HD Cinema (104): Eight on the Lam ** (1967, Comedy)
Aspect ratio 1.66 : 1
Summary: This slaspstick romp starring veteran yukster Bob Hope starts rolling when Hope's Henry Dimsdale finds ten thousand dollars outside his local supermarket. When no one claims the money, widowed Dimsdale spends the cash on a diamond ring for his fiancée, Ellie Barton (Shirley Eaton), only to find himself the prime suspect in a theft of fifty grand from the bank at which he works. Dimsdale hightails out of town with Barton and hides out in a motel occupied by the bank president and his infamously immoral mistress. Back at home, Dimsdale's housekeeper Golda (Phyllis Diller) helps out by keeping dimwitted police detective Jasper Lynch (Jonathon Winters) off Dimsdale's trail, then accidentally leads Lynch to the same motel. Dimsdale and his kids are working to set the record straight, but then this wacky bunch is challenged to survive a golf cart chase through a dude ranch. Supporting players Diller and Winters are at their best, but the real chemistry is between Hope and director George Marshall, with EIGHT ON THE LAM their ninth feature film collaboration.
HD Cinema (103): Hoodlum ** (1997, Crime)
Aspect ratio 1.85 : 1
Summary: A flawed but admirably ambitious gangster movie, Hoodlum aspires to be a kind of Harlem-based equivalent to The Godfather, and while it falls short of that lofty goal it's still got plenty of qualities to make it well worth seeing. It's the first film to tell the story of Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson (charismatically played by Laurence Fishburne), an ex-convict who dominated the Harlem numbers racket during the 1930s and '40s. As he rises to power he gains equally powerful enemies, including hotheaded Bronx gangster Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) and the suave mobster Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia). Determined to defend his Harlem turf against these invaders, Bumpy eclipses the "policy queen" Stephanie St. Clair (Cicely Tyson) and becomes a self-styled Robin Hood figure, attracting the attention of a community servant (Vanessa Williams) who must confront the brutality of Bumpy's business. A must-see for anyone who likes gangster movies, Hoodlum is certainly not a masterpiece, but sharp performances and some powerful scenes make it an interesting look at a little-known chapter in criminal history. --Jeff Shannon
