2) This very short film shows us four teenagers, two boys and two girls, whosit down and play a game of truth or dare? It seems at first like harmlesstrivial fun, with the four youngsters teasing each other; then the finaldare leaves them all speechless.

3) Action verite (Truth or Dare), available on The Collected Shorts ofFrancoisOzon dvd, is another cleverly composed short film with a surprise ending(like Le Trou Madame). If you’re a fan of Ozon, you owe it to yourself toget your hands on this dvd. You will not be disappointed.

2) The directing debut of Stuntmen John Stewart shows 90 minutes fast actionand nothing else. Greg Cummings plays one of his rare good guy parts,BarriMurphy looks sexy in almost every scene and in supporting roles B-moviesstars like William Smith as corrupt FBI-Boss, Ross Hagen and Hoke Howellaskillers make this movie a pleasure for B-action-fans.

3) One of the greatest things to ever happen to me, was finding this film,for sale in a crappy video store(called Gruntz), near Atlantic Beach,NC. We picked it up on the way to our weekend at the beach. We watchedit once the first night, twice the next day, and another five times inthe months since. "Action USA" is not the best movie ever, but it is,hands down, the most awesome! I want to buy the rights to this film,and put it out on DVD, just so other people can see it. The stunts arethe best I've ever seen, and they just keep coming.The dialog is evenbetter. You will not believe Ross Hagan's ability to spew the mostwicked one-liners, while delivering back-hand slaps.

4) Director John Stewart should be given a medal. Not only does he play off ofevery stereotype known to the action genre, but he redefines ridiculous carchases and explosions-for-the-sake-of-them. ‘Action U.S.A.’ is a must seefor any action fan, and an even muster see for any fan of B-action moviesthat make you laugh. Where else can you see a house blow up because a carran through it (without the car being damaged)? From beginning to end thismovie will make you laugh, and laugh a lot. Stay far away if you’re not afan of cheesy acting and irrational plot structures, however, as this moviecarries them in spades. For those of you whom this sounds even remotelyinteresting to, go out of your way to find it: I guarantee you will notregret it. Rating: 26/40

• Included as a special feature on the DVD The Americanization of Emily (1964) released in 2005 by Warner Home Video.

For this three minute scene, four months of preparation went intorigging the scaffolds to hold cameras and equipment, including heavylights (even for daytime filming), dredging the sand to plantexplosives set to go off by cue, and finally training the actors toknow where the explosives were planted and how to avoid injuries duringthe actual shot.

Garner is shown taking directions from director Arthur Hiller as he andCoburn prepare for the shot.

An interesting glimpse of the painstaking effort that goes into makingeven a brief scene in an effort to recreate an historical event withauthenticity. Fortunately for all concerned, the scene, using fourcameras shooting simultaneously, went off without a hitch.

2) If for nothing else, this film is memorable for a scene in which theheroine is chased around the hero’s boat by the mate, Mike, played bySean Connery, as obvious prelude to rape, while said hero, aparticularly grubby-looking Van Johnson (who had seen better days inSanta Fe Trail and The Strange Love of Martha Ivers) looks onindifferently. Somehow or other she gets out of this, but the idea thathaving escaped the clutches of Connery she would subsequently fall hardfor Van Johnson give cinema one of it great "huh?" moments. Otherwise,the movie lacks much interest or originality despite the Albanianbackground which certainly could have been better exploited, as Albaniawas known during its Communist era as the last surviving medievalsociety in Europe, and attracted a goodly share of antiquariantourists.

3) Many people believe that Sean Connery made his movie debut in a 1958film entitled Another Time, Another Place, the poster of whichprominently displayed the words "Introducing Sean Connery". In truthConnery had already done supporting acting in a handful of small films,one of which was Action Of The Tiger. The actual star of Action Of TheTiger is Van Johnson, sorely miscast as a tough-talking butsoft-at-the-centre pirate smuggling political prisoners out of post-warAlbania. There are rumours that the leading female, Martine Carol,suggested on several occasions during the shoot that Connery himselfwould have been better in the lead role – it's certainly an interestingnotion, and the more one cringes at the embarrassing efforts of Johnsonthe more one wishes someone had listened to her advice!

Shortly after World War Two, blonde bombshell Tracy (Martine Carol)approaches a pirate/mercenary/adventurer named Carson (Van Johnson)with a dangerous assignment. Her brother is trapped behind the IronCurtain in Albania, and she is keen to get him out while he is stillalive. Carson initially hates the job but for all his hard words andstubborn protests, his weakness for beautiful women and ready moneygets the better of him. After numerous close calls, Carson and Tracyfind the endangered brother but learn that he is now blind. They strikeout across rugged Albanian wilderness in the direction of the Greekborder, but their quest is made doubly difficult when they arepersuaded to take a bunch of kids with them. Seems the kids' parentsare scared that their youngsters will face a future of poverty, tortureand persecution under the Communist rule and want Carson to smugglethem to safety. The road to the border is fraught with danger, so muchso that Carson has to rely on the aid of a passionate freedom fighternamed Trifon (Herbert Lom) to negotiate the final few miles.

The film is poorly scripted by Robert Carson, working from a forgottennovel by James Wellard. The action progresses predictably and inuninvolving fashion from one scene to the next, and by the climax onecan barely remember what the film was about. Give it a fortnight andyou might have forgotten altogether that you've ever seen the film!Johnson, as noted, is not cut out for this kind of tough-guy actionrole, while Carol ludicrously maintains perfect hair, perfect lipstickand an overall air of glamour, even whilst fleeing from Communistpursuers in the middle of remote Albania! The only actor whosuccessfully crafts a lively and enjoyable characterisation is Lom asthe resistance fighter, but he arrives too late in the story and hastoo small a role to save the film. It is directed, strangely enough, byTerence Young (who would go on to make three of the first four Bondfilms with Connery), but in this one Young's direction lacks a sense ofpace and purpose. Apart from Lom's forlorn efforts, the only otherpraiseworthy aspect of the film is Desmond Dickinson's pleasantphotography which captures the barren landscapes (Spain standing in forAlbania) rather spectacularly.

