To answer these trivia questions, please email me at scinema@earthlink.net.
Brain Teasers:
Which director, born in Moravia, made four features for Italian producers?
It was Edgar G. Ulmer, though some place his birthplace in what is now the Czech Republic.
Which actor, born in Los Angeles in 1932, appeared in 14 "sword and sandal" films before starring in Italian Westerns?
No one has answered this question yet.
By what name is Calvin Jackson Padget better known?
Tom Betts, Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that it was Giorgio Ferroni.
Which Italian Western credits Ty Hardin as the producer for the U.S. release?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and Angel Rivera knew that it was IL GIORNO DEL GIUDIZIO, aka DAY OF JUDGMENT, aka DOOMSDAY, aka DRUMMER OF VENGEANCE.
Which Italian Western credits John Ireland as the producer for the U.S. release?
Tom Betts knew that it was LA SFIDA DEI MACKENNA. aka CHALLENGE OF THE MACKENNAS, which he renamed AMEN.
And now for some new brain teasers:
Which Italian actress made at least two Italian sword and sandal movies, but her one Western was for an British producer?
Which actor, born in Northern Ireland, made five Westerns in Spain, but only one for an Italian director?
Which actor, born in Germany, began his film career when he was spotted in Spain on vacation by director Duccio Tessari?
Name the movies from which these images came.
No one identified the above frame grab.
Can you name from what movie it came?
Bertrand van Wonterghem and Geroge Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Michael Lane in ULISSE CONTRO ERCOLE, aka ULYSSES AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one has identified the above photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?
No one 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:
CAVALE, aka ON THE RUN, aka TRIOLOGY: ONE (2002) - Written, directed and starring Lucas Belvaux, this was originally intended as the second film in a trilogy, but the U.K. distributor changed the order so that this became "ONE". I've not seen the other two films, but each is reported to be very different in tone and style, with this film being a thriller. And it is a solid thriller, that doesn't strain a viewer's sense of the possible too much. Some have likened Belvaux's style in this film to Jean-Pierre Melville with long periods of silence. I found it more in the style of Jean-Luc Godard's A BOUT DE SOUFFLE, aka BREATHLESS, with a lot of jump cutting, but without the long pointless gab sessions. Lucas Balvaux plays an old time radical revolutionary who escapes prison with the aim of restarting the revolution and getting even with the man who sold him out to the cops. He expects to get help from his old comrades, but finds that they have moved on with their lives and don't believe in the "cause" anymore. I put this on my Netflix queue because it featured Ornella Muti in a minor role. Let's see if I can get the other two films.
Mildly enjoyed:
F/X (1985) - I finally got around to watching this movie and the first surprise came with the credit "A Dodi Fayed/Jack Wiener" production. I only know of Fayed because of the circumstances of his death with Princess Diana. I didn't know that he was also a movie producer. The premise from writers Gregory Fleeman and Robert T. Megginson was that a Justice Department official could summon a team of killers to eliminate everyone involved in a phony assassination for which they made a patsy of a movie special effects man. That the movie special effects man could then outsmart and overpower the hired killers really pushes the bounds of imagination - even if he is Australian. For me, however, as soon as Diane Verona was killed, the film was no longer fun & games. And it bugged me that we didn't get a wrap-up on Cliff De Young and Martha Gehman in the end. Also, how did Brian Dennehy escape prosecution for stealing the captain's badge and gun? Well, director Robert Mandel kept his movie's pace brisk so I guess most audiences weren't bothered by such things as the movie was a big enough hit to warrant a sequel and then a TV series. Why would Bryan Brown's workshop have posters for ZOMBIE and FADE TO BLACK, and a dummy for I DISMEMBER MAMA, movies for which no one involved in F/X made? Also in the cast were Jerry Orbach and Tom Noonan, but I didn't see Angela Bassett, who reportedly made her film debut here.
