To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which American star of Italian Westerns said that he was up for a role in DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, but couldn't accept it because of a contract with Warner Bros.?
It was Robert Woods.
Which American star of Italian Westerns was part owner of a bar that catered to Americans in Rome?
No one has answered this one yet.
Which American star of Italian Westerns became an acting coach in Los Angeles in the late 1970s?
No one has answered this one yet.
Which American actor who played Hercules also played a Sioux Chief?
Charles Gilbert knew that it was Mike Lane of ULISSE CONTRO ERCOLE, aka ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES, and THE WAY WEST.
Which Spanish actor, who made Westerns, retired to become a painter?
No one has answered this question yet.
Which American actor who made Italian Westerns remembers getting along with Klaus Kinski both on and off the set?
No one has answered this question yet.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which Italian actress who made an Italian Western found Klaus Kinski very easy and charming with which to work?
Which American actress who made an Italian Western was reported by Klaus Kinski to be the object of lust from Marlon Brando?
Which Spanish actor who made Westerns also appeared in a Pierce Brosnan James Bond movie?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Bertrand Van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of Thomas Hunter and Loris Loddi in UN FIUME DI DOLLARI, aka THE HILLS RUN RED.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one has identified the above photo yet.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one has identified the above photo yet.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one has identified the above photo yet.
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:
LA MAFIA UCCIDE SOLO D'ESTATE, aka THE MAFIA KILLS ONLY IN SUMMER (2013) - Pierfrancesco Diliberto was born in Palermo, Sicily, in 1972. His father was the film director Maurizio Diliberto. After working as an assistant to director Marco Tullio Giordana on the anti-Mafia film I CENTO PASSI, he became a TV personality known as Pif while working on a satirical show called Le lene, aka The Hyenas. In 2007, he started his own show, Il Testimone, aka The Witness, on MTV Italy. MTV Italy helped to produce Pif's first movie as writer, director and star and it's wonderful. While telling the comedic coming of age story of a boy in Palermo, wonderfully played by Alex Bisconti, Pif charts the city's growing awareness of the evil of the Mafia. The boy is afraid to fall in love because the popular perspective on Mafia murders was that it was caused by jealousy over women. When Ginevra Antona becomes a new classmate, the boy is in turmoil. A priest, whom the narrator informs us would later be murdered and found to have a collection of whips, calms the boy and advises him to go after the girl. The girl's father is a banker who becomes part of an investigation of the Mafia, so she has to go with him to Switzerland. In adulthood, the boy becomes Pif and the girl becomes Cristiana Capotondi. Her father gets her the job as an assistant to a corrupt politician, and Pif gets a job helping her with TV coverage of the politician. He finally gets up the courage to tell her his feelings just as the investigations into Mafia corruption heat up, and so do the murders of judges. This film was popular enough for it to become a TV series.
Verdi, Part One The Pursuit of Success, Part Two The Burden of Success (1994) - A two part BBC documentary on Giuseppe Verdi by conducter Mark Elder who communicates his love for the Italian's operas while also exploring the man's life.
CASINO ROYALE (2006) - While the corny witticisms are gone, the action scenes are still outrageous, but Daniel Craig brings an admirable sense of resolve to the part making it a pleasure to accept what's going on. People tend to remember Ursula Andress coming out of the surf in DR. NO, or Halle Berry coming up in the water in DIE ANOTHER DAY, but CASINO ROYALE gives all such scenes to Daniel Craig making him the sex object of this movie. Even when Eva Green gets introduced as the female lead, we still get more flesh from Craig than from anyone else. Is this because the filmmakers have decided the female audience is more important, or because they want to underline Craig as the star? In any case, you won't get the YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE line about "birds nesting in bare tree" here as Craig doesn't have chest hair. Perhaps to compete with THE BOURNE IDENTITY's Jackie Chan-like sense of improvised stunts, the Bond producers brought in Sebastien Foucan to bring "free running" into the action film world. It is spectacular but makes our hero even more of an athlete than in previous installments. Since this is a "reboot" of the series, going back to the beginning of Bond's career, it is curious that they have kept Dame Judi Dench as "M", without any of the other standard supporting characters. Jeffrey Wright was a welcome addition as the new Felix Leiter, and it was nice to see Giancarlo Giannini invited to the party. I first noticed Ivana Milicevic on The Mind of The Married Man and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and have enjoyed her successful career since - but I really wanted to see her die in this movie. It's always nice to see that the daughter of Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu, Tsai Chin, is still working and this is her second Bond film. There's probably an interesting story about how the producers convinced 60's supermodel Veruschka to put in an appearance, but they didn't give her anything to do. Unfortunately, because it is important not only to the plot of this movie but for the development of our hero's character, the romantic story doesn't work. We know his retirement isn't real and that their love is doomed both because this is the reboot of a series but also because it doesn't flower until after it appears that the bad guys have been done in. There's half an hour of movie left, so we know its not going to work out.
QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008) - This is the second film in a row in which James Bond only goes to bed with one woman and that woman ends up dead. Olga Kurylenko is the heroine this time, and she doesn't have sex with our hero and she survives. Has the Bond series adopted Slasher film rules? Marc Forster is the director this time so I blame him for the use of shakey-cam in the action scenes. But I credit him for the relative brevity of the running time - at 106 minutes it is the shortest film in the series. To a degree, the action scenes are less outrageous and the romantic scenes are replaced with friendship scenes which is rather refreshing. The sense of good vs. evil has never been more ambiguous. While we know that Bond is right, both the British and the U.S. governments want to stop him. Kurylenko is terrific, as is Mathieu Amalric. It is good to see Daniel Craig rejoined by Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini and Jeffrey Wright in a film more obviously as sequel to the previous entry. It is also good to see Stana Katic and Oona Chaplin, but they don't get to do much. P.S. I hated the "character" titles they gave to indicate locations. What's the story behind Mexican directors Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron working on this film as "additional voices"?
Mildly enjoyed:
GOLDENEYE (1995) - For the first hour or so, the first James Bond movie with Pierce Brosnan was smashing - aside from the fact that our hero wouldn't know there was something to investigate if Famke Janssen hadn't challenged him to a pointless road race. Stupid villains and clunky witticisms can be overlooked as long as characters like Izabella Scorupco were interesting and smart. And then the bad guys and the good guys and the witticisms got increasingly stupid. It was bad enough that the villains were too stupid to kill the heroes when they could, but when the heroes show equal stupidity it is close to insufferable. As gorgeous and bright as Izabella Scorupco was, the romance in this film was worse than in LICENCE TO KILL. I'm beginning to respect THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS more and more. Here, Bond was always Action Man, and Scorupco made a formidable Action Woman, so when the romance stuff began, it seemed very much to formula. Judi Dench made a remarkable M, Alan Cumming was "invincible" as the computer nerd, but Robbie Coltrane and Minnie Driver were highlights in their short scene. Michael Kitchen also made a welcome appearance. Who thought it necessary to give Tchéky Karyo such an unattractive hairpiece? This movie has the most impressive model work since the heyday of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Bringing back Joe Don Baker as a new character was a little distracting to those paying attention.
TOMORROW NEVER DIES (1997) - Aside from the outlandish pre-credit action sequence, this effort, directed by Roger Spottiswoode and credited to writer Bruce Feirstein, gives Pierce Brosnan some human emotion - in his scenes with Teri Hatcher. Of course, we know she's doomed, but their romantic scenes are charming. That makes three Bond movies in a row in which our hero is out for revenge, but that doesn't stop the witticisms. For an Action Woman, you can't really do much better than Michelle Yeoh, and she brings more dignity than usual to the proceedings. Most everything that happens is to the Bond formula, but it mostly seems logical and Philip Kwok, aka Kuo Chui, arranges a spectacular martial arts battle for Yeoh. Joe Don Baker returns as his character from GOLDENEYE, Jonathan Pryce makes an interesting villain, and there are a number of pleasant surprises in the supporting cast: Ricky Jay, Vincent Schiavelli, Julian Fellowes, Gerard Butler and Hugh Bonneville.
THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH (1999) - Sophia Marceau is perfect here, making the romantic scenes believable and the "is she or isn't she" plot work. When Denise Richards shows up as a nuclear scientist in a tiny top and shorts, believability is thrown away - though the outlandish action scenes had already accomplished that. The dramatic stuff here is among the best in the series - particularly the character played by Robert Carlyle, which makes all of the formula Bond stuff kind of annoying. This is the film which bids farewell to Desmond Llewelyn as "Q", the last of the original cast. He is replaced by John Cleese who provides some amusement. Robbie Coltrane returns as the character he played in GOLDENEYE, but, alas, without Minnie Driver. IL POSTINO's Maria Grazia Cucinotta makes a welcome appearance as an assassin, but doesn't get to do much. Serena Scott Thomas, the younger sister of Kristen Scott Thomas, makes an attractive appearance as a doctor who examines our hero. Starting with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS, the number of women bedded by James Bond had become smaller. With this film, Bond returns to bedding just about every woman in sight. This was also the film on which Neal Purvis and Robert Wade became the go-to writes of the Bond series.
