FAREWELL, RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN

You entered popular culture as a new Dr. Kildare, and from there, a whole, adventurous expanse enfolded. 

There was the mighty Shogun, Centennial, Dream West and the impassioned Thorn Birds set. Ah, but let us not forget your ripe role as Aramis in The Three Musketeers (1973); The Four Musketeers; The Return of the Musketeers; plus The Man in the Iron Mask (1977), The Count of Monte Cristo (1975), King Solomon's Mines (1986); Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold; and The Bourne Identity (1988).

In addition, you reigned proud and supreme in The Last Wave; Nightmare Cinema; Night of the Hunter (1991); The Swarm; The Towering Inferno; Wallenberg: A Hero's Story; Casanova (1987); Blackbeard; Too Rich: The Secret Life of Doris Duke; The Lost Daughter; The Madwoman of Chailott; Hamlet (1970); Julius Caesar (1970); Ordeal in the Arctic; All the Winters That Have Been; Strength and Honour; Twilight of Honor; A Thunder of Drums; The Secret of the Purple Reef; The Pavilion; Lady Caroline Lamb; The Slipper and the Rose; The Christmas Messenger; The Music Lovers; Murder by Phone; A River Made to Drown In; and Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

Oh, and you were never a stranger to those special, guest appearances, which you ascended through Portrait of a Lady (recurring as Ralph Touchett); Island Son (recurring as Daniel Kulani); Twin Peaks; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Thriller (Karloff version); Hustle; Chuck; Mr. Lucky; The Eleventh Hour; Rescue 8; Touched by an Angel; Nip/Tuck; Desperate Housewives; The Drew Carey Show; Will & Grace; Brothers & Sisters; The Bourbon Beat Street; ThunderCats; Gunsmoke; Whispering Smith; and The Deputy. 

There's no question that you were a giant in the field, Mr. Chamberlain, and will remain as such: a forthright legend whose zest bled through every performance, for every episode, play and film. May you now take to Heaven's regal stage, where you'll rightly perform till time's nonexistent demise. 

FOR THE FUN OF IT:

 

GOODBYE, BRUCE GLOVER

In the world of 007, you're Mr. Wint in Diamonds Are Forever, but your wide-range status placed you in many other fine forms of fancy. 

For example, you took up residence in Chinatown; Walking Tall; Walking Tall, Part II; Walking Tall: The Final Chapter; Hard Times; The Thomas Crown Affair (1968); Dayton's Devils; C.C. and Company; Sultan and the Rock Star; Scandalous John; Never Steal Anything Small; Chaindance; Who Killed Teddy Bear; The Imposter; The Outsider; Big Bad Mama II; Mcnamara Band; Buffalo Bushido; Bless the Beasts and the Children; Tiger, Tiger; Sweet Love; American Hero; Scammerhead; Simon Says; Spoiler; Bitter; Black Gunn; Broke Sky; Hider in the House; Street Wars; Yuma; This Is the West That Was; One Little Indian; Penny Ante: The Motion Picture; Suicide, the Comedy; Kiss Me, Kill Me; Six Days in Paradise; It is Fine! Everything is Fine!; Stunts; Hunter's Blood; Blindfold; Ghost World; Ghost Town; Popcorn; Night of the Scarecrow; Warlock: Armageddon; Die Hard Dracula; Shakespeare's Plan 12 from Outer Space; and Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (as the titular alien, even if uncredited, and as an obedient, space-crew member). 

And when it came to television sagas, you knocked it out of the park with roles on The Six Million Dollar Man; Barney Miller; CHiPs; Perry Mason; Adam-12; Kojak; Harry O; The Blue Knight; S.W.A.T.; The Rat Patrol; 12 O' Clock High, My Favorite Martian; The The Good Guys; Danny Thomas Hour; Car 54, Where Are You?; The Psychiatrist; The Verdict Is Yours; Mission: Impossible; The Feather and Father Gang; Switch; Hawk; Bearcats!; The Doctor and the Nurses; Run for Your Life; Paris 7000; The Partners; Route 66; The Mod Squad; The Streets of San Francisco; Dundee and Culhane; The Big Valley; The Guns of Will Sonnett; Bonanza; and Gunsmoke. 

You were a special, refined breed, Mr. Glover, who projected numerous facets, including fanciful painting, and you shared your expressive stroke with your son, Crispin, for which we are all grateful. You could play anything and played everything, making yourself known through unique variations. Because of this, you established yourself as one of the best, no matter the category, the medium or the plot.   

TERRIFIC TEAM-UP: JEKYLL & HYDE, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED

 

R.I.P. CLIVE REVILL

You voiced some of the best known and iconic, including Alfred Pennyworth on Batman: The Animated Series and Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back. Your distinct tonality can also be heard in The Transformers, The Legend of Prince Valiant, Godzilla: The Series, The Frog Prince, Alice Through the Looking Glass, Return to Never Land, DuckTales, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas and a whole bunch more, including a smorgasbord of video games. 

You were, above all, a familiar face in feature films, seen in The Great Houdini; A Severed Head; The Double Man; Fathom; Modesty Blaise; The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes; Zorro, the Gay Blade; Avanti!; The Black Windmill; The Buttercup Chain; Nobody Runs Forever; The Shoes of the Fisherman; One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing; The Sea Wolf 1993; and what may be my favorite of your performances: the analytical Dr. Lionel Barrett in The Legend of Hell House. 

Your television work was pretty prolific, too, with pleasing performances on The Adventures of Robin Hood (with Richard Greene); Star Trek: The Next Generation; Babylon 5; Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman; The New Avengers; Murder, She Wrote; Columbo; Centennial; Hart to Hart; Churchill's People; Murphy Brown; and The Law and Harry McGraw. 

