I Just Watched...

[Detective Jim McLeod]

The Mad Bomber (1973) Youtube-5/10

A man with a grudge against society plants bombs and terrorizes the city.

This was later retitled The Police Connection. It's not very good but there are three great former TV stars in the main roles. Chuck Connors (The Rifleman) plays the title role. Vince Edwards (Ben Casey) is the Dirty Harry type cop on his trail. Neville Brand ( The Untouchables) has one of his sleaziest parts as a rapist who can identify the bomber.

It was directed by Bert I. Gordon, famous for 1950s and 1960s exploitation films like The Amazing Colossal Man (1957) and Village Of The Giants (1965). The version I saw on Youtube was an edited for TV one, I heard the uncut print has some graphic rape scenes with full nudity and gore.

What I liked best was the scenes where Connors, who has a big chip on his shoulders, gets into some angry and hilarious encounters with people he comes in contact with. When a driver honks his horn at him, Connors grabs the keys out of the ignition and tosses them in a mailbox! He also berates a waitress for not looking him in the eye while taking his order. Below is the opening scene which gives you an idea of his character.

[Hibi]

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was even less convincing.

Didn't Houghton become a writer on the show? I wasn't happy with the replacement. The other brother too. (Snapper?) I liked the original better. I watched that show for awhile in the 70s. He seemed to make a good living on Murder, She Wrote later on. Seemingly on almost every season (up there with RIchard Beymer). How can you have any respect for someone named Wings??? LOL!

[CinemaInternational]

The Rose Garden (1989)

Sometimes, one comes across a film with good intentions that also, unfortunately, is not the best put-together. One wishes to grant it some leeway, or simply to like it, because its heart is in the right place, but at the same time, as in this film's case, the pacing is sluggish and the film itself is visually undistinguished, almost like a TV movie. There are still good things here, but if it had been done with more finesse, it could have been something more. The film stars Liv Ullmann as a female attorney, estranged from her husband (Peter Fonda, weirdly cast with a German accent), who witnesses a brutal physical paroxism. She soon learns that the man who launched the attack was a Holocaust survivor (Maximillian Schell), and that the one he attacked was a Nazi high commandant who had killed hundreds of children by bacterological means.... And one of those victims was Schell's sister. Ullmann then agrees to represent Schell in court, and I think that anyone can guess what happens in the end given that it takes place in Germany, where they still want to shrink from their guilt.... Ullmann gives a marvelous performance that is the main reason to take a look at this, but this could have been a much more impactful film had the film been put together with more flair.

[CinemaInternational]

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was even less convincing.

Didn't Houghton become a writer on the show? I wasn't happy with the replacement. The other brother too. (Snapper?) I liked the original better. I watched that show for awhile in the 70s. He seemed to make a good living on Murder, She Wrote later on. Seemingly on almost every season (up there with RIchard Beymer). How can you have any respect for someone named Wings??? LOL!

Houghton did indeed later serve as a writer on Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful. He had also been on the first four seasons of Knots Landing, but his character there was one of the show's most nondescript characters (albeit an integral part of the show's original four couples conceit).

As for Wings Hauser, in addition to Murder, She Wrote, I remember him chewing up scenery in the nutty noir Tough Guys Don't Die, where he got done in in the end by his character's wife, played by Isabella Rossellini. (Rossellini sure knew how to pick them in the movie....her ex-boyfriend was Ryan O'Neal and her character slept offscreen with Penn Gillette)

[Hibi]

The Rose Garden (1989)

Sometimes, one comes across a film with good intentions that also, unfortunately, is not the best put-together. One wishes to grant it some leeway, or simply to like it, because its heart is in the right place, but at the same time, as in this film's case, the pacing is sluggish and the film itself is visually undistinguished, almost like a TV movie. There are still good things here, but if it had been done with more finesse, it could have been something more. The film stars Liv Ullmann as a female attorney, estranged from her husband (Peter Fonda, weirdly cast with a German accent), who witnesses a brutal physical paroxism. She soon learns that the man who launched the attack was a Holocaust survivor (Maximillian Schell), and that the one he attacked was a Nazi high commandant who had killed hundreds of children by bacterological means.... And one of those victims was Schell's sister. Ullmann then agrees to represent Schell in court, and I think that anyone can guess what happens in the end.... Ullmann gives a marvelous performance that is the main reason to take a look at this, but this could have been a much more impactful film had the film been put together with more flair.

