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Filmmaker George Lucas is primarily known for making blockbuster movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones. However, he has also produced several projects outside the two main franchises. One of these projects was the 2012 war drama film Red Tails, based on the experiences of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II.

George Lucas conceived the story for Red Tails (Credit: Lucasfilm).

The film was produced and financed by Lucas independently, with the filmmaker drawing inspiration from John Wayne’s war movies. However, despite Lucas’ passion for the project, it failed to impress critics and emerged as a box-office disappointment. Here is what Lucas had to say about the inspiration behind Red Tails and why it failed commercially.

George Lucas Revealed John Wayne Movies That Inspired Red Tails

George Lucas directed 1977’s Star Wars, with the filmmaker taking inspiration from the Vietnam War. After completing work on the original trilogy, Lucas...

While he may not be as well-known today as Alfred Hitchcock or Billy Wilder, director Nicholas Ray had a fantastic run during the '50s working across a range of genres from film noir ("In a Lonely Place") to war saga ("Flying Leathernecks"), coming-of-age teen angst ("Rebel Without a Cause") to westerns, the strangest of which is undoubtedly "Johnny Guitar." Shot in gaudy Trucolor, it stands apart from other studio westerns of the day, maybe because it isn't really a western at all -- It's more like a twisted gothic psychodrama that just happens to be set in the Old West.

Although the title refers to Sterling Hayden's nonchalant protagonist, Mr. Guitar takes a back seat for much of the movie, just one of many of Ray's subversive twists to the standard western formula. Instead, the main focus is the bitter rivalry between Vienna (Joan Crawford), a steely saloon keeper,...

Lynn Stalmaster, the legendary casting director who worked on nearly 200 movies ranging from “West Side Story” to “Harold and Maude” to “Tootsie,” has died. He was 93.

Stalmaster died Friday morning in Los Angeles, Casting Society of America executive Laura Adler confirmed.

Stalmaster was a pioneer as an independent casting director who worked on a freelance basis. He was renowned for his skill in spotting new talent and matching actors to the perfect roles. He was also a champion for elevating the status of casting directors in the industry. In 2016, he became the first casting professional to be honored with an Oscar when he received a Governors Award tribute from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences.

“A pioneer of our craft, Lynn was a trailblazer with over half a century of world-class film and television casting credits. He was a friend and mentor to many of us,” Casting Society of...

Lynn Stalmaster, who was the first casting director to receive an Academy Award, died today at home in Los Angeles. He was 93 and his death was confirmed by Laura Adler of the Casting Society of America.

Stalmaster had a legendary vision for casting. He is credited with moving Dustin Hoffman into The Graduate, Christopher Reeve as Superman, and tabbing the young John Travolta for TV comedy classic Welcome Back, Kotter, among many others.

The November 2016 Governors Awards saw Stalmaster become the first casting director to receive an Academy Award. The honorary Oscar recognized his long and meritorious career.

Stalmaster also had another notable achievement: on Norman Jewison’s 1968 film The Thomas Crown Affair Stalmaster became the first casting director to receive a single-card credit in the titles.

Stalmaster has more than 400 casting credits among them such classics as Inherit the Wind (1960), The Great Escape (1963), In the Heat of the Night (1967), They Shoot Horses,...

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By Doug Oswald

The Duke teams up with Robert Ryan as Marine pilots fighting the Japanese in the Pacific during WWII in “Flying Leathernecks,” just released on Blu-ray via the Warner Archive Collection. The story picks up in Hawaii in the middle of 1942 as Major Daniel Kirby (John Wayne) takes command of a Marine Corps aviation squadron about to ship out for combat in the Pacific. A veteran of the Battle of Midway, Kirby meets the men in his unit along with his executive officer, Captain Carl “Griff” Griffin (Robert Ryan), who is a bit ruffled after being passed over to take command. While a great pilot, Griff is not good at making difficult life and death decisions regarding the other pilots and has become their friend.

On Guadalcanal, the squadron pilots become experts at close air support which is precision...