Your talent touched many lives and in ways that many are only now acknowledging. This is because you were an actor's actor, a man who could shine above others yet when need be, blend in. Indeed, few could do what you did, Mr. Revill, but then there was only ever one Clive Revill. 

I SAW A WORKING MAN

From the director and star of 2024's cult hit, The Beekeeper, comes A Working Man. 

Directed by David (Suicide Squad) Ayer, who coscripted with Sylvester Stallone (each having pulled from Chuck Dixon's novel, Levon's Trade), A Working Man depicts a humble gent, Jason Statham's Levon Cade, who enjoys supervising his daily, construction work, grateful that the Garcia family has hired him (a family that has, in fact, become like his own). However, when the Garcia's daughter, Arianna (Black Phone) Rivas' Jenny, is kidnapped by human-traffickers, ushered by high-tier Russian gangster Wolo Kolisnyk, who's played by Statham's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels/Snatch costar, Jason Flemyng, Cade's military skills kick in, exposing a vengeful, fighting machine that won't rest until Jenny is rescued and the cavalcade of fiends bites the dust. 

Though A Working Man is a "pulpy" slice of fiction, its concept rises from hard truth. This is important, since an arrogant portion of our society dares to pretend that human trafficking doesn't exist or at least is overplayed among social concerns. On this bold basis, Cade's work-until-the-job-is-done crusade resonates with pragmatic impact, and for those who do hold a sincere, humanitarian perspective, his Dirty Harry/Billy Jack-ish assaults aren't only therapeutic, but perform as a message of awareness, in which a loathsome, biker-bureaucratic front promotes a horde of deep-rooted sins for profit.  

Statham shines in his tailor-made role, and Rivas grants the required sympathy and spunk to counter her tormentors. When Jenny is harmed, it gives the audience all the more cause to cheer Cade on. However, the surrounding cast also makes the Taken/Rambo: Last Blood-type plot engaging, creating characters, both good and bad, who are always believable, even when placed within the explosive extremes. 

These folks consist of David (Hellboy/Stranger Things/Black Widow) Harbour's Gunny Lefferty (a blind pal, who like Cade, spent time in the military); Michael (Ant-Man) Pena's Joe Garcia (an honorable patriarch); Noemi Gonzalez as Carla (Joe's warm-hearted spouse); Isla Gie as Merry (Cade's optimistic, little daughter); Richard Heap as Dr. Roth (Merry's hateful grandfather); and as the intersecting, syndicated antagonists: Emmet J. Scanlon, Eva Mauro, David Witts, Piotr Witkowski, Greg Kolpaki, Chidi Ajufo, Andrea Vasilou, Cokey Falkow, Ricky Champ, Andrej Kaminsky, Vanko Kharchenko, Merab Ninidsi, Maximillian Oskinski, in addition to a strange and dastardly extension of others, who stir the pot from all ends of the hellish spectrum. (Be warned: The many participants do make the content more complex, but this should work to its advantage on repeated viewings, giving one extra layers to inspect.)  

I give Ayer, Stallone and Statham a lot of credit for making this movie and Dixon for conceiving the literary foundation. Sure, the stuff-shirts and magic-wand proponents are likely to scoff at it, but if so, shame on them. Like The Beekeeper, A Working Man is a fantasy-revenge yarn first and foremost, but that doesn't erode the manner in which it'll resonate with those smart enough to appreciate it. That it makes wise use of good, old-fashioned virility works, too, particularly in light of the recycled, anti-macho debris that we've been shoehorned as of late, not only in the movies, but thanks to a dictatorial spread of annoying, cultural bias. 

PINUP TIME: ISABELLE ADJANI IS ANNA, POSSESSED!

MR. LOBO'S CINEMA INSOMNIA: THE RED HOUSE (CLEAN HOUSE SPECIAL) ON TWITCH

This Saturday night (March 29, at 10pm), Mr. Lobo's Cinema Insomnia serves the Edward G. Robinson-led, 1947 classic, The Red House.

The Red House was produced by Sol Lesser (known for Our Town and his many Tarzan entries) and directed by Delmer Daves (who helmed Destination Tokyo and the original 3:10 to Yuma) and scripted by Daves with the uncredited Albert (Two Mules for Sister Sara/The Beguiled) Maltz, based on George Agnew Chamberlain's popular novel. The result isn't at all horror, but rather psychological noir (a sort of pre-David Lynch deal, with dashes of Val Lewton and Tod Slaughter). It concentrates on the relationship of an invalid (Robinson), his sister (Judith Anderson), their adopted daughter (Allene Roberts) and her indirect boyfriend (Lon McCallister), but there's a catch to the cozy setup, as a troubling secret anchors the woodland abode.  

Robinson is, as always, in top form, but so is the rest of the cast, including Rory Calhoun (cowboy icon and Motel Hell's friendly Farmer Vincent) and the gorgeous Julie London in effective, supporting roles. Daves' direction is swift and tense, with Bert Glennon's photography accentuating the mysterious mood. Oh, and Miklos Rosa's score is nothing short of damn divine.  

Beyond the movie, Mr. Lobo engages in a major cleanup of his studio, which prompts spiffy silliness for the in-betweens. The presentation also contains unusual commercials, public proclamations and an instructional, snack break to lighten the movie's ominous tone. 

The Red House is, indeed, both a fun and somber submission, and the "misunderstood" mix shouldn't be missed; so be sure to tune in for a Twitchin' good time!

https://www.twitch.tv/cinemainsomnia