July 22 - 28, 2023

 

To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.

Brain Teasers:

Which French actress was under contract to Jean Pierre Melville, but asked out of the contract in order to work with other producers, including the makers of Italian Epic movies?

No one has answered this one yet.

Which Italian actor, born in Milan, made 5 Westerns with director Sergio Corbucci?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Gino Pernice.

Which Western, directed by an Italian, starred three French performers?

No one answered this question yet.

Which Italian actor worked with directors Anton Giulio Majano, Nanni Loy, Vittorio Sala, Sergio Corbucci, Francis Ford Coppola and Marco Vicario?

Angel Rivera knew that it was Gastone Moschin.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American actor who appeared in Italian Westerns made his last film appearance in a superhero movie?

In 1992, Walter Barnes got a table at a Ray Courts autograph show to honor what other American actor who had recently died?

Which American actor who made Italian movies found that his wife had become mistress to director Federico Fellini?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Jose Calvo and Gian Maria Volonte in PER UN PUGNO DI DOLLARI, aka A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab from IL COLOSSO DI RODI, aka THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab from C'ERA UNA VOLTA AMERICA, aka ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

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I am interested in knowing what movies you have watched and what you enjoyed or not. So please send me an email at scinema@earthlink.net if you'd like to share. Here's what I watched last week:

Enjoyed:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season one (2013-2014) 

Doc Martin season nine (2019)

Doc Martin season ten (2022)

Doc Martin Christmas Special (2022)

Manhunt season one (2019) - ITV commissioned three one-hour episodes based on a memoir by DCI Colin Sutton. Philippa Braithwaite produced it, and eventually her husband Martin Clunes took the lead role. Written by Ed Whitmore and directed by Marc Evans, the program was compelling and intelligent and proved popular enough for a second season to be commissioned.

NEIL YOUNG JOURNEYS (2011) - Back in 1974 I saw JOURNEY THROUGH THE PAST, "Bernard Shakey's" first film, and I would love to have a copy of it. Director Jonathan Demme's picture isn't like that other film except that it finds Neil Young in a reflective mood and features him talking about his childhood while visiting the small town of Omemee where he grew up. In addition, the picture is a record of Young's one man concert performed at Massey Hall in Toronto, Canada. He delivers a blistering performance of "Ohio" in addition to songs from his album Le Noise.

Mildly enjoyed:

DIE HOLLE VON MACAO, aka THE CORRUPT ONES (1967) - I saw this when it hit theaters back when I was eleven years old and didn't like it much. Watching it again I was struck by the name of Executive Producer Nat Wachsberger in the credits. When I was twelve years old I saw THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS, which I loved and I remembered Wachsberger's name from those credits. Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1916, Wachsberger helped to produce many films from my childhood, including THAT MAN IN ISTANBUL, THE VISCOUNT and CANNABIS. THE CORRUPT ONES shares a number of elements with THEY CAME TO ROB LAS VEGAS including actors Elke Sommer and Maurizio Arena and music composer Georges Garvarentz. Unfortunately, the screenplay for THE CORRUPT ONES was by Brian Clemens, whose work I always found to be more clever than satisfying. The original German title identifies where the story takes place, which the English version doesn't. The film begins with Maurizio Arena killing a man in order to get a medallion. Meanwhile, photo journalist Robert Stack is illegally taking pictures in Red China, when he is spotted by Red Guards. Escaping capture, Stack finds a speed boat which turns out to be owned by Arena. Together they escape to Macao, where Arena sees European villains waiting for him. Asking Stack to hold on to a package, which turns out to be the medallion, Arena runs away. Stack doesn't want any trouble, but stripping down to take a bath, he finds Elke Sommer searching his room. Soon our hero finds a series of beautiful 

women, including Heidy Bohlen, Maria Minh and Nancy Kwan, trying to get him to give them the medallion. Helpful Chief of Police Werner Peters explains that the medallion holds the secret to the whereabouts of an Emperor's burial site filled with treasure. A Chinese Tong headed by Nancy Kwan also wants it and is in competition with a French gang headed by Christian Marquand. Eventually, Stack teams up with Sommer and Peters to find the treasure, but Marquand and Kwan also show up. The climax of the film is less than thrilling and one is struck by the nonchalance shown by the filmmakers regarding killing off Chinese. While there are many Asians in this film, the filmmakers still hired a European with false eyelids to play the fat Tong torturer - reminiscent of Milton Reid in THE TERROR OF THE TONGS. How come a Tong henchman attacks Stack with a samurai sword? How come Elke Sommer didn't get to dub her own voice for the English soundtrack? It is remarkable that in a film that features a female stripper, the most nudity on the screen is that of Robert Stack, who obviously worked out to prepare for this role.

