Martin Balsam

  • Richard Fleischer & Kinji Fukasaku & Toshio Masuda – Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)

    1961-1970ActionKinji FukasakuRichard FleischerToshio MasudaUSAWar

    Quote:
    Tora! Tora! Tora! Is the Japanese signal to attack – and this movie meticulously recreates the attack on Pearl Harbor and the events leading up to it. Opening scenes contrast the American and Japanese positions. Japanese imperialists decide to stage the attack. Top U.S. brass ignore its possibility. Intercepted Japanese messages warn of it – but never reach F.D.R.’s desk. Radar warnings are disregarded. Even the entrapment of a Japanese submarine in Pearl Harbor before the attack goes unreported. Ultimately the Day of Infamy arrives – in the most spectacular, gut-wrenching cavalcade of action.Read More »

  • Jeannot Szwarc – Night of Terror (1972)

    1971-1980Jeannot SzwarcThrillerUSA

    A hired killer hunts down a schoolteacher to get something she has. She doesn’t know what it is, but he’s already killed twice to get it.Read More »

  • Damiano Damiani – Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica AKA Confessions of a Police Captain (1971)

    Damiano Damiani1971-1980CrimeDramaItaly

    Commissioner Bonavia has hygiene-obsessed mafioso Lipuma release from the insane asylum where he has been incarcerated for the past six years knowing fullwell that Lipuma’s first action once released will be to make an attempt on his former rival Dubrosio’s life.

    Indeed this is what Bonavia, who is pursuing his own personal vendetta against Dubrosio is counting on; he knows that there is no point in pursuing legal channels when just about the entirety of the Palmero administration and judiciary is in league with Dubrosio.Read More »

  • Mike Nichols – Catch-22 (1970)

    USA1961-1970ClassicsMike NicholsWar

    A bombardier in World War II tries desperately to escape the insanity of the war. However, sometimes insanity is the only sane way to cope with a crazy situation. Catch-22 is a parody of a “military mentality”, and of a bureaucratic society in general.Read More »

  • Joseph Sargent – The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

    USA1971-1980CrimeJoseph SargentThriller

    Synopsis:
    Right under everyone’s noses, a determined gang of four colour-coded and armed-to-the-teeth criminals manage to take over New York City’s Pelham 1-2-3 subway train. In a confined metro rail coach crammed with eighteen helpless passengers, the ruthless criminals threaten to start killing one hostage a minute, unless a massive one-million-dollar ransom in cash is delivered within an hour. Under those circumstances, a frenzied race against time begins, as the gruff Transit Authority police lieutenant, Zachary Garber, tries to outwit his cunning adversary, Mr Blue. However, above the surface, chaos reigns. Will they deliver the money in time before the first man dies?Read More »

  • Sidney Lumet – 12 Angry Men (1957)

    1951-1960ClassicsDramaSidney LumetUSA

    Synopsis:
    A Puerto Rican youth is on trial for murder, accused of knifing his father to death. The twelve jurors retire to the jury room, having been admonished that the defendant is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Eleven of the jurors vote for conviction, each for reasons of his own. The sole holdout is Juror #8, played by Henry Fonda. As Fonda persuades the weary jurors to re-examine the evidence, we learn the backstory of each man. Juror #3 (Lee J. Cobb), a bullying self-made man, has estranged himself from his own son. Juror #7 (Jack Warden) has an ingrained mistrust of foreigners; so, to a lesser extent, does Juror #6 (Edward Binns). Jurors #10 (Ed Begley) and #11 (George Voskovec), so certain of the infallibility of the Law, assume that if the boy was arrested, he must be guilty. Juror #4 (E.G. Marshall) is an advocate of dispassionate deductive reasoning. Read More »

  • Gilbert Cates – Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973)

    1971-1980DramaGilbert CatesUSA

    Plot Synopsis by Michael Betzold
    American GI Harry Walden (Martin Balsam) emerged from a harrowing experience in WWII to find himself living an outwardly-happy but inwardly-empty and tedious existence in the post-war U.S. He is an eye doctor, successful in his work, but unfulfilled spiritually and emotionally. He and his wife Rita (Joanne Woodward) have a boring existence, with their biggest issue being what kind of wallpaper to choose when they redecorate their apartment. They are dysfunctional, materialistic, and utterly lost. Rita is neurotic and unhappy, especially after her mother (Sylvia Sidney) dies. They decide to visit France and go to the battlefield where Harry once spent a night in the company of three dead German soldiers. The trip is intended to reawaken their deadened humanity. Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams is a challenging, slow and thoughtful depiction of the corroding effects of a materialistic lifestyle.Read More »

  • Burt Kennedy – The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969)

    USA1961-1970Burt KennedyWestern


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    Plot Synopsis by All Movie
    In this comic western, Flagg (Robert Mitchum) is a veteran marshal forced to retire by the pompous Mayor Wilker (Martin Balsam). McKay (George Kennedy) is a wily gunslinger. The two combine forces to stop a young band of outlaws from robbing the train when it pulls into the station. Flagg warns the mayor of the upcoming attempt but is not taken seriously by the town politician. McKay and Flagg ride out to warn the train of the impending crime, which finds McKay facing members of his own gang in a traditional western showdown. David and John Carradine appear in this feature along with Tina Louise and Lois Nettleton.Read More »

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