Dennis Seuling

Action films made in Europe with American stars to capitalize on big-budget Hollywood pictures were popular during the 1960s at drive-ins and as second features on theater double bills. Battle of the Commandos, an Italian-Spanish-German co-production, stars Jack Palance (Shane) in a low-budget tale of vengeance with plenty of shootings and explosions that give it the look of a much costlier film.

The Return of Doctor X is most notable for the fact that it’s the only horror film Humphrey Bogart ever appeared in. The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca were still a few years off and Bogart, a Warner Bros. contract actor, had to appear in whatever the studio ordered. The film has similarities to Doctor X, made seven years earlier, but the plots and characters are completely different.

Buster Keaton got his start in show business as a child star in vaudeville. This led to a series of successful two-reel comedies that in turn led to feature films, including The General (1926) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928). Two films from this peak period, now available as a double bill, are Seven Chances (1925) and Sherlock, Jr. (1924).

John Barrymore had an extensive career on stage, screen, and radio. He started in light comedy parts on stage and eventually took on classic Shakespearean roles. His most famous silent films include Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) and The Sea Beast (1926), an adaptation of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. When sound came in, Barrymore’s deep voice stood him in good stead and he appeared in Grand Hotel (1932), Dinner at Eight (1933) and Twentieth Century (1934), among others. In the waning days of the silent film, in a departure for him, Barrymore appeared in a fictionalized, swashbuckling version of the life of Francois Villon, The Beloved Rogue.

The early 1960s were filled with romantic comedies, most notably those of Doris Day and her assorted co-stars including Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, and James Garner. The scripts carried over the sensibilities of the 1950s but offered a more tantalizing portrayal of the lead characters as sex objects. One of these 1960s sex farces, For Love or Money, stars Mitzi Gaynor and Kirk Douglas as the will-they-or-won’t they leads.

The United States of Leland is a disturbing film about a murder committed with no apparent motive by an intelligent, popular young man who defies societal sensibilities. It explores why we seek answers to unanswerable questions and why the murderer is the only one who justifies his heinous action.

“Grifter,” a word not much used these days, is defined as “a con artist; someone who swindles people out of money through fraud.” The Grifters, adapted from a novel by Jim Thompson, follows three people who make their living by deception, thievery, and risk.

Must Love Dogs, a romantic comedy that pokes fun at online dating, first impressions, and technologically inspired mating, offers amusing characters, witty dialogue, and a first-class ensemble cast.

No Country for Old Men, a Best Picture Oscar winner based on the novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy and adapted and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, is a harsh look at the inevitability of consequences at a time when the nature of crime has taken a dramatic turn for the worse. Set in west Texas, it’s a gripping variation on the chase film.

Movies about the theater take us backstage where the drama is often greater than on stage. The setting offers opportunities for many genres, from broad comedy (The Producers) to horror (Theatre of Blood). In perhaps the best dramatic film ever made about backstage intrigue, All About Eve, a legendary actress finds her career threatened by an ambitious young fan. The machinations of live performance and the eccentric personalities that inhabit the milieu never cease to fascinate audiences. In The Critic, the focus is a longtime, powerful British play reviewer.