DUNE part one (2021) - I am a big fan of the 2000 Sci-Fi TV mini-series featuring Saskia Reeves and Julie Cox, so I see no reason for a new theatrical version. At least the 1984 version directed by David Lynch started off with a close up of Virginia Madsen and featured Alicia Witt dancing close to the end. On a positive note, this new version has a veiled Charlotte Rampling.

PREACHING TO THE PERVERTED (1997) - The end credits for this movie are actually more enjoyable than the movie itself with a listing for the lead actors' "nipple" and "bottom" doubles (so they didn't have to have piercings or whippings) and: "The Producers wish to point out that no animals were improperly treated during the making of this motion picture; however, all of the submissives were." Produced, written and directed by Stuart Urban, this film basically sets out to portray fetishists as normal, but can't help also seeing them as funny. The virgin son of a tea trolley server who works in British Parliament, Christien Anholt is encouraged to volunteer to help Christian Crusader MP Tom Bell to gather evidence against dominatrix Guinevere Turner of the "House of Thwax". Outfitted in leather and with a video camera hidden in his sunglasses, Anholt goes undercover in the fetish club, but can't become an insider until he "shows his devotion". The script wants the film to be a romantic comedy, but Urban fails to find the right tone to generate laughs and he fumbles any attempt to create chemistry between the leads. Anholt and Turner finally come together when he suggests that she play out her darkest fantasy, which turns out to be a wedding night. Horrified by the thought of "vanilla sex", she rejects him in the morning when she realizes that in a drunken state they had actually "done the deed". With the video, Bell brings a case to court accusing Turner and her people of causing bodily harm. All Bell needs is for Anholt to confirm that the beatings were real. Anhold perjured himself to save Turner, resulting in his going to jail for nine months. When he gets out, he is greeted by his mother and a pregnant Turner, who didn't get an abortion because it would hurt her clit ring. The mother is pleased to have a grand child, and the jealous lesbian Julie Graham breast feeds the baby girl saying that it is natural for any woman to lactate when she sees a baby that she loves. Director Urban states that he cast Georgina Hale as Bell's assistant because of her previous work with director Ken Russell. 

Did not enjoy:

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1990) - After the spectacular success of SUPERMAN in 1978, producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus of The Cannon Group went shopping for other superheroes. As Marvel Comics was in a financial crisis, they sold the rights for feature films of SPIDER-MAN and CAPTAIN AMERICA. Cannon never made either film, and when The Cannon Group fell apart, Menahem Golan retained the rights to CAPTAIN AMERICA. Now the head of 21st Century Film Corporation, Golan finally got a CAPTAIN AMERICA film made, partly in co-production with Jadran Films in Yugoslavia. Albert Pyun, who seemed a promising talent in 1982 with THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER, made CYBORG for Cannon in 1989, and proved he could deliver on a low-budget. Why screenwriter Stephen Tolkin decided to change the story of Steve Rogers from a kid from the Lower East Side of New York to a young man from Redondo Beach, California is unknown. Also unknown is why the Red Skull went from being a German to being an Italian, and why he is given a murderous daughter, like Fu Manchu. This is the kind of "comic book movie" which gives "comic book movies" a bad reputation, with plotting that seems like a bad spy movie and featuring poor fight scenes. It is rather offensive that the film supposes that the Red Skull, after extensive plastic surgery, heads a secret organization (not Hydra) that was responsible for the assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy as well as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It is also a curious decision to have Captain America captured by the Red Skull on his first mission, strapped to what looks like a V-2 rocket that is fired at the White House. When the rocket appears over Washington D.C., it becomes a V-1 flying bomb that our hero is able to change directory by stomping on a wing. It lands in Alaska, where our hero is quickly frozen solid. Thawed out by West German explorers in the 1980s, Captain America immediately walks south, not knowing where he is. Perhaps in a nod to SUPERMAN, Ned Beatty plays a newspaper man investigating the story on behalf of his childhood buddy, Ronny Cox -  Beatty's co-star in DELIVERANCE, who is now the President of the United States - and who saw Captain America strapped to the rocket that flew over the White House. The Red Skull kidnaps the U.S. President to prevent him from enacting Environmental Protection legislation on behalf of Pentagon chief Darren McGavin and other businessmen. After a series of car chases and fist fights, our hero puts on his costume to attack the villain's castle as his second mission. What happened to the self-destruct bomb in the end? It is kind of fun seeing an adult Bill Mumy from Lost In Space playing a soldier, and Francesca Neri makes a fetching daughter of the Red Skull. It would have been interesting if there had been a mention of her mother; someone who would have had sex with such a misshapen maniac. Melinda Dillon makes a brief appearance as Steve Rogers' mother, while Wayde Preston has a nearly mute role as the husband of Steve Rogers' old-time girlfriend in his final screen appearance.

