To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which Oscar winning American actor, who made an Italian Western, was quoted by Liz Smith as saying that he didn't drink water because "fish fuck in it"?
No one has answered this question yet.
Which Italian Western is frequently thought to be the inspiration for HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER?
Angel Rivera and George Grimes knows that it is DJANGO IL BASTARDO, aka DJANGO THE BASTARD, aka THE STRANGER'S GUNDOWN.
Which Italian Western is frequently thought to be the inspiration for JOE KIDD?
Angel Rivera knows that it is IL GRANDE SILENZIO, aka GREAT SILENCE.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which American actor, who made an Italian Western, appeared as three different characters on I Love Lucy?
In which Italian Western does a dying man shoot the canteen of the escaping evil woman so that she dies of thirst in the desert?
Which Italian producer offered Richard Harrison a chance to star in Italian movies, thus inspiring the American to break his contract with AIP?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Enrico Marciani, Sergio Testori and Anthony Steffen in ARIZONA SI SCATERNO... E IL FECCE FUORI TUTTI!, aka ARIZONA COLT RETURNS, aka ARIZONA COLT, HIRED GUN, aka ARIZONA LETS FLY AND KILLS EVERYBODY.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Anthony Steffen in AFRODITE, DEA DELL'AMORE, aka APHRODITE GODDESS OF LOVE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's photo of Sibelle Hu in THE INSPECTOR WEARS SKIRTS.
Above is a new photo.
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:
Professor T. series four (2024) - In 2015, Paul Piedford created the social awkward criminology professor Jasper Teerlinck for a TV series produced by Skyline Entertainment in Belgium. The series proved successful enough that soon the French company TF1 did their version called Prof. T., the German company ZDF did their version, and finally the British companies Eagle Eye and ITV came up with their version, changing the Professor's last name to Tempest. I've only seen a few of the original Belgian series which I've liked. Thanks to the U.S. PBS stations, I've seen more of the British version, which I've also liked. It certainly didn't hurt to have Juliet Aubrey as a regular for the first three seasons. But she's gone for the fourth season, but the show continues, now helped by having Juliet Stevenson as a regular. Of course, the real glue to the show is Ben Miller in the title role, with Sarah Woodward as his long-suffering assistant.
Mildly enjoyed:
L'ULTIMA PREDA DEL VAMPIRO, aka THE LAST PREY OF THE VAMPIRE, aka THE PLAYGIRLS AND THE VAMPIRE (1960) - While the influence of Hammer's DRACULA, aka HORROR OF DRACULA, is obvious - especially the spider-like fingers of the vampire rising from his crypt, the opening theme music by Aldo Piga is so similar to Hammer's KISS OF THE VAMPIRE, that I am amazed that KISS didn't arrive until three years later. However, the movie L'ULTIMA most resembles in 1960's L'AMANTE DEL VAMPIRO, aka THE LOVERS OF THE VAMPIRE, aka THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA. However, here the troupe of dancers are on a bus that is caught in a storm and everyone seeks shelter in the nearby Castle Kernassy. One dancer, Lyla Rocco, seems to have a weird connection to the castle, including knowing how to get in through the locked front gate. The caretaker, Antoine Nicos, and the housekeeper, Tilde Damiani, both try to drive the intruders away, but when Count Walter Brandi (who was in L'AMANTE) sees Rocco, he invites them all to stay. He stresses, though, that no one should venture out of their room at night. Of course, Maria Giovannini quickly disobeys this rule and is found dead in the morning. As the bridge has been washed out (we are told but not shown), everyone decides to dig a grave on the grounds and bury Giovannini. That night, Rocco disobeys the rule and