Movie reviews for the day

Rico says he and the ladyfriend had a bad afternoon of Eastern (a tong war drama) and Western (a bad cowboy film) movies:

The Hatchet Man, starring Edward G. Robinson:

San Francisco tong hatchet man Wong must execute his boyhood friend Sun. Sun, knowing his time was up, wrote out his will just prior to Wong showing up at his door. When Sun realizes Wong is there to kill him, he tries to set his friend's mind at ease by telling him he is the beneficiary of all Sun's worldly possessions, and convinces Wong to promise to take care of Sun's young daughter, Toya San, who Sun has bequeathed to become his wife. Years later, when she becomes of age, she marries Wong, now a powerful figure, though she loves the evil Harry. When Wong learns Toya will be happier with Harry, he allows them to leave. Still later, Wong learns that Harry has been deported and, since Toya could not prove she was married to someone else, she, too, was deported to China. When Wong learns of this, he goes after them.

Rico says that the mere appearance of Robinson on screen as a Chinese villain named Wong Low Get was sufficient to change the channel to, alas, a Western, The Hanging Tree, that was so bad, even starring Gary Cooper, along with Maria Schell, Karl Malden, and George C. Scott, that we finally gave up, missing whatever 'attitude' that Frenchy took on, and didn't watch anything:

In 1873, in the Gold Trail in Montana, the mysterious and controlling Dr. Joseph Frail (played by Gary Cooper) arrives in the small town of Skull Creek during a gold rush. He buys a cabin on the top of a hill and sees the smalltime thief Rune wounded and chased by a mob that wants to hang him. Dr. Frail helps and heals Rune; but, in return, he demands that the young man becomes his bond servant. The alcoholic healer and preacher George Grubb (played by George C. Scott) tells to the locals that Dr. Frail, who is an excellent gambler and gunfighter, is a devil, but nobody gives attention to his words. No sooner is the stagecoach robbed by thieves that kill the passengers; the coachman survives and three days later he reaches Skull Creek. He tells that the horses had sped down the hill with a young woman inside the stagecoach. The men organize a pursuit and the rude Frenchy Plante (played by Karl Malden) finds the Swedish Elizabeth Mahler (played by Maria Schell) burnt and blind. Dr. Frail and Rune take care of her and learn that Elizabeth and her father, who was killed in the heist, had come to America to settle down. When Elizabeth is healed, she falls in unrequited love with Dr. Frail, and decides to stay in Skull Creek to seek gold with Rune. They form a partnership with Frenchy, and Dr. Frail secretly helps them to begin their business with The Lucky Lady Mine. When Elizabeth learns that Dr. Frail is helping, she is disappointed, but promises to pay her debt with him someday. During a heavy rain, a tree falls down and the trio of partners finds a fortune in gold underground. Frenchy drinks with the locals and when he is drunk, he takes an attitude that will affect the lives of the locals and Skull Creek, mostly of Dr. Frail, Elizabeth, and Rune.

Rico says the names in The Hatchet Man, however, are reminiscent of the old Schrier comic book: