REVIEW: The Defiant Ones [1958]

They’ll probably kill each other before they go five miles. Whether to satisfy his own desire to not sit in silence or earn the ire of the guards transporting him to jail, Noah Cullen (Sidney Poitier) is introduced at the back of a prison wagon singing W.C. Handy’s “Long Gone” to effectively achieve both. The cops aren’t alone in wishing he’d shut his mouth, though. The inmate chained to his wrist (Tony Curtis‘ John ‘Joker’ Jackson) wants to silence him too—if his size disadvantage would allow such an act of…

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REVIEW: Sweet Smell of Success [1957]

No. You’re dead, son. Get yourself buried. The hook is simple: Steve Dallas (Martin Milner) and Susan Hunsecker (Susan Harrison) are in love, but big brother J.J. (Burt Lancaster) doesn’t approve. He hasn’t supported her with penthouses and fur coats to watch a young guitarist whisk her away, but he can’t be caught stopping them with his formidable clout to make and break people on a whim as New York’s premier lifestyle columnist either. Putting his name on the boy’s metaphorical death certificate would risk losing Susan further than it…

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REVIEW: Some Like It Hot [1959]

“Where did you get that phony accent? Nobody ‘talks loike thet!’” I was finally able to catch up with what many people call the funniest movie ever made, Some Like It Hot. This is now the first and only film I have seen with Marilyn Monroe as well as directed by Billy Wilder. The hype on these two seem to be correct and I look forward to checking out more from both. However, the real success of the film is the portrayal of our two leads by Jack Lemmon and…

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