To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which actress, born in Poland, worked with directors Quentin Lawrence, Fernando Cerchio, Giorgio Stegani, Giulio Petroni and Val Guest?
Tom Betts, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Magda Konopka.
What was the eventual title for the failed pilot to a TV series called Hercules in 1965?
Tom Betts, George Grimes, Charles Gilbert and Angel Rivera knew that it was Hercules and the Princess of Troy.
What historical character was portrayed in Italian movies by Gordon Scott and Rik Van Nutter?
Tom Betts, George Grimes, Charles Gilbert and Angel Rivera knew that it was Buffalo Bill.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which actor from THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY appeared in THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW?
Which actor from BLINDMAN appeared in a Woody Allen film?
Which Swedish born actress, who made an Italian Western, died in 2018 due to Alzheimer's?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Ringo Starr and Agneta Eckemyr in BLINDMAN.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Charles Gilbert identified last weeks' photo of Gordon Mitchell and Erno Crisa in BRENNO IL NEMICO DI ROMA, aka BATTLE OF THE VALIANT.
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 Katell Laennec and Mariangela Giordano in MALABIMBA.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's photo of Yuen Biao, Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung in DRAGONS FOREVER.
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:
Mildly enjoy:
ASSIGNMENT TO KILL (1968) - With a title like that, one would expect a slam-bang spy thriller. And you would be disappointed to find a rather thoughtful tale of insurance fraud mostly reliant on dialogue. With A PLACE CALLED GLORY, director Sheldon Reynolds was able to craft a thoughtful and exciting European Western which was based on a novel by Jerold Hayden Boyd, aka F.X. Toole. For ASSIGNMENT TO KILL, he took sole credit for the original screenplay and it was a compelling piece of work. Bringing over the star of the TV show Dick and the Duchess - Patrick O'Neal, which Reynold produced in the U.K., Reynolds told the tale of a resourceful but cynical investigator hired by an insurance company to look into a plane crash from three years prior which was finally uncovered on a ski slope near Zurich, Switzerland. When Herbert Lom and his "muscle" Leon Greene also showed up, O'Neal began to suspect foul play. The body of passenger Peter van Eyck was not found, and the search began to find him, presuming that he was still alive. The weakest part of the film was the character played by Joan Hackett. For a character who had been helping van Eyck to hide for months, she was also written as rather naive. Disturbed by O'Neal's cynical world view, Hackett kept pushing for a more traditional 'settling of accounts", but then failed to take the simplest efforts at self-preservation. Producer Reynolds assembled a strong cast, including John Gielgud, Eric Portman, Oscar Homolka and Cynthia O'Neal - the star's real-life wife. Cynthia O'Neal played Gielgud's daughter, and brought a mysterious quality to an undefined role that had just about no dialogue and no plot function. Being a fan of Leon Greene because of THE DEVIL RIDES OUT, I often wondered why his voice was removed from the soundtrack of that film. He had his own voice in A CHALLENGE FOR ROBIN HOOD, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM and THE RITZ, and he had his own voice in ASSIGNMENT TO KILL, but was given just about nothing to say.
CARVILLE WINNING IS EVERYTHING, STUPID (2024) - CNN Films documentary.
MEGALOPOLIS (2024) - Like METROPOLIS, which would seem to be the inspiration for this film, MEGALOPOLIS tries to deal with the problems of society. Like THINGS TO COME, MEGALOPOLIS makes some predictions about where society is going. Like THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, MEGALOPOLIS deals with a central character who has a problem with alcohol and drugs and the film features some explicit sex scenes. Unlike those three films, MEGALOPOLIS feels longer than its two hour running time. Probably because, like the original U.S. theatrical release of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, the storytelling feels choppy and one scene doesn't flow into the next in an understandable way. In the future, can Francis Ford Coppola release a MEGALOPOLIS REDUX? I'd like to see that.
THE SHERIFF OF FRACTURED JAW (1958) - Kenneth More brought his usual warm charm to this Western comedy, which, because it was partly filmed in the Andalusia province of Spain, some want to include in the catagory of "Spaghetti Western". Directed by Raoul Walsh, who began his career in 1913 and recently made THE TALL MEN with Clark Gable, this was very much an American Western no matter where it was filmed. The closest connection to Italian Westerns was the appearance of Canadian actor Al Mulock, who was mostly working in England at the time. More played a wannabe English inventor, who finally decided to devote himself to the family owned business of gun manufacture. Reading about the conflicts in the American West, More decided that there was where customers for firearms could be found. Not knowing how things were done in the Wild West, More ended up becoming a member of a local Indian tribe and the sheriff of a lawless town divided between two warring ranchers. A romantic subplot involving Jayne Mansfield was also tossed into the plot mix. This was at best mildly amusing, but I wonder if it would have been more fun with a better actress as the female lead.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Bettlejuice, Beetlejuice (2023, Tim Burton)
Gangmaegang / Seoul busters – season 1 – episodes 9 & 10
Mildly enjoyed:
Cocorico (2022, Julien Hervé)
The colour of magic (2008, Vadim Jean)
O.K. Yevtushenko / Somebody's stolen our russian spy (1967, Jose Luis Madrid)
DC’s legends of tomorrow – season 7 - episodes 4 to 13
Dolawayo ajeossi / Please come back, mister (2023, Shin Yun Seop) – episodes 1 to 4
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Angel Rivera Mildly enjoyed:
"SUPERMAN AND LOIS" 2024 Season Premiere episodes 1 & 2
Superman is killed; as the "Superman and Lois" show does their own version of "the Death of Superman" tale, which brought a lot of publicity to the comics when the story was originally told. Superman's death was a big part of "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice"(2016) and "Justice League"(2017) DC movies. Here he is killed by the machinations of Lex Luthor. This time portrayed by Michael Cudlitz of "Southland " fame. (frankly I preferred Jon Cryer's "Lex Luthor" as shown on the "Supergirl" TV series; but that's just me.) Episode 2 made it look even bleaker for Superman's demise and potential return. (As he must!?) I don't really like this version of Luthor, as he has the appearance of a biker thug. Any way since this is the final season for this series, it remains to be seen if they ever bring him back. (Or maybe they are going to go in a different direction. Superman does have a son they are calling "Superboy".) We'll wait and see.