CAPTAIN AMERICA (1979) - Ugh. Suddenly the awful 1990 version doesn't seem so awful. At least the 1990 version seemed to have been made by people who read the comic book. Here, Steve Rogers, played by Reb Brown, starts off like a surfer dude planning to live in his van and painting canvases. There is no World War 2 back story, just a hint that Rogers is the son of a researcher who created a serum called FLAG. It turns out that FLAG is deadly for all test subjects except for Rogers' father, who was murdered by criminals. Figuring that the difference is in the Rogers DNA, Doctors Len Birman and Heather Menzies inject the FLAG serum into our hero, turning him into something like The Six Million Dollar Man who drives a motorcycle and dresses like Evel Knievel. Writer Don Ingalls twists himself into knots trying to justify the costume, while sticking our hero into a limp secret agent plot. Steve Forrest is the bad guy who blackmails Dan Barton into helping him to steal the plans for a neutron bomb, which he will use to beak into a billion dollar gold reserve. After a lot of footage of motorcycle stunt riding, including a helecoptor chase in which bad guys with bad aim try to shoot our hero from the air, Rogers accepts the mantle of Captain America and stops Forrest's plan. It is possible that Universal Television hoped that this TV movie would become a series. It did result in a second TV movie.

CAPTAIN AMERICA II, aka CAPTAIN AMERICA II: DEATH TOO SOON (1979) - International terrorist Christopher Lee has kidnapped a scientist and has forced him to create a drug that accelerates aging. He wants a billion dollars to not use it. After taking care of purse snatchers in Venice, California, Captain America, played by Reb Brown, sets out to find Lee. Lee has waylaid the new warden at a local federal prison, and is running his criminal organization from there. CAPTAIN AMERICA II is a little less irritating than its predecessor because it doesn't need to waste time explaining stuff, but it still labors under stupid plotting that now seems intended for a private-eye show. Len Birman returns, but Heather Menzies is replaced by Connie Sellecca. Lee sprays Portland, Oregon from the air with his drug (reminiscent of THE FACE OF FU MANCHU) and now demands 2 billion dollars to provide the antidote. I first saw Katherine Justice in 5 CARD STUD back in 1968, so it is nice to see her again - though I see from her credits that she's had a lot of work, just never on anything that I wanted to watch. The director of this TV movie is the infamous Ivan Nagy of the Heidi Fleiss scandal of 1993. Natalie Wood's younger sister Lana, has a small role as one of Lee's villainous associates.

OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN (1983) - 88 minutes of Peter Weller vs. an hand held camera playing a rat. Did anyone really enjoy this? I suppose if the viewer has a rat phobia, this might be scary, but the only enjoyment I got from this was a brief shot of Shannon Tweed taking a shower, and the occasional close up of Jennifer Dale.

RATTLERS (1976) - What is causing rattle snakes to commit mass attacks on homes in a small California desert town? Could it be illegal U.S. Army biological weapons disposed of in an old mine? Of course it can. Poor dialogue, poor acting and poor direction contribute to creating a poor movie. However, Celia Kaye, aka Celia Milius, gives an insightful demonstration on how to strip and get into a bathtub without showing any of the "naughty" bits. Director of Photography Irvin Goodnoff provides some nice location photography but isn't able to figure out how to realistically light two people going into a dark mine with only one flashlight. Co-writer, producer and director John McCauley waited about nine years to make a second film, DEADLY INTRUDER, which I haven't seen.