4) This movie by Terence Young is the typical adventure-movie of thefifties.The action in Albania is well described with the Albanian resistanceagainstcommunism and the double-spy colonel Stendho.The battles – horses against jeeps – are realistic and the Albanianfamily-life and the Countess Valona is also realistic with theremembranceof the past (Italians, Geeks). Martine Carol is wonderful and she doeseverything to save the children and her brother. Captain Carson is thetypical American smuggler of the Mediterranean Sea and he falls in lovewithTracy Malvoisie (Carol).Good script, good family-movie.

• Released theatrically in the USA with Good Burger (1997)

2) ACTION LEAGUE NOW started off as a skit on the cable television seriescalled ALL THAT. Then it was also featured in another cable televisionseries called KABLAM. I always found ACTION LEAGUE NOW to be the bestpartof both ALL THAT and KABLAM. I was surprised to see this five minuteprogrambefore the movie GOOD BURGER when I went to see it back in 1997. It’soutrageous fun that the whole family is sure to enjoy!

3) When I first saw Action League Now, I did not care for it that much. Now,Iam seeing how funny ALN is! On thursday, saturday, and sunday, I tune intoComcast channel 225, Nicktoons TV, to watch this funny show. My favoritecharacter on ALN is the Flesh. He makes me dire laughing with his funnycatchphrases like "Ouchies!," "Whoopsies!," "Gollers!," and "Funsies!." Hehas the perfect dumb guy voice, bland and full of humor. My brother thevoice of the villain, His Dishonor, The Mayor, exellent!

"Enjoy your lunch, you naked numbskull. Now, Action Losers, prepare tomeetthe new Flesh!"—–The Mayor

My rating: 15/10

4) I first saw ALN on "All That".I couldn’t stop laughing!! Then inoctober1996, I premiered on the "Kablam!" tv show. These shorts are so funny,evenadults like this stuff. Kids like me love this stuff!These are thecharacterprofiles:

The Flesh!-One of my my favorite charactors! He’s super strong and supernaked! Don’t worry, no private is shown! He’s just an action figure likeallthe other characters.

Meltman- fav. #2! He’s a walking-messed-up-guy. He’s melted!

Thundegirl-A barbie doll. My sister’s favorite! She flies.

Stinky Diver- A bad-additude-navy-soldier! He jumps intoilets!!

Chief & Justice- Chief is the leader! But he does nothing! Justice isActionleauge dog!

Mayor-The villain!

Big Baby- Villain #2! He’s only in 2 episodes.

These shorts are funny! Watch them on Kablam. Fridays at 8:00 pm onNickelodeon!

5) This was actually a whole lot better when it was a short. Now, since thewriters at Nickelodeon got their hands on it, its gone right down thespiraling staircase of idiocy. But I feel I must say that the show wasonlymildly entertaining even before it became a thirty minute program. I usedto like this show although I’m ashamed that I did. The Flesh is an idiot,Thundergirl(although she is supposed to be the smartest character of thefour but she isn’t), Meltman should just go and die someplace, and Stinkyshould learn to bathe every so often.

To put it simply, the show sucks completely, the characters are idiots,andits a shame that this show even became a hit.

• The car seen at the mansion, the Halley, is actually a 1987 Pontiac Fiero with body effects that make the car resemble a Ferrari Testarossa coupe.

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you’ve not already seen this title.

• SPOILER: Before Tony is killed by the fake shipping-and-handler, he’s told, “It’s C.O.D.” This can have two meanings: “Cash On Delivery” or “Cause Of Death”.

• Crew or equipment visible: When Carl Weathers and Vanity jump out of the hotel window to escape the police and onto the roof of his convertible parked in an alley, their impact reveals the mattresses inside the car covered with black cloth which comes undone at the rear window. You can also see the scaffolding at the bottom of the scene for the camera, also protected with a mattress.
• Revealing mistakes: When Carl Weathers and Vanity jump out of the hotel window, if you look carefully at “Vanity’s” legs you can see that the stunt double didn’t shave his legs for this scene, and his feet could never fit in her shoes.
• Continuity: When Jackson is on the roof of the taxi, the driver fires his gun through the roof making several holes. However, when the taxi crashes a few seconds later, there are no holes.

• Revealing mistakes: SPOILER: In the end of the movie when Jericho gets shot, the film keeps moving back and forth to scenes with blood on his shirt to scenes with no blood on his shirt around the left shoulder.

He jostles a conceited, two-faced, backstabbing mass murderer calledPeter Dellaplane (Craig T. Nelson). Director Craig R. Baxley has notonly carried it off, but makes you believe it… One must also give someof the credit to Carl Weathers whose erect muscular body and his charmand good looks give some credence to the heroics…

The picture contains fun, lots of action, and two sexy women…

Vanity looked so gorgeous when she was shot up with heroin…

Stone met her husband after his first wife died and his son went toprison… She thinks that he may seem greedy and arrogant but he remainedloved by everyone, and the whole experience changed him… She alsothinks that Jackson is not so different from her husband, that both arestubborn, and both intent on getting what they want…

2) The violence in this movie is brutal and efficiently directed, the actionsequences spectacular, the main villain great and the hero, Carl Weathers,can hold his own when compared to other big action stars of the 80’s. Inshort, "Action Jackson" has all the ingredients to be a good rental choicefor action fans. If only they had avoided some of those needlessdigressions(like Jackson’s fight with a junkie)…. (**1/2)