finds Giovannini's grave is empty. Eventually, Brandi tells Rocco that she is the spitting image of the wife of a relative who died 200 year ago. Later, he admits that he stole Giovannini's body and took it to his laboratory as he is trying to cure an ancient evil. Meanwhile, troupe manager Alfredo Rizzo tries to rehearse the young women in a dance routine. Dancer Corinne Fontaine decides to spice up the rehearsal by doing a striptease, but Damiani enters the room before Fontaine's bra comes off. Later, Rizzo puts his girly magazine on the pillow beside him in bed and tries to go to sleep. He is startled when a backlit but naked Giovannini enters his room. For a brief moment, Giovannini's nipples are shown before she bares her vampire teeth. Rizzo screams, and when everyone enters his room, they try to convince him that he had a nightmare. Toward the end of the movie, L'ULTIMA pulls a story element from LA MASCHERA DEL DEMONIO, aka BLACK SUNDAY, by revealing that the Count has been hiding his distant 200+ year old relative, also Brandi, in the castle. That's whom he had been trying to cure with his scientific experiments. As in THE MUMMY, Old Brandi wants to resurrect his old wife in the body of Rocco. Young Brandi fights to save her life. Interestingly, for a movie made in a Catholic country, there is not a single crucifix anywhere. There is some nice black and white by director of photography Aldo Greci, but writer/director lets the pacing of the film sag a bit, and the attempts at suspense are dull. Still, I found staring at Lyla Rocco, especially when she is wearing a transparent night gown very enjoyable. One can't help but wonder what problems the production encountered because all of the other dancers, the manager and the piano player are suddenly gone for the last twenty minutes, and they aren't even seen for the finale.
Peacemaker season two (2025) - I know this is just a stepping stone before the next DCU feature film, but I hate cliff hanger endings. However, I enjoyed season two much more than season one.
RENEGADE, aka THEY CALL ME RENEGADE (1987) - Taking a break from working with Bud Spencer, Terence Hill took his Paloma Films company, and in association with Cinecitta, made a film in Arizona which is kind of a remake of LO CHIAMAVANO TRINITA, though without all that gunplay. Instead of amiable Spencer, Hill is teamed with his real life son, Ross Hill, who plays the bratty son of Hill's former Army buddy Norman Bowler. Bowler and Hill Sr. were part of a military unit called Renegade. Under false charges, Bowler is now in prison and he asks Hill Sr., who is drifting aimlessly on the road in a Jeep with a trailer carrying his horse, to take custody of the boy until the boy comes of age. In a poker game, Bowler won some land which the villainous Robert Vaughn wants. Taking the boy to the property, Hill Sr. faces threats from gunmen, truckers and even an humongous motorcycle gang. Luckily, Hill Jr. is friendly with the bikers, which comes in handy for the finale. When they reach the land, they are soon welcomed by a nearby community of religious people. These religious people are never identified, but they certainly act like the Momons from TRINITA, and a young pretty woman soon catches Hill Sr.'s eye. TRINITA director E.B. Clucher, aka Enzo Barboni, handles this rather predictable material well, which came from a story by Enzo's son Marco Barboni. One can only wonder why Terence Hill, Sergio Donati and Steven Siebert were needed to flesh out the script. Shot with live sync sound, RENEGADE looks and feels like an American movie with a country twang provided by two songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd and a ballad by Nicolette Larson. While the film doesn't provide any big laughs, it is a very amiable watch. Nick Alexander is also on hand as ADR editor while Carlo Simi is credited with costumes. Victor Tourjansky is the assistant director and Mauro Paoluzzi provides the music.
