June 14 - 20, 2025

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which American actor did Gordon Mitchell think was going to be his co-star in BRENNO IL NEMICO DI ROMA before he found out that it would be Tony Kendall?

Gordon told me that the producers promised him Gordon Scott. When he was told that it was Tony Kendall, he insisted that the ending be such that the audience would believe that Tony Kendall could defeat him in combat.

Which American actor thought he would co-star with Steve Reeves in ROMOLO E REMO before Gordon Scott was cast?

No one has answered this question correctly yet.

In which Dean Strafford Italian Western can you hear music from BLIND MAN?

No one has answered this question yet.

In which Luis Davila Spanish Western can you hear music from GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS?

No one has answered this question yet.

Can you name two Italian Westerns which filmed scenes in Monument Valley, Arizona?

George Grimes and Angel Rivera knew of C'ERA UNA VOLATA IL WEST, aka ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, and UN GENIO, DUE COMPARI, UN POLLO, aka A GENIUS, TWO PARTNERS AND A DUPE.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Claudia Cardinale said "hi" to Henry Fonda while Fonda was relaxing off set with Robert Woods on BATTLE OF THE BULGE. What was Fonda's comment about Claudia to Robert?

With which female co-star did Richard Harrison spend the night while she was having her "period" causing the maid in the morning to think there had been a murder with blood all over the room?

Which actor's suicide convinced Mickey Knox to quit the production of ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes identified last week's photo from C'ERA UNA VOLTA IL WEST, aka ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above frame grab.

It shows Liana Orfei and Bella Cortez in IL GIGANTI DI METROPOLIS, aka GIANT OF METROPOLIS.

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Ken Clark with the French title for AGENTE 077 MISSIONE BLOOD MARY - OPERATION BLUE LOTUS. Most people know the film as MISSION BLOODY MARY.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one correctly identified the above photo.

Can you identify 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:

Magpie Murders (2022) - Book editor Lesley Manville is given the manuscript for the latest novel by Conleth Hill involving his Sherlock Holmes-type detective Tim McMullan. She discovers that the final chapter is missing and that Hill has been found dead. In her search for the final chapter, she soon hallucinates that McMullan has joined her to help solve not only the mystery in the author's death, but also the mystery in the book. Prevously I was only aware of McMullan as that odd-looking fellow in SHADOWLANDS and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, so seeing him in a leading role is a bit of a revealation - and a charming one at that. This six episode TV mini-series is based on a novel by Anthony Horowitz, who also created the TV series Foyle's War.

The 78th Annual Tony Awards (2025)

THUNDERBOLTS* (2025) - I was thrilled to see Olga Kurylenko return as Taskmaster and was crushed by how small her role was. 

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Angel Rivera  Enjoyed:

'SUDDENLY" (1954)
Frank Sinatra is a hired assassin who is paid a "half-a-million bucks" to kill the president. Sterling Hayden is the town Sheriff who means to stop him. Sinatra and his "partners in crime" (played by Paul Frees, better known for dubbing into English a lot of foreign films and Christopher Dark)  hold a small family hostage. They all meet in a small town called "Suddenly". Nice little thriller.

"THE STRANGER" (1946)
Orson Welles directs and stars as a Nazi war criminal hiding out in small town, USA and marries Loretta Young. Unbeknownst to him, Federal agent Edward G. Robinson is hot on his trail. Nice thriller with great ending. One of Welles best.

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David Deal enjoyed:

THE SHELTERING SKY (90)

WARNING SHOT (67)

THE ADVENTURES OF HAJJI BABA (54)

THE BLACK CHAPEL (59) From 2015: "WWII spy story teams up Peter van Eyck and Dawn Addams.  Pete comes into possession of Nazi attack documents but he hems and haws until they become meaningless.  Based on a true events.  Werner Peters plays Himmler!"

THE BLACK ROOM (35)

A SHOT IN THE DARK (35)

LONE WOLF AND CUB: BABY CART TO HADES (72)

ROLLING THUNDER (77) - William Devane should have been nominated.

SPEAKING OF MURDER (57)

Mildly Enjoyed

UNA RAGAZZA PIUTTOSTO COMPLICATA (69) - AKA A Rather Complicated Girl. Jean Sorel becomes involved with artist Catherine Spaak, who is also involved with her stepmother, Florinda Bolkan, the administrator of her inheritance. Sorel eventually gets the idea that Bolkan should be removed from the picture but is he just being used? Damiano Damiani's arty indictment of the upper class flirts with giallo conventions but never attains the allure of the best examples. One for completionists.

THUNDER OVER THE PLAINS (53)

THE CASE OF THE BLACK PARROT (41)

TORSO (73)

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June 6 - 11, 2025

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Spanish actor was promised the role of Tuco in THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY if Eli Wallach said no?

Aldo Sambrell told me that Sergio Leone told him that if Eli Wallach passed on the role of Tuco, Aldo would get it.

Which American actor did Gordon Mitchell think was going to be his co-star in BRENNO IL NEMICO DI ROMA before he found out that it would be Tony Kendall?

