The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 7, 2022

Erich Maria Remarque's acclaimed novel about World War One, ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT, was adapted into an Academy Award-winning, legendary film by Universal Studios in 1930. This year brings a new movie version of the book, made in Europe and featuring a mainly German cast & crew. I...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on November 5, 2022

Arrow video has released another of their fantastic Blu-ray box sets. This one, GOTHIC FANTASTICO, presents four rare and unique examples of 1960s Italian horror cinema. What makes this set special is that it does not deal with the usual suspects associated with the Italian Gothic. None of these fi   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 29, 2022

This is another magnificent restoration from Warner Archive. Paramount's 1931 version of Robert Louis Stevenson's famous tale looks (and sounds) as if it was made last month instead of 90 years ago. The sharpness and clarity of this disc brings out all sorts of detail, and makes one realize this...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 22, 2022

ACE HIGH (1968) is the middle film in a trilogy of Euro Westerns directed by Giuseppe Colizzi and starring Terence Hill and Bud Spencer. Kino has given it a fine presentation on Blu-ray. Bounty hunters Cat (Terence Hill) and Hutch (Bud Spencer) are led on a rambling chase by bandit...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 21, 2022

The Sprocket Vault & Kit Parker Films return to the world of Hal Roach Studios with this region-free DVD release of the very first sound comedy short subjects starring Charley Chase. CHARLEY CHASE AT HAL ROACH: THE TALKIES VOLUME FOUR 1929 includes six shorts from the very beginning of the...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 19, 2022

Kino has released on Blu-ray one of director James Whale's rarest titles: the 1933 Universal light romantic comedy BY CANDLELIGHT. Josef (Paul Lukas) is the butler to a playboy European prince (Nils Asther). Josef tries to emulate his master's ladykiller ways by wooing a beautiful woman named Marie   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 18, 2022

During the last few years the Warner Archive Collection has been releasing a number of fantastic restorations of classic Hollywood horror films. Now they've brought out on Blu-ray Tod Browning's somewhat controversial MARK OF THE VAMPIRE, made by MGM and released in 1935. MARK OF THE VAMPIRE is a s   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 13, 2022

THE POOR RICH is a 1934 comedy, produced by Universal, and directed by Edward Sedgwick, a man best known for his work with Buster Keaton. The movie doesn't have all that many laughs, despite the characters acting as silly as possible. It does have quite a notable cast. Harriet (Edna...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 9, 2022

Now it's time for my personal rankings of the Universal Dracula films made during the studio's classic monster era from 1931 to 1948. This will be the same setup as my Universal Frankenstein rankings from yesterday. There's going to be some overlap from that list, as HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 8, 2022

In May of this year I wrote a couple blog posts ranking the Frankenstein & Dracula films produced by Hammer Films. Now I'm going to rank the Frankenstein & Dracula films produced by Universal, specifically the ones made during the studio's classic monster period (1931-1948). Looking back on   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on October 3, 2022

Legendary film composer Max Steiner (1888-1971) wrote the music scores for four of the greatest films ever made: KING KONG, GONE WITH THE WIND, CASABLANCA, and THE SEARCHERS. If these were the only movie soundtracks he created, he would still have a place in Hollywood history--but he did far much...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 29, 2022

The season five cast photo for THE A-TEAMI know what you're thinking. "The final season of THE A-TEAM??? What's the matter, Dan?? Did you run out of obscure Pre-Code movies to write about??" No...I could never run out of those. The reason for this post requires some explanation. It basically...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 25, 2022

This is not a Bob Hope-Bing Crosby comedy. It's a 1931 Warner Bros. melodrama, directed by Alfred E. Green. I discovered it on the HBO Max streaming service, of all places. Before he even shows up in the film, Hugh Dawltry (William Powell) is described as "a bounder". The suave...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 15, 2022

CRAZE is a 1974 British horror film, with plenty of notable names involved in it. It was produced by Herman Cohen and directed by Freddie Francis, and it stars Jack Palance, along with a supporting cast featuring several impressive talents of the English stage & screen. Despite boasting such a   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 11, 2022

MASK OF MURDER is a very obscure Swedish-Canadian mystery thriller, made in 1985 and starring Rod Taylor, Christopher Lee, and Valerie Perrine. The entire movie is available as an extra on the MURDER STORY Blu-ray disc included in Severin's THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE 2 box set. Despite the fa   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 10, 2022

Last month, as part of their annual "Summer Under The Stars" series, the Turner Classic Movies cable TV channel had a day dedicated to the films of Peter Sellers. One of the movies shown (at 4 am, which was a hint to its quality) was the last theatrical feature with...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 5, 2022

This is another early Paramount film starring Carole Lombard, released in 1931. It reunites Lombard with Norman Foster and Skeets Gallagher, her co-stars from IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE--but that fact is nothing to get excited about. Norman Foster is Steve Merrick, a regular guy who has aspirations to be   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on September 3, 2022

NO ONE MAN is a 1932 comedy-drama from Paramount starring Carole Lombard. It is not to be confused with NO MAN OF HER OWN, a much more famous 1932 Paramount-Lombard entry that co-starred Clark Gable. It is one of the many movies that Lombard appeared in during the early 1930s...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on August 30, 2022

Included in Severin's THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 2 Blu-ray box set is the very obscure--and very generically titled--MURDER STORY (1988). American teenager Tony (Alexis Denisof) lives in the Netherlands (his father is stationed on a U.S. Air Force base there). Tony is an aspiring w   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on August 29, 2022

The main highlight of Severin's THE EUROCRYPT OF CHRISTOPHER LEE COLLECTION 2 Blu-ray box set is its 3-disc presentation of the 1976 French comedy DRACULA AND SON (originally titled DRACULA PERE ET FILS). The film is not only shown in a restored, uncut condition, it is also the recipient of...   read more