To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Complete the lyric: "She talks about a _____ without a ____."
No one filled in these gaps yet.
Complete the lyric: "He doesn't ____; doesn't ____ it."
No one filled in these gaps yet.
Which Italian actress died on November 15, 2015 in Seattle, Washington?
Tom Betts, Angel Rivera, Rick Garibaldi and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Nicoletta Machiavelli.
In which Western does Terence Hill pretend to hand over his pistol only to fire it upside down?
It is not MY NAME IS NOBODY. Do you know in what film this happened?
And now for some new brain teasers:
Complete the lyric: "Maybe his heart is ____. Maybe his life is ___."
In what film did Raymond Lovelock play Henry Fonda's son?
What film featured Raymond Locklock's cinematic debut?
Name the movies from which these images came.
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem and Rick Garibaldi identified last week's frame grab of Gabriella Giorgelli in I LUNGHI GIORNI DELLA VENDETTA, aka LONG DAYS OF VENGEANCE.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one identified the above photo.
It shows Lisa Gastoni in THARUS FIGLIO DI ATTILA, aka THARUS SON OF ATTILA.
Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Ida Galli, Giuliano Gemma and Venantino Venantini in IL GRANDE ATTACO, aka THE BIGGEST BATTLE, aka BATTLE FORCE.
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?
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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:
LE MERAVIGLIE DI ALADINO, aka THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN (1961) - I first saw this as a child at a Saturday morning "kiddie" matinee and I fell in love with it. I guess the perspective was that a comedy about Aladdin had to be a kid's movie. Considering the amount of female flesh on display, and the continued threats by the villain to torture our heroine as she is being hung naked by her wrists (naughty bits hidden), this is not a movie usually thought to be for small children. That may be why I thought it was great. I still love it and the idea of Donald O'Connor playing a young man who still lives at home with his mother never bothered me. Who knew there were Amazons in the Arabian desert?
SATAN MET A LADY (1936) - One story has it that Warner Bros. wanted to re-release the 1931 version of THE MALTESE FALCON, but the Hayes/Breen office considered that film "too lewd" for exhibition. So, the studio got Brown Holmes to do a new version, and they assigned Bette Davis to the project. Davis felt the script was so beneath her talents that she didn't report for work. When the studio put her on suspension, she gave in because she needed her salary. Having recently watched both the 1931 and the 1941 version of THE MALTESE FALCON, SATAN MET A LADY was even more delightful than I remembered. Holmes retained a lot of Hammett's material while playing loose with many elements. Would anyone have gone to see this movie if it was titled THE HORN OF ROLAND? Like Ricardo Cortez, Warren William is an unapologetic skirt chaser, but, as this was made in 1936, William doesn't actually have sex and Bette Davis doesn't have any suggested nude scenes. Holmes gets everyone down at the docks, on a rainy night, for the arrival of the treasure, which actually brings a little action to the film. I particularly appreciated that writer Holmes and director William Dieterle didn't try to sell the idea that Bette Davis and Warren William might have fallen in love.
Unsung Presents Best In Black "Activists" (2023) profiling Coretta Scott King, Medgar Evers, Angela Davis, Bobby Seale, Jim Brown, James Baldwin, Harry Belafonte, Ida B. Wells, Paul Robeson, W.E.B. Du Bois, Maya Angelou and Thurgood Marshall.
Mildly enjoyed:
A WEEKEND WITH LULU (1961) - This "madcap" comedy written by Ted Lloyd and Val Valentine and directed by John Paddy Carstairs isn't that much different from later "madcap" comedies like WHAT'S NEW PUSSYCAT? except in four years the lasciviousness of the male characters can be more readily expressed. Leslie Phillips hopes to spend a pleasant weekend with his girlfriend, Shirley Eaton, in a moble home called "Lulu" thanks to his van driving buddy Bob Monkhouse. Naturally, Eaton brings along her mother, Irene Handl. Lost in the night during a rain storm, the four English persons find that they've driven themselves onto a railroad flat car which has taken them to France. Soon they try to figure out how to get the money to buy food and fuel as well as how to get back to England. Luckily, Eaton is with them to distract every Frenchman in sight, as well as Count Alfred Marks. Naturally, the film ends with a "madcap" chase. A few shots of Eaton in her bra and panties is about as exciting as this movie gets, and even guest appearances by Sid James and Kenneth Connor don't get a laugh. However, Graham Stark is mildly amusing.
