True Crime Movies

[sdreid]

There is an ignored Ripper production entitled Final Curtain that ran as an episode of the old Mike Hammer TV series in 1958. In the presentation that I remember seeing, Jack is still at it here in the States as a nonagenarian theater hand. He has a memory thing for the old ballerina Anna Pavlova and dies in the end as I recall.

[sdreid]

There is an ignored Ripper production entitled Final Curtain that ran as an episode of the old Mike Hammer TV series in 1958. In the presentation that I remember seeing, Jack is still at it here in the States as a nonagenarian theater hand. He has a memory thing for the old ballerina Anna Pavlova and dies in the end as I recall.

That's my best recollection at least. I think it's the first thing I saw on screen regarding JtR.

[sdreid]

I think it's the first thing I saw on screen regarding JtR.

That would be TV 1958

First radio: The Lodger-1948

First book: Rumbelow's-1976

First movie theater: From Hell 2001

[Cuervo]

Hi to everyone
I write for the first time in this thread.
I think the best movie about a real serial killer I´ve seen is Dahmer (about him, with Jeremy Renner). Renner is really great, he is the whole film and couldn´t be any better. And I was very glad to see a film about a serial killer where you don´t get the gorey thing or the criminal thing all the time but you could sense his personality and emotions as well.
Best

[sdreid]

Hi Cuervo:

Yes, I have seen that one and the two other Dahmer movies. Too my knowledge, there are just three so far.

[sdreid]

Two of the movies focus directly on Dahmer and the other is told from the view of his father although the crimes are still covered pretty well.

[sdreid]

The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer (1993)

Jeffrey Dahmer (2002)

Raising Jeffrey Dahmer (2006)

There is also a film supposedly coming out this year called Dahmer vs. Gacy which looks like it could be a sort of black comedy. We'll have to see.

[sdreid]

First radio: The Lodger-1948

That would be the version on the CBS program Suspense starring Robert Montgomery.

[Mayerling]

Montgomery was a discovery. He'd been playing comic playboys and cads, and then did that great breakout part of "Danny" in NIGHT MUST FALL in 1937. A few years later he did a psychotic in RAGE IN HEAVEN (a film where the good guy is George Sanders of all people). Was he any good as "the Lodger." Up to Laird Cregar's or Jack Palance's or even Ivor Norvello's performances?

Jeff

[sdreid]

Yes, he did a credible job in The Lodger as I recall. I should listen to it again since I have it on CD.

As far as I know, Robert and Elizabeth are the only father daughter team to play JtR and Lizzie Borden.

[sdreid]

Spoiler Alert

Like Palance and unlike Novello, Montgomery is a guilty lodger.

[The Bounder]

Zodiac is an immense film, the two disc version with nearly three hours of extras is truly classic!

[sdreid]

The two disc version is the Special Edition or something of the sort.

[Mayerling]

The New York Times reported today that the diretor of THE HONEYMOON KILLERS, Leonard Kastle, died. He was an opera composer who worked in television, and he decided to take the direction of the film (which he was producing) over from two previous director (one, who proved too expensive, was Martin Scorsese). The critics always raved that the film was excellent, but it made little money in the U.S., but did well in Europe. On it's re-release in 1992, to art film houses, it did better. Kastle never made any other movie, although he had film scripts for eight pictures. However, he was not upset, quipping that after he made THE HONEYMOON KILLERS he never made a bad film.

[sdreid]

Yes Jeff, I saw that on VHS many years ago and it is a very good film although they updated it in time a bit. I guess 1940s vintage cars are hard to come by.

Too my knowledge, there are four films that were based on Fernandez and Beck:

Lonely Heart Bandits (1950) US
The Honeymoon Killers (1969) US
Profundo carmesi (1996) MX
Lonely Hearts (2006) US

I have only seen the second and the last and recommend both.