To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which Spanish actress worked with directors Giorgio Ferroni, Marcello Ciorciolini, Francisco Ariza, Jose Ulloa, Victor Erice, Vittorio De Sica and Enzo G. Castellari?
Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Teresa Gimpera.
Which actor, born in Greece, worked with directors Gianfranco Parolini, Stelvio Massi, Ignazio Dolce, Bruno Mattei, Sergio Corbucci, and Aldo Florio?
Tom Betts and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Vassili Karis.
While making which movie in Italy did Mark Damon meet his second wife?
Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was THE ARENA, co-starring Margaret Markov. He also met his first wife, Barbara Frey, working in Italy on I CENTO CAVALIERI, aka 100 HORSEMEN.
By what name is Alan Harris better known?
Tom Betts and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it is Mark Damon.
And now for some new brain teasers:
What made in Spain Horror film was partly inspired by the made in Spain Western PANCHO VILLA?
Which Italian born film editor made his directorial debut working with Reg Park?
Which Italian film director worked with actors Robert Woods, Hunt Powers, Walter Barnes, Jack Palance, Ursula Andress, Eli Wallach, Barbara Bach and Roger Moore?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Alberto Farnese and Vassili Karis in SCALPS.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, and Angel Rivera identified last week's frame grab of Gianni Musy and Steve Reeves in ROMOLO E REMO, aka DUEL OF THE TITANS.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab from LA CODA DELLO SCORPIONE, aka THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
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:
Etoile (2025) - Amazon only gave this show 8 episodes before cancelling it. I can understand why it didn't find a wider audience. It was sometimes hard to follow, and there were so many characters of which to keep track. But the first season spent a lot of time setting up for future storylines, so it is a shame we won't get to see them. I look forward to seeing Lou de Laage in future projects.
Did not enjoy:
THE BOBO (1967) - Burt Cole's novel OLIMPIA was published in 1959. Reportedly a play was going to be made based on the novel in 1961 directed by Norman Jewison, but it never appeared before an audience. Reportedly a film version was being considered by George Cukor in 1962 to star Ava Gardner. In 1966, producers Eliot Kastner and Jerry Gershwim gained the film rights and hoped to engage Peter Sellers to not only star, but to direct as well. Sellers ended up passing on being the director, but he got his wife, Britt Ekland, cast as the "most beautiful girl in Barcelona". Fans of that unknown actor in DA UOMO A UOMO, aka DEATH RIDES A HORSE, who offers to kiss John Phillip Law will be thrilled by his role in this film. Peter Sellers arrives in Barcelona and tracks theater owner Adolfo Celi to a small bistro run by Al Lettieri to ask for a chance to perform on his stage. That unknown actor is another patron in that bistro and is a witness to the entire plot. Celi will allow Sellers to perform on his stage if he can get into the apartment of the most mercenary and wily Britt Ekland with the lights turned off for an hour. He must do this in three days. So, we see Ekland make life miserable for Ferdy Mayne, Kenneth Griffith and Marne Maitland, before we see Sellers begin his conjob, pretending to be an emmasary for a very rich man offering her a check just to have a chance to meet her. The climax of the film is given away by not only the film's trailer, but also by the poster and the entire publicity campaign. Sellers succeeds, and Ekland gets her revenge by forcing him, with a shotgun, to bathe in blue dye. Celi is ecstactic but Sellers is too much of a romantic to divulge the details of the night, so he does not get to perform on stage. Sellers eeks out a living as the blue singing matador, while Ekland sets her sights on a new richman played by Rossano Brazzi. American director Robert Parrish took on this film, one of a number he made in Europe including some of CASINO ROYALE and A TOWN CALLED HELL, but reportedly had difficulty with Sellers. In any case, aside of making Ekland look gorgeous, the only real accomplishment of the film is capturing an exciting flamenco performance by La Chana and the Los Tarantos.
TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL (1953) - Where in Hell is this movie supposed to take place? The opening narration says "Africa" but there is not a single Black person in sight. The "Natives" seem to be Pacific Islanders though they are supposed to be East Africans. Reportedly, much of the stock footage used here is from a documentary called WILD CARGO, which was shot in Malay. The film concerns the efforts of ivory hunters Raymond Burr and Michael Grainger to by-pass dealers Monique van Vooren and Tom Conway and exploit an huge herd of elephants for their own bigger profits. Needless to say, Tarzan, played by Lex Barker for the fifth and last time, is opposed to the killing of any elephants. Van Vooren earns the "she-devil" title when she comes up with a plan to capture Tarzan's girlfriend, Joyce MacKenzie, and force our hero to use his jungle call to bring the elephants to them for slaughter. The film seems to take forever until we get the climax we were expecting all along - the elephants charge and stomp to death all of the bad guys. Director Kurt Neumann made three Tarzan movies in the 1930s with Johnny Weissmuller. He made this, his last Tarzan movie, before deciding to go back to Germany for six movies. He returned to Hollywood in 1956, where he is best remembered for directing KRONOS and THE FLY. Back in 1997, to help publicize the new release of GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE, actor Brendan Fraser hosted a marathon of Tarzan movies on American Movie Classics, which I videotaped and from where I saw this film. My main interest in the Tarzan movies came about when I realised that the Italian Muscle movies I loved owed perhaps more to the Tarzan movies than to tales of Ancient Greece and Rome. Heck, this movie has a wild native dancer racing around a fire at about the 20 minute mark. Other obvious inspirations are shown by Lex Barker knocking various bad guys unconscious with a single blow which could easily have convinced German movie producers to cast him as Shatterhand in the Winnetou movies. And how many Italian Muscle movies feature elephants stomping on people? It is hard to recognize van Vooren as the same actress who had bed scenes with Joe Dallesandro in FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN, aka ANDY WARHOL'S FRANKENSTEIN.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
YPOTRON (65) - Please refer to the Eurospy Guide for a review of this fun Spanish entry.
