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Last week's Movie Quiz-- All hail Hugo Haas!

Filed under: Imported

Vince Edwards and Cleo Moore go behind Hugo Haas's back in HH's 1957 semi-demi-quasi-classic Hit and Run.

I have to hand it to this week's quiz winners-- and, despite my prediction that there wouldn't be any, there were four-- they didn't let the fact that they'd never seen last week's movie get in the way of identifying it as Hit and Run, one of many unknown gems by the '50s greatest unknown B-moviemaker, Hugo Haas.

There's a thumbnail bio for him at the Internet Movie Database that also explains his rise and fall (he was a major star in his native Czechoslovakia before WWII, when the Nazi takeover forced him to flee to Hollywood), but little on the films themselves. Leonard Maltin, usually the first and last stop for capsule critiques of old B-movies, is also of little help-- while his TV Movies book trims old entries every year, Hugo's pictures remain listed, but most rate the dread "BOMB" assessment, and his plot synopses of them usually suck. (The one for Hit and Run is exactly the opposite of the movie's actual storyline.) Even TCM comes up short; in fact, whereas a year ago they had a handful of his flicks listed in their library (including this one), today they have only two.

In other words, there is practically nothing about Hugo or his American work available. Until, that is, right now. I own, know and love almost all of his oeuvre, and intend to spend one blog-day a month for the rest of the year discussing each one in as much depth as I'm capable of. (Regular readers, however, know that depth is never one of yours truly's strong points.) I'll share as much of the pitifully small amount of info I have about him and his films, as well as screen shots, dialogue clips, etc. Believe me, if you love sordid old noir-potboilers from the '50s, you'll find his work worth your notice, and you may even become a diehard fan.

So look for an entry about Hit and Run later this week. In the meantime, let's hear it for this week's quiz winners, all of whom really went the extra mile to figure it out: Wayne A. Palmer (whose powers of cinematic deduction are now becoming almost scary), E. Yarber (who could probably even point out the spot in Hollywood where Hugo made his movies), Jack Sparks (who took time out from his own hit City Pages blog to come up with a correct answer), and Hank Parmer (who got his guess in just under the wire, but was, as usual, right on the money). Congratulations, men, and a free Haas-apple will be coming your way shortly.

Posted by Steve Monaco at January 19, 2004 3:48 AM

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