                                                        

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Charles Gilbert Watched:

THE BLACK GLOVE aka FACE THE MUSIC ,(1954) B&W. American horn player James Bradley (Alex Nicol) is in London playing big band when a songstress is murdered. He now becomes band member. and sleuth for the authorities. -A Hammer Film directed by Terence Fisher and produced by Michael Carreras who appears in the film as a band member.

THE BIG CHASE (1954) B&W. LA PD. Captain Daggert (Douglas Kennedy) relays the story of new recruit Pete Grayson (Glenn Langan) stressing over his wife's (Adele Jergens) impending parturition while on a police chase of burglary suspects (Jim Davis and Lon Chaney, Jr.). Pursuit goes from highasy to helicopter chasing a motor boat. And mama gives birth to a girl. The two were married in real life.

 

OUTSIDE THE LAW (1956) B&W. G. I Johnny Salvo (Ray Danton) goes undercover for the Treasury Department after his buddy is killed while counterfeiting in Europe. He gets involved romantically with the widow Leigh Snowden.

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David Deal Enjoyed:

SOMETHING'S GONNA LIVE (09) - Good documentary about a few production designers at Paramount Pictures back in the old days.

SO DARLING, SO DEADLY (66)

CAESAR THE CONQUEROR (63)

GYPSY WILDCAT (44) - Jon Hall, suspected of murder by the local evil baron, hides in a convenient gypsy camp where he meets Maria Montez, a singing, dancing wildcat. Inevitably, everyone is rounded up and taken to the baron's castle where it is learned that Maria is the thought-lost daughter who actually owns the castle and land! Another Montez/Hall adventure, and while not one of the famous couple's rousing best, it is still a very enjoyable Technicolor fantasy.

WESTBOUND (58)

DIRTY MARY AND CRAZY LARRY (74)

THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (71)

THE MONSTER THAT CHALLENGED THE WORLD (57)

THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (57)

ROCK HUDSON: ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWED (23) - Good documentary.

Mildly Enjoyed

SANTO VS DR. DEATH (73) - Jorge (Georges) Rigaud is a mad doctor/art forger who has collected genuine copies of famous masterpieces, like the Mona Lisa, by using certain organs of pretty young girls to produce the pigments necessary for his nefarious activities. El Santo aims to stop him. Another insane Santo movie, this time a Spanish rather than Mexican production. The wrestling scenes are much more dynamic than earlier Santo films, and Helga Line plays Jorge's lovely compatriot in crime. A hoot.

BERLIN AFFAIR (70) - Spy Darren McGavin is sent to Berlin to find another spy who is an old friend. TV movie that is as uninvolving as the title would suggest.

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Angel Rivera Mildly enjoyed:

"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" (2023) I read that the film was doing poorly at the box office because the audience was saying that there was no need for another "Indiana Jones" movie. While that may partially be true, the film is only partially entertaining. The film is set up into two parts. The part that takes place during WWII has a computer generated image of Harrison Ford, as a stuntman is made to appear as Indiana Jones doing some stunts too difficult for a man Ford's age. While the film has a lot of action in the first part, the second part is not that interesting. The second part which takes place in 1969, has the elderly Jones teaming up with actress Phoebe Waller-Bridge as his goddaughter chasing after some artifact that can be used for time travel. In my opinion, while the film has some nice parts, this sequel was totally unnecessary; even if contractual reasons dictated a fourth sequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" must be made.

"My Spy" (2020) A cutesy movie about a pre-teen girl who gets a seasoned CIA agent to train her to be an agent. Dave Bautista of "Guardians of the Galaxy" fame plays the seasoned agent. One funny scene is when Bautista out on a date, starts to do a dance that is supposed to resemble a similar dance sequence from a Shrek movie. Cutesy, with elements taken from "Kindergarten Cop", but somewhat still mildly amusing.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

CJ7 (2008, Stephen Chow)

Flash Gordon – trip to Mars (1938) – episode 3

The gambler from Natchez (1954, Henry Levin)

The man from U.N.C.L.E. - episode “The project Strigas affair” (1964, Joseph Sargent)

Akgwi / Revenant (2022) – episodes 1 to 3

Mildly enjoyed

Voyage to the bottom of the sea – episode “Deadly creature below !” (1966, Sobey Martin)

Star Trek – episode “The devil in the dark” (1966, Joseph Pevney)

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