R-Rz Movies

The Rack (1956)  Captain Edward Hall returns to the USA after two years in a prison camp in the Korean war. In the camp he was brainwashed and helped the Chinese convince the other prisoners that they were fighting an unjust war. When he comes back he is charged for collaboration with the enemy. Where does loyalty end in a prison camp, when the camp is a living hell?

Ragtime (1981)  The story runs in the 1910's New York. Coalhouse Walker Jr. is a black piano player. He has won fame and fortune playing with a jazz band. Some white men do not like this situation, and one day they assault him and spoil his brand new car. Walker tries by all means to get justice, without an answer.

James Cagney objected to saying the word "nigger" in reference to Walker, so the less pejorative term "buck" was substituted. 

Cameo by Jack Nicholson: in a very fast close-up as a mustachioed pirate making off with Elizabeth McGovern in the silent movie sequence being shot by "director" Mandy Patinkin at a beach resort.

Rain Man (1988)  Charles Sanford "Charlie" Babbit is a self-centered Los Angeles-based automobile dealer/hustler/bookie who is at war with his own life. Charlie, as a young teenager, used his father's 1948 Buick convertible without permission and as a result, he went to jail for two days on account that his father reported it stolen. It is then that Charlie learns that his estranged father died and left him from his last will and testament a huge bed of roses and the car while the remainder will of $3 Million goes into a trust fund to be distributed to someone. Charlie seemed pretty angry by this and decides to look into this matter. It seems as if that "someone" is Raymond, Charlie's unknown brother, an autistic savant who lives in a world of his own, resides at the Walbrook Institute. Charlie then kidnaps Raymond and decides to take him on a lust for life trip to the west coast as a threat to get the $3 Million inheritance.

Well made film.  You instantly connect with the characters and want them to succeed.  Won four Oscars including best picture.

The elderly man in the waiting room who talks on and on about the Pony Express is Byron P. Cavnar, an 89-year-old local who was in the waiting room when the crew arrived to film there. He got to talking on his favorite subject, the Pony Express, and director Barry Levinson got such a kick out of it that he let Caunar keep on talking as the cameras rolled; all his dialog was spontaneous and not scripted.

Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys (1958)  Harry Bannerman, a Connecticut suburbanite who becomes involved in various shenanigans with his wife Grace Oglethorpe, leads a protest movement against a secret army plan to set up a missile base in their community.

The Rare Breed (1966)  When her husband dies en route to America, Martha Price and her daughter Hilary are left to carry out his dream: the introduction of Hereford cattle into the American West. They enlist Sam "Bulldog" Burnett in their efforts to transport their lone bull, a Hereford named Vindicator, to a breeder in Texas, but the trail is fraught with danger and even Burnett doubts the survival potential of this "rare breed" of cattle.

Ratatouille (2007)  Remy, a provincial rat with a wonderful sense of smell, hates garbage and risks death to enter a human kitchen where he discovers real food and the cooking of five-star chef, Anton Gusteau, author of "Anyone Can Cook." On the day Remy learns his hero has died, he is evicted and ends up alone in Paris. By luck, he discovers Gasteau's restaurant, down to three stars and run by a frozen-food-hawking chef. As Remy enters, so does Linguini, a clumsy youth hired as a garbage boy. To save the soup that Linguini accidentally fouls, Remy throws in some ingredients; the soup is a success and Linguini's career as a chef is born. Can Remy find a way to maintain the fiction and use his gift?

Absolutely delightful story.  Less about rats and more about being an outcast and overcoming adversity. 

The Raven (1963)  In this tongue-in-cheek movie inspired by Poe's poem, Dr. Craven is the son of a great sorcerer (now dead) who was once himself quite skilled at that profession, but has since abandoned it. One evening, a cowardly fool of a magician named Bedlo comes to Craven for help- the evil Scarabus has turned him into a raven and he needs someone to change him back. He also tells the reluctant wizard that Craven's long-lost wife Lenore, whom he loved greatly and thought dead, is living with the despised Scarabus.

In casting his spells, Dr. Bedlo uses several Latin phrases: Veni vidi vici: I came, I saw, I conquered. De mortuis nil nisi bonum: Do not speak ill of the dead. Cave canem: Beware of the dog. Si vis pacem parabellum: If you want peace, prepare for war. Ceterum censio Carthaginem esse delendam: Furthermore, I believe that Carthage must be destroyed.

Jack Nicholson always gave high praise to everyone he worked with on the set, except one - the Raven. He said the Raven pooped on everyone, but especially liked to poop on him; he later said: "I would look down when the Raven flew off my shoulder, and it would be covered in poop....I hated that bird."

