Judging by Go for Broke‘s posters and related promotional material, you’d think that this Robert Pirosh picture is yet another post-WWII jingoistic war film. We see strapping blonde Van Johnson hoisting a rifle and chasing the Italian ladies. The title, too, evokes visions of Battleground (1949)–also starring Van Johnson and directed by Robert Pirosh–and the… Continue reading Go for Broke! (1951): a Film Out of Its Time
Category: 1950s
Cutaways from the 1950s (1950 to 1959).
Fake Americana With a Topping of Grit: 4 Aces Movie Ranch, Palmdale
4 Aces, located in Palmdale, California, is every Highway Patrol with Broderick Crawford and B-Minus-film noir from 1949 to 1960 wrapped up into one, big, delightful fake. The Diner This is where you take the woman hitchhiking in heels with a suitcase and a shady story about her father, in Chicago, kicking her out of… Continue reading Fake Americana With a Topping of Grit: 4 Aces Movie Ranch, Palmdale
“The Mob” (1951): Unsung Film Noir With Stellar Cast
In some kind of dream classic film world, you would watch a movie with Broderick Crawford, Ernest Borgnine, Richard Kiley, Neville Brand, with a brief walk-on from Charles Bronson. It’s no dream, it’s reality, but you have to claw back to 1951 for that one–well before most of those names had achieved star status. Crawford… Continue reading “The Mob” (1951): Unsung Film Noir With Stellar Cast
Cars Will Travel in Tubes by Year 2000
The Year 2000–as it was called before 2000–is looking awfully distant with each passing year. Will it ever happen? And what I mean by this is the chasm between what was promised and what we’ve got: the old “Where’s my jetpack?” meme. Or, “I wanted cars in tubes but all I’ve got is Twitter.” Yes,… Continue reading Cars Will Travel in Tubes by Year 2000
Man-Eating Sex Queen of Great Neck, New York, Dorothea Matthews
This English Tudor house, located at 201 Clent Road, Great Neck, New York, may not look like much of a love nest. But in 1948, its chief female resident, Mrs. Dorothea Matthews turned this house into something approaching the Playboy Mansion, East. It wasn’t until Mrs. Matthews’ divorce proceedings from her husband Mark Matthews in… Continue reading Man-Eating Sex Queen of Great Neck, New York, Dorothea Matthews