This month, we're focusing on quotes from John Ford films. We will list a quote from one of his movies and ask you to name it. Try to answer these questions on your own without resorting to Google searches. As always, please answer no more than three questions per day so others can play.  If you have a response other than the intended one, just be able to defend it. 1. "Everything I ever learnt as a small boy came from my father, and I never found anything he ever told me to be wrong or worthless. The simple lessons he taught me are as sharp and clear in my mind as if I had heard them on ..read more

A Study in Terror (1965).  Murder By Decree (1979) may be the best known pairing of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper--but it wasn't the first. That distinction belongs to the mostly forgotten A Study in Terror. Produced with the cooperation of the Arthur Conan Doyle estate, A Study in Terror boasts an original screenplay that finds Holmes investigating a series of brutal murders in London's Whitehall area. His interest is peaked when he receives a case of surgical instruments that is missing the scalpel, the type of instrument that Scotland Yard believes was used in the murders ..read more

Nigel Davenport as John Custance. Actor Cornel Wilde directed eight films, beginning with 1955's Storm Fear. His best picture is The Naked Prey (1965), in which he also stars as a safari guide being hunted down by African tribesmen. It's a lean, gripping adventure that showcased Wilde's promising future as a first-rate filmmaker. Unfortunately, Wilde never realized that potential as a director, as evidenced by his bizarre 1970 science fiction opus No Blade of Blade. The film opens with a five-minute montage showing man's pollution of the environment, accompanied by the melancholy titl ..read more

Guy Williams as Zorro. 1. Walt Disney launched his Zorro TV series on ABC in October 1957. Despite airing on Thursday nights against the Top 10 show You Bet Your Life, Zorro was an immediate hit. The first season's 39 episodes were divided into three 13-episode story arcs. In effect, each story played out like a 13-episode serial. That structure was retained for the second season, but the length of the story arcs was shortened. Zorro's ratings dipped that season, but ABC was still interested in renewing the show on a limited basis. Unfortunately, a legal dispute between Disn ..read more

Clu Gulager and Lee Marvin. The Killers (1964). Don Siegel's adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1946 short story "The Killers" is sadly overshadowed by the 1946 film version that made stars of Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner. Siegel's The Killers is a lean, fast-paced drama that borrows elements from the 1946 movie, but alters the narrative path. Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager play contract killers Charlie and Lee, who are hired to murder former race car driver Johnny North. The job goes off without a hitch, but Charlie (Marvin), the more experienced hit man, is bothered ..read more

This month, we're doing something a little different for the Alternate Movie Title Game. The "titles" below have been compiled from some of our previous games--so this is sort of a greatest hits edition! The rules are the same: We will provide an "alternate title" for a famous movie and ask you to name the film. Please answer no more than three questions per day so others can play. You may have an answer other than the intended one--just be able to defend it! 1. The Lying--But Likable--Magazine Columnist's Holiday in New England. 2. Hole of Vipers. 3. Incident at the Black Mesa ..read more

James Mason as Charles Dobbs. The Deadly Affair (1967). James Mason stars as Charles Dobbs--a renamed George Smiley--in Sidney Lumet's moderately successful adaptation of John Le Carre's novel Call for the Dead. The plot is more mystery than espionage as Dobbs tries to discover whether a diplomat (recently cleared of spying) committed suicide or was murdered. While the authorities are content with an explanation of suicide, Dobbs can't rationalize why the dead man requested a wake-up call the night of his death. Director Lumet creates a visually compelling tapestry filled wi ..read more

Chaney Jr. and the black bag. The most incongruent entry in Universal's six-film Inner Sanctum series is also one of the best. Whereas its brethren are psychological suspense tales, Strange Confession (1945) is a straight drama with a subtly gruesome conclusion. Series regular Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Jeff Carter, a chemist who wants to make a difference for humanity. As he often says, Jeff doesn't care about money nor glory. His attitude and work ethic are exploited by his employer (J. Carrol Naish), the unscrupulous head of a pharmaceutical company. When Jeff refuses to rush a ..read more

Here are the rules: We will provide an "alternate title" for a movie musical and ask you to name the actual film. Most of these are pretty easy. Please answer no more than three questions per day so others can play. You may have an answer other than the intended one--just be able to defend it! 1. Columbia Inn. 2. A Man Named Detroit. 3. I Am Going to Like It Here. 4. Avalanche in Echo Pass! 5. The Think System. 6. The Parish Boy's Progress (this might be a little difficult). 7. Umbrella, Brooms, and Kites. 8. Chance Is a Fool's Name for Fate. 9. A Whole Lot of Young Ladies. 10 ..read more

John Cassavetes glares. The opening of notes of Jay Livingston and Ray Evans's title tune--a torch song whispered intimately by Julie London--lets you know that Saddle the Wind (1958) won't be a conventional Western. But if you start to doubt that notion, Rod Serling's credit as screenwriter and the casting of John Cassavetes as an unhinged cowboy will dispel any such notions.  Robert Taylor stars as Steve Sinclair, a reformed gunfighter who operates a mid-sized ranch in a scenic valley. Steve spends a lot of his time looking out for his younger brother--and surrogate s ..read more