Rear Window (1954)  In 1950-something New York, an adventuresome free-lance photographer finds himself confined to a wheelchair in his tiny apartment while a broken leg mends. With only the occasional distraction of a visiting nurse and his frustrated love interest, a beautiful fashion consultant, his attention is naturally drawn to the courtyard outside his "rear window" and the occupants of the apartment buildings which surround it. Soon he is consumed by the private dramas of his neighbors lives which play themselves out before his eyes. There is "Miss Lonelyhearts," so desperate for her imaginary lover that she sits him a plate at the dinner table and feigns their ensuing chat. There is the frustrated composer banging on his piano, the sunbathing sculptress, the shapely dancer, the newlyweds who are concealed from their neighbors by a window shade, and a bungling middle-aged couple with a little yapping dog who sleep on the fire escape to avoid the sweltering heat of their apartment. ...And then there is the mysterious salesman whose nagging, invalid wife's sudden absence from the scene ominously coincides with middle-of-the-night forays into the dark, sleeping city with his sample case. Where did she go? What's in the trunk that the salesman ships away? What's he been doing with the knives and the saw that he cleans at the kitchen sink?

Red Planet (2000)  In the near future, Earth is dying. A new colony on Mars could be humanity's only hope. A team of American astronauts, each a specialist in a different field, is making the first manned expedition to the red planet and must struggle to overcome the differences in their personalities, backgrounds and ideologies for the overall good of the mission. When their equipment suffers life-threatening damage and the crew must depend on one another for survival on the hostile surface of Mars, their doubts, fears and questions about God, man's destiny and the nature of the universe become defining elements in their fates. In this alien environment they must come face to face with their most human selves.

On the screen of one of the handheld info devices can be seen the phrase HAB GPS GROK. "Grok" is the only Martian word in Robert Heinlein's novel about a Martian-raised human, Stranger in a Strange Land.

The Red Violin (1998)  In present day Montreal, a famous Nicolo Bussotti violin, known as "the red violin," is being auctioned off. During the auction, we flash back to the creation of the violin in 17th century Italy, and follow the violin as it makes its way through an 18th century Austrian monastery, a violinist in 19th century Oxford, China during the Cultural Revolution, and back to Montreal, where a collector tries to establish the identity and the secrets of "the red violin."

One of the best movies ever.

The Remains of the Day (1993)  A rule bound head butler's world of manners and decorum in the household he maintains is tested by the arrival of a housekeeper who falls in love with him in post-WWI Britain. The possibility of romance and his master's cultivation of ties with the Nazi cause challenge his carefully maintained veneer of servitude.

A well told bitter-sweet love story.

Repo Man (1984)  Frustrated punk rocker Otto quits his supermarket job after slugging a co-worker, and is later dumped by his girlfriend at a party. Wandering the streets in frustration, he is recruited in the repossession of a car by a repo agent. After discovering his parents have donated his college fund to a televangelist, he joins the repossession agency (Helping Hand Acceptance Corporation) as an apprentice "repo man". During his training, he is introduced into the mercenary and paranoid world of the drivers, befriended by a UFO conspiracy theorist, confronted by rival repo agents, discovers some of his one-time friends have turned to a life of crime, is lectured to near cosmic unconsciousness by the repo agency grounds worker, and finds himself entangled in a web of intrigue concerning a huge repossession bounty on a 1964 Chevy Malibu driven by a lunatic government scientist, with Top Secret cargo in the trunk.

When filming began, they only had one 1964 Chevy Malibu. It was stolen a couple of days into filming, forcing the film crew to scramble to find a replacement. Shortly after finding a replacement, the original was recovered by the police undamaged. This was fortunate timing because about a day later Fox Harris severely damaged one of the Malibus by accidentally plowing it into a gasoline pump! In the carwash scene, one of the gas pumps is clearly severely dented up and damaged. This is the pump Fox plowed into in a previous take.

Reservoir Dogs (1992)  Six criminals, who are strangers to each other, are hired by a crime boss Joe Cabot to carry out a diamond robbery. Right at the outset, they are given false names with an intention that they won't get too close and concentrate on the job instead. They are completely sure that the robbery is going to be a success. But when the police show up right at the time and the site of the robbery, panic spreads amongst the group members and one of them is killed in the subsequent shootout along with a few policemen and civilians. When the remaining people assemble at the premeditated rendezvous point (a warehouse), they begin to suspect that one of them is an undercover cop.

