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John Apreahas died. An actor on screens big and small since the late ‘60s, Aprea died with family by his side at his home in Los Angeles on Monday, August 5, Deadline confirmed via Aprea’s manager,Will Levine.He was 83.Born on March 4, 1941, in Englewood, N.J., Jonathan Aprea...

Tony Lo Bianco,who played the key role of Sal Boca in Best Picture Oscar winnerThe French Connectionand appeared in more than 100 films and TV shows during a 60-year screen career, died Tuesday of prostate cancer at his home in Maryland. He was 87.

A rep confirmed his death toFox Newstoday.

Lo Biancogot his start guesting on 1960s TV series includingThe Doctors,Get Smart! andN.Y.P.D.before landing a big-screen star turn in 1970’sThe Honeymoon Killers.That led to his signature role as Salvatore “Sal” Buco inWilliam Friedkin’s seminal New York crime dramaThe French Connectionthe following year. His character is at the center of a drug deal followed byNYPDDetective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman). The film won five Oscars including Best Picture and Lead Actor for Hackman.

Roy Scheider,left, and Tony Lo Bianco in ‘The French Connection,...

Tony Lo Bianco,the Brooklyn actor who oozed criminal charm in the gritty 1970s New York City dramasThe French ConnectionandThe Seven-Ups,has died. He was 87.

Lo Biancodied Tuesday night of prostate cancer at his horse farm in Poolesville, Maryland, his wife,Alyse,toldThe Hollywood Reporter.

Lo Bianco was also memorable as a smooth-talking con man with a lonely nurse (Shirley Stoler) for a girlfriend/accomplice inLeonard Kastle’s documentary-styleThe Honeymoon Killers(1970), whichFrancois Truffautonce said was his favorite American film.

In another cult classic, the horror thrillerGod Told Me To(1976), directed byLarry Cohen,Lo Bianco starred as a New York cop who investigates a series of bizarre murders orchestrated by the leader of a religious group (Richard Lynch).

He received a best actor Tony nomination in 1983 for playing Eddie Carbone in a revival ofArthur Miller’sA View From the Bridge,...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. To keep up with our latest features, sign up for the Weekly Edit newsletter and follow us @mubinotebook on Twitter and Instagram.NEWSSorcerer. “They simply can’t afford another strike,” said Teamsters Local 399 leaderLindsay Doughertyahead of the first bargaining session with AMPTP this week. She called the matter of driverless trucks “a priority” and promised to “claw back things that we gave away in years past.” After two extensions, IATSE hopes to conclude their own negotiations with AMPTP by June 27, a month before the current contract expires. Having reached tentative agreements on artificial intelligence, subcontracting, and other subjects, the parties have yet to agree on the matter of money, with wage increases and a $670 million gap in pension and health plans at stake.SAG-AFTRA is calling on the US Congress to pass the No Fakes Act, which would...

One of the greatest crime movies of all time, "The French Connection"isWilliam Friedkin's gritty drama based on a true story.Gene Hackmanstars as Detective Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle, a no-nonsense, rule-breaking cop who gets caught up investigating a case in which the Italian mob is bringing drugs into America with the help of a French heroin-smuggling syndicate. But this isn't an open-and-shut case. The lawmen are seemingly foiled at every turn, and things end on a shocking, bleak note. It's an amazing movie with one of the best chase sequences ever captured on film. "The French Connection"was released nearly 53 years ago, which means many of its cast members have left us, along with director Friedkin, who died last year. But a few are still around. So here are the only major actors still alive from"The French Connection."

Read more: The 20 Best Detective Movies Ranked

Gene...

Few American filmmakers of the last 40 years await a major rediscovery likeHal Hartley,whose traces in modern movies are either too-minor or entirely unknown. Thus it’s cause for celebration that theCriterion Channelare soon launching a major retrospective: 13 features (which constitutes all butMy America) and 17 shorts, a sui generis style and persistent vision running across 30 years. Expect your Halloween party to be aswim in Henry Fool costumes.

Speaking of: there’s a one-month headstart on seasonal programming with the 13-film “High School Horror” ––most notable perhaps being a streaming premiere for the uncut version ofSuspiria,plus the rare opportunity to see aRobert Rodriguezmovie on the Criterion Channel––and a retrospective of Hong Kong vampire movies. A retrospective of ’70s car movies offer chills and thrills of a different sort

Six films byAllan Dwanand 12 “gaslight noirs” round out the main September series;The Eight Mountains,...