Uncnsrd "Eric Benet" (2023)
Did not enjoy:
LITTLE SORCERER, aka CINDERELLA AND THE LITTLE SORCERER, aka ELLA AND THE LITTLE SORCERER (2021) - This is a sequel to 2018's CINDERELLA AND THE SECRET PRINCE, which I haven't seen. Reportedly, that film dealt with a witch substituting a fake Prince at the Royal Ball after turning the real Prince into a mouse. Cinderella succeeded in turning the real Prince back into a human, but the witch turns our heroine into a statue before the witch dies. Inorder to turn Cinderella back into a girl, the Prince had to become a mouse again. So the sequel begins with Cinderella's girlfriend, the Little Sorcerer, rushing in saying that she's found a way to turn the Prince back into a person. This leads to a long journey for Ella, the sorcerer, and their two mouse buddies across the ocean to visit various sorcerers to find the Light stone that can save the Prince. Produced by Gold Valley Films, which seems to be a Los Angeles based Chinese animation company, this obviously aspires to compete with the computer animated features from Walt Disney. I know that I am not the intended audience for this kind of film, but I even found FROZEN mildly entertaining.
THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956) - I suppose there were many different versions of this kind of story before H. Rider Haggard's SHE, published in 1886, but most movies seem to follow the same plot. Many films set in ancient times also feature slave revolts and destruction by earthquake or volcano. The only remarkable thing about this movie is Bud Westmore's make-up for "the dark ones". And unlike other versions of this story - like WAR GODS OF THE DEEP, the leading lady, Cynthia Patrick, does not die when exposed to the outside world. However, the filmmakers still decide to kill her off with falling debris.
OUTLAWS OF THE PLAINS (1946) - In 1940, Producers Releasing Corporation decided to make a series of "Billy the Kid" movies having nothing to do with the story of Henry McCarty, aka William H. Bonney, aka "Billy the Kid". Bob Steele played Billy as the standard Western hero for six films. In 1941, Buster Crabbe, the "King of the Wild West", took over the role for 13 films. In 1943, someone must have realized the error of labeling their hero after a notorious criminal, and he became "Billy Carson". Crabbe continued to make the next 23 movies, of which OUTLAWS OF THE PLAINS was the final installment. Directed by Sam Newfield, thought to be the most prolific American director of the sound era with over 250 features films to his credit - including two from England's Hammer Films: SCOTLAND YARD INSPECTOR and THE GAMBLER AND THE LADY, this film has Al "Fuzzy" St. John as a crystal ball gazing "psychic" who is in touch with Indian spirit Chief Standing Pine. The spirit tells Fuzzy where to find gold, but as soon as Fuzzy finds the gold,.Charles King Jr. pops out and claims that he owns the land. King will sell Fuzzy the land for $50,000. Naturally, King is in cahoots with Jack O'Shea, who is voicing the Indian spirit. Fuzzy tells the spirit that he's going to ask his friend Buster Crabbe to visit, and King and Hackett suggest that the other member of their evil trio, John Cason, ambush Crabbe on the road. Of course Crabbe figures out that Fuzzy is being scammed, but Fuzzy goes ahead with his plan to get the townspeople who believe in his psychic abilities to raise the money to buy the land. Crabbe runs into his old friend Karl Hackett whose daughter, Patti McCarty, is all "growed up". Crabbe informs Hackett of his suspicions and Hackett goes to investigate. King orders Cason to kill Hackett, and Crabbe arrives too late to save his friend, but he captures Cason and ties him to a tree. Crabbe also arrives too late to prevent Fuzzy from giving the bad guys all of the money. Sheriff Bud Osborne arrives in time to join Crabbe and Fuzzy in chasing down the bad guys, who find Cason and try to escape. When the good guys catch up with the bad guys, there is a shootout but only the murdering Cason gets killed. Back in town, railroad agent Slim Whitaker announces that he wants to buy the "worthless" property that Fuzzy holds the deed on for $150,000. Shouting "Hooray, I'm psychic! I'm psychic!", Fuzzy runs down the road to "have another peek in the crystal ball." No one seems to care about the murdered Hackett and the expected scene of someone informing McCarty of her loss doesn't happen. No matter who played the hero in these movies, Al "Fuzzy" St. John was in all 42 of them.
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Charles Gilbert Enjoyed:
THE COMMANCHEROS (1961) Texas rangerJohn Wayne takes prisoner the dandy gambler Stuart Whitman on a riverboat. They cross paths with an outlaw secret society living in the desert with their own code of living. With Nehemiah Persoff.
