Tag Archives: Humphrey Bogart

NOVEMBER 2021 ON TCM

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November 2021 on TCM is going to be terrific for us Lee Marvin fans. They’ll be showing three of his films and a plethora of other films related to his career. The choices may seem to be a bit of a stretch, but one need merely read Lee Marvin Point Blank to see it’s no stretch at all. The titles below bear this out:

The Rack (1956) Thursday, November 11, 3 a.m.

As Capt. John R. Miller, Lee Marvin perpetrates an ambush on fellow P.O.W. Paul Newman that sets the tone of the film.


Starring Paul Newman in one of his first films, Marvin costars in a small yet important role as a fellow Korean War-era P.O.W. who testifies during Newman’s court-martial for collaborating with the enemy. A similar theme akin to Marvin’s Sergeant Ryker (1968), the film is rather dated but does have its moments, due mainly to the all-star cast. Interesting trivia discovered by yours truly after my book came out but blogged about here.

The Dirty Dozen (1967) Thursday, November 11, 12:30 p.m.

Composite of scenes from the TCM perennial, THE DIRY DOZEN.


A TCM favorite that is, like The Rack, airing appropriately enough on Veteran’s Day this November 2021. There’s not much more that I can possibly say about this timeless classic that made me a Lee Marvin fan and also hoisted him into the rare atmosphere of superstardom but as my next project suggests, I’m discovering fascinating, unheard of details all the time, so stay tuned!


The Professionals (1966) Saturday, November 20, 9 a.m. 

The Professionals, 1966.


Not only one of Lee Marvin’s best films, but a solid classic in its own right, The Professionals deserves a much better reputation than its legacy suggests, which means no matter how many times you’ve seen it, you’ll want to see it again…and again, and again. Yeah, it’s that good. See for yourself if you don’t believe me and discover also some behind-the-scene factoids along the way.  

Below are some other films airing November 2021 that have an interesting connection to Lee Marvin’s career:



Out of the Past (1947) Friday, November 12, 10:30 a.m.

Foreign issue poster for OUT OF THE PAST highlighting the male leads.


Considered by many to be one of, if not the greatest film noir of all time, Marvin would have fit in quite comfortably in this film, although it was made before he launched his acting career. Robert Mitchum stars as a man looking to forget his dubious past but his former gangster boss played by Kirk Douglas ferrets him to find his femme fatale girlfriend played by Jane Greer. Naturally sparks fly and soon all hell breaks lose. Marvin would be right in either role but I’d like to think he’d add and extra something in the Kirk Douglas role. You be the judge.

The French Connection (1971) Saturday, November 13, 5 p.m.

(L-R) Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider and Fernando Rey pictured in the DVD graphic for THE FRENCH CONNECTION.


Quite possibly the best 1970s cop film ever that once again, just gets better with the passage of time. Airing for the film’s 50th anniversary, Gene Hackman earned a well-deserved Best Actor Oscar as Popeye Doyle, a tough cop doggedly determined to bust the biggest heroin ring in NYC history. Based on the real life exploits of Eddie Egan (who, along with partner Sonny Grosso, had supporting roles in the films), it also won the Oscar for Best Picture. All well and good and all properly documented. So, what is it doing in this compendium of Lee Marvin films and themes? I recently discovered that Marvin was considered (among many others) for the lead role. Seriously. Would have been interesting but in all honesty, I’m actually glad he didn’t do it. No one could have been better than Hackman.

The Lineup (1958) Saturday, November 13, 9 p.m.

Original poster for THE LINEUP.


Based on the CBS radio and TV series of the same name, this obscure little thriller pairs Eli Wallach and Robert Keith as a couple of professional criminals looking to retrieve a cache of smuggled heroin. So, once again, why is it mentioned here? The film was directed by the underrated Don Siegel who often provided brilliance on a small budget, such as the similar-themed The Killers (1964) a few years later. Watch the relationship between psychotic Wallach and his mentor Keith and see if it reminds you of Marvin and Clu Gulager. If you do watch it, make sure to check out that slam bang ending!

The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1948) Monday, November 15, 1 pm and Saturday, November, 27, 2:45 pm. 

Mostly in shadow, Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt brutally battle big Barton MacLane for the money he owes them.