For “Judas and the Black Messiah”production designerSam Lisencoand directorShaka King,“a big factor… in the development of the look of the movie was, how can we make this as truthful as possible, but keep in mind the kinds of action movies that make the medicine go down a little easy?” Watch our exclusive video interview with Lisenco above.

“Judas”tells the true story of Chicago Black Panthers leaderFred Hampton(played byDaniel Kaluuya), who was assassinated by the FBI in 1969. But Lisenco and King wanted to create a look reminiscent not just of the history of Chicago in the 1960s, but of thrillers from the period like “The Hot Rocks” and “The Seven-Ups.”“If we started to explore those kinds of genre-normative cues, even subconsciously, we would be able to come up with a language that was much more entertaining while being as historically accurate as possible.

There’s nothing like a good car chase in a movie. Maybe it’s the daring-do of the stunt drivers that makes you feel you’re in danger even though you’re comfortably in your seat, or the high stakes of the moment in which the characters we’re rooting for will either get out of the situation or have a gruesome finale, but an impressive car-chase scene can make even a mediocre movie a beloved classic. What makes a car chase legendary, you ask? They’re the ones that keep you at the edge of your seat and actually fit in with the rest of the plot. While the “Fast and Furious”movies have collectively taken the car chase to the next level, they don’t count. They’re far too CGI-enhanced. The 1970’s may have marked a new age in American cinema, but it was also a decade...

Cinema Retro's Todd Garbarini withSonny Grossoat a screening ofThe French Connectionin 2010.

By Todd Garbarini

Salvatore Anthony Grosso, known affectionately as Sonny Grosso, passed away on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at the age of 89. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, his work most assuredly did. Mr. Grosso was originally a New York City police detective who was the partner of Detective Eddie Egan. These two gentlemen both, on a hunch, broke up an organized crime ring which resulted in the seizure of 112 pounds of heroin. This then-unprecedented bust in 1961 provided the basis for the 1969Robin Moorechronicle of their exploits,The French Connection,and was made into the Oscar-winning classic film of the same name two years later, resulting in a Best Picture win for producerPhilip D’Antoni,Best Director forWilliam Friedkin,Best Actor forGene Hackman(he personifiedEddie Egan’s Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle...

ActorKen Kercheval,best known as Texas businessmanCliff Barneson theCBSseriesDallas,has died. A cause of death is not known, but a spokesperson at the Frist Funeral Home in the actor’s hometown of Clinton, Indiana, told Deadline that Kercheval died Sunday. He was 83.

Kercheval’s character was a signature presence on Dallas — along with his bitter rival J.R. Ewing (Larry Hagman), Barnes was the only character to appear in all 14 seasons (1978-1991) of the soapy saga about Texas crude and crude Texans. The character was originally modeled on Robert F. Kennedy but that template didn’t hold for long. Instead Barnes was defined by his family’s rivalry with the Ewings and his character was spun in varied directions as needed — his job title, for instance, changed a dozen times over the course of the series.

Kercheval was also in the 1986 prequel Dallas: The Early Years, a TV movie that fleshed out the franchise’s central conflict, the rivalry between the two oil industry families. Kercheval also returned to the character for the 1996 television movie Dallas: J.R. Returns and then again for three seasons (2012-2014) of a Dallas revival, which presented the career-bouncing Barnes as a casino industry player.

Dallas also gave Kercheval a chance to experiment with job directions himself: He went behind the camera to direct an episode of the series in each of its final two seasons.

Kercheval was born July 15, 1935, in Wolcottville, Ind., and raised in nearby Clinton. A music and drama major atIndiana Universityhe later studied at theNeighborhood Playhousein New York. Kercheval began his professional acting career on the stage, making his Broadway debut in the 1962 play Something About A Soldier. He went on to appear Off-Broadway in 1972’s Berlin to Broadway withKurt Weillrevue. His other theatre credits include The Apple Tree,Cabaret(replacingBert Convyas Cliff), and Here’s Where I Belong. He also appeared as the title character in the original Broadway production ofFiddler on the Roof,co-starring withHerschel Bernardi,Maria Karnilova,Julia Migenes,Leonard Frey,andPia Zadora.

It was television, however, where Kercheval became a face familiar to millions. His credits included appearances on E.R., L.A. Law,, Murder She Wrote,CHiPs,Highway to Heaven,Kojak,The Love Boat,Matlock,andStarsky & Hutch.His film credits includeNetwork,The Seven-UpsandF.I.S.T.in the 1970s.