John Wayne, Robert Ryan and some thrilling color combat footage grace this Howard Hughes WW2 aviation epic, that’s famous for being the odd-title-out in the filmography of Nicholas Ray. Just how did the politically diverging Ray and Hughes get along so well? The Wac’s sensational Technicolor restoration does the real combat footage a big favor: minus scratches and dirt, it looks better than ever.

Flying Leathernecks

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date September 15, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter, Jay C. Flippen, James Bell, Adam Williams, Barry Kelley, Gordon Gebert, Lynn Stalmaster, Mona Knox.

Cinematography: William E. Snyder

Film Editor: Sherman Todd

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by James Edward Grant, Beirne Lay Jr. story by Kenneth Gamet

Produced by Edmund Grainger, Howard Hughes

Directed by Nicholas Ray

This by-the-numbers Naval aviation epic — more precisely the Marine Corps.

John Wayne, Robert Ryan and some thrilling color combat footage grace this Howard Hughes WW2 aviation epic, that’s famous for being the odd-title-out in the filmography of Nicholas Ray. Just how did the politically diverging Ray and Hughes get along so well? The Wac’s sensational Technicolor restoration does the real combat footage a big favor: minus scratches and dirt, it looks better than ever.

Flying Leathernecks

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 102 min. / Street Date September 15, 2020 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter, Jay C. Flippen, James Bell, Adam Williams, Barry Kelley, Gordon Gebert, Lynn Stalmaster, Mona Knox.

Cinematography: William E. Snyder

Film Editor: Sherman Todd

Original Music: Roy Webb

Written by James Edward Grant, Beirne Lay Jr. story by Kenneth Gamet

Produced by Edmund Grainger, Howard Hughes

Directed by Nicholas Ray

This by-the-numbers Naval aviation epic — more precisely the Marine Corps.

“Come on Wildcats, make us proud today!

John Wayne and Robert Ryan in Flying Leathernecks is available on Blu-ray From Warner Archive. Ordering info can be found Here

Marine fighter squadron Vmf 247 is in the thick of it on Guadalcanal. The airstrip they hold is hammered by offshore batteries. Malaria and combat fatigue grip the men. Fuel is low and replacement parts are few. The only things not in short supply are the enemy…and Major Don Kirby’s determination to keep fighting with whatever he has. John Wayne is in the cockpit and in command as Kirby, a leader at odds with his executive officer (Robert Ryan) and at the forefront of tacticians eager to coordinate ground combat with low-flying aerial sorties. Nicholas Ray (Rebel Without a Cause) directs, skillfully incorporating actual battlefield and dogfight footage. Flying Leathernecks has the flight stuff!

The post John Wayne and Robert Ryan...

You’re going to have to steel yourself for this monster of a content update. Between them, Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime have an obscene number of quality titles debuting this weekend.

Be it films or television shows, new releases or old classics, there’s a ton to dig into here. So if you’re ready, let’s dive right in…

Netflix

July 31st

Get Even — Netflix Original

Latte and the Magic Waterstone — Netflix Family

Seriously Single — Netflix Film

The Speed Cubers — Netflix Documentary

Sugar Rush: Extra Sweet — Netflix Original

The Umbrella Academy: Season 2 — Netflix Original

Vis a vis: El Oasis (Locked Up) — Netflix Original

August 1st

A Knight’s Tale

Acts of Violence

The Addams Family (1991)

An Education

Being John Malkovich

Death at a Funeral

Dennis the Menace

Elizabeth Harvest

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Hardcore Henry

Iron Man: Armored Adventures: Season 1-2

Jurassic Park...

HBO Max has a lot to offer in August, with titles to look forward to including the premiere of a brand new Seth Rogen movie called “An American Pickle” on Aug. 6, and Christopher Nolan’s 2008 Batman film “The Dark Knight” out Aug. 1.

The nascent streaming service also shares content with HBO, with new films coming like “Jojo Rabbit” out Aug. 1, “Birds of Prey” out Aug. 15, “Richard Jewell” out Aug. 8, and “Queen & Slim,” out Aug. 22. The upcoming series “Lovecraft County,” which mixes fact and fantasy and takes place in 1950s Jim Crow America, arrives Aug. 16.

