The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on March 4, 2021

KELLY THE SECOND (1936) is a comedy produced by Hal Roach, and released by MGM. As someone who has watched Hal Roach product since I was a kid, I had to take the opportunity to watch this for the first time when it was shown recently on TCM. The movie...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on March 1, 2021

What in the heck is ZARABANDA BING BING?? It's a 1966 Spanish-Italian-French production, with Daniela Bianchi (FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE) and Harold Sakata (GOLDFINGER). One would expect with those two in the cast, that the movie would be one of those Europsy 007 imitations. It's actually a lighthearte   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 27, 2021

THE DIRTY HEROES is a 1968 Italian-made WWII adventure story. In a review of the film I found on the internet, it was referred to as a "macaroni combat" movie--I assume this was the equivalent of a Spaghetti Western. In 1945 Holland, three Americans escape from a German POW camp....   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 21, 2021

Another obscure British science-fiction film directed by John Gilling. This time it's the 1956 production THE GAMMA PEOPLE. Gilling also co-wrote the script. Two newspaper reporters (Paul Douglas and Leslie Phillips) are traveling on a train through Europe, when they are inadvertently stranded in a   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 20, 2021

This is the 1962 American version of a 1958 Toho film originally titled DAIKAIJU BARAN. The Toho version is not one of the company's best science-fiction features, but it is a fairly decent giant monster movie. It also had the involvement of Toho's talented trio: Ishiro Honda as director, Eiji...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 14, 2021

THE NIGHT CALLER is a 1965 British science-fiction film directed by John Gilling (THE REPTILE, THE PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES). The movie is also known as NIGHT CALLER FROM OUTER SPACE and BLOOD BEAST FROM OUTER SPACE. A strange object from space lands in the English countryside, tracked by a...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 12, 2021

NIGHT OF TERROR is a 1933 mystery-thriller from Columbia Pictures, starring Bela Lugosi. I recently watched it for the first time on Tubi. This is the first of many old dark house/mystery/horror films that Bela would appear in during his acting career. Lugosi would always be a red herring, or,...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 7, 2021

THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR is a stylish 1933 courtroom drama produced by Universal and directed by the great James Whale. The story is set in Vienna, where distinguished lawyer Paul Held (Frank Morgan) defends his friend Walter Bernsdorf (Paul Lukas) after the man has killed his unfaithful wife. As   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 6, 2021

THE CARPET OF HORROR is a 1962 krimi film, a German/Italian/Spanish production. It stars the royal couple of the krimi genre, Joachim Fuchsberger and Karin Dor. The original German title for this is DER TEPPICH DES GRAUENS. Despite the title, there's no horrific carpets on display here, so no one...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on February 1, 2021

Sunday, January 31st, was the 100th anniversary of John Agar's birth. Agar is well known to film geeks for his numerous appearances in low-budget horror and science-fiction films made during the 1950s and 60s. When I wrote a blog post on my personal list of the greatest movie monster fighters...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 31, 2021

This is the paperback edition of Alan K. Rode's much-needed biography of one of the greatest film directors of all time. The Hungarian-born Michael Curtiz had a prolific and incredible movie career. His name is attached to some of the most famous movies ever made, and he directed all sorts...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 29, 2021

Joshua Kennedy's latest opus, COWGIRLS VS PTERODACTYLS, was officially premiered last week in his hometown of Edinburg, Texas. The movie will soon be available on Blu-ray from Amazon. COWGIRLS is set in Texas, 1864, where numerous sightings of large, strange bird-like creatures have been reported.   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 25, 2021

I'm currently reading Alan K. Rode's mammoth biography of film director Michael Curtiz. It's a fascinating book, and a long-overdue examination of a filmmaker that never seems to get the attention he deserves. One of the revelatory parts of the biography is the coverage of Curtiz's movie career dur   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 17, 2021

This is the very first film adaptation of Curt Siodmak's science-fiction novel DONOVAN'S BRAIN. The movie was made by Republic Pictures and released in 1944. Siodmak was not involved in the production, which was directed by Western veteran George Sherman. In a spooky castle-like building (which is   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 14, 2021

I've mentioned on this blog and on Facebook several times how the very first movie soundtrack I ever bought was for THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY. That purchase was on audio cassette, and I've bought it many times since, including a vinyl re-release just last summer. Now, Quartet...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 10, 2021

VALLEY OF THE ZOMBIES is a 1946 thriller from Republic Pictures, a company best known for their Western movies. I saw it for the first time last night, and while it's not a great film by any means, it is a cut above similar product made by the likes of...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 6, 2021

The 1959 version of THE 39 STEPS was the first remake of Alfred Hitchcock's famous 1935 spy tale. It is also proof that unnecessary remakes are not just a 21st Century phenomenon. This version, a British production directed by Ralph Thomas, is based on the screenplay for the 1935 version,...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 4, 2021

2021 is not starting off too well, with news of the death of English actress Barbara Shelley. Shelley, who was born Barbara Kowin, appeared in eight different movies for Hammer Films, and had major roles in seven of them--more than any actress had for the company. She was also, in...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on January 3, 2021

Edward Bernds is best known for his work directing various films with the Bowery Boys and The Three Stooges, but in the late 1950s, he started to make a series of science-fiction features. They ranged from the mildly interesting (WORLD WITHOUT END), to the infamous (QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE) and...   read more

The Hitless Wonder Movie Blog Posted by Dan Day, Jr. on December 30, 2020

There's no need for me to tell you that this year sucked. But this was a great year for home video product (that is, if you still had enough money to buy any of this stuff). Thankfully, I'm still working regularly, so, as usual, I spent plenty of money on...   read more