March 1 - 7, 2025

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which American actor who appeared in Italian costume action films became a producer for Walt Disney Productions?

Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Jerome Courtland.

Who didn't play Klaus Kinski's brother: Giuliano Gemma, Jean Louis Trintignant or Antonio Sabato?

George Grimes knew that it was Jean Louis Trintignant.

Which Italian Western sports a title inspired by a scene in THE ALAMO?

George Grimes knew that it was DEGUEYO.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American actor, who made Italian Westerns, also did an episode of The Twilight Zone which was directed by the fellow who directed 1971's THE HUNTING PARTY?

Charles Gilbert asks, "The 'Reach for the Crown' Rolex commercial uses a musical theme from which  spaghetti western?"

Which actor, born in Venezuela, worked with directors John Korty, Sacha Guitry, Primo Zeglio, Antonio Leonviola and Giuseppe Vari?

Name the movies from which these images came.

Bertrand van Wonterghem, Charles Gilbert and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Dan Vadis in UN UOMO, UN CAVALLO, UNA PISTOLA, aka A MAN, A HORSE, A GUN, aka THE STRANGER RETURNS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Charles Gilbert identified last week's frame grab of Massimo Girotti in ROMOLO E REMO, aka DULE OF THE TITANS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Emiliano Redondo in EL TESORO DE LAS CUATRO CORONAS, aka TREASURE OF THE FOUR CROWNS.

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:

Highly enjoyed:

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel season two (2018) - This is a re-watch for me as I share it with my step daughter.

Enjoyed:

40th Film Independent Spirit Awards (2025) - That this didn't air on the Independent Film Channel but on YouTube. This action perhaps makes the ceremony available to a worldwide audience, and also showing that the IFC was now worse than a local TV channel.

LOST IN LA MANCHA (2002) - Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe were originally supposed to make a "Behind the Scenes" film for director Terry Gilliam's 2000 production of THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE. Unfortunately, just about everything that could go wrong went wrong and the production was abandoned. So this is an heartbreaking chronicle of a failed attempt for Gilliam to make a dream project. Little did everyone know that Gilliam would finally succeed in completing the project in eight years with a different cast. Fulton and Pepe subsequently made a new documentary, HE DREAMS OF GIANTS.

Movies For Grownups Awards (2025) - This could have been called the Alan Cummings Awards as with was so heavily scripted with Cummings performing parody songs throughout. It really looked like all of the honorees were told ahead of time that they won.

Screen Actors Guild Awards (2025) - The highlight of the show was the look on Selena Gomez's face when Murders In The Building got an award.

STANLEY KUBRICK: A LIFE IN PICTURES (2001)

Mildly enjoyed:

Monster In My Family "The Craiglist Killer: Richard Beasley" (2017)

Did not enjoy:

The Patchwork Monkey (2003) - This 10 minute film was the first of four short movies Susan Bell directed, which, thankfully, didn't lead to a career in features. 

 

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David Deal Enjoyed:

DESERT WARRIOR (61)

THE LIVING WAKE (07)

GRAPHIC MEANS: A HISTORY OF GRAPHIC DESIGN PRODUCTION (17) - Documentary that explains how the evolution of the printing process impacted the graphic design world. With the introduction of the computer, the great democratization of design began. Interesting and eye-opening for graphic design nerds like me.

THE MAN WHO CAME TO KILL (65) - Carl Mohner is Doc, a former surgeon who has taken up drinking and poker playing for a living. After killing a man in self-defense over a card game, Mohner hits the road. Conveniently, he stumbles upon a dead man and steals his identity. Inconveniently, the dead man was a famed lawman to take up the sheriff job in the next town. Mohner takes the job but finds himself up against a notorious outlaw, Fernando Sancho, and the corrupt mayor, Umberto Raho, who is in cahoots with Sancho to run the townsfolk off the land before the railroad comes thru. To top it all off, Mohner is being followed by bounty hunter Luis Davila, and Davila knows the score. That's enough plot for two movies but this one handles it fine, it's a decent Euro western that moves quickly; it has to in order to tie all the plots up. For its vintage, this is a pretty violent and nasty western, but enjoyable nonetheless, or because of it. Gloria Milland is the love interest in that subplot.

ODD OBSESSION (59) - An aging businessman, feeling the loss of his libido, encourages his daughter's fiance to engage with his wife, the better to feel invigorated and youthful again. A rather sordid chess game played with confidence, style, and a clever, cheeky insolence. This Japanese tale was an interesting surprise with a Lynchian feel and the imaginative photographic sense to match. Recommended.

EL MAGNÍFICO TONY CARRERA (68) - Race car driver Tony Carrera (Thomas Hunter) is pulled back into his past as a skilled thief when he is convinced to plan and execute a daring heist in Amsterdam. This involves getting himself smuggled into a high security military vault, grabbing some secret documents, and breaking back out of the vault. Naturally, double-crosses are in the offing and Tony's former fiance (Erika Blanc) is on his tail. Light-hearted Spanish action caper film that is amiable enough and features Gerard Tichy, Fernando Sancho (in street clothes for a change), and Walter Barnes.

SON OF FRANKENSTEIN (39)

DEAD RUN (67) - Please refer to the Eurospy Guide.

TOMBSTONE (93) - One of my very favorite movies.

THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (40)

Mildly Enjoyed 

FANTABULOUS INC. (68) - Adolfo Celi, the head of Fantabulous, Inc., has the means to turn men into supermen, and he aims to sell this product to the highest bidding country to use as soldiers. He kidnaps Richard Harrison and puts him thru the process which turns him into an emotionless superman who can fly and perform impossible deeds. Will he ever return to his normal life? Director Sergio Spina assembles a Pop Art concoction influenced by comic books and counterculture that aims to be subversive but ends up being rather annoying to 21st century eyes. It's not all bad; Harrison puts in a more lighthearted performance than usual and his girlfriend Judi West is a delight. Celi turns in his usual suave villain.

SIGPRESS CONTRO SCOTLAND YARD (68) - AKA Psychopath. Sigpress (George Martin) is an international jewel thief and master of disguise with the athletic skills of a gymnast. He is unusual in that the jewels he steals are returned to the owner for the reward. Scotland Yard doesn't like him. He plans to steal a fabulous gem from a shipping magnate but is outwitted. Will he beat Scotland Yard to the criminals and recover the jewels? Light-hearted caper action/comedy from Guido Zurli (The Mad Butcher) with a good sense of humor and some nice location exteriors. Martin is a likeable lead and his butler is Klaus Kinski!

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Angel Rivera  Enjoyed:

"IN THE VALLEY OF THE DEATH" aka "WINNETOU  UND SHATTERHAND IM TAL DER TOTEM" (1968)
The last of the Pierre Brice and Lex Barker "Winnetou & Old Shatterhand"movies. In this one, an army friend of Winnetou's is killed, but unbeknownst to Winnetou, the friend, an army colonel has been listed as AWOL and accused of stealing and hiding a gold shipment meant for the army. His daughter played by the beautiful Karin Dor, (who has never looked lovelier) asks for 60 days to prove her father innocent. Enter Old Shatterhand who comes to the aid of the daughter. But there is a gang of outlaws who believe the colonel hid the gold and they think that Karin Dor knows where. Old Shatterhand shows how he got his name and wallops a lot of bad guys. Spoiler alert: Winnetou and Old Shatterhand help prove the colonel innocent and then Brice and Baxter (or rather their doubles) ride into the sunset across the Grand Canyon. [At first I thought that Brice and Baxter meant to say "Death Valley", but they clearly say the "valley of the dead"; where the Sioux bury their deceased chiefs. Thus it is also known as the "valley of the death".]

Mildly enjoyed:

"CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD" (2024)
The former Falcon Sam Wilson/Anthony Mackie  takes over for the departed Chris Evans as Captain America with a Hispanic partner. (Danny Ramirez takes over the role of the new Falcon.)   They go up against an evil genius, Dr. Sterns and spoiler alert, save the world. Harrison Ford is in there too  as "Thunderbolt" Ross and as the Red Hulk. Continuation of "The  Falcon and the Winter Soldier" teleseries.

"THE VISCOUNT" (1967)
In an interview with Kerwin Mathews, he said he had signed to do three OSS 117 pictures. After he did the first two, he was called back to the US to do a TV series pilot. The pilot did not sell so back to France he went to complete his commitment, when he was told he was going to play a character named "Clint de la Roche, the Viscount". (De la Roche translates to  "of the rock". So in actuality he would be playing Clint of the Rock.) Mathews just accepted that it was the same character with a name change.) So this film has Mathews as the Viscount mediating between dope peddlers and coming out on top on the side of justice. Of course he seems to have all the beautiful girls enthralled by his charms.

"THE KILLER LIKES CANDY" (1968)
This was the last of Mathews' Euro-spy roles as he plays Mark Stone, assigned to the security detail  of a King. He is up against an assassin who likes to eat his candy and leaves wrappers every where. Suffice it to say that Mathews is good at his job and he gets the girl played Marilu Tolo.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

THE SWISS CONSPIRACY (1976) Shot in Zurich, and directed by Jack Arnold of CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON notoriety, the deteriorating print features David Janssen as an investigator hired by prominent Swiss bank president Ray Milland when several of the institutes' clients are blackmailed. Feels like a made-for-tv movie despite the international cast: Senta Berger, Elke Sommer, and Anton Diffring. Aging John Ireland turns out to be one of the villains

THE SHOOTOUT (1971) Gregory Peck as an excon in the old West seeking revenge on the man (James Gregory) that engineered his incarceration. Along the way he is encumbered with a magpie of a six year old female (Dawn Lynn) whose mother was killed. Wild cowboy Robert F. Lyons also makes life miserable for him.

UNKNOWN TERROR (1957) B&W. Spelunkers John Howard and Paul Richards discover a cave of horrors where a local doctor has been experimenting with fungus. Looks like his washing machine was overflowing soap suds down into the cave. Mala Powers is the wife of Howard, but formerly loved the now crippled Richards.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed: 

The rocky horror pictures show (1975, Jim Sharman)

Impact (1963, Peter Maxwell)

Dead man's evidence (1962, Francis Searle)

Gajokgyehoek / Family matters (2024, Kim Gok & Kim Sun) – episodes 5 & 6

Teurigeo / Unmasked (2024, Yoo Sun-dong) – episodes 9 to 11

Mildly enjoyed:

Spanish movie (2009, Javier Ruiz Caldera)

Choi-gang lo-maen-seu / The perfect couple (2007, Jeong-woo Kim)

How to murder your wife (1964, Richard Quine) with a gorgeous Virna Lisi in « Marilyn's mode »

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