Brett Ridgeman (Mel Gibson) is a cop. He’s been on the force for a while, long enough to see an old partner (Don Johnson) get a fancy desk job and help get a new partner, Anthony (Vince Vaughn), busted for excessive force. The two of them were filmed interrogating a suspect — if you’d call placing your boot on the neck of a handcuffed man on his fire escape in broad daylight “interrogating.” The brass is not happy. Both men are temporarily suspended without pay. Brett is told that...

Philip D’Antoni, producer of the first R-Rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, “The French Connection,”died last week of kidney failure, according to his son-in-law,Mark Rathaus.He was 89.

D’Antoni made his name in the ’60s and ’70s as a producer of films with iconic car chases. In “French Connection,” New York detective Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle (Gene Hackman) chases down a subway train holding a wanted sniper with a stranger’sPontiac.D’Antoni was also producer on the famous 1968 crime film “Bullitt,”which is known for a climactic car chase through the streets of San Francisco withSteve McQueenbehind the wheel of aFordMustang.

Also Read:Verne Troyer,Mini-Me Actor in 'Austin Powers,' Dies at 49

After those films, D’Antoni also served as producer on several more crime movies and TV shows, includingABC’s “Strike Force,” and the 1973Roy Scheiderfilm “The Seven-Ups,”the latter of which he also directed.

Like “Bullitt”and “French Connection,” “Seven-Ups” features a major car chase, withBill Hickmangetting chased by Scheider in a pursuit on the streets of New York in a pair ofPontiacs.In all three films, Hickman was involved as a stunt driver in the chase sequences.

Also Read: Avicii Mourned byCalvin Harris,Zedd,Liam Payne:'I'm Crying on the Airplane'

New Hollywood filmmakerWilliam Friedkin,who directed “The French Connection,”honored his friend and collaborator onTwitter.

Phil D’Antoni. My friend and the great producer

OfThe French Connectionhas died. May he Rest

In peace

– William Friedkin (@WilliamFriedkin) April 23, 2018

D’Antoni is survived by his wife, five children, and nine grandchildren.

Read original story Philip D’Antoni, ‘French Connection’ Producer, Dies at 89 At TheWrap...

Philip D'Antoni,who won an Academy Award for his work onThe French Connectionand produced two other crime thrillers also renowned for their amazing car-chase sequences, has died. He was 89.

D'Antoni died April 15 of complications from kidney failure at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, his son-in-lawMark Rathaustold The Hollywood Reporter.

D'Antoni also produced theSteve McQueenclassicBullitt(1968), famous for its 11-minute car chase in and around San Francisco, and he produced — and directed —The Seven-Ups(1973), which featured a NYPD cop (French Connection actorRoy Scheider) in hot pursuit of...

Philip D’Antoni, who produced Oscar-winning films like “The French Connection”and “Bullitt,”died at age 89 on April 15. The producer died at his home in New York.

D’Antoni was best known for the 1971 crime drama “The French Connection,”which won three Golden Globes and five Oscars, including best picture.Gene Hackmanwon for best actor andWilliam Friedkinfor best director and the film also won best adapted screenplay and best film editing. Also on the late producer’s resume is theSteve McQueenaction flick “Bullitt,”which won an Oscar for film editing.

TV documentaries like “Elizabeth Taylorin London,” “Sophia Lorenin Rome,” and the “Proud Land” miniseries made up much of D’Antoni’s early work in Hollywood in the early 1960s. “Bullitt”marked his first feature film producing credit in 1968, and from there he went on to produce “The French Connection”before returning to TV later in life.

Forget All Singing! – All Dancing! Tonight’s bill of fare is wall-to-wall high grade crime action.Roy Scheiderleads a great cast in an all-New Yawk tale of gangsters, kidnapping and betrayal. The police tactics of Scheider’s special felony crime squad would today land them all in jail, but they’re all stand-up guys. And buckle up for one of the best, most realistic pre-cgi auto chase scenes ever filmed.

The Seven-Ups

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1973 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date March 20, 2018 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store / 29.95

Starring: Roy Scheider,Tony Lo Bianco,Victor Arnold,Jerry Leon,Ken Kercheval,Larry Haines,Richard Lynch,Bill Hickman,Joe Spinell.

Cinematography:Urs Furrer

Film Editors: Jerry Greenberg,John C. Horger,Stephen A. Rotter

Stunt Coordinator: Bill Hickman

Original Music:Don Ellis

Written bySonny Grosso,Alexander Jacobs,Albert Ruben

Produced by Philip D’Antoni,Kenneth Utt,Barry J. Weitz

Directed...