REVOLVER, aka BLOOD IN THE STREETS, aka IN THE NAME OF LOVE (1973) - "Society has many ways of defending itself: red tape, prison bars and the revolver," explains what appears to be the ultimate villain of this film, which starts as a cop action film but ends up being a political statement. The title of this film seems ironic as everyone here uses an automatic pistol or machine gun. There is not a revolver to be found anywhere. The film starts with a number of seemingly unconnected scenes. Fabio Testi buries his partner killed in an unsuccessful robbery. A businessman in Paris is shot dead by a man on a motorcycle. Rock star Daniel Beretta is questioned by Police Inspector Marc Mazza about the motorcycle found smashed on a rail road track. The rock star identifies the mangled body of the motorcycle rider as an old friend, which satisfies the police and the case is closed. Meanwhile, Frederic de Pasquale arives at the airport. Two Sicilian "goombahs" arrive by train. Prison vice warden Oliver Reed makes love with his wife, Agostina Belli. Reed gets an emergency phone call from his prison to take care of prisoner Sal Borghese who has taken over the medical office and threatens to kill himself. When he gets back home, Reed gets a phone call saying that his wife has been kidnapped. In order to get her back, he has to figure out a way that now prisoner Fabio Testi can escape the lockup. One of many unanswered questions in the script written by Arduino Maiuri, Massimo De Rita and director Sergio Sollima, is how did Testi end up in prison? I guess they figured that that is unimportant as we are paying attention to Reed figuring out how to help Testi escape and get his wife back. Testi says he doesn't know who would be going through the trouble to spring him, but Reed doesn't believe him, and refuses to release him to the kidnappers until the return of Belli. It isn't until the movie is almost over that we understand what is going on. At first I thought that this story of a growing friendship between an outlaw and a lawman reminded me of LA RESA DEI CONTI. In an interview, director Sollima said that he reworked the script to be more like FACCIA A FACCIA. In any case, the final film proves to be needlessly confusing and lacking in thrills. When all of the motivations are finally understood, the plot is less than convincing. However, Ennio Morricon provides an excellent score which director William Friedkin reused as the theme for his C.A.T. Squad TV movies. Director Quentin Tarantino would reuse the song "Un Amico" in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
THE STRANGE WORLD OF PLANET X, aka THE COSMIC MONSTER, aka COSMIC MONSTERS (1958) - Under the name Rene Ray, actress Irene Lilian Creese, began writing novels in 1946. In 1956, she wrote a seven-part series for ATV called The Strange World of Planet X, which she then turned into a novel in 1957. The next year, producers George Maynard and John Bash hired writers Paul Ryder and Josef Ambor to adapt it as a B-movie. Reportedly, the writers made significant changes to the material, perhaps inspired by the success of director Bert I. Gordon's BEGINNING OF THE END and EARTH VS. THE SPIDER and the recent "flying saucer" craze. Could there also have been some inspiration from director Edward D. Wood's PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, or was it director Robert Wise's THE DAY THE EARTH STOOL STILL? In any case, the first half of the movie works pretty well setting up Dr. Alec Mango's experiments with magnetic fields and the concerns his assistant, Dr. Forrest Tucker, has about their potential danger. As seems to have been standard practice at the time, the producers brought in a French actress, Gaby Andre, and then had all of her lines re-voice by some other woman. Mango's experiments cause some concern to government officials, as well as the mysterious Martin Benson, who shows up suddenly. The film loses credibility when it becomes apparent that Mango's experiments have punched an hole in the ionosphere allowing dangerous cosmic rays to cause bugs to become giant bloodsuckers. The film attempts to generate suspense by having three different women walk through the woods at night, with one homeless man becoming an homicidal maniac. Tucker had much better results with his time in the U.K. with Hammer Films' BREAK IN THE CIRCLE and THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN. Perhaps his best outing was with Tempean Film's THE TROLLENBERG TERROR, aka THE CRAWLING EYE.
