating with Federico Fellini to directing Italian skin flicks?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Thomas Hunter in UN FIUME DI DOLLARI, aka THE HILLS RUN RED.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Enrico Maria Salerno in L'ASSEDIO DI SIRACUSA, aka SIEGE OF SYRACUSE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Kien Shih and Ahna Capri in ENTER THE DRAGON.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

CRUSADE IN EUROPE (1949) - The disc I have features three episodes 6) The Campaign, 7) Rommel Routed and 8) Sicily, Operation Huskey. I wasn't aware that 26 half hour TV episodes were made based on Dwight Eisenhower's book, but the ones I saw were quite good.

EMANUEL (2019) - Director Brian Tetsuro Ivie delivers a moving documentary about the June 17, 2015 mass shooting at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Interviews with the friends and families of the nine murdered churchgoers inform us of the lives lost, but the main focus of the film is how the bereaved countered the expressed hate of the shooter with forgiveness.

FIST OF LEGEND (1994) - A remake of FIST OF FURY, aka THE CHINESE CONNECTION, this effort by director Gordon Chan improves on the original with a more complex portrait of Shanghai in the 1930s and a better sense of character. Chan, and producer Jet Li, even come up with a way to make the film less anti-Japanese, though FIST OF FURY was an huge success in Japan with all of its anti-Japanese sentiment. With Martial Arts choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, the film is filled with exciting action and star Jet Li even does some Bruce Lee-like moves. However, Bruce Lee never allowed an opponent to seem at all his better or equal. Yasuaki Kurata is splendid as an understanding Japanese Martial Arts master, and Shinobu Nakayama is charming as our hero's Japanese girlfriend. Billy Chau makes an impressive villain, and the filmmakers make no attempt to give him any sense of depth.

FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974) - Shane Bryant's understated performance helps to make Peter Cushing's last appearance as Victor Frankenstein a wonderful finale. John Elder's script is usually criticized for reusing old plot elements, but director Terence Fisher brings a wonderful atmosphere complimented by James Bernard's music.

THE GATEKEEPERS (2012) - Five former heads of Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security service, are interviewed by director Dror Morech about their roles since the 1967 "Six Day War". Using archive footage and computer generated animation, the major events leading up to the current mess between Israelis and Palestinians are discussed. 

Mildly enjoyed:

Marvel's What If...? episode five (2021)

It's the Pied Piper, Charlie Brown (2000) - Released seven months after the death of Charles M. Schulz direct to home video, this was the 39th animated special supervised by Schultz and unfortunately showed that inspiration was at a low ebb. The story of the Pied Piper always struck me as problematic as a children's story, and adapting it to the Peanuts characters only results in softening it. Snoopy playing a concertina allows for alot of the running time to be taken up with music as he rids the town of sports mice. Instead of taking away the town's children when the Mayor and this Council welch on the deal, Snoopy takes away the Major and his Council with the music inspiring them to do barbershop quartet style songs.

Midsomer Murders "The Christmas Haunting" (2013)

THE TECKMAN MYSTERY (1954) - Seeing Duncan Lamont as a Scotland Yard Inspector is almost as much fun as watching Margaret Leighton as a femme fatale. Wendy Toye directed but her film isn't as amusing or as suspenseful as it wants to be.

UNCNSRD "Bebe Winans" (2021)

UNCNSRD "Loretta Devine" (2021)

Did not enjoy:

FARAON, aka PHARAOH (1966) - Slowly paced and frustrating as hell, director Jerzy Kawalerowicz's film version of Boleslaw Prus' novel was an huge success in its native Poland and was even nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1967 Academy Awards. It seems like a film made by Egyptologists who were frustrated by the simplistic presentation of power in most movies about Ancient Egypt. Three years in the making, the film is a convincing portrait of ancient Egypt, though we never view the lives and homes of the peasants. Jerzy Zelnik plays the heir to the throne who can't wait to take power and straighten out the kingdom. He wants to take away the power of the priests, but frequently makes wrong decisions that play into the hands of this enemies. A number of sympathetic characters are introduced, particularly Krystyna Mikolajewska as Sara, who are mistreated by our "hero" and get no dramatic satisfaction in the storytelling. It would appear that no one protested the "gray face" makeup on all of the Poles playing Egyptians.

WEST OF CARSON CITY (1940) - After the Four Notables  sing "Let's Go", reporting how everyone should take cover because the cattle roundup is over and there's no more reason to be sober, Johnny Mack Brown takes off to stop the Pony Express rider to tell him to inform Fuzzy Knight that he'll have to keep the ranch running a little longer as Brown is not finished yet helping a neighbor with his cows. When the rider arrives in the now ghost town to deliver the newspaper to the store owner, he finds that Knight is sleeping on the sidewalk. However, when Ernie Adams rushs up to inform everyone that he's finally found gold on his claim, the rider takes off to spread the news. Suddenly, the town is booming again, so Harry Woods assembles his henchmen to take advantage with crooked gambling and stagecoach robbery. When Brown arrives at his ranch. it is in shambles with only the cook still around. He informs his boss that everyone else has run off to the gold strike. Brown sets off to get his men back, but gets distracted by stopping a stagecoach robbery. It turns out that the bad guys weren't planning to rob the stage - they were intending to prevent Judge Robert Homans from bringing law and order to town. Dispite Woods' various efforts, Homans does bring law and order to town with the help of Brown. Woods sends two men out to take care of Brown, who is on a riding date with Homans' pretty daughter Peggy Moran. Even though the villains are shooting at a woman, our hero doesn't kill anyone - only knocking their pistols out of their hands. Brown orders Woods to clear out of town in 24 hours, so Woods counters by kidnapping Homans and Moran and forcing Homans to pen a note telling Brown to lay off. Brown rescues the judge and his daughter and then leads his cowboys into town to throw Woods and company out. The Four Notables sing "On the Trail To Tomorrow" as our heroes pilot a stagecoach full of prisoners down the road. Fuzzy Knight's comic schtick seems to have been stuck into the film as he figures very little in the proceedings. There is more reused footage from other movies here than usual for a Universal Western and no one mentions Carson City. Ray Taylor directed.