Leaving throughout the month include, tragically, all eight “Harry Potter” films, which will be gone after Aug. 25. Other absolute classics like “Good Will Hunting,” “You’ve Got Mail,” and both “Kill Bill” movies will be gone after Aug. 31, so watch them while you can.

Below is the full list of everything coming and going in August.

With the end of the month ahead of us, we now have a full list of everything that’s coming to Netflix and the various other streaming services across August. The sites will continue to do their best to keep you from straying out into the sun for the rest of the summer, too, as each of them has got a whole heap of new movies and TV shows coming to their libraries that you’ll want to check out. Mostly classic films you’ll enjoy sticking on again, but also a few much-anticipated originals, too.

See below for the full line-up of titles coming to Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu and Prime Video, as well as our own picks for what should be on your radar.

August 1

Netflix

A Knight’s Tale

Acts of Violence

The Addams Family (1991)

An Education

Being John Malkovich

Death at a Funeral

Dennis the Menace...

HBO Max is continuing to pull from Warner Bros.’ incredible back catalogue of movies, with August bringing a huge number of new titles to the streaming service. With over 130 new pieces of content, the list of upcoming arrivals encompasses classic films of all kinds, from Oscar winners to comedies, horrors to family pics and, of course, tons of blockbusters.

A highlight for many users will probably be the glut of Batman films coming to HBO Max at the start of the month. Every cinematic outing for the Caped Crusader from 1989’s Batman starring Michael Keaton to 2008’s The Dark Knight with Christian Bale (which just celebrated its 12th anniversary this weekend) are going up on the site. Sticking in Gotham, both seasons of Harley Quinn are also coming to HBO Max, following their original release on DC Universe.

Elsewhere on August 1st, some of the more notable new titles include Before Sunrise and its sequel,...

It’s August 2020 and that can only mean one thing: HBO Max is about to enter Lovecraft Country.

Over the years HBO (and by the transitive property its new HBO Max streaming offshoot) has grown accustomed to debuting a buzzworthy new TV show or limited series every couple of months. For August 2020 that will almost certainly be Southern Gothic horror series Lovecraft Country. The J.J. Abrams and Jordan Peele-produced thriller arrives on August 14 on HBO and HBO Max.

Other strong HBO Max originals arriving in August include the documentary Class Action Park (release date Tbd), Seth Rogen-starring comedy An American Pickle (Aug. 6), and finales for I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, Doom Patrol, and Perry Mason.

Of course, HBO Max is designed to house much of WarnerMedia’s content across many mediums. That means some recent movies on note like Jojo Rabbit (Aug. 1), Richard Jewell (Aug. 8), and Birds of Prey (Aug.

Now At A Reduced Price! Only $61.00 Through Amazon...Original Price Was $149.00- Free Shipping For Prime Members.

Time to put up your Dukes! (DVDs, that is!)

DVD Collection Of 40 Warner And Parmount Films Is Largest John Wayne Box Set Ever

Includes Hours Of Special Features And Remarkable Memorabilia

Amazon Buyers Get Exclusive Wayne Belt Buckle

Here is the original press release from when the set was originally made available:

To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving, will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy Award®, True Grit (1969). The collection...

Hondo (1953), which is set to play June 13 - July 4 at the Museum of Modern Art as part of their "3-D Summer" series, was John Wayne's first Western in three years. It was produced by his own Wayne/Fellows Productions (later named Batjac), founded just the year prior by Wayne and producer Robert Fellows. And James Edward Grant, who had already written several Wayne features and had a particular flair for writing classic John Wayne dialogue, penned the screenplay. All told, one gets the sense that everything about this exemplary return to the genre was a carefully conscious decision by the iconic American star. Hondo is a definitive Western. Moreover, it's a definitive John Wayne Western.When Wayne made Hondo, his masculine persona was already firmly established. After viewing the film at one point, Wayne supposedly declared, "I'll be damned if I'm not the stuff men are made of." Such a comment,...