F/X 2 (1991) - This isn't really a sequel to F/X. It does not directly follow the first film which ended with Bryan Brown and Brian Dennehy in possession of multiple millions of dollars stolen from the Mafia and facing possible criminal charges in New York City. Here, Brown has given up working as a special effects man on movies and now is the inventor of mechanical toys. He's now living with a divorced woman, Rachel Ticotin, and her son, Dominic Zamprogna. Ticotin's ex-husband, NYPD cop Tom Mason, comes to Brown with the notion of devising an illusion of a naked woman taking a shower inorder to lure a serial killer into a trap. Naturally, it is all a ruse for Mason to be murdered with the serial killer blamed for it, before he is shot to death. Again, we have law enforcement officials in cahoots with thugs in an effort to kill our hero. Brown reaches out to Dennehy, who has become a P.I., for help. Figuring out that Mason was killed because of information he dug up on a "cold case", Dennehy contacts Josie de Guzman in NYPD records again for help. De Guzman provides whatever connection to the first F/X movie F/X 2 has, so, naturally, she ends up kind of how Diane Verona did in the previous film. And, as in the first film, no one is brought to justice for the murders, but our heroes end up with another pile of Mafia cash. While the producers and stars remained the same, no one from the previous film was rehired for this project. Bill Condon did the screenplay, while PSYCHO II director Richard Franklin helmed. The film ends with a scene at Vatican City, which is where the film sparked an interest for me as they hired some former associates of Sergio Leone: Assistant Director Tony Brandt and Director of Photography Tonino Delli Colli. It didn't make the movie any better, though.
MACISTE CONTRO I CACCIATORI DI TESTE, aka COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS, aka THE FURY OF THE HEADHUNTERS (1963) - "The Gods say all kinds of things. but not all true," says Kirk Morris as Maciste in the English language version of this movie when told that the Queen of the Uria expects him to be the hero who would deliver her people from the Headhunters. Unfortunately, this is one of the highlights of this very unexciting and cheap-looking adventure picture. As a fan of the Italian "muscle man" movies of the early 1960s, I tend to not judge them too harshly, but this flick is awful. It is hard to believe that writer/director Guido Malatesta worked as a screenwriter on 15 movies before getting his shot as a director with MACISTE CONTRO I MOSTRI, aka FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES - because HEADHUNTERS doesn't seem to have been written at all. MOSTRI reportedly had been a rather expensive production, so it is fitting that HEADHUNTERS begins with footage reused from it. You can even see Reg Lewis' back during the sequence showing a volcano erupting and cracks in the earth swallowing up guys that look like cavemen. Both films were produced by Giorgio Marzelli, so I wonder if HEADHUNTERS was an effort to defray the costs of MOSTRI. As those fleeing the volcanic eruption wonder what to do next, Kirk Morris steps out of the bushes to lead them to his raft on the beach, on which he seems to have been wandering the earth seeking adventure. In all of the footage from MOSTRI, these people wore black wigs and furry outfits to look like "cave people". When they get to the raft, they all look well groomed and are dressed in what looks like swimming trunks. Well, hell, if continuity errors are going to prevent you from enjoying this movie, then you shouldn't even start it. As the survivors on the raft see their island blow up and sink, they talk about trying to reach the land of the Uria, who have a city of gold. Not surprising, when they find land, it turns out that the traitor Demeter Bitenc used the Headhunters to destroy the city of gold, so the surviving Uria now live in the forest in tents. Feeling that his duty is to find a peaceful place for those he's already saved to live, Morris decides that he can't stay and have them face the danger of the headhunters. Of course, circumstances will end up forcing him to help the Uria, especially since Queen Laura Brown has instantly fallen in love with him. It seems to me that the major thinking on this production was in finding a ruin to be seen at a distance to play the destroyed city of gold. It makes a nice back ground for when Kirk Morris and Frank Leroy (!?) have their big fight against Giovanni Pazzarini and another headhunter lit by the golden rays of the setting sun. Malatesta tries to create some suspense when Bitenc forces Brown to marry him. Brown delays the ceremony by demanding that the ritual dance be performed, so Corinne Capri throws off her cloak and does some goofy Twyla Tharp style movements allowing the good guys time to muster their forces. I wonder whose idea it was to have the headhunters made up to look like Native Americans wearing head scarfs instead of feathers? Putting HEADHUNTERS in the title suggests that the film might be gruesome, but it's not. There are a few skulls to be found in the settings if you look hard enough, but only one guy gets beheaded.