DIE ANOTHER DAY (2002) - This is all pretty silly until we get the credit sequence showing Bond being tortured for 18 months. Not surprisingly, he recovers quickly and things get back to being pretty silly. There aren't as many witticisms as usual, but most of the ones used are annoying - "Saved by the bell." "Read this, bitch." Halle Berry looks great, but isn't impressive as an Action Woman - she spends alot of time looking in awe. Rosamund Pike looks gorgeous and handles the romantic scene so well it telegraphs that she's going to be a traitor. Madonna not only sings the title song, but appears in the film as a fencing master and gets an annoying witticism about not liking "cock fights". Michael Madsen appears making one miss Joe Don Baker, but Baker was CIA and Madsen's character is NSA, so it is acceptable. Hearing "London Calling" by the Clash in the middle of a James Bond movie was a bit of a shock.
SKYFALL (2012) - Bond beds two women in this movie and only one of them ends up dead, which is an improvement over the other two Daniel Craig installments. However, Berenice Marlohe's death is completely pointless, as is the man assassinated by Ola Rapace before Bond fails to take Rapace alive. Why didn't Bond stop Rapace from completing the kill? Who is the man killed? How is this supposed to fit into Javier Bardem's plot to discredit and kill Judi Dench? Isn't it convenient that we find out that Dench has become a widow before the filmmakers decide it is time to have her exit the series? For a movie that aspires to be a character drama and not just an action film, it dangles alot of unnecessary plot issues. And it is distracting to know that someone really likes DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE. Director Sam Mendes seems to want us to take this movie seriously, so he slows the pace down and, thankfully, gets rid the "shakey cam". If nothing else, we can thank this movie for ending the Mommy issues which have plagued the series since GOLDENEYE. Can we consider this an unofficial remake of THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH with yet another old associate out to kill Judi Dench? Or is this a remake of GOLDENEYE with another back from the dead "double 00" failing to kill Bond? This actually kind of reminds me of YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE except in that film M knew that Bond was only faking his death. I hope Albert Finney enjoyed the idea that he appeared in a James Bond movie before the actor died. I enjoyed seeing Helen McCrory in a minor role. I hate that I have a clip of Wolf Blitzer in my DVD collection.
SPECTRE (2015) - Just as SKYFALL seemed designed to be an exit for Dame Judi Dench, SPECTRE seemed designed to be an exit for Daniel Craig. Of course, Craig's Bond was either quitting or getting fired in all of his films, which got tiresome. This film even tried to turn all of the Craig films into one long story, with Christoph Waltz's villain announcing that the three previous villains were all working for him and that all had been deliberately making Bond's life hell - which made all of their attempts to kill Bond invalid. That was just one of the plot ideas which made SPECTRE annoying. Again director Sam Mendes seemed intent on having the audience take this movie seriously, which drained it of most of its potential fun. But, hey, Bond had sex with two women and - while Monica Bellucci disappeared from the film with no mention of what happened to her - neither ended up dead. Lea Seydoux was quite charming, but the romance came late in the film and was unbelievable. Some have complained that much of the plot to this movie reminded them of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movies, but I've not watched those films. I just know that the slower pacing made the running time seem longer than 148 minutes. If NO TIME TO DIE starts off with Lea Seydoux getting killed, a la THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, then I may just have to reject these new Bond movies altogether.
South Park "The Pandemic Special" (2020)
Uncnsrd "Yandy Smith-Harris" (2020)
Did not enjoy:
DESEADA, aka DESIRED (1951) - Marvelously photographed by Alex Phillips among the Maya ruins of Chichen Itza, this dodgy tale of sexual desire and supernatural forces stars Dolores del Rio and Jorge Mistral. I can't find an English synopsis for this film so I'm guessing at some of the plot elements. Del Rio's younger sister, Anabelle Gutierrez, is promised to Mistral, a soon-to-arrive Spaniard she's never met. The deal was arranged by Jose Baviera, who is hoping to marry del Rio. Del Rio instructs the young women of the area about their Maya heritage, but is hated by the local witch who believes in the old ways. Afraid of the coming nuptials, Gutierrez runs to the witch for help, but what the old woman does during her ceremony scares her away. When Mistral arrives, Gutierrez pouts and runs away without meeting him. Mistral takes an instant liking to del Rio, which blossoms when he inadvertently meets her in the Maya ruins in the moonlight. They seem to talk to each other spiritually and they kiss. Gutierrez finally meets Mistral, and likes what she sees. She is devastated when she discovers that he doesn't want her. Del Rio seeks out the witch, who tells her that the situation will only be resolved with blood. When Mistral confronts Baviera about his intentions towards del Rio, Baviera strikes Mistral and Mistral falls back to find the other man's pistol on the desk. Mistral kills Baviera. When the authorities take Mistral away, Gutierrez vows to follow him. De Rio heads to the crater lake near the ruins inorder to sacrifice herself. Is part of the problem the fact that Mistral is from Spain, and thus subject to a Mayan curse?