A classic in its own right, it also stands as one of Lee Marvin’s personal favorite films. And with good reason, as I showed in an earlier blog. Its reputation is well deserved but I’ll add my own two cents. I’ve never really been that big of a Humphrey Bogart fan, depending largely on the film itself. I thought the man came off rather stiff too often. However, when he played characters dangling on the edge of sanity as in The Caine Mutiny (1954) or In A Lonely Place (1950), then he was something to see. No where is that more true than his performance here as Fred C. Dobbs. It’s brilliant.

The Split (1968) Wednesday, November 24, 2:30 p.m. 

Someone forgot to tell Warren Oates to smile as this poster for THE SPLIT suggests.


Hot off the success of The Dirty Dozen, big Jim Brown reteams with fellow Dozen alum Ernest Borgnine and Donald Sutherland in this variation of Point Blank with a fascinating cast and premise. Brown is recently released from prison and is hired by mob boss Julie Harris (!) to rob a football stadium with cohorts Borgnine and Sutherland along with Warren Oates and Jack Klugman. As a typical 60s caper film it fits its time period but the sparks really fly AFTER the caper as the title suggests. Diahann Carroll is Brown’s love interest, Gene Hackman is a crooked cop who wants a piece of the split and James Whitmore is a psychotic sex criminal as crazed as any movie villain can be. Some cast, huh? Point Blank connection aside, check it out for yourself for that powerhouse cast alone!

So, there you have some cinematic goodies and thoughts about them that are airing November 2021 on TCM. Enjoy!

– Dwayne Epstein

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MARCH 2021 ON TCM

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March 2021 is upon us and with it comes some Lee Marvin goodies from TCM. Readers of Lee Marvin Point Blank may see the connections to the choices and those who don’t, read on!
Below are the films, the reasons chosen and the airdates. Check local listings for time in your zone….

The Big Leaguer (1953), Saturday, March 6th:

(L-R) Director Robert Aldrich and costars Lee Marvin & Ernest Borgnine at the initial script conference for THE DIRTY DOZEN.


Since March is the start of the major league baseball season (although who knows with the pandemic upon us!), TCM has decided to air this interesting little gem. Edward G. Robinson stars in one of his final lead roles as the coach of the then New York Giants and what he must go through in scouting, training and choosing his young talent. It was the first film of the man who directed Lee Marvin in Attack!, The Dirty Dozen and Emperor of the North, one Robert Aldrich. It even has frequent Aldrich cast member Richard Jaeckel in it. Watch and see if you can detect Aldrich’s future talent. Oh, and speaking of the great Robinson, Lee Marvin recounts a terrific anecdote about meeting him at a Hollywood party that’s a favorite in Lee Marvin Point Blank. 

I Shot Jesse James (1949), Monday, March 8th:

(L-R) Director John Boorman is visited by Sam Fuller & Lee Marvin while filming THE BIG RED ONE in Ireland.


Speaking of Lee Marvin directors making their debut, this little programmer has the distinction of being the first film directed by maverick legend Sam Fuller. Fuller’s gut punch style of filmmaking is on full display here with the underrated John Ireland as the title character. I always liked what Scorsese said of Fuller’s style: “If you don’t like Sam’s movies, you just don’t like movies.” I got to know Sam at the end of his life and agree with Scorsese’s opinion. Marvin waited decades to work with Fuller (almost did a few times) but finally did in the underrated WWII-era film, The Big Red One.

Bad Day at Black Rock (1955), Saturday, March 20th:

The mostly male cast of BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK: (L-R) Dean Jagger, Walter Sande, Lee, Walter Brennan, Russell Collins, Robert Ryan and Spencer Tracy.


Celebrate the first day of Spring this March 2021 with this classic modern western thriller. Mysterious one-armed Spencer Tracy heads an all-star cast in this taut suspense film with plenty of action thrown in along the way. It set the standard for such productions and Lee Marvin, in a minor role more than holds his own against such heavyweights as Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Ernest Borgnine and Tracy himself. I was fortunate to interview costar John Ericson and the film’s Oscar-nominated screenwriter Millard Kaufman who became a good friend of Marvin’s over the years. The tales that were told are all in the book. 

The Caine Mutiny (1954), Sunday March 21st: 

Lee Marvin (“Meatball”) and Claude Akins (“Horrible”) in Edward Dymytrk’s THE CAINE MUTINY (1954).

