The Silver Screen Oasis

The only Fuller film to ever hold my attention all the way through was THE BIG RED ONE (80). All of his films from his 'hey day' always suffered from inconsistent acting and low production values, although the man definitely had talent.

I went to college (NYC's Hunter College) with two guys about 142 years ago who I'm still friends with. They know so much about classic films as we all do. So I asked one of them what was HIS opinion of Samuel Fuller. Everybody has one, so I asked my friend. I said Fuller didn't seem to be getting much love from the Message Board I write on. This is what my friend wrote back to me:



T.,

First: did you ever go see HOUSE OF BAMBOO? Because then the question would be, "What's YOUR opinion?"

How many Fuller films have you seen? You have to have seen SHOCK CORRIDOR and THE NAKED KISS. If you haven't, then stop what you're doing and see them! Those are amazing films and THE NAKED KISS is esp. right up your alley.

You must have seen FORTY GUNS with Barbara Stanwyck. That's gotta be one of her ten best roles. She plays opposite Barry Sullivan in that one. CHINA GATE with Gene Barry, Angie Dickinson and Nat King Cole. Didn't (the Professor at Hunter) ever show that to you at Hunter?

My favorite is THE STEEL HELMET, a Korean War movie with James Edwards in one of his best parts.

Then there are:
RUN OF THE ARROW with Rod Steiger as an Irish Confederate who joins the Sioux Indians. Brian Keith, Ralph Meeker and Charles Bronson are all in that one too.
MERRILL'S MARAUDERS with Jeff Chandler--a great WWII movie.
PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET with Richard Widmark and Jean Peters.
UNDERWORLD USA with Cliff Robertson
THE CRIMSON KIMONO with Glenn Corbett and James Shigeta.

All good ones.

Disregard the message boards and SEE THESE MOVIES!

Honestly, I would have thought you had seen these already.

So, does that answer your question?

B.

I've seen some of Fuller's films...but it looks like I've got some more Fuller to watch.

CM --

You have a very wise friend. But he left out of the upper tier of Fuller films:

FIXED BAYONETS! -- A struggle for survival, if you're lucky, in Korea! With Gene Evans and Richard Basehart!!
VERBOTEN! -- Love and a struggle for survival at the end of WWII!
WHITE DOG -- Racist? The studio feared it was. Anti-racist? Arguably so. Most likely: Race is...and it's a damn shame and stupid that it is. With Kristy McNichol, Paul Winfield & Burl Ives. Co-written by Curtis Hanson (yup, the director-writer of L.A. CONFIDENTIAL)

And I SHOT JESSE JAMES, THE BARON OF ARIZONA and THE BIG RED ONE are worth seeing as well.

Heck, see all of his movies. Over and over.

ChiO's "Favorite Director" submission:
1. Orson Welles (you were expecting, maybe, Stanley Kramer?)
2. Carl Th. Dreyer
3. Jacques Tourneur
4. Samuel Fuller

KingRat wrote:
Fuller tends to have an attention-grabbing subject and beginning--unlike poor Albert Brooks in Broadcast News, he doesn't bury the lead.

Seldom have truer words been written.

How can one not want to watch what follows these beginnings?

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Sam Fuller: The Woman's Director.

NYMPHOS!

Golly, you make "low production values" sound like a bad thing.

But speaking of minimal production values, women directors, male bonding, paranoia, and rural noir, I saw a beautiful 35mm print of THE HITCH-HIKER this evening. Two Regular Joes (Edmond O'Brien and Frank Lovejoy) make one little mistake in judgment and are subjected to the whims of a sadistic murderer (William Talman). The final scene -- Talman, freaking out because the police now have him in handcuffs, gets socked in the mouth by O'Brien who had almost been mistakenly shot by the police...and Talman spits at him -- is a highlight of noir cynicism.

Like William Talman, if you have an opportunity to see this on the big screen, keep an eye open for it.

THE HITCH-HIKER is a classy little drama that, in my experience, doesn't come around much.

kingrat wrote:TCM showed this little gem a year or so ago. To see it in a great 35mm print would be a real treat. Most of you know, anyway, but the director of THE HITCH-HIKER is one of my favorite actresses, Ida Lupino.

RedRiver wrote:THE HITCH-HIKER is a classy little drama that, in my experience, doesn't come around much.

That's so true ... I would love to see it again!

[u][color=#00BF00]kingrat[/color][/u] wrote:Yep. Maven, whether you lurv Sam Fuller or not, you're in excellent company on these boards. It's my experience that not many of his most dedicated admirers are women.

I see. Well...looking over Fuller's filmography, I see he's a tough guy. I love the company on these boards. I'll just have to make some time to watch movies...

[u][color=#BF0000]ChiO[/color][/u] wrote: CM -- You have a very wise friend. But he left out of the upper tier of Fuller's films: "FIXED BAYONETS!" "VERBOTEN!" "WHITE DOG" And "I SHOT JESSE JAMES" "THE BARON OF ARIZONA" and "THE BIG RED ONE" are worth seeing as well. Heck, see all of his movies. Over and over.

With this line-up, I must put away my Grey Goose, Southern Comfort and Sarsparilla. It's nothing but bourbon and rye for these movies.

[color=#0000FF][u]ChiO[/u][/color] wrote:

Sam Fuller: The Woman's Director.

Well...well hey...why didn't you say THAT in the first place? (Wait'll George Cukor hears this!)

But if these movies put hair on my chest...I'm coming after you guys like Constance Towers did.

CineMaven wrote: With this line-up, I must put away my Grey Goose, Southern Comfort and Sarsparilla. It's nothing but bourbon and rye for these movies.

Have a shot on me:

How dry I...I...

What the heck was I s'posed to be doing?

Watching THE NAKED KISS!!!! Get with the program, gal!!!!