Brain Teasers:
Which American actor who made an Italian Western appeared in an American crime flick in which he pretends to be an hobo in order to trick a college student into murdering a young woman's uncle?
It was Alex Cord in A GIRL TO KILL FOR
Which Italian actor, celebrated for his Hamlet, starred in a movie set during the Mexican revolution?
No one has answered this question yet.
Which Italian actor opinioned in an interview that Richard Harrison ruined himself with women?
No one has answered this question yet.
In which Italian Spy movie did an assassin use a pipe with a gunsite to project a poison dart?
No one has answered this question yet.
Which French actor worked with directors Sergio Leone, Robert Enrico, Philippe Setbon, Federico Fellini and Giuseppe Colizzi?
No one has answered this question yet.
Which Italian actor worked with directors Luchino Visconti, Mario Amendola, Viktor Tourjansky, Duilio Coletti, Fernando Cerchio and Cesare Canevari?
No one has answered this question yet.
Can you name an Italian Western in which a villain uses a bola?
George Grimes noted IL MERCENARIO, aka A PROFESSIONAL GUN. That is true, but I had another movie in mind. Can you name the other movie?
Which movie ends with the line, "Good luck, Paco. Keep dreaming... but with your eyes open."?
George Grimes knew that it was IL MERCENARIO, aka A PROFESSIONAL GUN.
On the December 19, 2019 episode of The Late Late Show, James Corden visited with Billie Eilish at her house where-in she made her first music recordings. There is a copy of the poster for which Italian Western in her brother's bedroom?
George Grimes knew that it was A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.
Giuseppe Collizzi first met Woody Strode on the location for which film?
No one has answered this question yet.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Can you name an Italian Western in which an hero uses a bola?
Can you name an Italian Western in which thehero uses a boomerang?
Can you name an Italian Sword and Sandal film in which an hero throws two spears at one?
Name the movies from which these images came.
George Grimes and Rick Garibaldi identified last week's frame grab from JOHNNY YUMA.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes and Charles Gilbert identified last week's photo of Mark Forest in MACISTE L'UOMO PIU FORTE DEL MONDO, aka MACISTE THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD, aka MOLE MEN AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one has identified the above frame grab yet.
Can you name from what movie it came?
George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from THE 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER.
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:
Monty Python's Flying Circus season one (1969-70) - Let's celebrate back when PBS showed naked people.
Mildly enjoyed:
LE CARROSE D'OR, aka LA CARROZZA D'ORO, aka THE GOLDEN COACH (1952) - Fans of Duncan Lamont's Hammer films maybe surprised and pleased to see him in such an elegant production.
LA PETITE VOLEUSE, aka THE LITTLE THIEF (1988)
Mr. Robot the final season (2019)
American Gods season one (2017)
Did not enjoy:
CHRISTMAS AT DOLLYWOOD (2019) - I'll watch just about anything featuring Sarah Strange, though she's given very little to do in this one.
A BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS (2019) - I'll watch just about anything featuring Rachel Leigh Cook, but this is way too corny for me.
CHRISTMAS AT CARTWRIGHT'S (2014) - I'll watch just about anything featuring Alica Witt and this is pretty cute.
EGYPT BY THREE (1953)
BEST CHRISTMAS BALL EVER (2019)
SEX MADNESS (THEY MUST BE TOLD) (1937)
THE LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN PEARL, aka THE LEGEND OF WISELY (1987) - This film is for those who wondered if Bruce Baron did any movies that didn't involve ninjas.
CAPTIVE WILD WOMAN (1943)
MABABANGONG BANGUNGOT, aka PERFUMED NIGHTMARE (1977)
TWICE TOLD TALES (1963)
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David Deal enjoyed:
THE MINOTAUR (60) - This is better and more entertaining than I had always heard.
CAIRO (63) - The Major (George Sanders) rounds up a gang to steal a few jewels from the King Tut collection in Cairo. Likeable MGM heist noir also stars Richard Johnson and Walter Rilla and a few other familiar faces. This low-budget Asphalt Jungle knockoff benefits from location shooting.
MY FAVORITE BRUNETTE (47) - Mistaken identity puts faux private detective Bob Hope on the trail of Dorothy Lamour's missing uncle and a map describing a uranium deposit. This is a fun detective spoof that features Peter Lorre and Lon Chaney amongst the bad guys. I chuckled throughout.
THE STAR OF MIDNIGHT (35) - A murder that takes place in lawyer William Powell's apartment puts him and his girlfriend Ginger Rogers on the trail to find the killer. Fun Thin Man knock off that the stars carry with ease.
THE TRAP (47) - Sidney Toler's last outing as Charlie Chan involves murder amongst a group of showgirls on holiday in Malibu Beach. Entertains as well as any other of the series.
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Charles Gilbert watched:
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER (1958) B&W. Rank Organization's version of the Titanic seems to be more authentic with all those Brit accents; doesn't focus on any singular couple in the narrative. Director Roy Ward Baker later went to Hammer.
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Mike Eustace wrote:
Whilst I was waiting for the arrival of the HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD BluRay, which I ordered on an Italian site, but which was actually dispatched from America, I re-checked the Amazon.de site. They had Mario Bava’s VAMPIRE GEGEN HERAKLES, Collector’s edition in Blu Ray, which seemed to all intents and purposes a PAL version of the US release.
The picture quality of the German BluRay is astounding. The definition is so good that I can now see how brilliantly Bava pulled off some of his camera tricks. When Hercules climbs the tree of the Hesperides for the Golden apple, there’s a top-down shot with Hercules in foreground and the women a long way down below him. Like most good magician tricks it’s all done with mirrors. The women are stood a long way down the studio to appear smaller, but reflected in a mirror suspended between the tree branches. It’s also how Bava got wide shots of Hercules in the giant tree. The tree is a smaller model, with a mirror wedged in it, and Reg Park is some way distant with his image reflected in the mirror at an appropriate size. All brilliant stuff.
The only thing in the film that still irks is that shot of Reg Park and Giorgio Ardisson swimming from one shore of the underworld to another. It’s filmed in broad daylight with a normal blue sea colouration and seems completely out of place. Did someone forget to put the red filter on?
The German package has a lot of extras, just like the US package. I particularly liked the inclusion of the opening titles from the US version with it’s potted history narration – a version I had never seen before. A surprising addition is a bonus film called “Quel bandito sono io”, or to give it it’s original English title “Her favourite Husband”, a comedy film set in Naples. Mario Bava was the cinematographer on this film, so one might expect to see what the master of colour achieved with an earlier work. Unfortunately the film is in black and white and the print very flat, so a completely pointless “bonus”. Unless you’re a fan of Jean Kent, I suppose.
Both German and US releases have otherwise similar extras , such as an interview with Giorgio Ardisson, Audio commentary from Tim Lucas, trailers. The German release also throws in interviews with Lamberto Bava, Mario Bava, Mick Garris talking about Black Sabbath and Joe Dante talking about Lisa and the Devil. The German release has opening titles from the US and UK versions as standalone, whereas the US release has tacked on these openings to the rest of the restored film.
The German release has both BluRay and DVD of VAMPIRE GEGEN HERAKLES, plus an extras DVD; The US version has two BluRays.
Also just released from Amazon.de, is DER GAUNER VON BAGDAD, the SteveReeves version of Thief of Baghdad. There’s an English audio track available, and only minor dips into Italian with German subtitles for cut scenes. It looks sumptuous in BluRay. I got a shock when the Main Screen popped up, because it was accompanied by the Miklos Rozsa score from the Sabu version, and I thought I’d bought the wrong film. Fortunately I hadn’t and I had the Steve Reeves version.
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