Marvin was fortunate enough to work with some of the most legendary male stars in cinema throughout his lengthy apprenticeship. In fact, with the possible exception of Clark Gable, he worked in support of practically all of them! The impressive list includes Tyrone Power, Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift, the aforementioned Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Paul Newman, John Cassavetes, Anthony Quinn, Randolph Scott and more! Here he is lending comic support to the great Humphrey Bogart in one of Bogart’s last and best performances. Bogart is the paranoid Captain Queeg of the U.S.S. Caine and few actors could portray mental illness as well as Bogie. Contrary to rumor, Marvin was not an uncredited technical advisor on the film, mainly because he had been a Marine and not a sailor, which Bogart was in real life. I interviewed the film’s director, Edward Dymytrk at the legendary Musso & Frank’s, and the anecdotes, as with others I spoke with, were put in my book. 

Stylishly filmed, this fight scene with Bogie and Tim Holt vs. Barton McLane in THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE is a classic.

The Treasure of Sierra Madre (1949), Saturday, March 27th: 

This classic is of course not a Lee Marvin film but he is on record as calling it one of his favorites, and for good reason. As he had in The Caine Mutiny, Bogart again shows his mastery in exploring a growing paranoia but this time its in the midst of a gold strike in the mountains of Mexico. Director John Huston guided his father Walter to a worthy Best Supporting Actor Oscar with Tim Holt along for the ride. Why did Marvin consider this film a favorite? The fight scene toward the beginning is the main reason. I completely agree with his reasoning and said as much in a previous blog entry. It’s considered a classic for a reason. 

So there you have it: March 2021 on TCM for Lee Marvin fans. By the way, there some other non-Lee Marvin related personal favorites being aired on TCM for March 2021 to also look out for:
Sweet Smell of Success (March 3rd); Boy Meets Girl (March 4th); Brute Force (March 5th); A Face in The Crowd (March 6th); Lust For Life & The Great Train Robbery (March 6th); Red River (March 8th); The Adventures of Robin Hood (March 9th); Fool’s Parade (March 10th); Straight Time (March 11th); Inherit the Wind (March 13th); The Quiet Man (March 17th); Ice Station Zebra (March 18th); Anatomy of A Murder (March 20th); My Favorite Year & Oliver! March 21st) Bugsy Malone (March 23rd); The Marrying Kind & Charade (March 28th); Mickey One (March 30th); The Candidate (March 31st). 

Thank the classic movie gods for TCM!

– Dwayne Epstein

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MERV GRIFFIN INTERVIEWS LEE MARVIN: 1985

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Merv Griffin, the former big band singer and later TV talk show host/game show producer, interviewed Lee Marvin on his show many times. Marvin was a natural on talk shows, with his rolling eyes and mugging takes to the audience.

Screen capture of Lee Marvin being interviewed by Merv Griffin, circa 1985.

Long before the advent of streaming media or video-on-demand, the public could purchase box sets of old TV shows that came from the vaults that producers would pick and choose the “Best of…” Griffin’s long running show, first on a major network and then later in syndication, boasted many fascinating guests that I often looked forward to seeing on a daily basis. In 2006, he wisely entered the arena of public consumption by doing such a box set of his interviews.

Cover of Merv Griffin’s box set.

I wasn’t particularly a fan of the show as Griffin’s interview style was a bit annoying but the guests who agreed to be on his show were often worth tuning in for. Check out the graphics on the box set to drive the point home….

Back of the Merv Griffin DVD box set listing the remarkable guest list.

I wanted to post the interview he did with Lee on this blog a while ago but unfortunately, I’m not technically proficient enough to pull that off. Luckily, via social media someone else did and it’s quite a fascinating throwback. Griffin asks Marvin about working with the likes of Humphrey Bogart (The Caine Mutiny) and Spencer Tracy (Bad Day at Black Rock),  answering similarly as he did in his interview with Charles Bronson. Best of all, Griffin includes a clip from an interview he did with Marvin and Jim Brown in England while they were making The Dirty Dozen.

(L-R) Jim Brown, Lee Marvin & Merv Griffin in The Red Lion Pub in England.

Okay, enough prologue. On with the clip linked below.
Notice how I never once mentioned my award-winning NY Times Bestseller, Lee Marvin Point Blank…..until now.
-Dwayne Epstein

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