I've never heard of this film.

[Hibi]

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was even less convincing.

Didn't Houghton become a writer on the show? I wasn't happy with the replacement. The other brother too. (Snapper?) I liked the original better. I watched that show for awhile in the 70s. He seemed to make a good living on Murder, She Wrote later on. Seemingly on almost every season (up there with RIchard Beymer). How can you have any respect for someone named Wings??? LOL!

Houghton did indeed later serve as a writer on Young and the Restless and Bold and the Beautiful. He had also been on the first four seasons of Knots Landing, but his character there was one of the show's most nondescript characters (albeit an integral part of the show's original four couples conceit).

As for Wings Hauser, in addition to Murder, She Wrote, I remember him chewing up scenery in the nutty noir Tough Guys Don't Die, where he got done in in the end by his character's wife, played by Isabella Rossellini. (Rossellini sure knew how to pick them in the movie....her ex-boyfriend was Ryan O'Neal and her character slept offscreen with Penn Gillette)

I actually saw that awful film, but thankfully remember little about it...

[CinemaInternational]

The Rose Garden (1989)

Sometimes, one comes across a film with good intentions that also, unfortunately, is not the best put-together. One wishes to grant it some leeway, or simply to like it, because its heart is in the right place, but at the same time, as in this film's case, the pacing is sluggish and the film itself is visually undistinguished, almost like a TV movie. There are still good things here, but if it had been done with more finesse, it could have been something more. The film stars Liv Ullmann as a female attorney, estranged from her husband (Peter Fonda, weirdly cast with a German accent), who witnesses a brutal physical paroxism. She soon learns that the man who launched the attack was a Holocaust survivor (Maximillian Schell), and that the one he attacked was a Nazi high commandant who had killed hundreds of children by bacterological means.... And one of those victims was Schell's sister. Ullmann then agrees to represent Schell in court, and I think that anyone can guess what happens in the end.... Ullmann gives a marvelous performance that is the main reason to take a look at this, but this could have been a much more impactful film had the film been put together with more flair.

I've never heard of this film.

It was barely released theatrically in 1989, but Liv Ullmann landed a Golden Globe nomination for it at the time. It is currently on Amazon Prime, the pay station MGM+, and showing free with commercials on Tubi.

[Hibi]

The Rose Garden (1989)

Sometimes, one comes across a film with good intentions that also, unfortunately, is not the best put-together. One wishes to grant it some leeway, or simply to like it, because its heart is in the right place, but at the same time, as in this film's case, the pacing is sluggish and the film itself is visually undistinguished, almost like a TV movie. There are still good things here, but if it had been done with more finesse, it could have been something more. The film stars Liv Ullmann as a female attorney, estranged from her husband (Peter Fonda, weirdly cast with a German accent), who witnesses a brutal physical paroxism. She soon learns that the man who launched the attack was a Holocaust survivor (Maximillian Schell), and that the one he attacked was a Nazi high commandant who had killed hundreds of children by bacterological means.... And one of those victims was Schell's sister. Ullmann then agrees to represent Schell in court, and I think that anyone can guess what happens in the end.... Ullmann gives a marvelous performance that is the main reason to take a look at this, but this could have been a much more impactful film had the film been put together with more flair.

I've never heard of this film.

It was barely released theatrically in 1989, but Liv Ullmann landed a Golden Globe nomination for it at the time. It is currently on Amazon Prime, the pay station MGM+, and showing free with commercials on Tubi.