Did not enjoy:
LA CHANCE, aka POWER AND LOVERS (1994) - While suffering through a mediocore "sex thriller" like this, one can't help but wonder why Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.) wanted to make it. Were they hoping that this would be their Rich Man, Poor Man? With location work in London and Boston, this seems to have been a bigger budgeted project than what usually went straight to home video. And why was the director of L'UMANOIDE hired to make it? Veteran writer & director Domenico Paolella tops the list of screenwriters, but all of them couldn't come up with a script not dripping in cliche and nonsense. Since the project seemed aimed at an English speaking audience, Julian Kemp was brought in to pen dialogue that sounded like English, and most of the cast have live recorded voices. In Sicily, two boys witness a man being murdered Mafia style. In 20 years, the boys grow up to be computer research scientist Stephen Dillane and Mafia goon Vincenzo Ricotta (aka Vincent Riotta). After Dillane goes to London to work with celebrated research Professor Donal Hodson, Ricotta finally gets revenge on the man responsible for the death of his father - the man murdered at the beginning of the movie. Ricotta uses Franco Citti as his trigger man, a role Citti has frequently played since THE GODFATHER. Then Ricotta leaves for Boston, where he will work with tycoon Tony Lo Bianco. Soon, Ricotta is having sex with Lo Bianco's wife, Daisy White. Lo Bianco heads a firm that takes used computers from Asia and the U.S. and repackages them for sale in Europe. Since this equipment is not up-to-date, it ensures that Europe will always be behind in this technology. In London, Hodson is working to stop this resale of inferior technology as well as to come up with new stuff to push Europe to the forefront. Soon Citti is knocking off those who oppose Ricotta's effort to get ahead. Will Ricotta order the death of his brother? Will Dillane believe that Hodson's daughter Jemma Redgrave didn't have sex with Ricotta on an hot Sicilian night? How does Ricotta's assistant Julian Glover figure into all this? How could the usually reliable composer Pino Donaggio deliver such a dreadful music score?
I CORPI PRESENTANO TRACCE DI VIOLENZA CARNALE, aka THE CORPSE HAD TRACES OF CARNAL VIOLENCE, aka CARNAL VIOLENCE, aka TORSO (1973) - For the first hour or so, this movie plays like a sex film with occasional violent interruptions. The final 30 minutes or so are taken up with the "final girl" trying to hide in the villa while the killer takes an hacksaw to dismember her dead friends. As the filmmakers attempt to create mystery surrounding the shown events, there is virtually no character development, so the audience has no one with whom to identify. Why is someone, in a ski mask, killing members of a college art course being taught by John Richardson? Why does the killer, after strangling them to death, expose their torsos to mutilate them with a knife? When the rationale is revealed in the end, it is less than satisfying. This film reconfirms my understanding that it is the role in which the actress performs that engenders my love of the actress, not necessarily the actress herself. I fell in love with Suzy Kendall in FRAULEIN DOKTOR, but have found her disappointing in everything else in which I've seen her. Similarly, I fell in love with Tina Aumont in L'UOMO, L'ORGOGLIO, LA VENDETTA, aka MAN PRIDE AND VENGEANCE and in COBARI, but not in this. Interestingly, while Angela Covello, Carla Brait, Conchita Airoldi and Patrizia Adiutori expose much luscious flesh, the two leading ladies don't. While, of course, the filmmakers want every male character to be a perceived as a potential killer, the overall effect in this movie is that no man is worth a damn - except for the man at the gas station and fellow who shows up to help in the end. Director Sergio Martino is credited with the story for this, while Ernesto Gastaldi came in to help with the screenplay. Calling this film a "proto-slasher" is not a compliment to my way of thinking.
Invitation To Hell (1982) - Made for the home video market as a double feature cassette with the 50 minute The Last Night, the 44 miniute Invitation To Hell is an amateurishly made and incoherent Horror film. It is remarkable that this is writer/director Michael J. Murphy's eleventh film and he appears to have been unable to learn anything in the eighteen years since he started. What is perhaps more remarkable, is that he would go on to make 18 more films. The film stars Becky Simpson, and this is her only credit on the IMDb. She attends a party at an house in the country, where she is given a "Bride of Frankenstein" outfit to wear. During the party, she is injected with a relaxant and awakens in the morning to find scratches on her body. Shades of ROSEMARY'S BABY, but it turns out that she hasn't been impregnated yet. That's to happen later. It turns out that her friends bought the house without knowing of the supernatural power there. The power needs a female virgin, and Simpson is the only one they know. While the demon is never named, it seems to be able to hop from one man to another, so even when the cast is down to Simpson and Joseph Sheahan, we know evil will win in the end.