3) Great late 80’s Action Film that’s a lot of fun!. The characters wereall great, Especially Weather’s and Vanity’s characters. The Mainvillain was VERY menacing in Craig T. Nelson he does fabulous here.There is lots of action, and lots of funny one liners from CarlWeathers!. This has been Panned by a lot of people why? it’s a lot offun and i personally enjoyed it a lot!. The Direction is fine. Craig R.Baxley does a fine job keeping the film at a tight pace , cool cameraangles and overall he did a good job!. There is a bit of blood andviolence. a person gets some bloody cuts on there face from glass,knife in the hand, 2 knives in the chest, arrow in the back, 5 verybloody gunshot wounds, impaling, and someone gets hit by a cargraphically. The Acting is great!. Carl Weathers is AWESOME heredelivering those one liners like a champ, he had good chemistry withVanity and overall he just entertained the hell out of me! and wasperfect for the part he is an awesome actor and one of my favorites!.(Weathers Rules!). Craig T. Nelson is perfect as The Main villain he isvery menacing and did a terrific job overall!. Vanity is GORGEOUS! anddid surprisingly very well here i liked her a lot. Sharon Stone isSTUNNINGLY GORGEOUS! and does good here too too bad she is ratherwasted!. Robert Davi, Ed O’Ross, Mary Ellen Trainor, and Nicholas Worthare all good in there short roles. Overall i highly recommend this fora night of cheesy fun!. ***1/2 out of 5 (Barely)

4) Did you get my joke? No? Well then let me explain it to you cretins outthere who have never indulged in bad cinema. Mike Nelson, the genius whowrote for and hosted the insanely brilliant series Mystery Science Theatre3000, published a book all about wonderfully cheesy movies that he liked towatch. Action Jackson was just one of those movies, and I am glad to saythat while it is most certainly dumb and as predictable as a parking meter,it’s just goofy enough to be fun. A lot of people think that when a criticcalls a film cheesy, they mean it’s bad. Not necessarily, my naive friends.Everyone likes to eat cheese every now and then, right? Heck, one of myall-time favorite foods is macaroni and cheese! Sure, we all like to pretendthat we have refined tastes, munching on caviar and other such sophisticatedvittles, but every now and then we just have to let our hair down and have anice slice of good American cheese. And trust me folks, Action Jackson, isjust dripping with the stuff. Just look at the plot: A former lieutenantknown for his hot temper and loose cannon tactics is reduced to a desk job(check). He has a bookish superior who likes to play by the rules andrefuses to let our hero see some "action" until he shapes up (check). Thensuddenly a new case opens up – it seems that the same man who cost ActionJackson’s lieutenant position is up to his old tricks, but no one suspectshim because he’s a respected businessman (check). Will Action Jacksonuncover the villain’s dastardly plot, save the day, get the chick who he atfirst thought was annoying, and get that lucrative lieutenant position back?What do you think?! Come on, this is as by the numbers as you can get,people. This story has been done hundreds of times, and yet here it’s stillsimple, dorky fun. Action Jackson is played by the man who trained SylvesyerStallone in the original Rocky, and Craig "Coach" T. Nelson himself is thebad guy. And to top it all off, VANITY is the romantic love interest! Icould not believe it when her named popped up on the screen. Now I own twomovies starring this horrible actress: Today’s feature, and the John Stamosspy disaster, Never Too Young To Die. What a small world, huh? There areexplosions, car chases, groovy 80s tunes, and even a hotel manager whoselisp is so obvious that you can’t understand a word he says. How can you gowrong? Trust me folks, this is not painful in the slightest. Well, okay,maybe Vanity’s two songs can be zipped through via the fast forward button(check out her nasty hair!), but otherwise Action Jackson is a great B-moviefor those rainy days.

5) When I saw this movie back in 1988, I thought then & think now that it wasone of the most action packed movies for this genre. Carl Weathers plays alikable cop that goes after an unscrupulous high-end car manufacturer. Allof the characters, Vanity, Craig T. Nelson & Sharon Stone round out the castnicely to make an enjoyable, action packed viewing experience for the 1h30mthat it’s on. It wasn’t mean’t to be an academy award winner, but it setout to do what it was intended to do, and that’s to be an action packedmovie from start to finish. If you can appreciate movies from the ’80s,this one will be a welcome addition to any collector’s library. I am gladto see it on DVD, because I have played my VHS copy to the max!

6) Okay, now what isn't there to like about a movie that stars CarlWeathers, Craig T. Nelson, a young Sharon Stone (scrumptious), BillDuke, Vanity (good googly moogly) and tons of other recognizable 80sactors? Nothing! This movie rules. In the words of my roommate, "youcome for Carl Weathers and you stay for Craig T Nelson." Carl Weathersis great as straight ahead copper Action Jackson, but Craig T Nelsonsteals the show here as the evil Mr. Delaplane. He is such a twistedjerk that being the richest man in Detroit and having a young SharonStone as his wife isn't enough, he needs to shoot Vanity full ofheroin, too. (Side note: Vanity was extremely strung out on crackcocaine at this time, read Motley Crue's book: "The Dirt" for moreinfo.) The action and laughs are nonstop. If you love dumb 80s bigbudget action, this is a must see. 8/10.

7) I did a quick search on the internet to see if my memory served meright, and apparently it has. By 1981, the Blaxploitation action filmwas exhausted. – Although Fred Williamson had made a couple of actionfilms in the mid-'80s, these don't really count, because Williamsoncan't act and can't direct.

The good news was that African-American cinema could say farewell to astereotype; the bad news was that Hollywood wanted to find some way tosay farewell to African-American cinema. The mid-'80s were lean yearsfor anyone with dark-skin in Hollywood.

One of the problems had been that people critical of blaxploitation hadmissed the fact that Hollywood only does two type of films with anyregularity, the action film (Western, Sci-Fi, crime, etc.) and thesit-com (domestic comedy). The notion that Hollywood does dramatic orotherwise serious films is a myth Hollywood likes to drag out at theAcademy Awards. So if you're not making action films or comedies,you're not in Hollywood.

By the late '80s it was clear to everyone that African Americans (nowconstituting a sizable portion of regular movie audiences) were goingto have to be represented on film again. But by then it was also clearthat this audience wasn't going to tolerate being relegated to pimp andgang roles, at least not completely. For one thing, Eddie Murphy hadbroken the blaxploitation mold in 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop. Idon't think anybody realizes that Murphy's roles in these films are abasic blaxploitation stereotypes, because Murphy clearly wasn't goingto let himself be stereotyped. Murphy's popularity and savvy probablycaused more anxiety than the anger of Melvin Van Peebles or RichardPryor ever had, because it was clear that he was there to make money,something Hollywood could really understand.

At any rate: In 1988 the Wayans produced I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, aknock-down parody of the blaxploitation genre that pretty much assuredthat it would never raise its afro-covered head again. But it was stillclear that African Americans needed a new action hero; so enter ActionJackson.

The reason why this film is not better remembered as the return of theblack action hero is clearly because of the script. This ispaint-by-numbers formula movie-making; this script has been written andfilmed a hundred times, and every action star in Hollywood has appearedin some version of it, all of the Baldwin brothers in turn, SlyStallone, Kirk Russell, Seagal, Schwarzenegger, Brandon Lee – I'm surethe reader can fill in the titles of each actor's version, regardlesshow unmemorable the films may have been. This formula was a kind ofrite-of-passage for anyone wanting to make action films in the late'80s – early '90s. So why not Carl Weathers?

Actually, Weathers' performance in this film is quite good. It's hardto come up with a bone-breaking/rule-breaking cop who also happens tobe suave and savvy (think part Dirty Harry, part James Bond), butWeathers nearly pulls it off. The decision not to play him with a'black-english' accent and with no chip on his shoulder were exactlythe qualities needed to leave the whole blaxploitation question awayfrom the film at the time it was made. There are also some importantethnic transgressions here – we first find Vanity as the new mistressof the white bad-guy, whereas it's clear that Sharon stone's characterhas had a fling with Carl weathers'. Essentially, then, the filmportrays a fantasy Detroit, where racism has indeed become a thing ofthe past that its all but forgotten. If only that were really true!But, again, that was exactly what was needed to get African Americansback into action films – i.e., back into Hollywood.

The direction of the film is fairly tight. The characters are so twodimensional, it may not be noticeable but the performances are allpretty solid; the whole film is professionally produced and presented.Also, two years before everybody in America would discover who JackieChan was and that he came from somewhere called Hong Kong, there aresome terrific stunts in this film. And I noticed that other criticshave reported that both Sharon Stone and Vanity get naked in thismovie; frankly, I find such comments tasteless. On the other hand,there's no denying the attraction some men will feel for such importantexamples of women taking proper care of their health.

But the main point is, the film should be preserved if for now otherreason, than because it was indeed the return to the mainstream of thestrong African-American male hero; and we still need that in thecinema, and always have.

Carl Weathers gets a chance to be an action hero in this very enjoyable80’saction movie. There are plenty of fist fights, explosions, car crashes,andother action in this one, and I thought Weathers did a good job in thisfilm. The scene when he outruns a cab and rides on the roof of it waskindadumb but still entertaining. Craig T. Nelson does a good job as the badguy. There are plenty of familiar faces in this one including SharonStone,Bill Duke, Ed O’Ross, Sonny Landham, and many more. In all, a recommendedfilm, not the best action film of the 80’s, but still a fun one.3.5/5

9) There isn't much to say about this movie. It's so stereo-type 80's it'sunreal! Carl Weathers (Rocky, Predator) plays Jericho 'Action' Jackson.Im just gonna leave it there because his name is just too damn awesome!This is full of explosions, fulls of fist fights, full of awful actingand one-liners and amazingly, has a half decent cast of big name 80'saction stars like Bill Duke and Sonny Landham (both of whom appeared inPredator with Weathers and Arnold Schwarzenegger), and Robert Davy (DieHard, Raw Deal, Predator 2). But the story is basically about Jackson,who has been demoted to a desk cop and hates it, and has to keep hisold 'Action Jackson' rebellious days behind him if he want's to bepromoted again. When he is trailing a sadistic businessman who ismurdering all his union competition so he can take the head job, thenyou know his 'Action Jackson' gun-ho days are going to return to savethe day! It really is fun, I recommend it completely.

10) I thought the first 2/3rds of this movie was alright as far as actionmovies comes. Nothing great, but decent entertainment. It had a cartoonfeel to it that I liked. That made it easier to overlook the otherwiseridiculous things like how cars exploded for no apparent reason andpeople could take several kicks and punches to the face with no effect.We got to see big man Jackson drop some funny one-liners, throw badguys through windows and jump-flip over a speeding car.

The end 3rd is were its gets sour for me. This is where Jackson and the"good" guys start killing of the bad guys. Example; Jackson and afriend has fought of a bunch of bad guys, now there's only one bad guyleft with a flamethrower. Jackson manages to disarm the bad guy, solets arrest him right? WRONG, lets drop a cool line and torch him! Andin the end he gets a promotion for his murdering spree. Before that hehas repeatedly been saying how Vanity is a junkie, like his murderingass is any better. Some real warped morals in this movie.

2):
An American tanker is sunk by a German U-boat and the survivors spend eleven days at sea on a raft. They’re next assigned to the liberty ship “Sea Witch” bound for Murmansk through the sub-stalked North Atlantic.