That's weird. I don't even remember the Globe nomination and I took note of awards back then. Liv made a slew of English language films back in that era that were barely released. Richard's Things is another one (Frederic Raphael yet).

[CinemaInternational]

I've never heard of this film.

It was barely released theatrically in 1989, but Liv Ullmann landed a Golden Globe nomination for it at the time. It is currently on Amazon Prime, the pay station MGM+, and showing free with commercials on Tubi.

That's weird. I don't even remember the Globe nomination and I took note of awards back then. Liv made a slew of English language films back in that era that were barely released. Richard's Things is another one (Frederic Raphael yet).

Another one was Gaby: A True Story, which landed a supporting actress nod for Norma Aleandro for Supporting Actress, even though its box office gross was only $125,400 (a record low for a film with an Oscar-nominated performance). Liv played the mother of a young woman with severe MS in the film (the actress playing the daughter in that film was actually up for a Golden Globe, although she had scant work afterwards save for a part on the Fran Drescher sitcom The Nanny in the 1990s.) Maybe Liv was catnip to the Globes back then. She is a great actress after all.

[Hibi]

It was barely released theatrically in 1989, but Liv Ullmann landed a Golden Globe nomination for it at the time. It is currently on Amazon Prime, the pay station MGM+, and showing free with commercials on Tubi.

That's weird. I don't even remember the Globe nomination and I took note of awards back then. Liv made a slew of English language films back in that era that were barely released. Richard's Things is another one (Frederic Raphael yet).

Another one was Gaby: A True Story, which landed a supporting actress nod for Norma Aleandro for Supporting Actress, even though its box office gross was only $125,400 (a record low for a film with an Oscar-nominated performance). Liv played the mother of a young woman with severe MS in the film (the actress playing the daughter in that film was actually up for a Golden Globe, although she had scant work afterwards save for a part on the Fran Drescher sitcom The Nanny in the 1990s.) Maybe Liv was catnip to the Globes back then. She is a great actress after all.

Sadly, her talent rarely translated to anything near box office in the U.S. Too bad. I'd forgotten about Gaby.

[CinemaInternational]

That's weird. I don't even remember the Globe nomination and I took note of awards back then. Liv made a slew of English language films back in that era that were barely released. Richard's Things is another one (Frederic Raphael yet).

Another one was Gaby: A True Story, which landed a supporting actress nod for Norma Aleandro for Supporting Actress, even though its box office gross was only $125,400 (a record low for a film with an Oscar-nominated performance). Liv played the mother of a young woman with severe MS in the film (the actress playing the daughter in that film was actually up for a Golden Globe, although she had scant work afterwards save for a part on the Fran Drescher sitcom The Nanny in the 1990s.) Maybe Liv was catnip to the Globes back then. She is a great actress after all.

Sadly, her talent rarely translated to anything near box office in the U.S. Too bad. I'd forgotten about Gaby.

In some respects, I would put Ullmann and Glenda Jackson as being somewhat in the same boat: enormously praised in the early 1970s (and in Liv's case in the late 60s as well) but found a pretty hard go of having their films be seen after 1975. And its a shame because they are both wonderful actresses. [Full admission, I went hunting on the internet to find many of Glenda's films after she passed last year. I ended up watching most of them, and its just shocking that some of them were not given a proper release. Exhibit A for Glenda would be The Return of the Soldier, filmed in 1982, but not released in America, and not very widely at that, 3 years later, even though it also starred Alan Bates, Julie Christie, and Ann-Margaret.... and it was a wonderful film. In fact, here it is, under the spoiler tag.....