DURAZO, LA VERDADERA HISTORIA, aka DURAZO, THE TRUE STORY (1988) - After LO NEGRO DEL NEGRO DURAZO (1987) portrayed Arturo "el Negro" Durazo, the Federal District Police Chief of Mexico City from 1976 to 1982 under the patronage of childhood friend President José López Portillo , as corrupt, DURAZO, LA VERDADERA HISTORIA was made to portray him as a rough on the edges hero. Even though there is an acknowledgement that he was arrested and convicted, his crimes are not shown. Directed by Gilberto de Anda, this looks like one of Cannon Films cheaper flicks. Jorge Reynoso is no Charles Bronson, but Hugo Stiglitz gets top billing though he plays a subordinate cop. Did Coca Cola and Bacardi pay for product placement?
MI DESCONOCIDA ESPOSA, aka MY UNKNOWN WIFE (1958) - I rely upon "Letterboxd.com" to provide a synopsis: "From the moment of her late-evening arrival in Mexico City for a new job, a young woman is thrown into three situations in which she has to find a person she doesn't know and figure out what each person is up to so she can play along with... whatever they're doing. Almost every one of the people she's tasked with interacting with is masquerading as a different person, which complicates matters considerably. (Find Ricardo. Figure out why Ricardo is calling himself Guillermo. Figure out who those other people with Guillermo are and why Guillermo is telling them they're married...) And all she really wants to do is go home and go to bed; the best gags in the movie are about the disruption of her sleep." Again marvelously photographed by Alex Phillips, this screwball comedy stars the gorgeous Silvia Pinal. About 50 minutes into the flick, conductor Rafael Bertrand imagines that Pinal has replaced the dancer seductively performing on the stage and the scene is delightful. Alberto Gout directed this film between 1956's ADAM AND EVE and 1962's THE RAPE OF THE SABINES.
BULLET FOR A BADMAN (1964) - Author Marvin H. Albert wrote many novels that were turned into movies. This movie is based on his 1958 book RENEGADE POSSE. Ex-Texas Ranger and ex-con Darren McGavin plans on robbing a bank and then murdering his former partner in law keeping Audie Murphy. Murphy has a spread with wife Beverly Owen and son Kevin Tate. McGavin wants to murder Murphy because Owen used to be his woman and McGavin actually fathered Tate. Coincidentally, Murphy and Tate are in town when McGavin's gang robs the bank. Murphy alerts the town, a gunfight erupts, and only McGavin gets away. Murphy wounds him, but McGavin still has the money. McGavin is disappointed to not find Murphy at the spread, but Owen patches him up before he leaves. Murphy brings Tate home before putting on his gun belt to go after McGavin. Along the way, Murphy meets up with a posse led by Alan Hale Jr. They capture McGavin in his hideout where Ruta Lee is also staying. Hale gets on Murphy's bad side by torturing the location of the money from Lee. Many in the posse want to execute McGavin and then divide the stolen money among themselves. Murphy prevails in demanding that they take both the money and McGavin back to town. However, Apaches show up and the posse has to band together to fight them off. Will McGavin be killed by Murphy, the Apaches or the posse? It seems unlikely that Murphy will succeed in getting McGavin back to town inorder to be hanged, and, thanks to Skip Homeier he doesn't. But there is enough time for McGavin to regret his plan to murder our hero. Marvelously photographed in Utah by Joe Biroc, BULLET FOR A BADMAN is a good looking but unexceptional Western.
