January 25 - 31, 2025

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Italian Western is credited as "un film di Robert Lover"?

It was EL ROJO starring Richard Harrison.

Can you name two Italian Westerns for which new title songs were added for U.S. release?

No one has answered this question yet.

In which Italian Western does everyone kill each other over a bag of gold, but we never get to see the contents of the bag?

No one has answered this one yet.

Which Italian assistant director worked with Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Michael Anderson, Monte Hellman, John Guillermin and Tonino Valerii?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Tony Brandt.

Which Italian Western ended with the hero murdering an unarmed man with a sword?

No one answered this question yet.

In which Italian Western does a roulette wheel signal the moment for the final shootout?

Tom Betts and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was I QUATTRO DELL'AVE MARIA, aka ACE HIGH.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which Italian director used the name Albert Cardiff?

Which Spanish actress worked with directors Pierre Gaspard-Huit, Giorgio Capitani, Mario Caiano, Maury Dexter, Fernando Cerchio and Ferdinando Baldi?

By what name is director Ted Kaplan better known?

Name the movies from which these images came.

No one identified the above photo.

It shows Elisa Montes and Loredana Nusciak in 7 DOLLARI SUL ROSSO, aka SEVEN DOLLARS TO KILL.

Bertrand van Wonterghem George Grimes identified last week's photo of Giuliano Gemma menacing Belinda Lee in MESSALINA VENERE IMPERATRICE, aka MESSALINA.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Lorenzo Robledo, Margaret Lee and Dan Van Husen in I BASTARDI, aka THE BASTARD, aka SONS OF SATAN, aka THE CATS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above frame grab 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:

Becoming Hitchcock: The Legacy of BLACKMAIL (2024)

High Potential (2024) - The first ten episodes were quite good.

Mildly enjoyed:

Without Laying Down: Frances Marion and the Power of Women In Hollywood (2000)

 

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David Deal Enjoyed:

ATRACO A LAS TRES (62) - AKA Robbery at 3 O'Clock. A disgruntled group of bank employees band together to rob the bank when a large cash shipment is scheduled to be delivered. Things do not go as planned. One of a number of heist comedies to premiere in the wake of Big Deal on Madonna Street (58). This one proves to be funny even in a language not understood by the viewer (me). Yes, I missed most of the verbal humor but the cast is a delight and there is enough physical humor to get the main points across. I would watch an English-friendly copy of this classic Spanish comedy.

ANTONIO GAUDI (84)

ENSAYO GENERAL PARA LA MUERTE (62) - Translates to "Dress Rehearsal for Death." Playwright Juan discovers his wife is having an affair. Instead of confronting her, he tells his mates - one of whom is a cop - that he is planning the perfect crime; one without a body and no clues left. This Spanish Hitchcockian noir holds several surprises, not the least of which is the denouement. Competently made and compelling even with a language barrier. Well done.

FRANKENSTEIN (31)

QUATERMASS II (57)

THE SHOOTING (66)

OUTSIDE MAN (67)

ELLA Y EL MIEDO (63) - Translates to "She and the Fear." On her way home one night, club dancer May Heatherly witnesses a murder. The killer sees her and gives chase but she escapes when a passerby interrupts the assault. Problem is, she dropped her purse while on the run so now the killer knows where she lives. Director Leon Klimovsky (The Vampire's Night Orgy) does some nice work here in a film that bridges the noir "cine negro" films of Spain with the approaching giallo strand. Some nice set pieces are interspersed with long stretches of nothing happening, but this is still worth seeing. Heatherly was born in the US but her family moved to Spain when she was eleven where she took up acting.

EL SALARIO DEL CRIMEN (64) - Translates to "The Wages of Crime." On a drug raid, a partner of cop Arturo Fernandez is killed. While looking for the killer (Alberto Dalbes), Arturo meets and falls for high class dame Francoise Brion, whose lifestyle Arturo can't hope to maintain on a cop's salary. Once Arturo turns to crime to keep Francoise in his grasp, his spiral into hell is inevitable. A solid noir from Spain with enough plot strands to keep our protagonist tied up for good. The jazz soundtrack from Jose Sola is an asset too.

BIG DEAL ON MADONNA STREET (58) - A group of petty criminals plan a heist that doesn't exactly work out as expected. One of the great Italian comedies of the 1950s that spawned a subgenre of brethren that still persists to this day. Truly funny with terrific photography.

HIRED KILLER (66) - In my top ten hitman movies.