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Return of the Pink Panther (1975)  Third in the Pink Panther series. The "Pink Panther" Diamond is stolen once again from Lugash and a white glove is left making everybody think that the famous jewel thief "The Phantom" has stolen it. This surprises everybody as it was thought that The Phantom was retired. It also surprises The Phantom (AKA Sir Charles Lytton) himself as he didn't do it. He sets out from the south of France to Lugash find the diamond and to clear his name as pressure comes from the Lugash authorities to give back the diamond. Meanwhile, infamous French detective Inspector Jacques Clouseau is called in to find the diamond and he immediately goes to the South Of France to check up on Sir Charles. Claudine, Charles' wife, discovers this and leads Clouseau on a false trail and, as normal, Clouseau, with his clueless methods and Cato, his oriental manservant, cause mayhem as they try to find the diamond. Meanwhile, Clouseau pushes his boss, Chief Inspector Dreyfus too far and as the story proceeds, Dreyfus makes attempts to murder Clouseau and get him out of his life forever.

Unlike the other films in the original Pink Panther franchise, United Artists (UA for short) was not involved in the making of this film. Because the careers of Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers were declining, UA had no desire in financing another Panther film. Edwards took his script of The Return of the Pink Panther to British producer Lew Grade, who subsequently bought the rights. Grade financed the film himself, while giving UA worldwide distribution rights, ownership in the copyright, and a stake in the profits (as they owned the characters) in order to make the film. Distribution rights in later years reverted back to Grade's company, ITC; this is the reason why the film has not been featured in compilation DVD box sets along with the other Panther films.

Reversal of Fortune (1990)  Alan Dershowitz a brilliant professor of law is hired by wealthy socialite Claus von Bulow to attempt to overturn his two convictions for attempted murder of his extremely wealthy wife. Based on a true story the film concentrates not on the trial like other legal thrillers, but on the preparatory work that Dershowitz and his students put in as they attempt to disprove the prosecution's case and achieve the Reversal of Fortune of the title.

Based on a true story. 

Rhubarb (1951)  Rich, eccentric T.J. Banner adopts a feral cat who becomes an affectionate pet. Then T.J. dies, leaving to Rhubarb most of his money and a pro baseball team, the Brooklyn Loons. When the team protests, publicist Eric Yeager convinces them Rhubarb is good luck. But Eric's fiancée Polly seems to be allergic to cats, and the team's success may mean new hazards for Rhubarb.

I saw this movie when I was eight years old and loved it.  In the 1960s, I read the book and thourouly enjoyed the books of H. Allen Smith.  Later in college English, I was tasked with reading a book. I did a collection of quotes by Herodotus.  The following week on a test in the same class we were each given different directions relative to our books we had read.  Mine was how would your book be made into a move.  Being an engineering student that was a simple task: It couldn't be.  Figuring out that my Professor would not have like that or given me the A that I wanted or the C that I needed.  I did a paper on Rhubarb and go my A.

With the first seven Mercury astronauts: we go behind the prepackaged, unblemished saints we knew through the media to find imperfect human beings who were actually even more heroic. The astronauts are heroes, no doubt about it. As space pioneer Chuck Yaeger bitterly points out, these men all knew the risks they were taking as they rode their primitive capsules into space. They knew they were powered by rockets that could explode them into the tiniest of atoms. There were the fierce fires of re-entry that could reduce them to cinders, as well as the possibility of no re-entry, leaving them to perish miserably in their orbits. Yet these men eagerly took those risks. They were made of the right stuff.

I was stationed at Edwards AFB in California in 63-64, I got to meet Chuck Yeager.  There was also an astronauts school there.  It was an exciting time then for engineers and scientists as Americans were thrilled with the thought of going into space.  Somehow we have lost something since then.

No video available.

Rio (1939)  A crazed man escapes from prison to kill his wife's lover.

Rio Bravo (1959)  The sheriff of a small town in southwest Texas must keep custody of a murderer whose brother, a powerful rancher, is trying to help him escape. After a friend is killed trying to muster support for him, he and his deputies - a disgraced drunk and a cantankerous old cripple - must find a way to hold out against the rancher's hired guns until the marshal arrives. In the meantime, matters are complicated by the presence of a young gunslinger - and a mysterious beauty who just came in on the last stagecoach.

Excellent but typical Hollywood picture at the end of an era.  The spaghetti westerns would soon take over.

A River Runs Through It (1992)  The film tells the autobiographical story about two boys, Norman (Craig Sheffer) and Paul (Brad Pitt), growing up in 1920s Missoula, Montana under the watchful eye of their father, a Presbyterian minister. Their mornings are spent in school and religious study, while their afternoons are devoted to fly fishing in the nearby Blackfoot River. At home, however, the family's stoic emotions hint at trouble is to come. Norman goes to the east coast for college and lives there for six years, without returning home until then. In the meantime, Paul gets a job as a prolific journalist and makes a name for himself back home. The movie is about Norman's return home and his and Paul's summer together.