There’s nothing like a good car chase in a movie. Maybe it’s the daring-do of the stunt drivers that makes you feel you’re in danger even though you’re comfortably in your seat, or the high stakes of the moment in which the characters we’re rooting for will either get out of the situation or have a gruesome finale, but an impressive car-chase scene can make even a mediocre movie a beloved classic. What makes a car chase legendary, you ask? They’re the ones that keep you at the edge of your seat and actually fit in with the rest of the plot.

Edgar Wright’sBaby Driveropens Wednesday, June 28th. Baby (Ansel Elgort), is an innocent-looking getaway driver who gets hardened criminals from point A to point B, with daredevil flair and a personal soundtrack running through his head. That’s because he...

By Todd Garbarini

I first became acquainted with directorPeter Medak’s work in 1983 when I saw his 1980 masterworkThe Changeling,one of the most frightening ghost stories shot in color. Also known for 1972’sThe Ruling Classand 1990’sThe Krays,Mr. Medak made the film noirRomeo is Bleeding,shot in 1992 and released on Friday, February 4, 1994. The film is told in an elliptical narrative fashion, starting with the end and going back in time to show us how the protagonist got to where he is. We first see Jack Grimaldi in a dilapidated diner, his voiceover indicative of a man full of regrets who is probably in the Witness Protection Program and forced to lead a life bereft of any true purpose or feeling. Once upon a time, he was a police officer in New York City and his partners are comprised of actors we know well today:...

The French Connection45th Anniversary Screening in Los Angeles

By Todd Garbarini

The Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles will be presenting a 45th anniversary screening ofWilliam Friedkin’s Oscar-winning 1971 crime dramaThe French Connection.The 102-minute film will be screened on Saturday, June 18, 2016 at 7:30 pm. StarringGene Hackman,Roy Scheider,Tony Lo Bianco,Fernando Rey,Marcel Bozuffi,and the two real-life detectives who broke the actual case: the late Eddie Eagen and Salvatore “Sonny” Grosso,The French Connectionis a New York movie of the first order and paved the way for gritty crime dramas likeThe Seven-Upsand The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.

Director Friedkin is scheduled to appear at a Q&A session following the film.

From the press release:

Part of our Anniversary Classics series. For details, visit: laemmle.com/ac.

45th Anniversary Screening

This gritty and gripping police thriller won five...

The advertising promised a surfeit of sleaze -- but the film is a superior thriller about a real-life, low-rent serial killers from back in the late 1940s.Tony Lo Biancoand the greatShirley Stolerare Ray and Martha, mixed-up lovers running aMerry Widowracket through the personals ads in romance magazines.Leonard Kastle's film is dramatically and psychologically sound, while the disc extras detail the true crime story, which is far, far, sleazier.The Honeymoon KillersBlu-ray The Criterion Collection 200 1969 / B&W / 1:85 widescreen / 107 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date September 29, 2015 / 39.95 StarringShirley Stoler,Tony Lo Bianco,Mary Jane Higby,Doris Roberts,Kip McArdle,Marilyn Chris,Dortha Duckworth,Barbara Cason,Ann HarrisCinematographyOliver WoodFilm EditorRichard Brophy,Stanley WarnowMusicGustav MahlerProduced byWarren SteibelWritten and Directed byLeonard Kastle

Reviewed byGlenn Erickson

The ad campaign for this crime shocker...

By

Alex Simon

Hollywood, like any place that is more about its lore than the actual sum of its parts, is full of unsung heroes who have given audiences some of their most cherished cinematic moments. Odds are if you’re a movie buff, you’ll remember the car chases in iconic films likeBullitt,The French ConnectionandThe Seven-Ups.Stuntman, stunt driver and later, stunt coordinatorBill Hickmanwas one of those people who remained virtually anonymous during his lifetime, but is responsible for some of cinema’s most iconic, and hair-raising moments.

The Los Angeles native was born in 1921 and had been working in Hollywood for ten years before landing his first (visible) role inStanley Kramer’s legendaryThe Wild One,the 1953 film that cemented starMarlon Brando’s status as an icon of post-war teen rebellion. Hickman can be seen as one of Brando’s...

Steven Awalt – author interviewed by Todd Garbarini

“Well, it’s about time, Charlie!”