IL VENDICATORE DEI MAYAS, aka MACISTE AVENGER OF THE MAYANS (1965) - It is odd that this film has a MACISTE title associated with it as the only print that can be found is in Italian, and Kirk Morris clearly says that he is Ercole, aka Hercules. Possibly still trying to defray the cost of MACISTE CONTRO I MOSTRI and now the additional cost of MACISTE CONTRO I CACCIATORI DI TESTE, producer Giorgio Marzelli and writer/director Guido Malatesta created a project that reused footage from both of their previous Maciste movies. This time the Queen, Barbara Loy, is of the Mayan tribe, and Demeter Bitenc returns to try and get her. Loy is named Aloha, which would seem to be better suited for a Queen from Hawaii, but don't let that bother you. Bitenc does a pretty good job of looking like the footage that is being reused from CACCIATORI, but Giovanni Pazzafini doesn't return. He appears in the old footage, disappears during the new stuff and then reappears willy-nilly. Luciano Marin and Andrea Aureli return from MOSTRI, but don't quite look the same from the old footage. So the film starts with battle footage from CACCIATORI, with Loy escaping instead of Brown. The Mayan survivors come upon the camp from MOSTRI. Meanwhile, the water monster from MOSTRI threatens Marin again, but this time it is Morris that throws the fatal spear, not Reg Lewis. Morris helps to welcome Loy and her people to Marin's camp, where they all enjoy a wacky dance number. Morris explains that he can't stay and leaves - only to be shot with an arrow in footage from CACCIATORI. His assailants are members of Aureli's caveman tribe, who then attack Marin's camp in footage from MOSTRI. Aureli captures Loy, and promises her to Koloss, a giant living in a grotto. Marin decides to wait for Morris to show up before attempting a rescue, and, luckily, Morris recovers from his arrow wound more quickly here than he did in CACCIATORI. After another wacky dance, this time in Aureli's cave, Koloss makes off with Loy - even though Bitenc shows up and says that he wants her. Morris leads Marin's men to attack with footage from MOSTRI in which you can see Reg Lewis in a wide shot. Just when it looks like Morris will face off with Koloss, the volcanic eruption from both previous Maciste flims occurs and a falling block konks Koloss on the head. Bitenc kills Aureli and captures Loy. He takes her back to the CACCIATORI camp for the beheading scene, and then has her put in the CACCIATORI dungeon. Koloss has recovered from his konk, and Bitenc promises Loy to him. Meanwhile, Morris, in more footage from CACCIATORI, finds his way to the dungeon, kills Bitenc and rescues Loy. On his way from the ruined city, Morris is attacked by Giovanni Pazzafini in footage from CACCIATORI and kills him. Koloss sets a pit trap for Morris, and after our hero falls in, the giant makes off with Loy. At this time, Marin decides to attack Bitenc's camp in footage from CACCIATORI in which the fur wearing tribe from MOSTRI does not match the footage of the Uria fighters from CACCIATORI. Morris gets out of the pit to join the footage from CACCIATORI. Finally, Morris heads for the grotto to have a one-on-one battle with Koloss. The film concludes with the ending from MOSTRI, with Morris substituting for Reg Lewis and Loy substituting for Margaret Lee in the close shots. Well, I thought MACISTE CONTRO I CACCIATORI DI TESTE was awful, but IL VENDICATORE DEI MAYA makes me think better of it.