As adults, Paul is a rebellious journalist and his brother, Norman, is a level-headed, grounded teacher. Norman matures and channels his rebellion through his writing while dating Jessie Burns, while his reckless brother Paul turns to gambling and liquor. The film chronicles their intertwining and often conflicting lives, focusing on Norman's point of view, as they grow up in the shadow of their minister father. A great deal of the film surrounds the men's love of fly fishing for trout in Montana's rivers, and their shared experiences through it while growing up.

This is an outstanding movie, true to the book which is incredibly well written but very short, about 70 pages.  Norman Maclean only began writing after he retired at age 74.  He was very reluctant to have a movie made of his book.  It wasn't until after Robert Redford gave him control of the movie script he agreed.  Unfortunately he did not live to see the movie completed.  The book details the relationship of the boys to their father and each other via metaphoric looks at fly fishing.  That is harder to get across in the film.  This necessitated the need to find more material to put in the movie, so there are a few people in the movie that were not in the book.

This would make my top 10 list, most likely.

The River Wild (1994)  Gail is a professional at water rafting. She is on the river every day, and she is in a very good shape. She takes her family, one day, to a rafting trip down the river, but she has no idea that the planed trip is about to become a nightmare. Two escaping robbers with a handgun, meet the family in the way, and join them to the trip. Only later the Gail realize that their new friends are dangerous criminals, but it's too late. The two men force them to stay together, and to keep cruising down the river. The family's life are risked not only by the two men, but also by the river which becomes more stormy and wilder.

Enjoyable constrained action film.  Kevin Bacon played a convincing bad guy.

The Road to Bali (1952)  Having to leave Melbourne in a hurry to avoid various marriage proposals, two song-and-dance men sign on for work as divers. This takes them to an idyllic island on the way to Bali where they vie with each other for the favours of Princess Lala. The hazardous dive produces a chest of priceless jewels which arouses the less romantic interest of some shady locals.

The Road to Hong Kong (1962)   Ex-vaudevillian con men Chester Babcock and Harry Turner are still making an impression overseas. Sought after by almost every far east country (for fraud), their latest scheme ends up knocking the memory out of Chester's head. While heading to Tibet for an herbal remedy, Diane (a secret agent) mistakes Chester for her clandestine contact and slips him a vital rocket fuel formula. Chester retrieves his memory at a monastery where he's also introduced to a rare herb that induces a photographic memory. Harry, recognizing its marketable potential, steals it, and the two head back to modern civilization with plans to exploit it in a legit memory act, but Diane awaits them, with gun in hand, to retrieve the formula (which Harry burned after having Chester commit it to memory as an exercise). Now her megalomaniac boss wants to meet the boys and dig the secret out of Chester at all costs.

Bob Hope's and Bing Crosby's final Road movie. Two years after Crosby's death, Hope announced the possibility (in earnest) of doing "The Road to the Fountain of Youth" with George Burns, but nothing came of it.

Road to Perdition (2002)  Mike Sullivan works as a hit man for crime boss John Rooney. Sullivan views Rooney as a father figure. However after his son is witness to a killing he has done Mike Sullivan finds him self on the run trying to save the life of his son and at the same time looking for revenge on those who wronged him. Jude Law co stars as a hit man hired to kill Sullivan.

The Road to Rio (1947)  Scat Sweeney, and Hot Lips Barton, two out of work musicians, stow away on board a Rio bound ship, after accidentally setting fire to the big top of a circus. They then get mixed up with a potential suicide Lucia, who first thanks them, then unexpectedly turns them over to the ship's captain. When they find out that she has been hypnotized, to go through a marriage of convenience, when the ship reaches Rio, the boys turn up at the ceremony, in order to stop the wedding, and to help catch the crooks.

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The Road to Singapore (1940)  Bing Crosby an Bob Hope star in the first of the 'Road to' movies as two playboys trying to forget previous romances in Singapore - until they meet Dorothy Lamour.

During a lunch break, Bob Hope threw a handful of the soap suds at Dorothy Lamour and soon Bing Crosby became involved. The fight ended when Lamour cornered Hope and Crosby and threw all she had at them. The director was not particularly pleased because it would take hours to repair their hair, makeup, and clothing.

The Robe (1953)  Marcellus is a tribune in the time of Christ. He is in charge of the group that is assigned to crucify Jesus. Drunk, he wins Jesus' homespun robe after the crucifixion. He is tormented by nightmares and delusions after the event. Hoping to find a way to live with what he has done, and still not believing in Jesus, he returns to Palestine to try and learn what he can of the man he killed.

Famous as the first film released in CinemaScope. It was not planned that way. After a week of shooting in standard academy (1.33:1), the production was shut down. When production was resumed, they started from scratch and did each shot in CinemaScope, and then again in the standard academy format. The film was released in CinemaScope only theatrically at first. In the 1990's this version was released to television (when "letterboxing" began to be used for widescreen films shown there). The standard academy format version was released to theatres not yet equipped for CinemaScope, and to television in the 1960's.

