The son of a mailman, Clifford Benton was born in Colorado but grew up in Idaho and got his education at Chicago’s Art Institute. After serving in World War I, Benton found success as an illustrator and photographer. Along with his work with the pulps, he spent 20 years working for the National Safety Council, illustrating pamphlets and books about how live safely in a changing era.
Here’s a small sampling of his pulp work:
Seeing as how today is Clint Eastwood’s birthday, it seems only appropriate that our song of the day should come from the score of one of his best films. From 1973’s Magnum Force, here is Lalo Schifrin’s theme:
Today, we wish a happy 89th birthday to the one and only Clint Eastwood!
Clint Eastwood is an American icon. In many ways, his persona epitomizes all of the contrasts and extremes of the American experience. A political conservative who specializes in playing taciturn and rather grouchy men, he is also one of our most humanistic directors, specializing in films that often question the traditional view of history and morality. He may have first become a star in Europe but Clint Eastwood is definitely an American original.
In honor of his birthday, I’m sharing a scene that I love from 1971’s Dirty Harry. In this scene, Detective Harry Callahan (Clint Eastwood) meets the Mayor of San Francisco (John Vernon). The mayor is concerned that there’s a psycho on the loose, gunning people down and demanding money. Callahan’s annoyed that he’s spent a lot of time sitting in a waiting room. Things pretty much go downhill from there.
There’s so much that I love about this scene. Both Eastwood and Vernon do a wonderful job playing off of each other. The Mayor may be in charge of the city but Callahan probably didn’t vote for him. One thing that I especially love about this scene is the look of annoyance that crosses Harry’s face whenever he’s interrupted.
And, of course, there’s that final line! Eastwood does a great job explaining Harry’s “policy” but ultimately, it’s Vernon’s “I think he’s got a point,” that provides the perfect closing note.
Happy birthday, Mr. Eastwood!
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood!
4 Shots From 4 Clint Eastwood Films
A Fistful of Dollars (1964, dir by Sergio Leone)
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976, dir by Clint Eastwood)
Tightrope (1984, dir by Richard Tuggle and Clint Eastwood)
A Perfect World (1993, dir by Clint Eastwood)
Painting by Dave Walker
Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood!
Corey Hart is best known for defining the 80s with Sunglasses At Night but, as the saying goes, he did have other songs.
Bang (Starting Over) is the title track from Hart’s fifth album, Bang. Unfortunately, Bang only produced one moderate hit and it wasn’t this song. I say unfortunately because Bang (Starting Over) is actually a pretty good song and it just had the misfortune to be released at a time when musical tastes were changing. Both the song and Hart are better appreciated now than they were in 1990.
This video was directed by Meier Avis, who has directed videos for just about everyone.
Enjoy!
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Saved By The Bell, which ran on NBC from 1989 to 1993. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!
This week, Screech’s parents are gone. It’s time to party like Elvis!
Episode 2.5 “House Party”
(Dir by Don Barnhart, originally aired on October 6th, 1990)
Mrs. Powers (Ruth Buzzi) and her husband go to Graceland for their anniversary, leaving Screech alone for a few days. It’s time to have the boys over so that they can lip-sync to the Beach Boys! Unfortunately, when the girls come over to laugh at the boys, a bust of Elvis is shattered. It’ll cost $250 to replace! Despite the fact that all of the main characters — with the exception of Kelly and Slater — come from wealthy families, everyone claims to not have any money. You know who does have money? Max Nerdstrom (Jeff Asch)! Max also has a girlfriend named Violet (Tori Spelling), who has a crush on Screech. (Or Samuel, as she calls him.)
This is an important episode in the history of Saved By The Bell, in that it not only introduces us to Violet Bickerstaff but it also establishes that Tori Spelling was bad actress even before she was cast on 90210. (If anything, Spelling is actually better-cast as Violet than as Donna Martin because Violet was at least supposed to be awkward and cringey.) This episode also introduced us to Max Nerdstrom, a great character who only appeared once but who should have been a regular member of the cast. That said, it’s also obvious that the only reason this episode was made was so Slater, Screech, and Zack could do the Barbara Ann scene. It’s all pretty obviously ripped off from Risky Business, just without the prostitutes and Tangerine Dream soundtrack.
How to raise the money to replace the statue? Zack challenged Max to a poker game and ends up losing not only another $250 but also the Powers family dog. If Zack had $250 to lose in a poker game, how come he didn’t have it to buy a new Elvis? Seriously, don’t try to follow Bayside logic. Jessie has to go on a date with Max in order to get the dog bac and Zack throws a party to raise money for the new statue. Mrs. Powers arrives home early and announces that she told Screech that he wasn’t allowed to throw any parties. Zack announces that it’s a surprise anniversary party for Mrs. Powers and her husband (who is apparently just sitting out in the car while all this is going on). Why would a bunch of teenagers throw an anniversary party for a 50-something Elvis fan?
Bayside logic, baby!
It still a cute episode.
Diff’Rent Strokes (Tubi)
Kimberly developed Bulimia but it only took her one episode to both kick the habit and recover her health.
