Michael's Musings

I'm Back!

by Michael B. Druxman on 05/26/21

May 26, 2021

I'm back for a quick visit.

Does anybody ever come to this site any longer?

This Covid thing...and being stuck in the house for over a year...really plays games with your memory. Never quite sure what day it is any more.

Nevertheless, I do keep writing.

My PAUL MUNI one-person stage play was published a month or so ago, and I've just finished my play on GALE SONDERGAARD (Anthony Adverse, The Life of Emile Zola, The Letter, etc.). I interviewed her back in the 1970s for CORONET magazine. The play should be available from Amazon in a week or two.

Beyond that, I just try to keep busy. At 80 years, it's the smart thing to do.

If you read this, please send me an e-mail ([email protected]). That way, I'll know that I still have an audience.

Stay safe!

Michael

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WINGS OF THE HAWK

by Michael B. Druxman on 01/17/21

January 17, 2021

WINGS OF THE HAWK

WINGS OF THE HAWK is not great, but it’s an okay Western.

I have a special affection for it, not only because I first saw it in a theater when it was initially released in 1953, but because I knew several of the people involved with its production.

Director Budd Boetticher, in fact, was once my publicity client.

Julie Adams, Abbe Lane and Pedro Gonzalez-Gonzalez were also people I was acquainted with during my tenure in Hollywood.

Van Heflin plays a miner, caught up in the Mexican revolution of 1910-1911, when the corrupt administration seizes his gold mine. Soon, Heflin discovers that there is a price on his head in Mexico, and he winds up joining the rebel forces.

As a director, Budd Boetticher was known for his action sequences, and he certainly doesn’t disappoint with WINGS OF THE HAWK.

The new Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber presents the film in both 2-D and 3-D versions. Since I didn’t have 3-D glasses, I watched the 2-D version and was quite pleased with the presentation. The disc also includes a Woody Woodpecker cartoon.

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GIRL

by Michael B. Druxman on 01/14/21

GIRL is a strange movie.

In some ways, it reminds me of one of my favorite films, BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955), but instead of Spencer Tracy arriving in an isolated desert town via train, Bela Thorne comes to a dying town (presumably in the deep South) on foot. (The picture was shot in Canada.)

Bela’s purpose is to confront the father that deserted her when she was six. Unfortunately, somebody has just murdered him, and now our heroine not only seeks his killer, but also a bag of money that he had hidden somewhere.

Chad Faust and Mickey Rourke are also in the cast of this film, written and directed by Faust.

There are some good performance and a couple of effective scenes in GIRL, but the plot is convoluted. In fact, certain aspects of it, which I won’t divulge here, are a bit of a turn-off

Screen Media has released GIRL onto DVD.

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