Robin Hood (1938)  In the late twelfth century, King Richard the Lionhearted of England is fighting in the Holy Crusades, leaving the Regency of the Kingdom to his trusted friend, Longchamps. When Richard is captured by Leopold of Austria, Richard's brother, the treacherous Prince John, with help from his supportive Norman barons and his primary henchman Sir Guy of Gisbourne, seizes control of the Regency. Under the guise of getting money to free Richard, John, in pillaging from the Saxon commoners, uses the money instead to fatten his own coffers in gaining control of the throne. The Saxons turn to one of their own, Sir Robin of Locksley - also known as Robin Hood - who, often recklessly, fights on their behalf against Norman authority in an effort to restore what is rightfully the Saxons until Richard's return, Richard to who Robin is loyal. As such, Robin is viewed as an outlaw by Prince John and Sir Guy. Robin's refuge is Sherwood Forest, where he recruits men to fight for what he believes is right. Generally matching Robin's happy-go-lucky temperament, that band of merry men includes Will Scarlet, John Little (renamed Little John because of his hulking physical size), and Friar Tuck. Also seeing Robin and his men as outlaws is Lady Marian Fitzswalter, a Norman and a royal ward. It isn't until Marian meets Robin and sees first hand what he is doing that she changes her allegiances. Prince John and Sir Guy hope to use what they see as the growing attraction between Robin and Marian to capture Robin and sentence him to death. Robin and Marian, the latter she believes clandestinely, work against Prince John and Sir Guy until King Richard's return, when they hope all will be right with England. But the return of King Richard, if it does happen, does not automatically restore him to the throne, especially if Prince John can crown himself king in Richard's absence.

Maid Marrion's horse was rented for the movie but went on to become a star when he was purchased by Roy Rogers and renamed Trigger.

First Technicolor picture.

Robin Hood (2010) Birth of a legend. Following King Richard's death in France, archer Robin Longstride, along with Will Scarlett, Alan-a-Dale and Little John, returns to England. They encounter the dying Robert of Locksley, whose party was ambushed by treacherous Godfrey, who hopes to facilitate a French invasion of England. Robin promises the dying knight he will return his sword to his father Walter in Nottingham. Here Walter encourages him to impersonate the dead man to prevent his land being confiscated by the crown, and he finds himself with Marian, a ready-made wife. Hoping to stir baronial opposition to weak King John and allow an easy French take-over, Godfrey worms his way into the king's service as Earl Marshal of England and brutally invades towns under the pretext of collecting Royal taxes. Can Robin navigate the politics of barons, royals, traitors, and the French?

Romancing the Stone (1984)  Joan Wilder, a mousy romance novelist, receives a treasure map in the mail from her recently murdered brother-in-law. Meanwhile, her sister Elaine is kidnapped in Colombia and the two criminals responsible demand that she travel to Colombia to exchange the map for her sister. Joan does, and quickly becomes lost in the jungle after being waylayed by Zolo, a vicious and corrupt Colombian cop who will stop at nothing to obtain the map. There, she meets an irreverent soldier-of-fortune named Jack Colton who agrees to bring her back to civilization. Together, they embark upon an adventure that could be straight out of Joan's novels.

Predictable but fun.

Room Service (1938)  The Marx Brothers try and put on a play before their landlord finds out that they have run out of money. To confuse the landlord they pretend that the play's author has contracted some terrible disease and can't be moved. Originally a stage play, the setting shows it's origins, but this is vintage Marx Brothers.

Rope (1948)  Upscale New York college students, friends and roommates Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan have just strangled their long time friend David Kentley to death in their apartment. They did it solely to show their superiority as humans both by being able to carry out such a crime without being caught, and by disregarding the life of who they consider an inferior being. While Brandon feels exhilarated by their act, Phillip is nervous, even more so by Brandon's plan: to hide David's dead body in an unlocked trunk in their living room, the trunk which will be front and center at a dinner party they will hold that evening, before they dispose of the body after the party. The guest list is also Brandon's way of showing his superior intellect, as he doesn't expect to be caught despite it including: David himself, who obviously will not show up; Kenneth Lawrence, David's best friend; Janet Walker, David's current girlfriend, and Ken's ex; Henry Kentley, David's father; and Mrs. Atwater, a visiting friend of Mr. Kentley's. Although Phillip is nervous enough by the presence of any of these guests as well their loyal housekeeper Mrs. Wilson, he is most nervous by their last guest, Rupert Cadell, their former prep school house master, who they consider their intellectual equal, and who had in the past stated openly that murder can be justified in certain circumstances. At the party, Brandon prides himself in the open innuendo of the discussion which makes sense if one knows about David's murder. The question becomes whether this innuendo or any other issue will unmask Brandon and Phillip's act and thus make it less than the perfect murder they assume it is.