• Director Lloyd Bacon’s contract with Warner Bros. expired during production. Jack L. Warner told him, “Finish the picture and we’ll talk about it,” but Bacon wasn’t willing to continue without a contract. Warner fired him and brought in Byron Haskin to finish the film.
• When shooting the scene early in the movie, when their characters abandoned ship from their burning tanker, Humphrey Bogart and Raymond Massey got into a friendly argument over who had the better stunt double. In the end, the two stars decided to do away with their stunt doubles altogether and wound up doing the stunt themselves.
• Near the end of the picture, as the ship is nearing Murmansk, several Russian airplanes fly out to meet them. One of the pilots keeps gunning his engine in short bursts. There are three short bursts followed by a long one. Movie audiences of the 1940s would immediately recognize this as the three dots and a dash of the Morse code “V”. “V for Victory” was heavily used as a slogan during World War II.

• Crew or equipment visible: Control wires for the German sub model are visible in the underwater shots.
• Continuity: When the ill-fated Jinks is trapped in the burning rec room during the opening attack, he pounds on the door and flames are flicking through the door frame on the immediate right of him. When one of the crew comes to rescue him, the reverse shot shows no flame whatever within immediate area of the door or frame.
• Revealing mistakes: Harness support cables are visible when Jarvis abandons ship and climbs down the knotted rope.

• Revealing mistakes: Guide wires are visible on the submarines and torpedoes.
• Continuity: The Liberty ship “John Fitch” is launched twice during the closing montage.
• Continuity: In the first scene of the film, Bogart’s character has a toothache on the right side of his mouth. In a scene in the next act, his toothache is on the left side.
• Factual errors: By 1943 almost all Merchant Ships had a marked “Kick-Out Panel” installed in the bottom half of every door just in case it got “jammed”, so the occupants of a room would not be trapped.
• Factual errors: Most of the miniature shots of the German U boats are, in reality models of American Gato class fleet boats and bear almost no similarity to a U boat – other than the fact they’re both submarines.

All the performers took a back seat to the special effects as twospectacularly staged shipboard explosions and fires dominated the film…

As, respectively, the lieutenant and captain aboard a merchant-marineship, Bogart and Massey had little real chance to show much more thanpure determination in their roles, but both alternated effectivelybetween moments of tenderness when on shore with their loved ones(Julie Bishop for Bogart, Ruth Gordon for Massey) and extreme courageon board ship…

Both men uttered the usual wartime banalities as the enemy,consistently portrayed as vicious and inhuman, went about its businessof machine-gunning men in lifeboats, maniacally smiling all the while…

Firmly directed by Lloyd Bacon, "Action in the North Atlantic" stillworks as a war actioner…

2) Humphrey Bogart was a full fledged star when he made this film. OtherHollywood stars not in the military at the time including John Wayne andErrol Flynn were winning the war on screen so why not Bogart. "Action InThe North Atlantic" was a natural.

Bogie Plays Joe Rossi, a first mate on a Merchant Marine freighter. Theship gets blown out of the sea and rammed by a Nazi Sub. Bogie gets a newship, the ship gets even, and delivers their cargo to theirdestination(Russia of all places).

All of the typical war movie stereotypes are there. Raymond Massey in adeparture from his many villainous roles of that era was the father figureCaptain. The Warner Brothers Stock Company were all there led by AlanHale,Sam Levine, and Dane Clark( who for the first time in his career used thisname given to him by Bogart–previously he acted under his real nameBernardZanville).

In addition, Ruth Gordon and Julie Bishop are there for the perfunctorywife/girlfriend scenes.

The title says it all. Except for a few scenes on land most of the filmtakes place on board ship. Lloyd Bacon and Raoul Walsh(uncredited)makethebattle scenes realistic with the guidance of Byron Haskin.

The dialogue some of which was written by John Howard Lawson came undersomecontroversy. In the 1950s Lawson was named as one of the Hollywood 10 andwas blacklisted. As relations between the US and Russia deteriorated anticommunist factions pointed to this film as pro russian.

In truth this is a one of the great WWII dramas. It is a stirring tributeto the unsung heroes of the conflict, the Merchant Marines

3) I am a proud graduate of the U.S.Merchant Marine Academy, Kings Point.Iam also a retired US Navy Captain. The screening of "Action in theNorth Atlantic" was an annual event at Kings Point, since one of thecharacters was a Cadet serving sea time as part of his training. CadetParker well represents the 142 Cadet-Midshipman who were killed inaction in WWII (Kings point is only Federal academy which is thusauthorized to carry a Battle flag with their color guard.) Thecharacters are real and Warner Bros. could not have picked a bettercast. This movie was and is only one of a handful which tried to showthe contribution of the merchant marine during the war. I particularlyliked the scene where Alan Hale tries to explain to a couple of hisshipmates the meaning of the word "rendezvous". They don't make 'emlike that any more. I still watch this flic every time it screens.

4) Despite plenty of wartime propaganda and the usual amount of clichésand other staples of WWII action melodramas, ACTION IN THE NORTHAtlantic is given a boost by some of the best staged action scenes everfeatured in a Warner Bros. movie of that era.

The realism is startling considering that special effects then includedno computer engineering. The script is basically the story of U.S.Merchant Marine survivors of a battle determined to sink the ship thatruthlessly cut into their lifeboat. The climax has them getting theirrevenge on the Germans after a fierce battle that concludes with theAmericans and their farewell ceremonies to shipmates killed duringbattle. Bogart is given some flag-waving lines to read and the filmconcludes with a commentary using FDR’s voice to salute the MerchantMarines and their contribution to the war effort.

Lloyd Bacon directs with a firm, vigorous treatment of all the battlescenes and only occasionally does the film slow down when dealing withthe domestic front. Julie Bishop does a nice job as Bogart’s girlfriendand later wife, while Raymond Massey shares his domestic homecomingwith Ruth Gordon as his wife. But the film’s merits are chiefly due tothe action sequences, which are by far among the best ever featured ina Bogart film.

