Movie Class by PizzaFLIX: Peter Falk (1927-2011) had his right eye removed at age three due to cancer. He is best known for his title role in the series Columbo, for which he won four Primetime Emmys and a Golden Globe. His daughter Catherine Falk is a private detective in real life.
Stars: Peter Falk, Jack Betts, Barbara Lord
Director: Julian Roffman
In only his second big-screen appearance, Peter Falk plays a bad beatnik with a fascination for death.
Stars: Robert Young, Betsy Drake, John Sutton
Director: James V. Kern
An architect is caught in a labyrinth of danger after his fiancée dies in a mysterious car accident the night before their wedding. A beautiful young woman is drawn into his strange dark world, but fears he may be more dangerous than he seems!
Stars: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O’Keefe, Robert Keith
Director: Norman Foster
All is not as it seems in this roller coaster mystery. When the lone witness of a gangland slaying goes into hiding, his distraught wife, a tenacious inspector, and a nosy newsman hunt to find him before it’s too late!
HAUSER performing Song from a Secret Garden in Maldives
Huge thank you to PizzaFLIX.
This episode, originally from season 3 of the anthology series Four Star Playhouse, was first broadcast by CBS on April 28, 1955. Restored and edited by PizzaFLIX with recreated titles.
Stars: Dick Powell, Jean Willes, Tristram Coffin
Created by: Blake Edwards
Former card shark Willie Dante runs a nightclub with a not-so-secret casino tucked in the back. Although it seems to be just another night at his joint, he bumps into an old flame who reveals that the party she’s with wants to stick up the place. Keep an eye out for a cameo by Jack Benny.
TRIVIA: Originally created by Blake Edwards for the anthology series Four Star Playhouse in 1953~1955. Eight episodes were produced by and starred Dick Powell. The show was revisited in 1960 by producer Dick Powell as an actual TV series called “Dante,” but this time starred Howard Duff and set in San Francisco instead of Los Angeles.
Artists: Gipsy Kings
Track:”Trista Pena”
Genre: Catalan rumba
This is the full scene featuring the famous Argentine Tango from Valentino (1951), starring Anthony Dexter and Patricia Medina. Dexter, a virtual lookalike to the real Rudolph Valentino, was a dancer in real life. Unlike today’s refined “ballroom tango,” this tango makes use of a whip in the opening and closing moments, and Dexter is wearing real spurs. The original tango was often passionate and savage, and evolved in the barios of South America in the mid to late 1800s. It eventually became a popular salon dance in Victorian society.
No other tango sequence has matched the brilliant choreography found in this scene from the 1951 film. It has never yet been recreated for any other film or in live performance. The dancing part of the scene was likely filmed in one take, using a number of cameras for the angles and kinds of shots.
In mid-dance, Anthony Dexter as the gaucho appears to pull a few unrehearsed moves, and the surprise can clearly be seen on Patricia’s face. As good a dancer as he was, Dexter was able to bring all the steps together with perfect timing, and they concluded the dance with another unique and original move, ending with a kiss.
The cast:
Anthony Dexter as Rudolph Valentino
Eleanor Parker as Joan Carlisle / Sarah Gray
Richard Carlson as William ‘Bill’ King
Patricia Medina as Lila Reyes
Joseph Calleia as Luigi Verducci
Dona Drake as Maria Torres
Lloyd Gough as Eddie Morgan
Otto Kruger as Mark Towers
The song, considered to be the tango of all tangos:
La Cumparsita
The GOLDEN AGE of TELEVISION: This episode, originally from season 4 of the anthology series Four Star Playhouse, was first broadcast by CBS on January 26, 1956. Restored and edited by PizzaFLIX with recreated titles.
Stars: Dick Powell, Frances Bergen, Herb Vigran
Director: William A. Seiter
Created by: Blake Edwards
After a dangerous dame makes a move on Willie Dante at his nightclub, her husband comes back gunning for him. Dante returns fire in self-defense, but is charged with murder when the assailant’s weapon goes missing! Is this a frame job?
TRIVIA: Originally created by Blake Edwards for the anthology series Four Star Playhouse in 1953~1955. Eight episodes were produced by and starred Dick Powell as Willie Dante, a former card shark turned nightclub operator with a not-so-secret casino tucked in the back. The show was revisited in 1960 by producer Dick Powell as an actual TV series called “Dante,” but this time starred Howard Duff and set in San Francisco instead of Los Angeles.
To the old bar tune “One for my Baby (One More For The Road)” we “Meet McGraw.” He’s a crime fighter played by Frank Lovejoy (1912-1962). Frank’s best known for noir movies (“In a Lonely Place,” “The Hitch Hiker”) and radio fans might remember “Night Beat.” The Bronx born tough guy lasted battled “Broken Arrow” and “To Tell The Truth” for viewers, and a hard boiled detective show seemed like a good alternative. After 42 episodes (1958-59) the show ended, and oddly, few of them have survived in good condition.
Lovejoy said at the time, “I kind of like this guy McGraw. He’s not a superman. He’s just a guy who tries to do the best he can, and is interested in saving his own neck quite frequently….I don’t win all the fights I get into….I don’t always knock out the villain. Sometimes he knocks me out.”
To the interviewer, Dorothy Roe, he offered a gallant remark about ladies: “I don’t treat all women as if they were just bodies. I prefer to view them as people. Some of them can even be good companions, with a sense of humor, and an understanding of fair play. Lots of women are regular guys.” At the time, he was married to “regular guy” actress Joan Banks.
Our McGraw sample is “The Ballerina,” about a dancer and the shady guy she loves. It features Hans Conried, Ainslie Pryor, Joyce Vanderveen, Ron Hargrave, Darlene Fields and Glen Vernon.
Recent Comments