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His father ignored Thomas' mother, and continued to shake his fist. "Do you know what it is like to have members of the vestry question my judgements, simply because my son is a profligate and a drunkard, and refuses to obey my decrees? Answer me!"

56%, The Making Of Mrs. Hale, by Carolyn Miller

  My Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

Probably almost everyone has heard of The Three Musketeers. And, no, I'm not referring to the candy bar. I'm talking about the 1844 novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas père, which has spawned over twenty film adaptations and thirteen animated adaptations. 

My favorite Three Musketeer movie is the 1973 film directed by Richard Lester and starred Oliver Reed, Frank Finlay, Richard Chamberlain, and Michael York. Two sequels, The Fourth Musketeer and The Return of the Musketeers, were later made. Michael York played Jacques d'Artagnan in those three films and would later reprise the character for the 2004 miniseries The Lady Musketeer (La Femme Musketeer), which was released to DVD + Digital from Mill Creek Entertainment earlier this year. 

Directed by Steve Boyum, the film centers around
Valentine D'Artagnan, Jacques' daughter, traveling to Paris to become a musketeer. Thanks to an introduction letter written by her father, she is easily accepted as a new recruit by Commander Finot (played Roy Dotrice). However, due to her gender, the original three musketeer son's (Etienne Aramis, Antoine Porthos, and Gaston Athos) aren't as accepting.

A woman has never been titled a "swordsman," so Valentine must prove to everyone that she is just as good as her father.

Final Thoughts

Rated R; 89 minutes; AMAZON

Despite the fact that I have an Amazon Prime subscription, I hardly watch any of the movies or television series included with the service. I didn't realize until tonight that there were so many older horror flicks on there. Not being able to sleep and with nothing else to do, I decided to watch 1972's Season of the Witch.

Directed by the late great George A. Romero, the film is a weird horror drama centering around a bored suburban housewife named Joan Mitchell (played by Jan White). She has an abusive, controlling, workaholic husband, Jack (played by Bill Thunhurs). Their daughter,  Nikki (played by Joedda McClain), is a nineteen-year-old college student, who no longer has any need for Joan, besides for room & board. Joan has strange recurring nightmares that her psychotherapist believes is caused by her husband.

After meeting Marion Hamilton (played by Virginia Greenwald), a new neighbor who claims to be a witch, Joan becomes interested in learning about witchcraft. She buys a book full of spells and casts a spell to make her daughter's lover, Gregg (played Raymond Laine), sleep with her.

As Joan continues to casts spells, she starts having nightmares about being attacked by a man wearing a Satanic mask, which ultimately leads to her fulfilling her own dark destiny.

Final Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment, Amazon

Available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment is The Lucille Ball Collection (Not Rated; 10 hours 22 minutes; $14.98), featuring 4 feature films, 10 episodes of The Lucy Show, "The Story of Lucy Ball" documentary, and several rare vintage commercials.

The movies on the 2-disc set include:

Her Husband Affairs (1947; 84 minutes) - Directed by S. Sylvan Simon, the film centers on newlyweds Bill and Margaret Weldon (played by Franchot Tone and Lucille Ball), who are constantly delaying their honeymoon because Bill's get rich schemes keep getting them into trouble.

Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949; 87 minutes) - Directed by Lloyd Bacon, the film stars Lucy Ball as Ellen Grant, the worst student at the Woodruff Secretarial School who surprisingly lands a job at a realty company, which is run by con artist Dick Richmond (played by William Holden).

The Fuller Brush Girl (1950; 85 minutes) - Directed by Lloyd Bacon, the film centers on Humphrey Briggs and Sally Elliot (played by Eddie Albert and Lucille Ball), an unmarried couple who had put a down payment on their dream house just before Sally is fired from her receptionist job. Desperate for money, she becomes a door-to-door saleswoman for a Fuller Brush franchise. Let's just say she doesn't have a very good first day, as she ends up as the #1 suspect in a murder case.

The Magic Carpet (1951; 84 minutes) - Directed by Lew Landers, the film centers on Ramoth (played by John Agar), a young man who disguises himself as "The Scarlet Falcon" to fight against Grand Vizier Boreg al Buzzar (played by Raymond Burr), Princess Narah (played by Lucille Ball), and their army.

Episodes from The Lucy Show include:

• Lucy with George Burns
• Lucy Gets a Roommate
• Lucy and Carol in Palm Springs
• Lucy Get Caught Up in the Draft
• Lucy and John Wayne
• Viv Visits Lucy
• Lucy the Fight Manager
• Lucy Meets the Berles
• Lucy Gets Jack Benny's Account
• Lucy Meets Robert Goulet

Final Thoughts

Mill Creek Entertainment; Amazon

Now available on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment is The Fastest Guns of the West (Not Rated; $19.98; 553 minutes), featuring 8 classic B-westerns directed by the legendary William Castle (House on the Haunted Hill; 13 Ghosts).