Action is what you get here…but don’t expect anything deep. Bogartfans won’t be disappointed. Dane Clark plays his usual hothead rolewith gusto and Alan Hale is a welcome addition to the supporting cast.

5) "Action in the North Atlantic" a war time tale of 1943 shows greatspecial effects and battle scenes that have a realistic look to them.In fact, the film which turned up on cable recently, was a totalsurprise. Director Lloyd Bacon showed a flair with this WWII dramaabout the men that operated the Merchant Marine.

We are taken to the North Atlantic where a group of ships are made toform a convoy, hoping that being so close to each other, they might beprotected from attacks. Little prepared the organizers of this idea forthe arrival of the infamous German submarines and planes. The actionone sees is centered in the Liberty ship that is heading for the oldSoviet Union. The heroic account of what the crew of that shipexperienced is a tribute to the courageous men that put their lives inperil in order to get their cargo to the different destinations.

Humphrey Bogart, as Lt. Joe Rossi, makes a great appearance. He istotally believable as the man who takes over for his wounded captainand brings the ship to safety. Raymond Massey plays Capt. Jarvis, a mantotally dedicated to his profession. Alan Hale, Sam Levene and DaneClark are seen as part of the brave crew of the Liberty. Ruth Gordonand Julie Bishop are the women left behind.

The film has a great black and white photography by Ted McCord and ahaunting musical score by Adolph Deutsch. The battle scenes were stagedby Lloyd Bacon with an uncredited assistance from Raoul Walsh and theyare amazing for what was accomplished in those days where thetechnology wasn’t so advanced.

6) Certainly there have been many war movies made about WWII. But this is theonly one I can recall that is about the Merchant Marines’ efforts. Madeduring the height of the war, this film boasts of a splendid cast (even ifthey are somewhat predictable in their characters), and spectacularcinematography. I highly recommend this film to those who have never seenit. Bogart & Massey are great. A solid 10.

7) Raymond Massey and Humphrey Bogart as captain and first mate of amerchant marine ship, see their first ship sunk by a German U-boat.They get a second ship and with some of their surviving crew from thefirst ship join an international convoy taking supplies to the SovietUnion.

From Halifax to Murmansk quite a flotilla of merchant ships from awhole lot of countries that had declared war on the Axis. The convoywas something like a sea going wagon train which was developed becauseindividual ships were easy prey for submarines. The seagoing wagontrain got a destroyer escort and they were armed now as well.

The merchant seaman were not technically part of the armed forces. Butthat didn't mean they weren't seeing a lot of action as Action in theNorth Atlantic so clearly demonstrates. Bad enough when the Lend leasewas to Great Britain, but when we became allies with the Soviets theonly places it could go were the ports of Murmansk and Archangel whenthey were ice free. That meant a voyage along the long Norwegian coastline which was occupied by Germany.

Bogart and Massey give strong portrayals of dedicated merchant seamanwhose life is tough enough in peace time. But they certainly have theright stuff in time of war. Some of the crew of their ship is DaneClark, Sam Levene, Peter Whitney, and Alan Hale who really steals everyscene he's in.

Action in the North Atlantic is filled with a lot of the flag wavingthat characterized Hollywood era World War II films. The derring doheroics are kept to a minimum. The situations the seaman encounter arequite real for the perilous undertaking they were involved in.

It could probably be remade today and maybe with some of today's starsshowing a new generation what it was like to be a merchant seaman inWorld War II>

I got to this movie more or less by chance and didn’t know thebackground. However, this thing is rather gripping, suspenseful andemotional. It stars H. Bogart and R. Massey as the 2nd in commandforced into the lead, when Massey as the skipper is heavily wounded inan air-attack on his Liberty freighter on the way to Murmansk. The shipis trailed by a German U-Boat, that is kept at distance during daylight, but will certainly torpedo them at night and prevents them fromrejoining their convoy, as they don’t want to disclose it’s course tothe Germans. How they finally go thru alive and reach Murmansk offersmany ways to show the heroics of the unlisted merchant sailors, whocontributed in the same way as the Navy to the victory in war. All thatis conveyed very well, sometimes to message-like, sometimes to muchpropaganda, but what you expect in 1943 ?. Some fun on the side : Inthe German (dubbed) version , all the Germans (esp. Pilots and SubMarine Commanders) speak a (original, non dubbed) heavy chewing gumEnglish, whereas the Americans speak perfect German. Such is the war(in the movies)

9) Of all the war films produced by Warners Bros during the 40’s, thisone stands out as one of the best. It brings it home to theaudience, what a magnificent and worthwhile job the merchantnavy did for the war effort. Humphrey Borgart (Joe Rossi ), anofficer in the American merchant navy, along with his skipperRaymond Massey, and the survivors of their crew, spend severaldays adrift, after being sunk by a German U boat. It is interesting tonote, that at the time the film was made, America had just comeinto the war, and the script makes several refences as why theyare fighting. One touching scene is when Raymond Masseycomes home to his wife. The later part of the story, is concernedwith a large convoy to Murmansk. Even now nearly 50 years afterthe it was made, the film stands up remarkably well, including thespecial effects, which are particularly well done.I adviseanybody,even if they are not interested in the last war , to see thisfilm, and say a special thanks to the men of the allied merchantnavy’s. It is pleasing to watch a film about the less glamorous sideof the Allied war effort.

10) It’s hard to dislike the Warner Brothers’ war movies of the 1940sdespite any weaknesses they might have had. They are inexpensive,unpretentious, and exciting. And, like most Warner Brothers flicks,they’re oriented towards a working-class audience. No fancyphilosophizing, no pop psych profundities, no ontological Angst.