No one has answered this question correctly yet.

Which American actor thought he would co-star with Steve Reeves in ROMOLO E REMO before Gordon Scott was cast?

No one has answered this question correctly yet.

Angel Rivera asks, "What film has Jose Nieto and Fernando Sancho appear as 'pirates'?"

George Grimes knew that it was EL HIJO DEL CAPITAN BLOOD, aka THE SON OF CAPTAIN BLOOD.

What Western, directed by a Spaniard, features actors born in Uruguay, Argentina, Spain, Italy and even one born in the United States?

George Grimes knew that it is LOS DESESPERADOS, aka A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL with George Hilton, Alberto de Mendoza, Leo Anchoriz, Annabella Incontrera and Ernest Borgnine.

Which Italian actress began in the circus as a clown named Lacrima at the age of two?

Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Liana Orfei.

And now for some new brain teasers:

In which Dean Strafford Italian Western can you hear music from BLIND MAN?

In which Luis Davila Spanish Western can you hear music from GUNFIGHT AT RED SANDS?

Can you name two Italian Westerns which filmed scenes in Monument Valley, Arizona?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Antonio Pica, George Hilton, Leo Anchoriz and Alberto de Mendoza in LOS DESESPERADOS, aka A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

No one identified the above frame grab.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Renato Salvatori, Lorella De Luca and Alessandra Panaro in POVERI MA BELLI, aka POOR BUT BEAUTIFUL.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Toshiro Mifune and Yoshiko Sakuma in FURIN KAZAN, aka UNDER THE BANNER OF THE SAMURAI, aka SAMURAI BANNERS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you identify 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:

Weeds season three (2007)

Mildly enjoyed:

Old Boy Network (1992) - I've never been a fan of writers/producers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, but this was an okay half-hour sitcom about two former British spies who, in retirement, decide to use their skills as sort-of a private spy company. John Standing is the former desk jockey who has had a life-long dislike for school chum Tom Conti, whom he unmasked as a double agent working with the KGB back in the day. Post Cold War, Conti suggests Standing as a partner in his new business with predictable results. I saw this on an old HBO Home Video VHS and was appalled that it had a laugh track. To a degree, the laugh track was useful in letting me know what bits were supposed to be funny, because very little of it made me laugh. However, I found Standing and Conti charming for the 7 episode run of the series from Alomo Productions and SelecTV, shown on ITV in the U.K. and HBO in the U.S.A.

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Angel Rivera  Highly enjoyed:

THE SEARCHERS" (1956)
One of my favorite movies, I could watch this movie over and over (and have). John Wayne plays a man of dubious merit who along with the adopted son of his late brother and the fiancee of his eldest niece, go after a renegade band of Comanches who after massacring his brother's family have kidnapped his nieces. The eldest niece is found dead and the younger niece is known to be still held captive. Costars Jeffrey Hunter; Vera Miles; Natalie Wood; Ward Bond; and in a minor role, a young Patrick Wayne, one of John Wayne's sons, who would go on to star in some genre films like: "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" (1977) and "The People that Time Forgot" (1977). A great American Western directed by John Ford.

Mildly enjoyed:

"THE SONS OF KATIE ELDER" (1966)
My brother told me I should see this John Wayne pic which I had never seen, I did see the film "Four Brothers" (2005), the unofficial remake/update which starred Mark Wahlberg. So I was familiar with the basic plot. John Wayne; Dean Martin; Earl Holliman; and  Michael Anderson, Jr. are brothers who reunite at their mother's funeral. They then set out to find their father's murderer. Some nice plot twists and turns as the brothers navigate the territory where father met his demise. Interesting little film.

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David Deal enjoyed:

SWORDSMAN OF SIENA (62)

DR. NO (62)

HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (44)

I WANT HIM DEAD (68) - From 2017: "Craig Hill goes revengin' for the murder of his sister but that mission pales somewhat when he gets involved in the political machinations of arms dealer Andre Bosic.  One of Craig Hill's better films.  Good and effective soundtrack too."

THE SLAVE (62)

HORROR AT 37,000 FEET (73) - Please refer to the Television Fright Films of the 1970s book.

THE MAN CALLED NOON (73) - From 2017: "Richard Crenna loses his memory and Stephen Boyd and Rosanna Schiaffino help piece his mysterious past together.  Farley Granger, Patty Shepherd, and Aldo Sambrell oppose.  The new blu-ray is a revelation.  Peter Collinson's spaghetti is definitely worth revisiting."

JAPANESE SUMMER: DOUBLE SUICIDE (67) - A woman who wants a man, a man who wants to die, and a teen who wants to kill end up in a gangster compound for those who want to join a rumble. Nagisa Oshima's nihilist dreamscape is at once fascinating and confounding. Once you've figured the angle, you're wrong. Visually interesting and thought provoking if not entirely satisfying.

THE DEVIL COMMANDS (41)

THE ACCIDENTAL SPY (01)

VAULT OF HORROR (73)

THE MUMMY'S CURSE (44)

HOUSE OF HORRORS (46)

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