FORT DEFIANCE (1951) Ben Johnson seeks recompense on Dane Clark for the death of his brother that occured during the War Between the States. He befriends the blind brother (Peter Graves) of his prey.
DUEL AT DIABLO (1966) Filmed in southern Utah. Army scout James Garner, seeking the slayer of his native American wife, rescues Bibi Anderson from a tribe. Her husband Dennis Weaver is not so grateful. Seems she left him on her own volition, and now has a half breed son. Disturbing torture scene when Garner finds out Grange (Weaver) is his target but is now in the hands of the Apaches screaming for mercy. Director Ralph Nelson appears at the end as cavalry commander.
THE LAST WAGON (1956) Delmer Davess oater with Richard Widmark.leading a lone wagon of peace loving adventurers through western wilderness.
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David Deal Enjoyed:
THE SARACEN BLADE (54) - Educated commoner Ricardo Montalban swears revenge on the house of Michael Ansara for the death of his father. Happenstance will lead Ricardo into love (with Betta St. John), into the family he hates, and into sweet revenge. Rousing adventure from William Castle who guides us through the fun court intrigue with the supremely capable Ricardo as the dashing hero.
A SECRET PLACE (56) - A small time gang heists a diamond bank, and for some reason everything goes wrong. British thriller boasts atmospheres of shadowy film noir, gritty on-the-street realism, and a closer look at the characters than expected.
THE CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL (70)
DRAUGASAGA (85)
SLEUTH (72)
THE SECRET SEVEN (63) - Tony Russel is secretly against the cruel regime of Gerard Tichy, so he buys six talented slaves - including his brother Massimo Serato - in an effort to overthrow Tichy. Fun peplum from Alberto De Martino that has a heist element and the beautiful Helga Line.
PRIZZI'S HONOR (85)
PINOCCHIO (22)
O'HORTEN (07)
Mildly Enjoyed
SECOND CHANCE (47) - Professional thieves Kent Taylor and Louise Currie team up to heist some diamonds. Taylor's gang doesn't trust newcomer Currie, but is she the one who really turns things sour? Programmer has a noir attitude but the writing is too soft for a true downbeat flavor.
SECRET SERVICE INVESTIGATOR (48) - Ex-GI Lloyd Bridges gets a mysterious job. He's a dead ringer for a dead runner in a counterfeiting gang, so the cops want him to impersonate the ex-runner and deliver some plates and pick up the payment for them. Only those guys aren't cops. Small crime flick from Republic that features George Zucco as the kingpin and many familiar faces along the way. Time killer.
RUN PSYCHO RUN (68) - A year after the death of his wife (Elga Andersen) and son, Gary Merrill returns to his estate with a new wife (also Anderson) and her son. Is he going mad with love for his dead wife, or is there something else going on? All of his relatives living off his generosity favor the former. Black and white Gothic from Brunello Rondi (The Demon [63]) would be of interest if the plot had veered into psychological or supernatural goings on but as it stands, it's rather talky with little for the cast to do.
SECRETS OF THE BERMUDA TRIANGLE (78) - One of the myriad speculative documentaries produced in the 1970s (and since), this one is pretty well done. Enjoyable hokum.
THE SECRET OF THE RED ORCHID (61)
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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:
"Superman and Lois" Season 3 episode 6
"Young Sheldon" Season 6 episode 18
"Not Dead Yet" Season 1 episode 11
"Doctor Who" (1963) "The Dead Planet" the original BBC-TV serial with William Hartnell as the Doctor and the introduction of the Daleks.
"Dr. Who & the Daleks" (1965) The full color adaptation of the BBC-TV serial starring Peter Cushing as "Dr. Who" which was the first Dr. Who (or Doctor Who) I ever saw, when it made to USA theaters; back in the swinging sixties.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Gokushufudo / The way of the househusband – season 1 (2020) – episodes 4 & 5
Outrage coda (2017, Kateshi Kitano)
The killing of a Chinese bookie (1976, John Cassavetes)
Hell’s angels (1930, Howard Hughes
Mildly enjoyed
DC’s legends of tomorrow – episode “meat: the legends (2020, Rachel Talalay)
Pony express (1953, Jerry Hopper)
The wild wild west – episode “the night of the fugitives” (1968, Mike Moder)
Some mothers do’ ave’ em – episode “the psychiatrist” (1972, Michael Mills)
Did not enjoy:
DC’s legends of tomorrow – episode « the ex-factor” (2020, David Geddes)
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