THE PRINCESS AND THE CALL GIRL, aka THE FANTASIES OF MISS JONES (1984) - If this was the last film directed by Radley Metzger, it has none of the quality that gained him a cult following. The IMDb wants to give a co-director's credit to the director of photography Gerard Loubeau, but that maybe because they seem to be dealing with a French version. In Monaco, socialite Carol Levy meets a woman who looks just like her, but she's a prostitute. Rich girl Levy feels torn because she has a date in Monaco, but also has to attend a gathering in New York City at the same time. Having befriended Whore Levy, the Rich girl decides to send her to America in her place with the advice, "if he's a fucker, hug him. If he's a hugger, fuck him." For a sex comedy, this movie has very little erotic content and no laughs.
THE YOUNG AVENGER (1980) - This film is depressing seeing as it is filled with former Shaw Brothers stars that should making better films. The former Wang Yu is now Yue Wong and he plays a fellow who breaks into coffins, with a series of tools that form either a shovel or an axe, to steal the valuables that were laid within. Before leaving the graveyard, he likes to take a piss into a burial urn, asking "How does that taste?" One night, he finds a face at the bottom of the urn that says that it tastes pretty bad. Convinced that he has angered a ghost, Wong races home to pray to Buddha. Wong's thieving is to support his addiction to gambling, but after he has a winning night, the losers gang up on him and take all the money back. Witnessing this, the "ghost" offers to teach him better kung fu. Eventually, it comes out that a group of villains tried to kill a man who survived and has lived for five years pretending to be a ghost. He wants to train Wong so that he can get revenge for him. The revenge doesn't begin until the last part of the movie, and while the action is nicely performed, it fails to be dramatically interesting. Shao-Chiang Hsui, aka Norman Chu, makes for a spirited villain, mostly using a sword. Tang Wei Cheng, aka Wilson Tong, plays the final villain, and also gets director's credit for the film.
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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:
"A DAY AT THE RACES" (1937)
One of my favorite comedies, (even though my favorite comedy team are: Abbott and Costello and my all time favorite comedian is Red Skelton.), TCM had shown it but I missed it when it aired.So I decided to watch my own DVD copy. As I hadn't seen the film in years I thought I'd give it another look-see. The plot as it were involves female lead, Maureen O'Sullivan who owns a sanitarium which is having financial hard rimes. Tony played by Chico Marx who drives the sanitarium bus tries to help. When the sanitarium's richest client played by Margaret Dumont is leaving to be with her doctor lover Chico takes it upon himself to pretend that Dumont's doctor, Dr. Hackenbush is coming to work at the sanitarium. O'Sullivan then contacts Dr. Hackenbush and offers him a position at the sanitarium. Dr. Hackenbush owing rent money where he was staying accepts the position. Hackenbush portrayed by Groucho Marx while a licensed doctor has neglected to tell any one that he is a veterinarian and therefore cannot treat "human" patients. He arrives at the sanitarium and all the fun begins The male lead and love interest to O'Sullivan is singer/actor Alan Jones, (probably now best known as the unofficial fourth "Marx brother" after Marx brother Zeppo left the team and father of singer Jack Jones of "Love Boat" theme song fame) Jones owns a horse named "High Hat" whose jockey rider is played by Harpo Marx. Even though there is a questionable scene where the Marx Brothers use "blackface" to get away from the law, (much in the same way Gene Wilder does in "Silver Streak" (1978) the film is still a lot of fun with the Marx Brothers wreaking havoc as they help O'Sullivan save her sanitarium from a hostile takeover.
