C'era una volta il West (1968)

 

 

A mysterious stranger with a harmonica joins forces with a notorious desperado to protect a beautiful widow from a ruthless assassin working for the railroad.

 

A masterpiece Western that elevates the genre onto a level of pure myth; it is immaculately composed like an opera with leitmotifs for each main protagonist, beautifully photographed in John Ford territory and full of memorable scenes, both humorous and vicious - and Henry Fonda's first appearance in the movie is a genuine shock.

Halliwell***: "Immensely long and convoluted epic Western marking its director's collaboration with an American studio and his desire to make serious statements about something or other. Beautifully made and very violent."

 

Maltin***1/2: "Sergio Leone's follow-up to his "Dollars" trilogy is languid, operatic masterpiece...Fonda (brilliantly cast as one of the coldest villains in screen history). Exciting, funny, and reverent, with now-classic score by Ennio Morricone; not to be missed."

 

Machine-Gun Kelly (1958)

The criminal exploits of Public Enemy number 1, George 'Machine-Gun' Kelly, during the 1930s.

Good crime drama with Bronson giving a convincing portrayal of the famous hoodlum as a mean-spirited, cowardly psychopath.

Maltin**1/2: "With typical efficiency, Corman gives this gangster chronicle pacing and more than passing interest. Bronson is fine in the title role."

Charles Bronson

Charles Bronson

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bronson

Murphy's Law (1986)

A cop is running to stay alive long enough to even the score with his wife's killer.

Typically 'dirty' Bronson thriller, brash and violent and set in a derelict urban underworld.

Halliwell (no star): "Unattractively violent and foul-mouthed urban thriller in the wake of Dirty Harry."

Maltin*1/2: "All-too-typical Bronson vehicle...only novelty is that the psycho is a women (Snodgress). Strictly formula; violent and unpleasant."

Mr. Majestyk (1974)

A melon farmer battles organized crime and a hit man who wants to kill him.

Action thriller with a strange premise and wildly unreal plot somehow manages to do the trick and entertain.

Halliwell*: "Violent but unexpectedly enjoyable action melodrama."

Maltin**1/2: "Above average Bronson thriller...surprisingly tongue-in-cheek script by Elmore Leonard."

Death Wish 3 (1985)

Adieu l'ami (1968)

 

 

After an overseas deployment, two former French Foreign Legion members plan to break into the vault of a French corporation.

 

Unusual French thriller contains some scenes of surrealist quality; however, the misogynist tenor of the plot is quite disagreeable.

 

Maltin**: "Ordinary and overlong." 

Miss Sadie Thompson (1953)

A self-righteous missionary man seeks to save the soul of a former prostitute.