The Mask Of Dimitrious

Written by Joe D on December 28th, 2021

Here is a very cool film dirrected by the master opf atmosphere Jean Negulescu. Based on a very good book by Eric Ambler, the greatest thing about this film is the re-pairing of Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, fresh off their intial work together, Casablanca. Negulescu started out as a painter and his visual sense is evident throughout his films, especially his Film Noirs, like this one. Anyway Enjoy! I found a link to the whole movie on the Internet Film Archive. But first here is the trailer.

 

https://archive.org/details/1944maskofdimitrios

 

Delia Derbyshire

Written by Joe D on December 17th, 2021

Here is a documentary about the amazing Delia Derbyshire, a pioneering electronic musician, probably best known for the Dr.Who theme. She never got official credit and therefore any music rights, i.e. money. She changed music.

Blast Of Silence

Written by Joe D on December 6th, 2021

Here is a beautifully shot low budget film, made in NYC in 1961. What amazing locations, check out Penn Station, an architectural marvel, before it was torn down to put the box of Madison Squarer Garden in it’s place. A real crime against humanity. This movie featurtes a ton of voice over by the great gravel throated Lionel Stander, who was in Once Upon A Time In The West and other cool films, like Unfaithfully Yours by Preston Sturis, and Cul de Sac by that perverted dwarf Roman Polanski.I think the VO was added later to help the film, I don’t think it was in the original script, there is a seperate credit for voice over writing.  The Ending of this film is a classic, you have to see it, kind of reminiscent of the end of Truffaut’s Shoot The Piano Player.The director and Star of this film made another film after this called Pie In The Sky or Terror in the City. I havent seen it but I will be on the lookout for it. Then he went onto direct TV shows. Too Bad. The guy has real talent, he should have stayed in the Cinema. But we all have to make a living. So too bad.

I think there is a re-release of this film happening. I went to see it at Quentin Tarantino’s New Beverly on a double bill with Nighty Of The Hunter. First time I’ve been in a movie theater since the pandemic! Two great prints! They looked amazing! See it in 35mm if you are able. From the opening Out Of The Tunnel Birth sequence to the terrific ending, it’s worth it!