Although the fifth Mission: Impossible entry still involves an organization intent on bringing down world order – in this case, a ‘rogue nation’ picking off international leaders until chaos resets the overreaching power of western governments to zero – it also dips into a familiar ploy that gives franchises new life…
Reviews of 3 films written by / story by prolific Hollywood scribe Philip Yordan: Broken Lance (1954) + The Land from Laramie (1955) from Twilight Time on Blu, and House of Strangers (1949) from Twentieth Century-Fox.
Although a classic film noir packed fine pedigree from Fox’s stable of top talent, this adaptation of Jerome Weidman’s eponymous novel is perhaps better known as the western Fox remade 5 years later as Broken Lance (1954), a more beloved CinemaScope production starring Spencer Tracey, Richard Widmark, and Robert Wagner…
Perhaps in looking for another suitable smaller-scaled project for up and coming star Robert Wagner + its flamboyant widescreen CinemaScope process, Fox chose to dust off the script of a relatively recent film noir, House of Strangers (1949), Philip Yordan’s adaptation of Jerome Weidman’s novel…
From film noir to westerns and increasingly bloated period epics, Anthony Mann was a director with a flair for atmosphere, characters in states of deep conflict, and capturing stunning vistas, especially in wide film formats like CinemaScope.
Mann made several films with James Stewart, who used his free agent status to pick and choose…
Connect