"PLANET OF THE APES" (1968)
One of my favorite Sci-Fi films, after seeing several scenes from the movie shown as short subjects on YouTube, I decided to pull out my DVD copy and watch the whole film. First not having seen the film in awhile I had forgotten how the film was structured. First Charlton Heston before going into hibernation on his ship is the commander of a crew of four. Another white guy, Landon; a black guy, Dodge and a white female, Stewart. When the ship they are in crash lands in a body of water on what they think is a distant planet, they discover that Stewart has died due to a malfunction in her hibernation pod. The crew abandons ship and starts to explore the planet they have landed on. There is a discourse between Landon and Heston about the way things were back on Earth. Landon played by actor, Robert Gunner is classified as the "Golden Boy" who volunteered for the mission to the other planet because he had to be part of it. Taylor (Heston) had grown dissatisfied with the Earth and wanted to go to seek out what he thought he might find "something better than Man." Then the main action begins. While swimming nude in fresh water, they discover what appear to be mute humans who steal their possessions and equipment. Taylor muses "if this is the best this planet has to offer," they "will be running the planet in no time." Then to their surprise the real masters of this planet make their appearance--apes. While the screenplay is half attributed to Rod Serling, the film to some point does play out like an extended episode of "The Twilight Zone" in its surprise ending. (Its like knowing that "To Serve Man" is a cookbook, the episode is still interesting.) The music by Jerry Goldsmith is still fascinating and all involved give great performances.
"THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING" (1975)
After watching a short video on the behind the scenes of the making of this film I decided to watch my DVD copy as I had really only seen the complete film once long ago. First some interesting facts. John Huston a big Rudyard Kipling fan had bought the rights to the original story back in the fifties and wanted to make a film of the story starring Humphrey Bogart, who he had made "The African Queen" (1951) with and Clark Gable, but Bogart died before any film of the story could be made. He then wanted Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas to play the leads, Plans for that version fell through. Then he wanted Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, but that plan also fell trough. Then in the seventies he asked Paul Newman if he might be interested in the film as another pairing of him and Robert Redford. It was then that Newman told Huston he should use two /British actors and he then suggested Sean Connery and Michael Caine and the rest is history. The two actors then play two former British officers who set out in Colonial Indian times for a land called Kafiristan where no white man has been and seek their fortune. Before they leave on their trek, they tell a journalist, Rudyard Kipling (played by an almost unrecognizable Christopher Plummer) whom they have just met, about their plans Then the adventure begins. The two leads were friends before accepting their roles, so their chemistry as remarkable. Part of the fun is watching these two pros on screen.
The story takes a turn when Connery is believed to be a god by the natives of Kairristan and their arrival is in fulfillment of a prophecy. I won't tell you the rest if you have never seen this film. And even if you have seen the film it is still worth a viewing either way.
One of my favorite comedies, (even though my favorite comedy team are: Abbott and Costello and my all time favorite comedian is Red Skelton.), TCM had shown it but I missed it when it aired.So I decided to watch my own DVD copy. As I hadn't seen the film in years I thought I'd give it another look-see. The plot as it were involves female lead, Maureen O'Sullivan who owns a sanitarium which is having financial hard rimes. Tony played by Chico Marx who drives the sanitarium bus tries to help. When the sanitarium's richest client played by Margaret Dumont is leaving to be with her doctor lover Chico takes it upon himself to pretend that Dumont's doctor, Dr. Hackenbush is coming to work at the sanitarium. O'Sullivan then contacts Dr. Hackenbush and offers him a position at the sanitarium. Dr. Hackenbush owing rent money where he was staying accepts the position. Hackenbush portrayed by Groucho Marx while a licensed doctor has neglected to tell any one that he is a veterinarian and therefore cannot treat "human" patients. He arrives at the sanitarium and all the fun begins The male lead and love interest to O'Sullivan is singer/actor Alan Jones, (probably now best known as the unofficial fourth "Marx brother" after Marx brother Zeppo left the team and father of singer Jack Jones of "Love Boat" theme song fame) Jones owns a horse named "High Hat" whose jockey rider is played by Harpo Marx. Even though there is a questionable scene where the Marx Brothers use "blackface" to get away from the law, (much in the same way Gene Wilder does in "Silver Streak" (1978) the film is still a lot of fun with the Marx Brothers wreaking havoc as they help O'Sullivan save her sanitarium from a hostile takeover.