This is an awesome movie but a sleeper.

Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead (1990)  Guildenstern, observant, sharp-witted and gifted for word-puns, and his mate Rosencranz, slower and often caught in words, even switching their own names, make a long journey on horseback, contemplating fate, memory and language while their flipping of coins produces heads invariably for over a hundred times. Then they meet a traveling theater troop, which offers for a few coins to let them watch a play, participate as guest actor or in a 'private rape enactment'. Then the magic of the theater transports them to the grand palace Elsinor, where the hospitable Danish royal couple kindly asks them to stay a while and help find out and hopefully cure the gloomy, confused state of prince Hamlet, whose Shakespearian drama the court is living trough, yet the title heroes remain largely occupied with the futile hazards of daily life. Soon the very same theater troop arrives to play at court, as part of the Bard's tragedy, whose leader simultaneously forbids them to stop watching their real play on the road which can't exist without a audience and explains some of the plot and logic of conventional rules of plot-staging and -writing, till their own real fate is settled.

The title comes from one of the final lines of "Hamlet", where a British ambassador enters the Danish court to find Hamlet, Claudius, Gertrude, and Laertes all dead. The ambassador's line is, "...To tell [the King] his commandment is fulfilled, that Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead."

Rooster Cogburn (1975)  A small village in the Indian Nation that is run by a Minister Goodnight and his daughter Eula is overrun by a band of drunken thugs. They kill and rape the people of the village. Miss Goodnight then teams up with the ruthless Marshal Rooster J. Cogburn who goes after them and bring them to justice.

Ruggles of Red Gap (1935)  An English gentleman loses his stuffy manservant, Ruggles, in a poker game with an unmannered cowboy and his wife. Ruggles accompanies his new employers to the tiny, wild town of Red Gap, Washington. Rich, rowdy Egbert Floud introduces Ruggles as "Colonel" Ruggles, and the town ladies are quite taken by the sophisticated servant in disguise as he enamors them with fictitious stories of battles gone by. Ruggles proves his newfound patriotism in one of the best scenes of the film, his recitation of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address in the Silver Dollar Saloon. The dream of freedom leads him to open his own restaurant, where one of his first customers is the nobleman who has come to reclaim his former servant.

Charles Laughton referred to his reading of the "Gettysburg Address" in the film as "one of the most moving things that ever happened to me" Laughton recited the address to the cast and crew of Mutiny on the Bounty on the last day of shooting on Catalina Island and again on the set of The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Runaway Jury (2003)  When a day trader is shot in cold blood at his workplace, his widow sues a major gun manufacturer. Holding them responsible for his death, she dispatches idealistic lawyer Wendell Rohr to oversee the case. A good man of principle, Wendell takes charge. On the defense team, another man will take charge: Rankin Fitch, a powerful and ruthless jury consultant riding high on his frequent successes. But in the middle of it all is the jury, which both Wendell and Rankin are determined to sway. But what they're about to discover, is that one man and one woman stand in their way. Nicholas Easter is one of the jurors and he's the one collaborating with Marlee, his girlfriend, on the final outcome of the case. But as the case progresses, questions arise as to what the motives are of all those involved, and what some will do to secure the final outcome.

This is Gene Hackman's and Dustin Hoffman's first film together. At the Pasadena Playhouse they were classmates and were both voted "Least Likely to Succeed".

The much anticipated bathroom scene in Runaway Jury, where Rohr confronts Finch is the first ever dialog in a movie between Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman. It was written while the rest of the movie was being filmed, after someone on the crew found out that the two, though they had been friends since 1956, had never starred in a movie together. It was finally shot on a single day at the very end, weeks after both Hackman and Hoffman had finished their other work.

Run, Lola Run (1998)  Does fate control our lives more than we think?  This film explores that concept.  Lola's boyfriend is in trouble.  She was supposed to pick him up.  He was transporting a large amount of cash for some very bad people.  He lost it because she didn't pick him up.  She couldn't pick him up.  Someone stole her motorcycle.  Now she has 20 minutes to help him find enough money or the bad guys will kill him.  Run, Lola, run.

This an awesome movie.  Both the German and English version are well done.  I saw the German version in San Francisco in 1996.  I liked it so much I have seen it four more times.  I watched the English version and found it as well done.

 Run Silent Run Deep (1958)  The captain of a submarine sunk by the Japanese during WWII is finally given a chance to skipper another sub after a year of working a desk job. His singleminded determination for revenge against the destroyer that sunk his previous vessel puts his new crew in unneccessary danger.

Incredibly well acted.

Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster did not get along during filming, partly due to Lancaster making jokes about Gable's age. There was one major argument when Gable refused to allow the crucial plot development of Lancaster's character to take control of the submarine, because he felt this went against the image he had built up for more than twenty years at MGM. After refusing to work for two days, Gable eventually agreed to return to the studio when it was decided that his character would fall ill, necessitating Lancaster taking command.

The destroyer Cmdr. Richardson (Clark Gable) is obsessed with finding, the "Akikaze", was an actual Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer. She was commissioned on September 16, 1920, and was quite old for ship standards by the time World War II began. As such, she was used as a fast troop transport and convoy escort. On November 3, 1944 she was escorting the carrier "Junyo" and light cruiser "Kiso" toward Brunei in the Philippines. The American submarine "U.S.S. Pintado (SS-387)" attacked the formation and fired torpedoes at the "Junyo", but the "Akikaze" deliberately intercepted the torpedoes intended for the carrier, causing her to blow up and sink with her entire crew of 148 officers and men.

Running Scared (1986) Ray Hughes and Danny Costanzo are a pair of wisecracking Chicago cops. Julio Gonzales is a fast-rising drug kingpin. In an effort to bring down Gonzales, Danny and Ray unintentionally blow the lid off a long-running undercover operation which has been trying to crack Gonzales's drug ring. After getting chewed out by Captain Logan, Ray and Danny are forced to take a "vacation" and spend some time away from the force. To get away from the dreary Chicago winter, they go to Key West, Florida. They are taken in by the life of leisure, natural beauty, and hot women. They love the pace of life in a place where people stop and take time to watch the sunset each day. Danny comes up with the idea to retire from the force and buy a bar in Key West, and gets Ray to go along with the idea. Still, they don't feel right about retiring until they can nail Gonzales. Ray and Danny head back to Chicago for one last mission as part of the force so that they can retire with clear consciences. Ray and Danny are aiming for one final shot at Gonzales, one final showdown where they can bring Gonzales down.

This is a much better movie if you see it as another comedic version of Lethal Weapon. Yes, it is a crime drama, but with tongue in cheek.

Rush Hour (1998)  Hongkong, the last night of British rulership. Detective Inspector Lee, close friend to Consul Han Solon, manages to prevent precious pieces of China's history being smuggled out of the country. Two years later - Consul Han is living in Los Angeles with his family - Crime Lord Juntao takes revenge on him by abducting his young daughter Soo Yung. Han does not trust the FBI to do a good job and has Lee flown in from Hongkong to assist them. But the FBI officials do not want any help from outside and officially request help from LAPD, who are glad to get rid of Detective James Carter for a while, a big-mouthed work-alone cop who just can't be cool enough. His assignment is to keep Lee as far away from trouble as possible. But Carter and Lee don't like being put aside in that way and start working the case on their own.

Good Jackie Chan action comedy.

Outtakes play during the end credits.

Brett Ratner was a big fan of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies. He felt that American audiences would not be familiar with the jokes in Jackie's other movies, and deliberately re-used some of his gags. For example, the scene where Inspector Lee accidentally grabs Johnson's breasts is a reference to Jackie Chan's film Mr. Nice Guy.

According to director Brett Ratner, this film is the first one released in the U.S. featuring Jackie Chan in an English-speaking role without any kind of dubbing.

Before this film Jakie Chan always had his voice dubbed over in his English-speaking roles because of his uncertainty in speaking the language. For this film, however, Ratner convinced him to forgo the dubbing as it would lend to the authenticity of his character.

Rush Hour II (2001)  It's vacation time for Det. James Carter and he finds himself alongside Det. Lee in Hong Kong wishing for more excitement. While Carter wants to party and meet the ladies, Lee is out to track down a Triad gang lord who may be responsible for killing two men at the American Embassy. Things get complicated as the pair stumble onto a counterfeiting plot by L.A. crime boss Steven Reign and Triad Ricky Tan, an ex-cop who played a mysterious part in the death of Det. Lee's father. Throw in a power struggle between Tan and the gorgeous but dangerous Hu Li and the boys are soon up to their necks in fist fights and life-threatening situations. A trip back to the U.S. may provide the answers about the bombing, the counterfeiting, and the true allegiance of sexy customs agent Isabella. Then again, it may turn up more excitement than Carter was looking for during his vacation.

The part of the "Red Dragon" hotel was played by the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, Nevada. The sign was changed to read "Red Dragon" and the lower half of the building was painted red for the filming of the movie. The hotel was closed at the time so evidence of the transformation remained for a while. The Desert Inn was demolished on 23 October 2001.