Election Day Coverage (Tuesday Night)
It was interesting to watch the results from the Texas run-off election on Tuesday night. I was happy to see that my former Congressman Colin Allred defeated my current Congressperson Julie Johnson in a totally different district from the one in which I currently live. When he was my congressman, Allred was a bit liberal for me but he was still tried to take care of his district. Julie, meanwhile, just spent all of her time cursing on television.
George Gently (YouTube)
I watched another depressing episode of this UK cop show on Tuesday.
Good Times (Tubi)
Damn! Damn! Damn! James, the patriarch of the family, died in a car accident. And then Florida remarried an atheist and moved with him to Arizona because he had cancer. She left her children behind in Chicago. For some reason, the kids kept talking about how they had to get out of “the ghetto” and I was like, “Well, why didn’t you go to Arizona with your mom!?” Then Florida returned home without the atheist (I guess he died) and her daughter married a crippled football player and JJ ended up as a numbers runner. I watched a few random Good Times episodes this week.
Indianapolis 500 (Sunday Afternoon)
There’s nothing more gloriously American.
Ken and Barbie Killers: The Lost Murder Tapes (HBOMax)
This was another documentary about the Canadian serial killers, Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka. You really can’t hate these two enough. Bernardo is in prison. Homolka, on the other hand, is free and living somewhere in Canada.
Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger (Shout Factory TV)
I watched three episodes of this weird Japanese series on Saturday morning. Monsters were everywhere but luckily, so were some people who were apparently descended from dinosaurs. I really couldn’t follow the plot but the saber-tooth tiger was cute.
Muscles and Mayhem: The Untold Story of American Gladiators (Hulu)
American Gladiators is a show that I never watched but I still found this documentary to be an interesting look at the intersection of pop culture and steroid abuse.
Night Flight (Night Flight+)
I watched two episodes on Friday night, one about afrobeat music and one about heavy metal.
Seinfeld (Netflix)
So, George like totally murdered his fiancée.
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Baywatch, which ran on NBC and then in syndication from 1989 to 2001. The entire show can be viewed on Tubi.
This week, Eddie tries to change a young man’s life.
Episode 2.6 “Point Attack”
(Dir by Alan Myerson, originally aired on October 21st, 1991)
Cort returns!
When the syndicated version of Baywatch first aired, John D. Cort (John Allen Nelson) was among the first season cast members who were no longer on the beach. His absence was not addressed. With this episode, we learn that he’s been in either South America, Kuwait, or Asia. No one’s sure. To me, it sounds like Cort’s a drug smugler.
Anyway, Cort shows up on the beach, just in time to help Eddie break up a gang fight! Eddie, remembering his own tough past in Philadelphia, arranges for the gang members to become a part of W.A.T.A.R., a lifeguard-run program for troubled youths. This the second episode of Baywatch’s second season to feature a gang subplot. It’s hard not to notice that whenever anyone who isn’t white shows up on this show, they’re always portrayed as being 1) poor and 2) affiliated with a gang.
Eddie hopes that he can convince gang leader Memo (Richard Coca) to change his ways. Unfortunately, Memo’s father (Danny Trejo) wants his son to follow in his footsteps as a gang member.
When told that Memo is facing jail, his father says that’s no big deal and adds, “I did time!”
“So did I,” Eddie replies.
Eddie — do you really want to challenge Danny Trejo on the subject of prison?
On the one hand, it’s always good to see Danny Trejo and there’s a definite authenticity to his performance that the rest of this episode lacks. At the same time, having Trejo around makes it all the more clear just how miscast Billy Warlock was a former juvenile delinquent-turned-lifeguard. Watching this episode, I could buy Billy Warlock as someone who could save me if I was drowning. (Thanks, Billy!) But seeing him a graduate of the hard streets of Philadelphia? That was a step too far.
As for the rest of this episode, Cort is far less of a rogue in this episode and he even helps out with the W.A.T.A.R. program. (If anything John Allen Nelson seems to get all the lines that would usually have gone to David Hasselhoff, who is barely in this episode.) When Eddie catches Memo trying to steal from the locker room, there’s a chase scene that goes on for so long that I was literally wondering if Eddie and Memo were eventually going to end up back at Baywatch Headquarters. I’m all for a good action scene but this chase went on for so long that it verged on parody and left me wondering if maybe the show’s director realized, at the last minute, that the episode needed padding.
Unfortunately, Danny Trejo and David Hasselhoff don’t share any scenes in this episode. As mentioned earlier, the Hoff is barely in it! That seems like a missed opportunity to me.
Detective Yarns Magazine was published from 1938 to 1941. It featured detective stories from some of the best and the worst writers of the era. Eventually, it was renamed Black Hood Detective. Then it was called Hooded Detective. Over the next 16 years it was called Crack Detective, Crack Detective Stories, Famous Detective, Famous Detective Stories, and finally Crack Detective And Mystery Stories.
Whatever the title, the tough guy and sexy dame content remained the same. Here are a few of the covers of Detective Yarns Magazine.
by A. Leslie Ross
by William Soare
by William Soare
by John Walter Scott
Unknown Artist
by John Walter Scott
by William Soare
by William Soare
Through the Shattered Lens 