QUO VADIS (1951) - Taking its title from the "Acts of Peter" written in the late 2nd Century AD, "Quo Vadis?" was reported to have been what Peter asked the risen Christ as the apostle was fleeing possible crucifixion in Rome. When Christ responded that he was "going to Rome to be crucified again", Peter was given the strength to return for
martyrdom. In 1895, Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz wrote QUO VADIS: A NARRATIVE OF THE TIME OF NERO, which inspired two Italian silent films in 1913 and 1924. It was Hollywood's turn in 1951, when it was expected that most movies would include Christian propaganda. Reportedly, MGM had originally planned to make this movie in the 1930s in Italy, but World War 2 postponed the production. For a movie shot primarily at Rome's Cinecitta Studios, QUO VADIS has a shocking lack of Italian names in its credits. However, it became the template for many future Italian and American films set in Ancient Rome. One can not fault this Sam Zimbalist production for a lack of spectacle, for even in the pre-Cinemascope period it is visually impressive. What is surprising is how much of the screenplay is concerned with sex. Commander Robert Taylor immediately falls in lust for Deborah Kerr, while Empress Patricia Laffan falls in lust for Robert Taylor. Royal advisor Leo Genn buys Marina Berti for Taylor, but Berti is in love with Genn. Kerr feels an attraction for Taylor, but bristles at his attempts to treat her like a slave. With the advice of St. Paul, played by Abraham Sofaer, Kerr prays for a miracle that will open Taylor's heart to love. Of course, that will happen, but not before Emperor Nero, played by Peter Ustinov, has the genius idea of remaking Rome by burning most of it to the ground. When the surviving mob blames him for the catastrophe, Ustinov is convinced by Laffan to put the blame on the Christians - because Taylor is in love with a Christian and Laffan wants Taylor to suffer. From where the Christians learned choral singing is not revealed, but their getting musical when being fed to the lions really annoys Ustinov. Everything comes to a climax when Laffan decides to make Kerr's martyrdom singular by having her tied to a pillar in the arena with only a bare handed Ursus, played by Buddy Baer, to protect her from a rampaging bull. Ursus versus a bull would also occur when Ed Fury played a character with the same name who was not a Christian in 1961's URSUS, while Steve Reeves took on a bull as Hercules in 1958's LE FATICHE DI ERCOLE. In any case, the mob turns against Ustinov when he tries to order Kerr's death, and Taylor leads his soldiers in an open revolt. Slave Rosalie Crutchley shows up to convince Ustinov that the should do the honorable thing and kill himself. There are many behind-the-scenes stories about this film, including that Sophia Loren, Bud Spencer, Christopher Lee and Elizabeth Taylor all appeared in the film as extras. Directed by Mervyn LeRoy, QUO VADIS isn't much fun and isn't historically accurate, but it is still visually impressive and provided Miklos Rozsa with the vehicle to begin his "historical period" of composing film music for epic movies. The highlight of the movie for me is when Laffan tries to get Ustinov to take Kerr away from Taylor, until Genn convinces Ustinov that her hips are too thin. "One woman should never judge another," Nero tells Poppaea. "She hasn't the glands for it."
LA COLT ERA IL SUO DIO, aka GOD IS MY COLT, aka GOD IS MY COLT .45 (1972) - My head hurts trying to follow the logic of this film directed by Luigi Batzella under the name Dean Jones, instead of his usual pseudonym of Paolo Solvay. I have two copies of this movie from Scandinavian sources and both start with a stagecoach hold-up that makes no sense. That sequence is missing from the version on YouTube which still has the nonsensical massacre of a small town before the story begins with gunman Donal O'Brien telling Sheriff Attilio Dottesio to stay out of his business. Wikipedia reports that much of this movie is made up from footage taken from two previous Batzella films: ANCHE PER DJANGO LE CAROGNE NANNO UN PREZZO, aka DJANGO'S CUT PRICE CORPSES, and QUELLE SPORCHE ANIME DANNATE, aka PAID IN BLOOD. The concept seemed to be that if there was a lot of shooting and punching, the audience wouldn't care if nothing made sense. I made the mistake of trying to make sense of it. Sheriff Dottesio goes to a newly arrived U.S. Army group and asks for help in dealing with a crooked cattle buying business which is ruining his once peaceful community. Supposedly, federal agent Gino Turini, aka John Turner, was originally on the case, but then he disappeared. Major Mauro Mannatrizio assigns Captain Jeff Cameron, who is Dottesio's old friend, to find Turini. Halfway through the film, it no longer was about a cattle swindle, but became a search for the map to a silver mine. Head of the cattle swindle Gianfranco Clerici, aka Mark Davis, seemed to be the main bad guy with O'Brien as his chief enforcer. After a lot of shooting and punching, O'Brien was killed and Clerici decided to change from his city duds to Mexican bandit garb along with his girlfriend Esmeralda Barros. Why they insisted on wearing bullet bandoliers which kept falling down and carried ammunition for guns they didn't have was a question best answered by the costume department. Cameron followed them and they led him to Turini, who turned out to be the main villain. After more punching and shooting, Cameron seemed willing to let Clerici and Barros get away scot-free, but Clerici tried another dirty trick to kill our hero, and, ridiculously, Clerici ended up killing Barros - which ended the suspense I was in about whether the filmmakers would have Cameron kill a woman. The IMDb insists that Aristide Massaccesi had something to do with this mess, though neither his name, nor any of his pseudonyms, appear anywhere in the credits. The music credited to Vasil Kojucharov is enjoyable, while Ralph Zucker seems willing to take the blame for the English version. If you enjoy movies in which the hero never has to reload his six shooter, this is the movie for you.