Dennis Weaverutters these words in my favoriteSteven Spielbergfilm,Duel,a production that was originally commissioned byUniversal Picturesas an Mow, industry shorthand for “movie of the week”, which aired on Saturday, November 13, 1971. The reviews were glowing; the film’s admirers greatly outweighed its detractors and it put Mr. Spielberg, arguably the most phenomenally successful director in the history of the medium, on a path to a career that would make any contemporary director green with envy. Followed by a spate of contractually obligated television outings,Duelwould prove to be the springboard that would catapult Mr. Spielberg into the realm that he was shooting for since his youth: that of feature film directing.Duelwould also land him in the court of Hollywood producersDavid BrownandRichard Zanuckand get him his...

By Todd Garbarini

Scream Factory continues their winning streak of releasing horror film favorites with their double feature Blu-ray release of 1988’sBad Dreamsand 1982’sVisiting Hours.They originally released these films together on DVD in September 2011.

Bad Dreamsopened on Friday, April 8, 1988 and is, in hindsight, eerily prescient of David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidian religious sect who met a horrific end when the FBI closed in on him and his compound ignited into a conflagration on April 19, 1993 in Waco, TX. Jim Jones and the Jonestown deaths in 1978 also come to mind. In this film, the lateRichard Lynchplays a cult leader named Harris who convinces a group of people that love and unity are the only ways to live, and he shows that love by dousing them all in gasoline and lighting them on fire.Jennifer Rubinplays Cynthia, a confused and reluctant holdout...

I looked for him, but he was gone. I checked the boozy dives and the greasy spoons and the street corners where the not-nice girls hang out.

Nothing.

He was gone.

Tall guy, fedora, trench coat. You must’ve seen him. Usually smoking. He was always hanging around, poking his nose where it didn’t belong and usually getting it punched.

A real wisenheimer, too, always cracking wise.

You see him, you call. And if I find out you’ve been holding back…

If you don’t miss that kind of patois, you’re either too young to remember it, or you’ve got a tin ear. God knows, I miss it.

Back in May, some of you might remember I interviewedRoad to PerditionauthorMax Allan Collins(http://www.soundonsight.org/max-allan-collins-road-to-perdition-on-carrying-on-mickey-spillanes-legacy/). A lot of the discussion had to do with his connection with one of the giants of private eye fiction,...

Once again 2012 saw the passing of another cult favorite with the death of one of the exploitation cinema’s greatest villains. On 19 June 2012, the versatile and highly underratedRichard Lynchwas found dead at his home in Yucca Valley, California by his good friend, actressCarol Vogel.She had not heard from him for several days and turned up at his home only to find his front door ajar and the actor’s body in the kitchen.

The death ofRichard Lynchmarked an end to a career that many fans felt should have been a lot better. After a promising start in films following extensive theatre training, Lynch never achieved the major success he deserved. It was a big shame because had real screen presence. He always brought a raw and dangerous edge to his many cinema and TV roles, that was made all the more powerful by his handsome,...

The popular young-adult fantasy novel series by Michael Scott, The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, will be heading to the big screen as Lawless Entertainment will partner with the Australian based Ampco Films to adapt the first novel in the six-book series, The Alchemyst. Scott will adapt his own book, though no director has been announced. Production, however, is scheduled to begin in February in Australia and New Zealand. No distributor has picked it up, either.

Deadline is reporting that Gaumont International Television and producerMartha De Laurentiisare looking to adapt the 1968 cult filmBarbarellainto a TV series. Martha, and her husband,Dino De Laurentiis-who produced the original film- acquired the property back in 2007 and was working on a remake before his death in 2010. Gaumont International Television is a French based company that launched a small office in Los Angeles back in the fall of last year,...

His scarred countenance was the result of setting himself on fire during a late ’60s acid trip, but that disfigured look led to a ton of villain roles in a career that spanned four decades and over 100 films. I first took notice ofRichard Lynchin the 1972 filmScarecrowwhen he played a scary prisoner who rapes Al Pacino. It was his first film and after that he almost always played bad guys in movies such asThe Seven-ups,Open Season,God Told Me To,Deathsport,andThe Ninth Configuration.He battledChuck Norrisas the head baddie inInvasion USAand attempted his own Freddy Kruger spin-off in 1988 starring inBad Dreams.His performance as the evil “King Cromwell” in the hit fantasy film The Sword And The Sorceror won Lynch the Saturn Award for Best Actor from the Academy of Science Fiction and Fantasy in 1982. In 2007 he was...