CRAZY MAMA (1975) - Reportedly, this was the film debut of Bill Paxton and Dennis Quaid, but if they are in it, I didn't see them. I did see Tisha Sterling, but just barely. I didn't notice John Milius, who, reportedly, played a cop. The film starts during the depression when little Dinah Englund's father is killed while trying to stop the sheriff from taking the family farm away from them. Englund grows up to be Cloris Leachman, while the mother in the past, Tisha Sterling, grows up to be the Sterling's real life mother Ann Southern. Along the way, Leachman gave birth to Linda Purl, who is dating surfer Donn Most. Loan officer Jim Backus shows up in 1958 Long Beach to shut down Southern's beauty salon, which causes Southern, Leachman and Purl to steal Backus' car inorder to head back to Arkansas to get revenge on the bank manager responsible for them losing the family farm. Most catches up with them, Purl picks up biker Bryan Englund (who was in real life Leachman's son), Southern befriends old woman Merie Earle and Leachman picks up gambler Stuart Whitman in Las Vegas. Their crime spree starts off small, until Whitman hits on the idea of them kidnapping him and getting a ransom from Whitman's rich wife. Unfortunately, the wife has been hanging out with sheriff Dick Miller, so the simple money pickup becomes a shootout in which Earle, Whitman and Miller are all killed. When they reach Arkansas, the family discovers that the bank manager they came back to get revenge on has died. However, their old farm has become a country club named after the manager, and a drunk Southern drags Leachman into disrupting a wedding party for the manager's descendants. Southern is killed, but Leachman and her new family escape to Florida where they run an hamburger stand. Reportedly it was director Jonathan Demme's idea to not have the film end with everyone getting killed, and it was probably his idea to load the soundtrack with oldies like "All I Have To Do Is Dream" by the Everly Brothers, and "Money" by Barrett Strong.
FIGHTING BILL FARGO (1941) - Johnny Mack Brown returns to Buffalo Springs thanks to the efforts of his sister, Nell O'Day, and Judge Joseph Eggenton to get him a parole from the prison to which he was sent after being falsely convicted. A montage of newspaper headlines and action clips from other movies informs the audience that crime is widespread in the area. A group of residents demand that newspaper editor Earle Hodgins endorse the candidate running against the corrupt sheriff Kenneth Harlan, but both Hodgins and Harlan are working for crime boss James Blaine. When Johnny Mack Brown returns home, he assumes ownership of the newspaper again and it takes a while before he realizes that Hodgins is corrupt. After Blaine gets henchman Ted Adams to kill the honest candidate, Brown puts his name in the race. When he realizes that Blaine plans more murder, Hodgins goes to Brown to confess that Blaine was even responsible for the crime that put Brown in prison. As Brown goes to get the judge, Hodgins finishes writing out his confession. Blaine realizes what Hodgins is doing, gets Harlan to let Adams out of jail to murder him with Brown's gun, and then put Adams back behind bars for a perfect alibi. What Adams didn't know was that Hodgins set off the old time camera that Fuzzy Knight had been trying to get work, so the dirty deed was photographed. Falsely accused, Brown rides around the countryside for a while trying to get back into town, which is guarded by Blaine's henchmen. Successfully sneaking back into town, Brown has the photograph printed on the front page of the newspaper hoping to still win the election. Blaine tries to stop the election by closing the polling station and a gunfight ensues. The film ends with Fuzzy Knight trying to take a photograph of Brown posing next to his bride, the judge's daughter Jeanne Kelly. This time, when the flash powder blows up, Knight does not do a black face gag as he did earlier in the movie. The Eddie Dean Trio perform "Happiness Corral" with Nell O'Day, as well as "Geraldine" and "Welcome Home" without her. Future director Paul Landres was the film editor on this, while Ray Taylor directed.
MARINES, LET'S GO (1961) - What a stinker! For Tom Reese, this may have been the biggest role in his long career. He's the old-time gung-ho marine that every one is willing to follow, but his behavior during furlough keeps him busted to being a private. Tom Tryon is the more literate jarhead that amuses himself by sending anonymous love letters to Reese hoping to inspire the lug's softer side. David Hedison is from a rich family, so Reese rides him for being a softie. They are in the Korean War, and no one knows that Hedison has fallen in love with a local young woman. Our heroes are pulled from the front line and ordered to Japan for rest and recreation. Hedison hates to leave his girl behind, but he must. Reese is up for a promotion again, but naturally gets into so much trouble that he faces years in the brig. Tryon concocts a ruse to score a nice hotel suite by telling the manager that they are military intelligence and he uses a walkie-talkie to get an official sounding confirmation. Unfortunately, military intelligence monitors that walkie-talkie chatter and launches an investigation. One Marine who expected to be reunited with a long-lost small town American girl who spent the Pacific War in a Japanese internment camp finds that she has become a prostitute and is happy about it. One Marine is almost talked into becoming a deserter by another woman. Eventually, everyone is called back to Korea for an amphibious beach landing. Hedison proves himself to Reese, before the old-timer is killed in combat. Lucien Ballard captures all of this with marvelous Cinemascope photography, for which the U.S. Marine Corp. willingly allowed their maneuvers to be shown. While much of the war stuff was filmed in Japan, some of it was done on Okinawa, though there is no such information in the film's credits. Also not in the credits is the information that the Johnny Horton sounding theme song was done by Rex Allen. Reportedly Warner Bros. sent a print of this film to the White House hoping to get President John Kennedy's okay for Raoul Walsh to directed P.T. 109, but Kennedy hated the movie, too.
