To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
In which Italian/Spanish Western does a natural right handed actor have his gunhand mangled, so that he has to kill the bad guys in the end with his left hand?
It is IL RITORNO DI RINGO, aka THE RETURN OF RINGO.
In which Italian/Spanish Western does a natural left handed actor have his gun hand disabled, so that he has to kill the bad guys in the end with this right hand?
No one correctly answered this one yet.
By what name is Paco Brana better known?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that it is Frank Brana.
Who is Candida Lopez?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and Angel Rivera knew that she is Aldo Sambrell's widow. George Grimes also noted that she acted sometimes under the name Candice Kay.
Who wrote the autobiography Morir con dignidad en el cine?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew that while the book is often called Frank Brana's autobiography, it has Manuel Curiel Fernandez listed as the author.
And now for some new brain teasers:
In which Italian Western does the hero ricochet a bullet off a bell to kill the villain?
In which Italian Western does the hero suffer bad rope burns to both of his hands before the final gun fight?
In which Italian Western does the hero shoot the thumbs off of the men he takes prisoner?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Angelo Susani in DA UOMO A UOMO, aka DEATH RIDES A HORSE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem, George Grimes and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Carl Mohner, Loredana Nusciak and Ettore Manni in IL CROLLO DI ROMA, aka THE FALL OF ROME.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one identified the above photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's photo from THE 36TH CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, aka THE MASTER KILLER.
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:
The Pitt (2025) - While this 15 episode series avoids most of the cliches of TV hospital dramas, its strong cast, and fast editing, keeps the stories moving and the audience emotions, and attention, rivited. I am particularly impressed with Fiona Dourif, Katherine LaNasa and Taylor Dearden.
Did not enjoy:
CHAMPION OPERATION (1986) - Many were impressed by how close the explosions in A BETTER TOMORROW II were to the main actors. Director Lai Hung Shuen, aka Hung-Chuen Lau, seemed determined to match what director John Woo had accomplished, even though the Lai film was released before the Woo film. Hong Kong gangsters, dressed as cops, massacre a gang of mainland illegals and steal their contraband. One of the gang survives because he hadn't returned with the food order yet. The survivor came to Hong Kong for a better life with his sister, but soon finds himself in the midst of a gang war. A young Hong Kong inspector is assigned to solve the massacre, and soon meets the innocent daughter of the Hong Kong gangster. After a whole lot of shooting and explosions, the mainland hero's sister is smashed in the face with a broken bottle. The Hong Kong inspector's mentor is stabbed in the throat by an illegal who didn't want to be arrested. Meanwhile the gangster's daughter decides that she's going to leave her father and his criminal life behind. The mainland hero attacks the gangster's compound where he never seems to need to reload his automatic weapon. Luckily, all of the gangsters are terrible shots until one comes up behind him. Soon, the mainland hero's sister drives a truck into the compound and joins the mayhem taking a shotgun to the man who cut her face. When the daughter enters her father's study to say goodbye, he inadvertently shoots her dead. The inspector arrives to arrest the gangster, but the sister pops up and shoots both the gangster and the inspector dead. Sitting next to her dead brother, the sister sets off an explosive which pretty much destroys the whole of the gangster's compound. Some call the Hong Kong gangster films which came after A BETTER TOMORROW "heroic bloodshed" movies. If you enjoy the extreme examples of this kind of film, you may enjoy this more than I did. Perhaps the most impressive moment in the film is when the inspector is chasing after some villains in a car. He at first leaps on the roof. When the driver swerves so that he falls off, the inspector grabs onto the back fender and is dragged through the streets. When another car pulls alongside the villain's car, the inspector is able to use the other car to maneuver himself off the street and back onto the roof of the villain's car. There he finally shoots the villains leading to a spectacular car crash which the inspector survives.