During the filming of the stunt where Lee and Carter jump from the top window of the Red Dragon hotel then slide down the wires of Chinese Lanterns, a real (i.e. not part of the movie) car chase took place on/through the set. Apparently, a carload of drunken tourists (the set was in Las Vegas) got into an altercation with a taxi driver, and the two cars began a chase that ran down the strip and onto the set, narrowly missing crew members, extras and an enormous crane which held a camera and crew. Fortunately no one was injured; the driver and passengers of the taxi were detained by police. 
 In an interview, Brett Ratner admitted that the first part of the karaoke scene with Chris Tucker wasn't supposed to be filmed. Tucker refused to act like Michael Jackson with the cameras running. Between takes, he went up as entertainment for everyone. Secretly, Ratner told the cameramen to film it but to not let Tucker notice them.
 

 Rush Hour III (2007)  After an attempted assassination on Ambassador Han, Inspector Lee and Detective Carter are back in action as they head to Paris to protect a French woman with knowledge of the Triads' secret leaders. Lee also holds secret meetings with a United Nations authority, but his personal struggles with a Chinese criminal mastermind named Kenji, which reveals that it's Lee's long-lost...brother. But their race will take them across the city, from the depths of the Paris underground to the breathtaking heights of the Eiffel Tower, as they fight to outrun the world's most deadly criminals and save the day.

The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming (1966)  When a Soviet submarine captain comes up for a look at America (off the coast of a small island in Massachusetts) he runs aground. He sends his two English speaking crewmen to procure a boat with enough power to pull them off. The 2 English speakers, along with 7 other Russian sailors, don't exactly blend in and the town is convinced that they are being invaded.

A very funny movie at a time when the coldwar was deadly serious.

Although the action in the film is supposed to take place on fictional "Gloucester Island" off the coast of New England, most of the outdoor scenes were filmed in Mendocino California. Mendocino in the 1960s was a somewhat remote artist colony on a rocky cape projecting into the Pacific Ocean, about 100 miles north of San Francisco. The harbor scenes were filmed in NOYO Harbor, just south of Fort Bragg, where Carine's Fish Grotto and Cappy's Bar still exist to this day.

The film had a profound impact on both American and Soviet leaders. It is one of the few films actually mentioned in the Congressional record. Norman Jewison was also personally invited to Moscow, where he reported that the Russian crowd was transfixed by the scene featuring the little boy who falls from the bell tower, and the Soviets and Americans cooperate to save him.

Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985)  While the audience watches a black and white horse opera, a narrator's voice wonders what such a movie would be like today. Rex O'Herlehan, The Singing Cowboy, finds himself in color and enters a cliche ridden town, in which the evil cattle baron (Andy Griffith) and the new Italian cowboys (who always wear raincoats no matter how hot it gets) join forces to get him and the sheep ranchers to leave the valley.

Awesome sendup of all cowboy movies.  There is lots to enjoy in this movie.

Ruthless People (1986)  Sam Stone is a clothing manufacturer, who married his wife Barbara, for the money that she was supposed to inherit from her dying father, but her father didn't die for another fifteen years. He is now planning to kill her and he tells his girlfriend Carol what he is going to do. He then on his way home to do just that but when he gets there, she's not there. He then receives a call from someone claiming to have kidnapped Barbara and threatening to kill her if he informs the police, which he does hoping that they do. What Stone doesn't know is that the kidnappers, Ken and Sandy are a couple whose idea for a garment he stole and made fortune off, are not that lethal, as a matter of fact Barbara's more lethal. And what Stone doesn't know is that Carol, has another boyfriend and they plan to blackmail Sam, by videotaping him disposing of Barbara's body. When her boyfriend, Earl goes there to do that, the person who goes there was not Sam but a guy with a hooker, and the guy instructs the hooker to scream her head off, Earl mistakenly believes that Barbara's not dead and that Sam was killing her there, and was so freaked out that he didn't bother to see if it was Sam. And Carol tries to put her plan in operation by sending Sam a copy of the tape, Sam thinks that it's for something kinky that Carol wants and when Sam tells her that he is going to do what was done on the tape to her, she assumes that he is going to kill her. So she sends another copy of the tape to the Chief of Police, and tells him that she wants him to arrest Sam for murdering Barbara, and the Chief is happy to oblige cause he is the guy who is on the tape. The Chief manages to find the instruments that Sam was going to use to kill Barbara and arrests him. Sam now has to get Barbara, alive, so that he can prove that he didn't kill her. And Barbara starts to bond with Sandy.

Same texture as The African Queen set in prarrie IMO.  Sequel to True Grit.  Fluff but worth watching.

Katharine Hepburn was bemused by co-star John Wayne's tendency to argue with everybody, especially the director, during filming. At the party to celebrate the last day of filming she told him, "I'm glad I didn't know you when you had two lungs, you must have been a real bastard. Losing a hip has mellowed me, but you!"