SATANSBRATEN, aka SATAN'S BREW (1976) - I've yet to understand why some hold writer/director Rainer Werner Fassbinder in high regard, and this film didn't help me. Kurt Raab is a poet who is having money problems. He can't get any from his publisher because he hasn't written anything in two years. He can't get any from his mistress, who is a wife of a friend, because he already owes her money, as well as her husband. He gets some from a masochistic older woman, whom he abuses, who says that she is having an orgasm and urges him to shoot her. He does, and then gives the gun to his imbecilic younger brother to hide. His long suffering wife tries to keep his apartment running with the little money he brings in, and complains that he has sex with all of these other women but never with her. I'm certain there are societal allusions to all this of which I have no understanding - like who is Stefan George - and this is reportedly a comedy, for which I can not see the humor. At least I understood FAUSTRECHT DER FREIHEIT, aka FOX AND HIS FRIENDS.
Women Make Film - 12. Adult-Child, 13. Economy, 14. Editing
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Charles Gilbert watched:
FOR A FEW DOLLARS LESS (1966) Farcical spoof with Lando Buzzanco as a bank clerk donning the iconic serape worn by Manco. Two other characters are dressed like Mortimer and Indio.
SON OF DRACULA (1943) B&W. Siodmak brothers Robert and Curt collaborate on this vampire yarn set in the bayou. Raven haired Louise Albritton in this film was typically seen as a blonde.
EYES IN THE NIGHT (1942) B&W. A blind middle aged sleuth (Edward Arnold) and his wonder seeing-eye dog Friday investigate, at his neice's (Ann Harding) request, the death of an actor she once courted. Her scientist husband has been working on a secret experiment for the American government, and its successful formula is coveted by Nazi agents posing as an acting troupe.
BLACK JACK (1968) Dishonor among thieves when a bank-robbing gang turn on their leader Jack Murphy (Robert Woods) over apportionment of the stache. Mimmo Palmera plays an indian who speaks nary a word, and gets strangled with the hair from a blonde he scalped. Looks like Rik Battaglia gained an appreciable amount of weight to play Mexican bandit Sanchez. Also has Geoffry Unger in the cast.
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David Deal enjoyed:
RING AROUND THE WORLD (66) - See The Eurospy Guide book for a full review of this old favorite.
BLACK TEST CAR (62) - Industrial espionage Japanese style as car companies vye for the consumer's attention. This looks great and has a lot on its mind. Recommended.
THE INVISIBLE DR. MABUSE (62)
MISERY LOVES COMEDY (15) - Excellent documentary on stand up comedy and those who practice it.
BACKFIRE (64)
THE BLACK CASTLE (52) - From 2008: "Much underrated Gothic adventure with horror overtones (Karloff and Chaney). This is actually a finely cast, staged, and photographed swashbuckler that only disappoints if one expects any more."
Mildly enjoyed:
79 AD (62)
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Bertrand Van Wonterghem enjoyed:
Ted Lasso – season 1 – episode 8
The avengers – season 4 - episode «Château De’Ath » (1965, James Hill)
The devil all the time (2020, Antonio Campos)
DC’s legends of tomorrow – season 4 – episode « Nick / Stup » (2018, David Geddes)
Sylvie et le fantôme (1946, Claude Autant-Lara)
Chomyeon-e Saranghamnida / The secret life of my secretary – season 1 – episodes 2 & 3
Mildly enjoyed:
The boys – season 2 – episode 6
Eobiseu / Abyss – season 1 – episodes 12 to 16
Enola Holmes (2019, Harry Bradbeer)
Cent mille dollars au soleil (1964, Henri Verneuil)
La nouvelle malle des Indes – episode 1 (1982, Christian-Jaque)
Das Geheimnis der schwarzen Koffer (1961, Werner Klinger)
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