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David Deal enjoyed:

HEAVY TRIP (18) - After playing in the basement of a reindeer slaughterhouse for 12 years, a Finnish metal band has a chance to play at a festival in Norway, so they determine to write an original song, pick a band name, and make the best of it.  Hilarious and sweet, this is a clear winner.  Highly recommended.

THE WEB (47) - Small time lawyer Edmond O'Brien is tapped for a sucker by Vincent Price to take the wrap for murder.  Nicely woven tale keeps the viewer guessing.  Ella Raines is the twist and William Bendix is the suspicious cop.

GO GORILLA GO (75)

THE SINISTER MONK (65)

CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (64)

Mildly enjoyed:

THE MYSTERIANS (58)

TWO RODE TOGETHER (61)

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Charles Gilbert watched:

WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST (1956) B&W. Why would a giant hypodermic needle need finger holes?

Honey West episode 1 "The Swingin' Mrs. Jones" The fetching private "I" practices judo with partner Sam Bolt (John Ericson). She has a pet oscelot. Ray Danton guest stars in this first episode.

THREE BLONDES IN HIS LIFE.(1961) B&W. Globetrotting insurance investigator and ladies' man Jock Mahoney grills three glamorous gals xabout the death of a client. Sidekick Jesse White is also on the case. With Greta Thyssen.

THE CRUEL TOWER (1956) B&W. Working class melodrama about a tower maintenance crew. Young John Ericson plays a tramp taken in by Harry "Stretch" Clay (Charles McGraw). Jealously ensues with Mari Blanchard around becoming a dangerous catalyst at those heights.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Highly enjoyed: 

Edge of the world (2020, Michael Haussman)

Enjoyed:

Only murders in the building – season 1 – episode 1

Chapelwaite – season 1 – episode 1

Comme des garçons (2018, Julien Hallard)

Jombitamjeong / Zombie detective (2020, Jae Hyun Shim) – season 1 – episodes 1 to 12

Mildly enjoyed

Un par de asesinos (1970, Rafael Romero Marchent)

Did not enjoyed:

The tamarind seed (1974, Blake Edwards)

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Angel Rivera wrote: 

I watched the Spike Lee documentary "NYC Epicenter: 9/11- 2021 1/2" Parts 5 & 6 which deals with 9/11. I live in the borough of Queens and worked @ Elmhurst Hospital at the time and remember the hospital setting up to maybe take in victims of the attack only being told that condition had changed from rescue to recovery and that no patients would be heading our way. Watching the documentary, I saw things I had not known at the time; such as boats going to evacuate people from Manhattan island; the sight of people jumping from the towers before the towers collapsed and an interview with a United airline flight attendant who knew members of the flight crew of United 93 and believing that the flight may have been shot down because of what he saw of the crash site. Just now I finished watching an ABC news special "9/11:  America remembers" where someone who was with VP Cheney and Condoleezza Rice hearing the VP ask the pilot "was United 93 shot down?" and the pilot's response that they could not confirm that the flight had been shot down, but the person realizing about reports that the passengers had tried to prevent the plane from crashing into a building and causing the crash into the field where it hit..

I also watched "Titans" episode about the origin of Hawk and Dove, two superheroes I remember reading about back in the seventies; although these were not the heroes as I remember them. The series is very violent and now included nudity I was not expecting.

I also watched "Stargirl"; "Supergirl"; "Miracle Workers: Oregon Trail"; "Awkwafina is Nora from Queens" (a comedy not for every one's taste, but humorous for me): "Brooklyn Nine Nine; and "Younger".

I also saw two episodes of "Alfred Hithchcock presents". One which featured George Segal and Anne Baxter titled, "A Nice Touch" from 1963 in which Seagal, is an actor who seduces talent agent Baxter into helping him get parts and then tricking her into killing her husband with promises of being with her if she removes the husband as an obstacle to their "happiness". The other episode from 1957 featured a teen-aged Carol Lynley (she was 15 at the time) who has just caused the death of her domineering aunt, played by Jeanette Nolan and tries to frame a pre-"Ben Casey" Vince Edwards of the murder.

I also pulled out  my DVD copy of "Flaming Star" and watched it and every time I watch it I see something I had not realized, like the film also featured Richard Jaeckel  as Barbara Eden's brother who loses his fiance in a Kiowa attack and L. Q. Jones who is also a victim of the same attack. The one song Elvis sings in the movie is placed in such a way that a family heading home from the festivities at Elvis's home are singing the same song before they are killed in the Kiowa raid. The performances are all good, especially presenting the prejudices of the characters which are a fitting reflection of the troubled times of the early civil rights struggles. (The film was released in 1960.)  The film was also directed by Don Siegel who would also direct several of Clint Eastwood's films as well as the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"(1956).

On YouTube I tried to watch "Vengeance of Ursus" which featured Samson Burke, a name I only remembered  from "The Three Stooges meet Hercules" and did not really know that much about him. I found the movie to be too formulaic for this type of movie and could not really enjoy it. Burke's performance was also pretty awful in my opinion.

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