OSS 117 MISSION FOR A KILLER (65) - Please refer to The Eurospy Guide.

FLOW (24)

MELODIE EN SOUS-SOL (62)

DRESSED TO KILL (46)

Mildly Enjoyed 

EL EXTRANO VIAJE (64) - AKA Strange Voyage. A wicked older sister rules the roost over her misfit, timid siblings in a small Spanish town. One night, fearful over losing their home, the young brother (played by Jess Franco) kills his maniacal sister and he and his simple sister dump her body in a wine vat and leave town. The next morning their bodies are found on the beach. What has happened here? A very strange black comedy that did little business in Franco's Spain but has, over the years, garnered quite a reputation. In fact, it was voted the seventh best Spanish film by industry insiders in 1996. It is peculiarly Spanish and without benefit of an English track or subtitles, I found it interesting but inscrutable.

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Angel Rivera  Mildly enjoyed:

"RED SONJA" (1985)
After rereading my copies of "Conan the Barbarian"#s 23 & 24, which features the first appearances of "Red Sonja" with  artwork by one of my favorite artists, Barry Smith; who along with writer Roy Thomas rebooted Robert E. Howard's "Red Sonya" to "Red Sonja" in the comic books. (Robert E. Howard's "Red Sonya" differed in that she was originally not a part of the Conan character's world. She was changed for the comic book and that was the "Red Sonja" adapted for the movie.)  I decided to watch the movie, with  Brigitte Nielsen which I hadn't seen in its original release. (It's on YouTube for free.) I wanted to see if it was as bad as I had heard. While not great, it had its moments. Brigitte Nielsen is comely and alright to look at. And while she is no "Xena, Warrior Princess", she holds her own. She even does flips like Xena when fighting. Arnold was in it, but not as Conan. Probably due to rights issues, in this movie he is known as Kalidor. (But for all intents and purposes, he is Conan, just not in name, but in deeds.) Sandahl Bergman is in this as well, as the evil queen. (She had turned down the role of Sonja; preferring to play the villainess.) All in all, worth the viewing. (Especially since it was free.)

"SKY KING" Season 2, Episode 2 "Manhunt" (1956)
I had vague memories of this show having watched it as a kid. Some one has uploaded episodes on YouTube, so I caught this one. Sky King is a rancher who pilots a plane called "Song Bird". He feels it is his civic duty, as he has no legal lawman status, to help out law enforcement, i. e., the local sheriff capturing bandits, spies and such. He lives on his ranch with his niece, Penny. In this episode, two escaped convicts capture Penny's friend, the mayor's son and hold him for ransom. Sky King then helps the local Sheriff free the lad and capture the convicts. He does this amazingly without killing any one; even in a shootout with the bad guys. What a quaint time. While I watched this show in the sixties, I had no idea they were actually filmed in the fifties.  

"VISIT TO A SMALL PLANET" (1960)
Jerry Lewis plays an alien from another planet visiting Earth. Originally based on a satirical play by Gore Vidal, the film was tailored to Lewis' antics. While probably not for everyone, Lewis' antics have their moments. If you are not a fan of Lewis, you will find this film tedious. But as I said it has its moments.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

CHARGE AT FEATHER RIVER (1953) Frontier scout (Guy Madison) leads a platoon of Union soldiers on a  rescue of two females abducted by the Cheyenne. The older woman (Helen Westcott) is grateful, but the younger (Vera Miles) contravenes to stay and marry an indian warrior.

THE LADY AND THE MONSTER (1944) B&W. Rogue scientist professor Franz Mueller (Eric Von Stroheim) has thoroughly equipped himself for his lab experiments in a castle located in Arizona. He wants to prove the brain lives on after death, and gets his chance following a fatal plane crash involving the wealthy Mr. William H. Donovan. Curt Siodmak story remade in 1953 as DONOVAN'S BRAIN.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed: 

Dark star (1974, John Carpenter)

Le gentleman de Cocody (1964, Christian-Jaque)

Charles Bronson : il était une fois en Europe (doc) (2020, Jérôme Wybon)

Oh naui gwishinnim / Oh my ghost (2015, Yu Je Won) – episodes 6 to 16

Teurigeo / Unmasked (2024, Yoo Sun-dong) – episodes 1 & 2

Mildly enjoyed:

La famille Duraton (1955, André Berthomieu)

Captive wild woman (1943, Edward Dmytryk)

Did not enjoy:

Giarrettiera Colt (1967, Gian Andrea Rocca)

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