Amazon's best-selling titled "John Wayne: The Epic Collection" is on sale this week at an astounding 54% off. That means you save $80 on this massive DVD collector's set that includes 38 of the Duke's classic movies. Also included are bonus collectibles and a Duke belt buckle available exclusively through this Amazon deal.

Below is the original press release from Warner Home Video pertaining to the set's debut on Father's Day.

Burbank, Calif., February 24, 2014 -- To commemorate one of America’s most iconic film heroes, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will introduce a comprehensive new DVD set -- John Wayne: The Epic Collection -- on May 20. The spring release, just in time for Father’s Day gift-giving ($149.98 Srp), will contain 38 discs with 40 Wayne films (full list below), including The Searchers, once called one of the most influential movies in American history[1] and the film for which Wayne won his Best Actor Academy...

Billy finds fresh meat on the gothic horror table with The Strain, from the creative mind of Guillermo del Toro and friends...

Review

This review contains spoilers.

1.1 Night Zero

In terms of having a pedigree, The Strain ticks all the critical boxes, and then some. I’m a huge fan of the work of Guillermo del Toro and this show is based on a series of novels that he and Chuck Hogan wrote. He also directs the opening episode, and Chuck Hogan also helped co-write it. What could possibly go wrong?

I was somewhat concerned that in the first couple of minutes this show managed to deliver at least two Wtf moments. But before I get to them, it’s worth noting that the arrival of an aircraft travelling from Germany to the USA where everyone is dead isn’t the most original opening for a TV series. Because that...

There is no studio that times their releases more perfectly than Warner Bros. Around the end-of-year holidays there will be gift sets for films like “Elf” and “Willy Wonka.” Near Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, you can expect gift-appropriate releases.

And, of course, they always bring out the war movies and Westerns for Father’s Day in June. This year’s gift idea is a beauty, a massive 40-film, career-spanning set of films starring the legendary John Wayne. From 1932’s “Big Stampede” to 1976’s “The Shootist,” there’s a bit of everything for Wayne fans in here, but more for those who like war movies and Westerns.

Rating: 4.0/5.0

We don’t need to go through them all but highlights include “Rio Bravo,” “El Dorado,” “The Searchers,” “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance,” “True Grit,” “How the West Was Won,” “Fort Apache,” “Donovan’s Reef,” and “Hatari!” Some Wayne...

John Travolta certainly knows the value of a having a casting director in his corner.

If not for the faith a legendary one named Lynn Stalmaster had in his talent, the enduring star might never have won the role of "Sweathog" Vinnie Barbarino in the sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter" ... which set him on a course of fame that exploded soon afterward with the successes of such movies as "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease." Travolta is among those paying tribute to "my beloved Lynn" (as he puts it) and others in the documentary "Casting By," which has its HBO debut Monday, Aug. 5.

"I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for Lynn and his so believing in me," Travolta recalls for Zap2it. "At age 18, I was up for the movie 'The Last Detail,' in the part Randy Quaid eventually played. Lynn was just hellbent to get me cast in that,...

Hopefully you’ll get to spend plenty of time outdoors this weekend, soaking up the sun. But if rain (or laziness) keeps you inside, we’ve compiled the TV marathons playing this weekend to keep you occupied! Enjoy!

Saturday

Adventure Time, Cartoon Network, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

American Restoration, History, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.

Arrested Development, IFC 6:00 a.m.- 8:30 a.m. (Sunday)

Bridezillas, We Tv, 10 a.m. – 5 a.m. (Sunday)

Counting Cars, History, 2 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Deadliest Catch, Discovery, 8 p.m.- 2 a.m. (Sunday)

Defiance, SyFy, 4 p.m.-6 a.m. (Sunday) – episodes repeated

Elvis movies,...

If you don't have travel plans for Memorial Day weekend, get cozy on the couch (and set your DVR) because there are plenty of fun marathons happening.

Need to catch up on Season 1 of "Longmire" before the Season 2 premiere Monday, May 27? Want to re-live "Veronica Mars" Season 1? How about watching the entire series of "Arrested Development" (and reading our re-watch posts) before the new season is out on Netflix?

Here is all your Memorial Day weekend programming, all times Eastern.