The 8 westerns on the 2-disc set are:

Klondike Kate (1943; 64 minutes) - Set in Alaska during the 1890s, the film is loosely based on Klondike Kate (Kathleen Rockwell), a vaudeville star and dancer during the Klondike Gold Rush.

Masterson of Kansas (1954; 73 minutes) - The film stars George Montgomery as Bat Masterson, who teams up with Doc Holiday and Wyatt Earp to protect a land exchange between a rancher and an Indian chief.

Conquest of Cochise (1953; 70 minutes) - The film centers around Major Tom Burke (played by Robert Stack) leading four Dragoons to Tucson, where they must battle the Apache and Comanche Indian tribes, as well as dealing with a ruthless businessman.

Jesse James VS the Daltons (1953; 65 minutes) - Filmed in 3D, the movie centers around Joe Branch (played by Brett King), an outlaw who believes he is the son of the famous bank robber Jesse James. He must team up with the Dalton Gang to help locate some cash that was hidden by the James Gang years ago.

Battle of Rogue River (1954; 71 minutes) - George Montgomery stars as Major Frank Archer, who is sent to pre-Civil War Oregon Territory to keep peace with the white settlers and the Indians.

The Gun That Won the West (1955; 71 minutes) - The film centers on two frontier scouts Jim Bridger (played by Dennis Morgan) and "Dakota Jack" Gaines (played by Richard Denning) being assigned to construct a series of forts in the Sioux Indian territory.

Duel on the Mississippi (1955; 72 minutes) - The film centers on Andre Tulane (played by Lex Barker) being debt-bound to Lili Scarlet (played by Patricia Medina), aka - the gambling-ship queen. He must protect her against a gang of river pirates.

Uranium Boom (1956; 67 minutes) - The film centers around Grady (played by William Talman) and Brad (played by Dennis Morgan), mining partners who are fighting over the affections of Jean Williams (played by Patricia Medina).

Final Thoughts

What Am I Currently Reading?

I'm still on page 78 of American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell by Deborah Soloman. I really do need to take a few minutes each day to read this.

What am I reading next?

AMAZON

I know there are many cat lovers out there (as I'm one of them), so I wanted to include at least one cat related book on this year's Holiday Gift Guide.

Kit Kat & Lucy ($14.99; Revell; 240 pages) by Lonnie Hull DuPont was released in 2016. It tells the true story of the author's move from a three-room apartment in San Francisco to a Michigan farmhouse. Making the move from the big city to the country was a major step for her. 

Eventually two stray cats stumble upon her house (a year apart) and Lonnie takes them in. She names the cats Kit Kat (an obsessive-compulsive tortoiseshell) and Lucy (a playful Russian blue), who can easily take down a flying bat. 

The author chronicles how she got the cats to like each other and how each one has touched her heart.

Final Thoughts

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

Good Evening, Everyone!

My Current Reads!

I still have a few more pages of Fear Street Sagas: The Last Kiss to read. After I finish it, I'll be reading the eBook The Making of Mrs. Hale by Carolyn Miller.

 

Last Week's Reviews

The Wedding Quilt Bride

(Holiday Gift Guide)

Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis Collection

(Holiday Gift Guide)

The 6 Degrees Collection

(Blu-ray Review)

Mary Higgins Clark: 14 Films Collection

(Holiday Gift Guide)

The Maze Runner Trilogy Gift Set
(Holiday Gift Guide)

#FromJennifer
(Midnight Horror Review)

How To Be A Perfect Christian
(Holiday Gift Guide)

Ellie Claire Art Journals
(Holiday Gift Guide)

Garfield 2019 Day-to-Day Calendar
(Holiday Gift Guide)

Can't Hardly Wait
(Blu-ray Review)

 

In The Mail

AMAZON

While I have read a few dozen Harlequin romance titles over the years, I don't believe I have ever read any of their "Love Inspired" books, which is the Harlequin line of Christian romances. Well, until I had received several of thesed titles in the late spring. Originally, I signed up to review the books through the Litfuse Publicity Group, but the PR company shockingly closed down. Another PR firm took over and sent the books to all the reviewers. Unfortunately, my reading schedule was booked up by then, so I decided to the keep the books back for this year's Holiday Gift Guide.

One those titles happens to be The Wedding Quilt Bride by Marta Perry. The book centers on Rebecca Mast, a widow who returns to her Amish community in Lost Creek with her son, Elijah, to start a new life and open a quilt shop in the downstairs area of their new home. She hires a childhood friend, Daniel King, to make repairs to the house and to help build the quilt shop. 

Rebecca was a little hesitant at first to hire Daniel as a carpenter because she has a dark secret that she doesn't want him to know about. However, he's the best carpenter in the community to help realize her dream of owning a quilting shop, so lets him in her home; where he builds a friendship with her and Elijah.

Final Thoughts