INVASION OF THE VAMPIRES (61) - Still waiting for a Blu-ray of this fun Mexican horror and its companion, The Bloody Vampire.
THE AMAZING MR. X (48)
BOOMERANG (76) - Industrialist Alain Delon has a hidden, gangster past. When his son accidentally kills a cop, this past is revealed, and popular sentiment turns against them. Delon struggles to play by the rules to save his son, but it may not be enough. More a character piece than an action flick, this is solid entertainment that does deliver the goods in the final act.
THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH (64)
THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (81) - Recommended Russian version shot in two parts for TV.
ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (72)
THE BLACK CASTLE (52)
DARK INTRUDER (65)
THE FALCON AND THE CO-EDS (43)
SNOW DEVILS (65)
THE SINISTER CINEMA STORY (25) - Lo-fi documentary on the venerable video merchant. Greg Luce started his mail order business in 1984 and I think I bought my first VHS tapes from him in 1986 or '87. This film is one for fans (like me) that will enjoy the story of a genre movie nerd who turned his passion into a business.
Mildly Enjoyed
MYSTERY OF THE GREEN SPIDER (60)
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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:
I love this movie. It was being shown on TCM, so I set to watch it. It takes place in contemporary Dublin. Here we meet a young wheeler-dealer named Jimmy. Jimmy is seen at an outdoor market trying to sell T-shirts. We learn he is unemployed, but he also has ways to get money. Any way Jimmy comes up with the idea he will form a musical band to play "Soul" music. He has two friends who are musicians and puts an ad in the local paper. Enter Joey the Lips, a middle-aged saxophonist who claims to have played as a back musician for "Soul" bands in the US. Jimmy then asks this girl he knows named "Bernie", if she'd like to join his band, and bring her friend, Imelda, a cute blonde. Bernie says yes to both and asks if she can bring her friend, Natalie, a brunette with striking eyes who can also sing. (The three girls become known as "The Commitmentettes"!The "band" is actually good for this type of film!) The music is good as these "Dubliners" interpret "American Soul" music. The characters are identifiable and the film in my opinion is lots of fun!
Enjoyed:
This is the third Man from U.N.C .L.E. movie and the first to be made from a two-part episode. Rip Torn is great as Alexander the Greater, who is using his estranged wife's money to back his attempt to fulfill his name, "Alexander, the Greater"! He also thinks it will make him greater, if he breaks each commandment. Dorothy Provine, probably best known for the TV series, "The Roaring Twenties" (1960-62) plays the estranged wife who wants her money back and has been chasing her husband, Mr. Alexander trying to get it. U.N.C.L.E. gets involved because Mr. Alexander has absconded with a nerve gas previously in the arms of our services. The action is good and authentic for its time period. I'm enjoying the action fantasy with a little nostalgic sense.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Seven ways from sundown (1960, Harry Keller)
The glory guys (1965, Arnold Laven)
Gunpoint (1965, Earl Bellamy)
Lady gangster (1942, Florian Roberts)
Geung see ga zuk / Mr Vampire 2 (1986, Ricky Lau)
Alias Smith & Jones – episode « The McCreedy bust » (1971, Gene Levitt)
The thing (1982, John Carpenter)
John Carpenter's the thing : terror takes shape (doc) (1998, Michael Matessino)
Gunman's walk (1958, Phil, Karlson)
Mildly enjoyed
Ladyhawke (1984, Richard Donner)
Batman – episodes « The joker trumps and ace » & « Batman sets the pace » (1966, Richard C. Sarafian)
Supēsu Adobenchā Kobura / Space adventure Cobra, le film (anime) (1982, Ozamu Dezaki)
Twenty four hours to kill (1965, Peter Bezencenet)
The stranger wore a gun (1953, André de Toth)
Cripple Creek (1952, Ray Nazarro)
The vikings (1958, Richard Fleischer)
The thing from another world (1951, Christian Nyby)
Did not enjoy:
Quantez (1957, Harry Keller)
Litan (1981, Jean-Pierre Mocky)
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