Celluloid Adventures 3: GREAT MOVIES…EVIL WARS

By Nick Anez.

The rocketship crashes into the Earth, killing everyone inside. The father has earned the respect of his son only because he has killed someone. The woman lies in bed, her life ruined irreparably as the cop walks away from her. The young girl stares at a toy boat, unaware of the numerous deaths she has caused. The man with the badge rides away, leaving a trail of lifeless bodies in his wake. These are all unforgettable endings to great movies that have either been neglected or forgotten. Despite the high merits of these movies, they never received the large audiences they deserved. But it may not be too late for belated recognition. In this third volume of Celluloid Adventures, the spotlight is once again on movies that are unjustifiably underrated or undeservedly unknown. The movies cover a span of three decades, from 1942 to 1971. As in Volume 2, these movies represent a variety of genres. They include a Western that is also a suspense movie, an adventure film that is also a fantasy and a science fiction story that is also a tragedy. There is a movie about children that is not for children, a crime movie that is a social drama and a Western that is both traditional and radical. There is also a film noir that is a morality play, a thriller that is horrifyingly prophetic and a police story about an officer who uses his badge to kill. There is a comedy and a war movie but the comedy has dark overtones and the war movie is anti-military. Movies covered: Bridge at Remagen, A High Wind in Jamaica, Jungle Book, Lawman, Pocketful of Miracles, Rocketship X-M, The Satan Bug, Sol Madrid, The Stalking Moon, They Won't Beleive Me, Violent Saturday