Friday, May 24

A&E: "Storage Wars" marathon, 3 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day

Animal: "Finding Bigfoot" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Invasion" premiere and new episode, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Bravo: "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" marathon, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., "Millionaire Matchmaker" marathon, 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. the next day

Chiller: "The Twilight Zone" marathon, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Discovery: "Sons of Guns" marathon,...

John Wayne Movies Among the John Wayne movies in the TCM line-up are two John Ford classics: Stagecoach (1939), surely inspired by Guy de Maupassant’s Boule de suif, and The Searchers (1956). Turner Classic Movies, Wednesday, August 1 6:00 Am Flying Leathernecks (1951) A World War II Marine officer drives his men mercilessly during the battle for Guadalcanal. Dir: Nicholas Ray. Cast: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Don Taylor, Janis Carter, Jay C. Flippen. Color-102 minutes. 7:45 Am Allegheny Uprising (1939) Colonial settlers fight the corrupt British in the days before the American Revolution. Dir: William A. Seiter. Cast: Claire Trevor, John Wayne, George Sanders. [...]...

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the awesome classic buddy cop film Lethal Weapon, The Huffington Post created a great supercut video edit of different movie characters who openly admit that they're "too old for this shit," a line of dialogue that was spoken most memorably by Danny Glover. Enjoy the video, and let us know if you're too old for this shit.

Full list of films featured:

"Lethal Weapon," "The Hurt Locker," "Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey," "Aces: Iron Eagle III," "Unleashed," "Vampire in Brooklyn," "Frankie and Johnny," "Showtime," "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," "Stripes," "The Art of War," "Blade," "Blame It on Rio," "The Sure Thing," "Death Proof," "The Night Listener," "For Colored Girls," "Lethal Weapon 3," "The Yakuza," "Black Moon Rising," "Racing Stripes," "Ed Wood," "Ladder 49," "To Live and Die in L.A.," "Space Cowboys," "In the Line of Fire," "Father of the Bride Part II,...

You're getting too old for this: 25 years ago, on March 6, 1987, "Lethal Weapon" was released. The buddy-cop thriller not only cemented Mel Gibson's status as a household name after playing good-natured loose-canon (as opposed to now) Martin Riggs, but also created a social phenomenon still relevant to this day: "I'm getting too old for this shit."

The catchphrase, said numerous times throughout the "Lethal Weapon" series by Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), has appeared in many movies over the last 25 years, often times in reference to the put-upon police detective himself. (The recent trailer for "Men In Black 3" features Will Smith uttering a PG variation on Murtaugh's famous one-liner.)

What you might not know? That "Lethal Weapon" wasn't the first film to utilize some form of the defeated turn-of-phrase. From "North by Northwest" and "The Sting" to Murtaugh himself, enjoy a mash-up of movie characters getting too old for this.

Video...

You're getting too old for this: 25 years ago, on March 6, 1987, "Lethal Weapon" was released. The buddy-cop thriller not only cemented Mel Gibson's status as a household name after playing good-natured loose-canon (as opposed to now) Martin Riggs, but also created a social phenomenon still relevant to this day: "I'm getting too old for this shit." The catchphrase, said numerous times throughout the "Lethal Weapon" series by Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), has appeared in many movies over the last 25 years, often times in reference to the put-upon police detective himself. (The recent trailer for "Men In Black 3" features Will Smith uttering a PG variation on Murtaugh's famous one-liner.) What you might not know? That "Lethal Weapon" wasn't the first film to utilize some form of the defeated turn-of-phrase. From "North by Northwest" and "The Sting" to Murtaugh himself, enjoy a mash-up of movie characters getting too old for this. Video...

Prepare for some spectacular aerial combat in George Lucas' long-in-the-making passion project, Red Tails. Here's Ron's review of a great WWII adventure...

For most men, war is hell. For the men of the Red Tails, an all-black fighter squadron in a segregated United States Army during World War II, war is boring as hell. Despite their training, all the men of the Tuskegee experiment get to do are boring patrols and mop-up work while all the real fighting, flying, and dying is for whites only. Fortunately, as the bombers continue to get shot down as their escort fighters go off chasing German fighters, the Army Air Corps gets increasingly desperate.