EL TUNCO MACLOVIO, aka MACLOVIO THE ONE-AMRED MAN (1970) - Some times it is hard to ascertain if the movie you are watching is a hard-to-follow mess, or if it is the fault of the very choppy copy one is watching off a Greek home video release, with an English soundtrack. The film starts with two men facing each other on opposite sides of a town street. All of the towns people figure a fight is about to happen, so they take off running hither and thither. The two men walk towards each other, but suddenly they shoot not at each other but at the six men waiting in ambush, mostly on roof tops. It seems that the powerful lady rancher Laura Montano - whom we never see except for her large breasts underneath a sheer black nightie, wants Julian Moncada, played by Juan Miranda, dead - probably because he is in love with Laura's daughter Sara, played by Barbara Angely. To that end, Laura sends a man with the letter ordering the one-armed hired killer, Tunco Maclovio, played by Julio Aleman, to come see her. On the way to find Tunco, the man drinks poisoned water from a puddle and dies after delivering the letter. Hearing that Tunco is on his way, the Marshall creates a posse to capture him. Both Tunco and the Marshall stop at the same cantina, but the mysterious Juan Mariscal (but we don't know his name until the end of the film), played by Mario Alamda, who has been following Tunco, sends the lawman off in the wrong direction. After Tunco leaves, the mysterious man seduces the cantina owner, played by Nora Cantu. Tunco escapes the posse by riding up a very narrow passage on a cliff. Coming the other way is Julian Moncada. As the passage is too narrow for them to safely pass each other, Julian decides to get his horse to ride backwards to safety. Julian reminds Tunco that the killer owes him his life, but when Julian laughs at him, Tunco shoots him dead. Along the way, Tunco befriends a young boy, Marcelo Pavon, played by Juan Miranda, who wants to rob him with a broken rifle. Tunco buys some new clothes for Marcelo as well as a funeral wreath. While bathing in the river, Cantu sees Tunco put the wreath on a cemetery cross. Just then, the Marshall and his posse ride up to capture Tunco. The lawman wants to hang the killer right away, but Tunco overpowers him, knocks him unconscious and kills all but one of the posse. Cantu finds that the wreath is on the gave of a little boy named Mariscal. In a red flashback, we see that as a boy Tunco accidentally killed the little boy, and in his grief, he cut off his left hand, which he buried with the body of his friend. Hearing that Tunco was by the river, Sara took off her shirt and attacked him on horseback with a machete. He pulls her off her horse and as the river flowed beside them, had sex with her. It turns out that Sara's boyguard Yuma, played by Eric del Castillo, wants to kill Tunco, but the mysterious Mariscal killed him. It is then that the mystery man reveals that he is the father of the little boy Tunco killed, but he wants to wait for the right time to kill the killer. Later, Tunco gives the new clothes to Marcelo, who is excited but wonders where is the pistol her will need to become just like Tunco. "Teach me to be a killer," the kid pleads, so Tunco slugs hm and the boy hits his head. Overcome with grief, Tunco smashes his gun hand against a tree. Marcelo recovers but Tunco refuses to allow him to come with him as he leaves. Tunco goes to the Montano ranch where he is greeted by Sara. Marcelo also arrives, just as Mariscal shows up thinking that now is the time to kill Tunco. However, Mariscal sees that Tunco no long has a working gun hand and decides not to kill him. Just then, Sara calls out "Kill him!" and Tunco is riddled with bullets fired by most of the men he failed to kill earlier in the film, including the Marshall and Moncada's father, played by Eduardo Alcaraz. The film ends with Mariscal taking Marcelo with him as he leaves. They pass what looks to be Laura returning from wherever she went at the beginning of the film. Veteran actor and director Alberto Mariscal helmed this Mexican production by Larry and Oscar J. Brooks from a script credited to Juan Cardenas, Eugenio Martin and Francisco Ruelas. If you like bloody gunshot wounds to the head, you may enjoy this flick.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
La course du lièvre à travers les champs (1972, René Clément)
Running boy (short) (2006, David Bonsignore)
La blonde de Pékin (1967, Nicolas Gessner)
Mildly enjoyed:
El extra (1962, Miguel M. Delgado)
Seiren / Siren's kiss (2025, Kim Cheol-kyu) – episodes 11 & 12
Fantômas (1932, Paul Fejos)
Did not enjoy:
Buffalo Bill (1944, William A. Wellman)
Hawk the slayer (1980, Terry Marcel)
Hail the conquering hero (1945, Preston Sturges)
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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:
"SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD" (1958)
"ZATOICHI MEETS YOJIMBO" (1970)
"SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER" (1977)
"CLASH OF THE TITANS" (1981)
P.S. I forgot to mention last week that the "Earth Defense Squadron/The Moon Monsters" episode of "Astro Boy, Hero of the Universe" (aka Astro Boy, the Brave in Space") takes place on the Moon and the series although made in the sixties was set in the then future year of our lord, 2000. (And the Japanese version was set in the year 2004!)!
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Charles Gilbert watched:
FALL OF ROME (1963) Tribune Marcus (Carl Mohner) is imprisoned along with his brethren for his Christian faith, but is granted favorable consideration if he agrees to fight in the arena. Exceptional earthquake effects for the finale. Milton Reid appears as a gladiator without acting credit even at IMDb.
STEEL (1979) Story of high rise construction filmed in Lexington Kentucky with Lee Majors starring along side Jennifer O'Reilly and George Kennedy. The movie is generally more famous for the falling death of stuntman A. J. Bukanis.
HELL DRIVERS (1957) B&W. Rank Films of London produced this blue collar gem about truck drivers in England hauling gravel. Ex con Stanley Baker seeks a job driving lorry dump trucks for Hawlett, a heady proprietor whose company thrives on its operators dangerously racing on English roads in the name of business. Foreman Patrick McGoohan leads the pack, setting the dubious standard by taking shortcuts, and starting fights at the local dance hall. Cast includes Herbert Lom and Sean Connery.
FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE SPACE MONSTER (1965) Low budget sci fi is fraught with NASA and military footage. A robotic astronaut (termed Frankenstein) battles a hairy mutant extraterrestrial on board an alien spacecraft that lands near Puerto Rico. Look for Bruce Glover in tertiary role as a martian astronaut.
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