Rob Zombiecontinues to waste from page space on our site posting one oddball casting after another, this time revealing thatRichard Lynchwill be joiningThe Lords Of Salem,filming in just two weeks. Lynch, who will play the protagonist "Reverend John Hawthorne", joins the previously announcedMeg Foster,Ernest Thomas,Jeff Daniel Phillips,Torsten Voges,Bruce Dern,Sheri Moon Zombie,Dee WallaceandBilly Dragoin the film from the producing team behind Insidious andParanormal Activity.Richard been in some classic films over the years such asScarecrow,The Seven-Ups,God Told Me To,The Ninth ConfigurationandSerpico.You will also remember him as the world's scariest principle in Zombie'sHalloween.

Rob Zombiehas let slip some more details regarding The Lords of Salem. "With only 9 days to go until cameras roll onThe Lords Of SalemI thought it was time to let another cast member out into the wild.Richard Lynchhas signed on to play Reverend John Hawthorne another key player in the saga of The Lords. He along with Judge Mather get down to some serious business. Christ, these two are the heroes? Richard been in some classic films over the years such asScarecrow,The Seven-Ups,God Told Me To,The Ninth ConfigurationandSerpico,You will also remember him as the world's scariest principle inHalloween2007. Richard has appeared in dozens of TV staples such asBaretta,Police Woman,Bionic Woman,Starsky and Hutch,Battlestar GalacticaandThe A-Team."...

Ryan Goslingshines as the man behind the wheel inNicolas Winding Refn's gripping and lyrical take on Hollywood noir

Thirty years agoColin Wellandbrandished hisChariots of FireOscar aloft at the Academy awards ceremony. Echoing the legendary words of Paul Revere to his fellow Bostonian colonials, he shouted: "The British are coming!" Similar hubris, one trusts, will not possess the current wave of Scandinavian filmmakers, though they might be forgiven for chanting: "The Vikingsare coming! ", that admonitory cry that once had the frightened denizens of our east coast lighting warning beacons and locking up their daughters. These past couple of weeks we've seen the DaneLone Scherfigfollow her British debut,An Education,withOne Day,andTomas Alfredson,the Swedish director ofLet the Right One In,cross the North Sea to make his excellent version ofTinker Tailor Soldier Spy.Now another Dane,...

(Celebrating award week with a look at one of Oscar’s most notable champions:The French Connection.Thirty-nine years ago, Connection – besides being one of the biggest hits of the 1970s – was the top winner at the Academy Awards walking away with gold for Best Picture [collected by producer Phil D’Antoni], Director [William Friedkin], Actor [Gene Hackman], Adapted Screenplay [by Ernest Tidyman], and Editing [Gerald Greenburg].)

“I grew up in a world whereEdward G. Robinson,Humphrey Bogart,James Cagney…these were the heroes. Not the cops. Cops were the bad guys. Or they were stumbling around, couldn’t find their asses with both hands.”

So saysSonny Grosso,and it is a screen icongraphy he has worked hard to change. Grosso-Jacobson Communications has produced over 750 hours of programming for network and premium and basic cable television in its thirty-odd years. Though its output has run from Pee Wee’s Playhouse to adventure fare likeCounterstrike,the most acclaimed of the company’s offerings...

(1973, 12, Optimum)

The New York film-makerPhilip D'Antonispent most of his career in television, but his reputation depends on the three seminal big-screen movies he produced 40 years ago: gritty police procedural thrillers about maverick cops, shot entirely on location and featuring extended, spectacular car chases staged in city streets.

They'rePeter Yates'sBullitt(1968),William Friedkin'sThe French Connection(1971) andThe Seven-Ups,which D'Antoni both produced and directed.Roy Scheider,a key actor of the 1970s, is promoted from the sidekick role inThe French Connectionto lead a special group of New York cops using unconventional methods to nail major crooks, sending them to jail for seven years and up, hence the jokey title.

His current investigations draw him via a devious informer into a battle between the mafia and a gang of freelance villains making a fortune snatching mob leaders for ransom. The chase in this film starts in the Bronx,...

When referring to a movie that nabbed a second life, typically home video is the savior. There are countless movies that didn’t fare well in their original theatrical runs but have earned a so-called second life thanks to profitable video sales and rentals that make them much stronger than they ever were when they first arrived. Examples of this trend vary greatly, whether you’re referring to genre, era, proliferation (or magnitude of the “second life” ) and, of course, how deserving it is. Most that get a boost long after its premiere got where it is now slowly, spread wide by word of mouth and critical re-analysis. Most of them were not well received during the initial run, and many are re-evaluated, and mistakes are mended. Among them: 2001, The Princess Bride,The Day the Earth Stood Still,The Big Lebowski,Fight Club,Office Spaceand Dazed and Confused. These...