Enter the Tuskegee Airmen, known for the red nose and tail paint patterns on their airplanes. The movie's focus is on one squadron of the group, led by Easy (Nate Parker) and composed of, at various times, Lightning (David Oyelowo...

The subtitle of the latest book from veteran Hollywood biographer Patrick McGilligan sums up his thesis: Director Nicholas Ray spectacularly failed to live up to his full potential, and his successes and lows, both professional and personal, are inextricable. For the most part, McGilligan’s book is strictly a biography, avoiding criticism or analysis, except when connecting Ray’s most wounded protagonists—most famously James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause—to events in the director’s life. The only implicit criticism occurs whenever McGilligan cursorily skips over what he considers a lesser title (Party Girl, Flying Leathernecks, Run For ...

Memorial Day 2011 is here and while we should all take time to thank a veteran and active servicemen and women, it also means for us TVphiles - lots of good programming. So either settle in with some popcorn or make sure your DVR is ready to go.

There are movie marathons. Syfy is busting out its greatest hits in the giant monster oeuvre on Friday, followed by "Star Trek" movies all weekend. TCM and AMC are showing nothing but military movies, including classics like "All Quiet on the Western Front," "From Here to Eternity" and "Patton."

If marathons are your thing, you've got everything from "Firefly" and "Doctor Who" to "House Hunters" and "How It's Made." And if you're a sports fan, while the NBA playoffs are on hiatus, you can still watch a ton of baseball, the 2011 French Open or the annual Memorial Day race the Indianapolis 500.

Zap2it...

They shall beat their swords into plowshares

and their spears into pruning hooks;

One nation shall not raise the sword against another,

neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:4

War is a nation’s ultimate commitment of blood and treasure. As such, the stories a people tells about its wars – and don’t tell – and the ways it remembers its wars – or chooses to forget them – tells us much about the kind of people they consider themselves to be at different times in their history, as well as the kind of people they really were…and are.

For most of the 20th century, the war film was a Hollywood staple. From one era to the next, war movies documented the nation’s conflicts, reflected the national consciousness on particular combats as well as on thinking going far beyond any one, particular war. They’ve been propagandistic and revisionist,...

  Robert Ryan on TCM: The Set-up, Crossfire, Billy Budd Schedule and synopses from the TCM website: 3:00 Am Trail Street (1947) Bat Masterson fights to make Kansas safe for wheat farmers. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Dir: Ray Enright. Bw-84 mins. 4:30 Am Return of the Badmen (1948) A farmer falls for the female leader of a band of notorious outlaws. Cast: Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys. Dir: Ray Enright. Bw-90 mins. 6:15 Am Flying Leathernecks (1951) A World War II Marine officer drives his men mercilessly during the battle for Guadalcanal. Cast: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Jay C. Flippen. Dir: Nicholas Ray. C-102 mins. 8:00 Am Men In War (1957) Two enemies join forces to save their men during a retreat from the North Koreans. Cast: Robert Ryan, Aldo Ray, Robert Keith. Dir: Anthony Mann. Bw-98 mins. 10:00 Am Crossfire (1947) A crusading district attorney investigates the [...]...

"The General is a peephole into history and by any definition an uncannily beautiful film," writes Gary Giddins at Slate. "Indeed, for a first-time viewer, I would emphasize the beauty over the comedy."

"With a star-powered trio of Roberts (Ryan, Mitchum and Young) sharing the one-sheet for a film noir produced by the studio that helped define the post-war style, Crossfire really should be a lot better than it is," finds Scott Marks. And then there's Flying Leathernecks. Nicholas Ray "possibly undertook the project in part as a preemptive defense against Huac who viewed him as a left-leaning, Tinsel Town liberal. They were right, of course, but Ray never went down for them. Undoubtedly Ray and Robert Ryan, both leftist liberals, locked horns with the Duke and his favored Gop co-star Jay C Flippen. Sadly, very little of their off-screen tension found its way into the finished product."

Read more below!