LIFE OF THE PARTY" (2018)
A distaff version of Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School" (1986). Here Melissa McCarthy of "Mike and Molly" fame plays a woman recently dumped & divorced by her husband and who decides to go back to school to earn her degree. She ends up matriculating to the same college as her daughter; where she becomes "the life of the party". It is a cutesy film which ends up alright for mother and daughter.
THE HEAT' (2013)
An alright female cop buddy movie with Sandra Bullock and guess who, Melissa McCarthy. ("Cagney and Lacey", they're not.) Sandra is the no nonsense by the book cop similar to her role in "Miss Congeniality" (2000). Melissa is the distaff version of a street cop similar to Bruce Weitz' character, Belker from "Hill Street Blues" (1981-1987). They join forces to take down a drug lord. Another cutesy movie with Sandra looking great in a scene where she goes to a disco and in another where she gets drunk when the case goes temporarily south. Of course Sandra and Melissa get their man.
'GREY'S ANATOMY" S21 E3 (2024)
The only soap opera I watch. The doctors at Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital work miracles. There is even some PG girl on girl action. (For those who like that sort of thing.) (Lots of lesbian doctors.) Just a guilty pleasure.
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Charles Gilbert watched:
Space 1999 S1E23 'Dragon's Domain' Gianni Garko joins regulars Martin Landau, Barbara Bain, and Barry Morse as an astronaut captain that experienced a monster attack aboard a probe that killed every other crewmember. His nightmares are compromising his credibility. The show was a product of British producer Gerry Anderson, known for Supermarionation techniques used in Fireball XL 5. Especially interesting episode in that the monster looks like the Carlo Rambaldi Medusa from PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE except it has no trunk.
Kraft Suspense Theater: 'Portrait of an Unknown Man S01E22 Stranger Dave Wolfe (Clint Walker) shows up in a mountain village to reside at an abandoned mine. Store keeper Mala Powers is attracted to him as her savior from an oppressive relationship with her father J. C Flippen and the ne'er do well (Robert Duvall) he wants her to marry.
THE DEEP (1977) A young couple scuba diving near Bermuda in search for treasure on a sunken galleon, and find ampules of medical morphine that also interests the local narcartics peddlers.
GOLIATH AGAINST THE GIANTS (1961) Brad Harris' first starring role included Gianfranco Parolini as a writer, but the director is Guido Malatesta. Hence the giant monsters and rumbling earth. Much of the score was later used in SEVEN REVENGES.
SAMSON aka SANSONE (1961) Parolini directs this time with the strongman epic. Two musclemen for the price of one as Brad Harris and Alan Steel clash with each other, and then together against Serge Gainsbourg.
THE FURY OF HERCULES (1962) Another Parolini-Harris collaberation stars Brad in the title role looking his ripped best. Virtually the same actors and sets as SAMSON. Carlo Innocenza conducted the score for all three of these, but the first is much different. First time I saw the second two was the afternoon movies shown in Cincinnati during school days.
BRENNUS, ENEMY OF ROME (1963) Quintis Fabios (Tony "Joe Walker" Kendall), son of a prominent senator (Nerio Bernardi) loses his two brothers in battle against the Gauls, whose vicious leader Brennus (Gordon Mitchell) is hell bent on subduing the eternal city. Massimo Serato in a propitious role.
CONSTANTINE AND THE CROSS (1961) Roman general Constantine (Cornel Wilde) is at odds with his brother-in-law (Massimo Serato) over the purported threat Christians pose to the empire.
The Messed Up Truth Of The Council of Nicea.
Short video describing the first council called by Emporer Constantine in 325 that condemned a popular understanding on the relationship, referred to as the filioque, between God the Father and God the Son. Bishop Arius and his followers maintained that The Son is deferential in essence to the Almighty, hence the Holy Spirit emanates from the Father only. Other bishops like Athanasius avered that the Son is equally divine to the Father. The latter won out and declared Arianism heretical.
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