"PLANET OF THE APES" (1968)
One of my favorite Sci-Fi films, after seeing several scenes from the movie shown as short subjects on YouTube, I decided to pull out my DVD copy and watch the whole film. First not having seen the film in awhile I had forgotten how the film was structured. First Charlton Heston before going into hibernation on his ship is the commander of a crew of four. Another white guy, Landon; a black guy, Dodge and a white female, Stewart. When the ship they are in crash lands in a body of water on what they think is a distant planet, they discover that Stewart has died due to a malfunction in her hibernation pod. The crew abandons ship and starts to explore the planet they have landed on. There is a discourse between Landon and Heston about the way things were back on Earth. Landon played by actor, Robert Gunner is classified as the "Golden Boy" who volunteered for the mission to the other planet because he had to be part of it. Taylor (Heston) had grown dissatisfied with the Earth and wanted to go to seek out what he thought he might find "something better than Man." Then the main action begins. While swimming nude in fresh water, they discover what appear to be mute humans who steal their possessions and equipment. Taylor muses "if this is the best this planet has to offer," they "will be running the planet in no time." Then to their surprise the real masters of this planet make their appearance--apes. While the screenplay is half attributed to Rod Serling, the film to some point does play out like an extended episode of "The Twilight Zone" in its surprise ending. (Its like knowing that "To Serve Man" is a cookbook, the episode is still interesting.) The music by Jerry Goldsmith is still fascinating and all involved give great performances.
"THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING" (1975)
After watching a short video on the behind the scenes of the making of this film I decided to watch my DVD copy as I had really only seen the complete film once long ago. First some interesting facts. John Huston a big Rudyard Kipling fan had bought the rights to the original story back in the fifties and wanted to make a film of the story starring Humphrey Bogart, who he had made "The African Queen" (1951) with and Clark Gable, but Bogart died before any film of the story could be made. He then wanted Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas to play the leads, Plans for that version fell through. Then he wanted Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole, but that plan also fell trough. Then in the seventies he asked Paul Newman if he might be interested in the film as another pairing of him and Robert Redford. It was then that Newman told Huston he should use two /British actors and he then suggested Sean Connery and Michael Caine and the rest is history. The two actors then play two former British officers who set out in Colonial Indian times for a land called Kafiristan where no white man has been and seek their fortune. Before they leave on their trek, they tell a journalist, Rudyard Kipling (played by an almost unrecognizable Christopher Plummer) whom they have just met, about their plans Then the adventure begins. The two leads were friends before accepting their roles, so their chemistry as remarkable. Part of the fun is watching these two pros on screen.
The story takes a turn when Connery is believed to be a god by the natives of Kairristan and their arrival is in fulfillment of a prophecy. I won't tell you the rest if you have never seen this film. And even if you have seen the film it is still worth a viewing either way.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Barquero (1970, Gordon Douglas)
The Culpepper cattle Co. (1972, Dick Richards)
Screen diretors playhouse – episodes «High air » (1956, Allan Dwan) & «It's always sunday (1956, Allan Dwan)
Police squad (1982) – episode 6
Gyeonuwa Seonnyeo / Head over heels (2025, Kim Yong Wan) – episode 2
Habeas corpus (short) (1928, James Parrott)
Angora love (short) (1929, Lewis R. Foster)
Bacon grabbers (short) (1929, Lewis R. Foster)
The midnight patrol (short) (1933, Lloyd French)
Mildly Enjoyed
Six black horses (1962, Harry Keller)
Keromar (1971) - episode 1
Did not enjoy:
Ride, vaquero ! (1953, John Farrow)
Maps to the stars (2012, David Cronenberg)
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