)

Liv's films might have more visibility these days than Glenda's due to her long and fruitful collaboration with Ingmar Bergman, whose films are still extremely respected. It was a pleasant surprise when she won the lifetime achievement Oscar a few years ago, and maybe, hopefully, it led more people to check out her films. (now if the Oscars could give a lifetime achievement to Catherine Deneuve too that would be nice)

[CinemaInternational]

also noteworthy:

in her review of CABARET from 1001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, PAULINE KAEL refers to the songs as "metallic"- it's not in a disparaging way, but I'm not entirely sure it's a completely apt adjective.

of course, in the same review, she also refers to JOEL GREY as "THE DEVIL DOLL EMCEE" which goes to show- when PAULINE hits the nail on the head, she drives it clear into the wood.

You know, I have several of her books of full-length reviews. Maybe I should share them sometimes.....

Just a correction, it’s actually 5001 NIGHTS AT THE MOVIES, not 1001. (My bad)

(Boy, I bet Pauline would be just thrilled with me – I admit to keeping her book in the toilet, desecrating it, and then I get the title wrong to boot.)

No worries. And I think Pauline would just be happy that her work is still so loved, and it is indeed marvelous. I know that she retired in 1991 due to a mixture of health problems and dissatisfaction with some of the films she had been seeing (namely Scenes from a Mall, the film that zapped her desire to continue), but it would have been nice if The New Yorker could have arranged something with the studios so that she could see the films in her home town theatre instead of having to go into New York every two weeks. i feel we missed a few more years of wonderful reviews.

[kingrat]

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was even less convincing.

Didn't Houghton become a writer on the show? I wasn't happy with the replacement. The other brother too. (Snapper?) I liked the original better. I watched that show for awhile in the 70s. He seemed to make a good living on Murder, She Wrote later on. Seemingly on almost every season (up there with RIchard Beymer). How can you have any respect for someone named Wings??? LOL!

Maybe Wings Hauser had brothers: Thighs Hauser? Drumstick Hauser?

Hibi, the replacement Snapper Foster was none other than the eventually-to-be-famous David Hasselhoff! The original Snapper was William Gray Espy, who decided not to renew his contract. He surfaced a few years later on Another World as Mitch, the guy who temporarily broke up Rachel's marriage to Mac. Then he was paired with Felicia (Linda Dano). Linda Dano later made some snarky remarks about how he didn't seem accustomed to kissing women.

[nakanosunplaza]

[

A (now if the Oscars could give a lifetime achievement to Catherine Deneuve too that would be nice)
[/quote

The last film by Deneuve was released last fall a bio-comedy with serious overtones about the wife of France's President Jacques Chirac titled Bernadette. Deneuve is at the top of her game,a very good film.She is 80 years old she looks 60! And she does not stop,By the way her mother lived 109 years,she was also an actress,she passed 2 or 3 years ago...

[Hibi]

Since we were talking about Wings Hauser, of all people, I remember when he replaced James Houghton as Greg Foster on The Young & the Restless. Now James Houghton was a very handsome young man, but as a Yale-educated lawyer somewhat less than convincing. Let's just say that Wings Hauser was even less convincing.

Didn't Houghton become a writer on the show? I wasn't happy with the replacement. The other brother too. (Snapper?) I liked the original better. I watched that show for awhile in the 70s. He seemed to make a good living on Murder, She Wrote later on. Seemingly on almost every season (up there with RIchard Beymer). How can you have any respect for someone named Wings??? LOL!

Maybe Wings Hauser had brothers: Thighs Hauser? Drumstick Hauser?

Hibi, the replacement Snapper Foster was none other than the eventually-to-be-famous David Hasselhoff! The original Snapper was William Gray Espy, who decided not to renew his contract. He surfaced a few years later on Another World as Mitch, the guy who temporarily broke up Rachel's marriage to Mac. Then he was paired with Felicia (Linda Dano). Linda Dano later made some snarky remarks about how he didn't seem accustomed to kissing women.

LMREO!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, I know. I'm probably in a small minority about Hasselhoff. I guess Espy's career never panned out. I often wonder about actors you never hear about anymore and what happened to them.