"If dis fog gets any thicker we’ll have to cut our way through it.""Yeah. A good day to be at home with a blond and a book." "Oh, yeah?When did you loin to read?" "Who said I could read?" "But you said –"(Dissolve) There are the usual familiar faces in this one: Bogart,Massey, Alan Hale, Dane Clark, Sam Levene (great as always).

Basically, the story is that the crew of an American freighter istorpedoed in mid-Atlantic and their lifeboat is rammed by thesubmarine. Picked up, they later gather and form the crew of a newLiberty ship, the Sea Witch, and assigned to a large convoy destinedfor Murmansk, USSR. The convoy is attacked by a Nazi wolfpack andscatters. One submarine follows the Sea Witch and radios its positionto the Luftwaffe. Two Nazi planes are sent out to strafe and bomb theship but both are shot down after causing considerable damage to theship. The airplanes are curiously antiquated looking. I think themodels are supposed to represent Heinkel HE 59s. Finally, the skulkingsubmarine surface to shoot it out with the Sea Witch, fooled intothinking the Liberty ship is mortally wounded by a torpedo. (Cf., "TheEnemy Below.") The Sea Witch rams the submarine and sinks her and theGerman crew dies screaming as water pours in.

The men killed at sea are buried with proper ceremony, their names andranks read off, one by one — John Murphy, Joe Anderson, Frank Ribetti,Morris Goldberg — and Bogart after reading the burial service throwsin his own two cents worth about how "it could be any one of us lyingthere." Those Liberty ships, manned by civilian merchant seamen, werereally Doozies. The first series was slapped together by Kaiser. Ittook a few days to build each ship from keel to tiptoptagallant. Theywere small, unarmed, uncomfortable, and underpowered. They were builtin three modules that were then joined, and they had a tendency to comeapart at the seams in heavy weather.

And the North Atlantic offers what is probably the lousiest weather inthe northern hemisphere. The top speed of the ships was about 12 knots.Nicholas Monserrat, in his memoirs, describes being aboard an escortvessel in a convoy and watching the ships beating against a headwindthat reduced their flank speed to that of a man walking.

Anyway, there is a romance thrown in here so Bogart can be married, butit’s short, unobtrusive, and unsentimental. And, as in practicallyunavoidable in films describing duels between ships and submarines,there is as much suspense as there is action. At times the sea is moreof a threat than the enemy is. The action scenes, when they come, arefast, arousing, and a little confusing.

As a footnote, the Merchant Marine was not well thought of by the ArmedServices because, as civilians, their pay rate was far higher than thatof enlisted men. Nevertheless, it was extremely dangerous duty and thepercentage of men killed at sea was higher than in any branch of theservice.

A good example of Warners’ craftsmanship, a simple tale, skillfullydone.

• Desert footage was shot by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack in 1937 for an unmade film.
• Film debut of Michael Ansara.

2) Two Western journalists are on their way home through Syria when they see afamiliar face talk with the daughter of an Arab leader. When one followsthe man later that night, he is found dead. His colleague Michael Gordoninvestigates and finds clues pointing to a plot to pervert the leadership ofthe tribes and lead them with the Nazi’s against the alliedforces.

I watched this film simply because the title caught my eye in the schedules. Given the fact that the screening occurred while other channels werecovering the war on Iraq as part of their news cycle, I initially assumed itwas a documentary of some sort. A look to see it was a film made decadesago suggested that the schedulers had maybe been guilty of bad taste. However watching it there was little to support this thought.

The film is set in the Middle East which, in this film, spreads from Iraqacross into Africa ending in Morocco. The politics of the area aredifficult now and were still complex when this film was made, so the plotdecides to mostly ignore internal issues and focus on the bigger picture ofthe Nazi threat. By doing so it becomes a bit of propaganda that almostworks quite well, but mostly means the plot becomes quite straightforward. The film focuses on the potential for the Nazi’s to use the tribes to sweepthrough the Middle East and Africa and Gordon’s investigation to stop it. Mostly the film is very talky and even the action scenes are quitepedestrian (despite the music played loudly thought them), this would be OKif it had a bit more twists and turns but really it goes where you expect itto. This is not to say it is bad – but it is pretty unremarkable.

Sanders plays it as usual – upright, tough and gentlemanly, he also is quitestiff and unanimated. This works well for the majority but I would haveliked a little more heart in it. The support cast are all OK but arestrangely (or perhaps not so strangely) made up of mostly white charactersplaying Arabs – only the crowd shots appear to use non-white faces. Thisisn’t a major detraction but it is a distraction at times – esp whensupposed Arab princesses are played by white women who would be more at homeshopping in Manhattan.

Overall this is a sturdy little film that is short but still feels a littletoo long. The straightforward plot and talky nature make it feel a littledull at times but there is just enough going on to hold theinterest.

3) Action in Arabia opens with an introduction by the narrator, whiledisplaying a boundary map of Africa, europe, and the middle east as of1944. Starring the dashing George Sanders (from All About Eve) and GeneLockhart, we go running around Syria looking for those Nazi's during WWII. Also look for H B Warner (who had played the great "Chang" in LostHorizon, and JC in "King of Kings"). There has to be a lovely lady atthe center of these things, and here its Virginia Bruce playing YvonneDanesco, the wife of a crooked gambler, at the very least. People startgetting knocked off, and away we go! Because we're off in a far awayland, and chasing spies, its quite exotic, but according to IMDb, itsmostly all filmed in LA. Scoping out the cast list, apparently BudWiser played "the man"…… actually, the beer WAS first; it has beenaround since 1883! Directed by Russian turned Frenchman Leonide Moguy,this was only one of the three English speaking films he did between1936 and 1961. With some arabic ,german, and french language thrown in,a fun war-time adventure.

