Best known for The Godfather, Dr. Strangelove and other classics, Sterling Hayden also starred in a few swashbuckler films.
THE GOLDEN HAWK (1952)
In the 1600s, French Privateer Captain Kit Gerardo – played by Sterling Hayden – sets out with his crew from Basse-Terre Island, Guadaloupe in a new ship he won in a duel with a pirate captain. He thus resumes his pursuit of plunder, and revenge on the Spanish pirate who killed his mother – Captain Luis del Toro (John Sutton).
His adventures lead to him meeting the beautiful female pirate Captain Rouge (Rhonda Fleming), who was staking out a ship he has just taken. He gives her a pistol to protect herself from his men while they loot the vessel, but when he gets too fresh with her, she shoots him and swims to safety.
Next, Captain Gerardo preys on several more Spanish ships, ultimately seizing one carrying Blanca (Helena Carter), the intended bride of his archnemesis Captain del Toro. He demands ten thousand gold doubloons from del Toro as ransom for Blanca, who faithlessly romances Gerardo while they wait to hear back from del Toro.
The day of the ransom exchange arrives. Kit and his crew plan to double-cross Luis del Toro, killing him and taking the ransom while keeping Blanca. Del Toro outmaneuvers Gerardo, however, surrounding him with three pirate ships loyal to him. Continue reading
Marvel Comics rules the superhero roost right now, and with the movie business being what it is that means they pretty much rule blockbuster cinema, too. We have all seen Marvel’s superhero characters dominate the big screen in a way not seen since Cowboy stars of long ago. 
CAPTAIN TERROR 
FRIDAY THE THIRTEENTH (1907) – Written by Thomas William Lawson, a writer and stock manipulator who made a fortune from shady stock deals … in between advocating for cleaning up Wall Street to shut down those fleece jobs. The reforms Lawson campaigned for were taken up decades later when Franklin Roosevelt appointed future Supreme Court Justice William O Douglas to head the Securities Exchange Commission. 
Jim Randolph, one of the novel’s main characters, is in the T.R. mold: he may be a bloated rich pig but at least he’s a bloated rich pig with a sense of noblesse oblige. Jim shares Teddy Roosevelt’s disdain for the Trusts and for con men who use the stock market to rip off their clients. 
Here’s a Friday current events roundup from 
FRITZ THE NITE OWL – Frederick C. Peerenboom aka Fritz the Nite Owl, lasted so long as a Movie Host that it would take a multi-volume set of books to truly do justice to his career. Consider this blog post a mere scratching of the surface. 
Double Chiller Theatre aired a Double Feature beginning at 11:30pm. Over time it became better known as Nite Owl Theatre.
DYNASTY (1976)
Despite this, the family stands united against slave-hunters when they come looking for fugitive slave Sam (Charles Weldon). They come to Sam’s aid and he stays with the Blackwoods from then on. 
STICKY REMINDER: In the midterm elections during Barack Obama, the Democrats were massively blown out and lost SIXTY-THREE seats in the House and NINE MORE in the Senate. Obama fans tell me that had nothing to do with Obama because he wasn’t on the ballot that year. WELL, NEITHER WAS TRUMP ON THE BALLOT THIS YEAR. More elections 
PROJECT U.F.O. (1978-1979) – Jack Webb’s Mark VII Ltd. produced this short-lived wonder which dramatized selected cases from the U.S. Air Force’s real-life Project Bluebook, which investigated reports of Unidentified Flying Objects. 
