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Reviews
Scandal Sheet (1952)
Nice performance from John Derek
John Derek is best known as marrying hot women who all looked a lot alike. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the performance her turned in here as an agressive New York City newspaper reporter. He's agressive, charming, definitely owns the screen. Publicity for the film, including a shot on the movie poster, suggests there some romance between the characters of Derek and Donna Reed. But that's not the case. Reed, goregous as ever, plays a no-nonsense, strong-willed reporter of her own, who tries to put Derek in his place. The movie plays out with a solid murder case, with some twists and turns, and a good backdrop of the sensational thirst for newspaper readership. Nice small role for Harry Morgan as a fast-talking newspaper photographer. Broderick Crawford gives a stiff performance as the newspaper editor at the center of it all; if that role had been better cast, this movie might have been more memorable.
Ride Out for Revenge (1957)
Mediocre performances, weak material
The story plays off of the hatred of Native Americans, and although there is a thread of support for equality and fairness, there's enough race-baiting stereotypes here to satisfy all spectrum of viewers. Gloria Grahame delivers a mannered, poor performance as a spurned love interest. The material is weak; her character goes from hating Indians (they killed her husband) to delivering a sanctimonious speech about hatred toward the end. Lloyd Bridges is over the top, easy to loathe. His character is a weasel. We get to see Vince Edwards, the future Dr. Ben Casey, as an indian. The best performance here is from Rory Calhoun, whose character has a strong moral compass; his performance is good leading man material. He's cool, relaxed and steady. Calhoun is the only reason to enjoy the film. Overall, not much new ground covered in this film. Nothing special.