4) George Sanders experiences some "Action in Arabia" in this 1944 RKOfilm that also stars Virginia Bruce. Sanders is a reporter in Damascuswho wants to find the killers of a fellow reporter. He uncovers a Naziplot of the Germans attempting to turn the Arabs against the Allies.

It's not much, but there's some great action, and if you're a fan ofGeorge Sanders, he's at his elegant best in this, beautifully dressedand very smooth.

There are nice performances from an able supporting cast that includesGene Lockhart, Alan Napier (that's Alfred the Butler on Batman), andH.B. Warner.

A small propaganda film, reminiscent in its way of Casablanca, butpleasant enough.

Vidal was a matinée idol in his day, but his smarmy, wisecracking,ladykiller persona looks as dated as the blazer and cravat he wearsthrough much of the film. You won't believe in the reality of thischaracter for a moment, and the whimsical seduction scenes will makeyou want to throw a chair at him. The villains too (with one exception)are a bland bunch of stereotypes, barely more animated than thecheap-looking studio sets and the uninspired locations (please, notanother shoot-out in a dockside warehouse!).

That exception I mentioned is Lino Ventura, who plays one of his mostvicious screen characters here. The scene where he attempts to murderBarbara Laage is probably the highlight of the movie. Sadly he onlygets about 10 minutes of screen time; it's a good performance, but tomarket this as a Ventura film, as the French DVD publisher is doing, ispushing it a bit.

2) Based on Paul Kenny's novel ,it features his secret agent ,FrancisCoplan .In the wake of the success of James Bond,the director,MauriceLabro would continue in the sixties,with another Coplan ("Coplan PrendDes Risques " ),and two others ,a pleasant harmless "Corrida Pour UnEspion" and a dud "Casse-Tête Chinois Pour Le Judoka " which broughthis career to an end.

Henri Vidal ,the most handsome actor of the fifties ,plays Coplan,butpeople might want to see this flick for Lino Ventura,in one of his rareparts of a villain (before he became famous ,he was given those roles).Nicole Maurey starred in Bresson's "Journal D'un Curé De Campagne".It's a far cry from it.

3) If you're fond of 1950's US cars, women's clothes and hairdo's, midcentury modern interiors and nice houses, don't miss this movie.Furthermore, the dialog's are really funny, with a hint of Oscar Wildehere and there…. (Aaah, I'm a victim of my reputation. No, it's yourreputation that makes victims….) Unfortunately enough, most of thejokes only work in French, and you'll need to master the subtleties ofthe French language to understand the comic angle: so keep in mind that80 % of the power of the dialog's will be lost, when you're watching atranslated or dubbed version.

I'm quite surprised that some of the commentators seem to have missedthe point, that Action Immediate clearly aims at being a parody ofspy/gangster movies, but even more of the French intellectuallover-boy. The first remark is the reason why the bad guys have to lookas cheap imitations of tougher gangsters or spies. The second remark iswhy special agent Francis Coplan is quite different in this movie thanhe is in the books of Paul Kenny. Sure…. Henri Vidal clearly is noJean Marais (Fantomas) nor an Alain Delon (Les Félins, Scorpio…) orUS counterpart. He has no square jawbone, piercing eyes, no highlymuscular feline body… He's neither a smooth operator à la Cary Grant,when it comes to approach the ladies. His exuberant clumsiness ratherreminds me of Jean-Paul Belmondo in the 1970's, not exactly France'smost handsome actor either, but still popular with the ladies. Could itbe, than, that the underlying message this movie is sending out isthat, well, some women rather fall for "cute" clumsiness in theDroopy-style, and appreciate some wisecracking communication much morethan the ice-cold semi-god like types as often portrayed by Alain Delonor Clint Eastwood ? Aha ! Think that one over ! The makers of thismovie clearly wanted to appeal to a larger crowd than the FrancisCoplan fans. And frankly, the Paul Kenny character known to the readersof the Fleuve Noir-detective novels –which edited the Coplan books-would probably have been far too brutal for the average 1957 French orBelgian moviegoers. In the books there was more room for violence and'sex', less for the wisecracks. This deliberate choice for moreinnocence certainly will have disappointed a lot of Coplan-fans… Butwell, the quite funny dialog's surely pleased lots of others… Andstill appeal to me…But then again, I never quite liked the modernanswer to these so-called old fashioned movies … Dialogs with as muchas possible "prohibited words" just for the fun to shock never quiteappealed to me… Try "Doublecrossed" (1991) with Dennis Hopper as amild introduction if you don't know what I mean…

The diabetic heavyweight former TV hunk weighed in at a whopping 350pounds with associated heart failure when doctors told him he wasmorbidly obese – and they suggested life saving Mini-Gastric Bypasssurgery with the pioneer of the MGB, Dr. Rutledge in Las Vegas Nevada.

The 66-year-old actor, who played Rogers on TV from 1979 to 1981,agreed to let Discovery Health channel cameras follow his operationsand subsequent progress.

The story shows the star prior to surgery, seriously ill anddebilitated by his obesity and then follows him through the operatingroom and home the following year as he is transformed into his formerself.

Fellow Arkansas friends former president Bill Clinton and Governor MikeHuckabee join Gerard for part of the Discovery special to discuss thedanger of obesity in America

2) I watched the Action Hero Makeover last evening, and I was so happy tosee that Gil chose to take charge of his life by having gastric bypass.As someone who also struggles with their weight, seeing someone who wasa big part of my childhood have the same struggles did a lot to inspireme. While I have chosen not to have surgery, and am seeing wonderfulresults through diet and exercise, I applaud Gil for doing what heneeded to do to get his health back. It's good to see him healthy andactive again.

Try to catch this moving story on Discovery whenever it shows again.Gil's transformation in one year is tremendous! I wish him many yearsof health and happiness.