Did not enjoy:
HIDEAWAY (1995) - I am not a fan of movies based on novels by Dean Koontz, but even he disliked this version of his novel so much that he tried to have his name removed from the credits. Basically, Jeremy Sisto murders his mother and sister and then himself in order to be damned to Hell. We get a POV trip of his soul heading for Damnation, but he is suddenly pulled away. Jeff Goldblum dies in a car crash but wife Christine Lahti and daughter Alicia Silverstone are saved. We get a POV trip of his soul heading for Salvation, but he is suddenly pulled away. It turns out in the end that both Sisto and Goldblum were brought back from death by Dr. Alfred Molina and his specialist resuscitation team. For some unexplained reason, the two former dead people begin having visions of the other's life. Goldblum seeks help from Molina, until he finally realizes that Molina is Sisto's father and so is reluctant to try his stop his son's serial killing ways. Goldblum realizes that Sisto plans on having Silverstone become part of a "Land of the Dead" art project he's putting together in a condemned amusement park, and so tries to piece together the clues from his visions to stop Sisto. Director Brett Leonard is credited with advancing computer animated effects in his hit film THE LAWNMOWER MAN, but he completely fails in turning this screenplay, credited to Andrew Kevin Walker and Neal Himenez, into compelling entertainment. In the final confrontation, Goldblum's Goodness allows him to defeat Sisto's forces of Hell. We are introduced to Goldblum and Lahti as a couple that plays movie trivia games. After the end credits, there is a scene in which Sisto is once again brought back from the dead on an operating table. It turns out to be Goldblum's new nightmare, which he compares to the ending of CARRIE with Sissy Spacek, which prompts Laht to counter with BADLANDS as another movie with Spacek. That's cute, but it doesn't redeem the movie. Nor does having Sarah Strange barely appear as "Second Girlfriend" for when Silverstone visits a nightclub.
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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:
"LOST IN SPACE" Episode: "VISIT TO A HOSTILE PLANET" (1967) - The Robinsons and Dr. Smith go thru a time warp and end up in 1947 Manitou Junction, Michigan, U.S.A., Earth; a small town where they are taken for "Voltones". The Voltones were fictional space aliens from a fictional magazine story about an invasion from outer space one of the yokels read. Thus the Robinsons are taken for invaders from space. Especially since the silver space suits they wear are mistaken for "skin" by the local yokels. A young Robert Pine of "CHiPs". fame is a yokel who lassos "Judy Robinson". Dr. Smith pretends to be a "yokel" because he wants to stay on Earth regardless of it being 50 years before he left Earth with the Robinsons and Maj. West. Almost like "Lost In Space"'s version of "The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming".
"THE GREEN BERETS" (1968) - John Wayne's response to anti Vietnam War sentiment. The movie plays like a WW II adventure. As the Green Berets, an elite fighting force battle Communist forces they have many casualties among the cast. David Janssen plays a skeptical reporter traveling with Wayne and his "men" as they travel the country and battle the North Vietnamese forces. In the cast is George Takei, as a South Vietnamese "commie hating" officer; Tim Hutton as a Green Beret sergeant, Mike Henry as another Green Beret sergeant, Jack Soo, as a another South Vietnamese officer and Aldo Ray as as the toughest Green Beret sergeant. Battle scenes galore and lots of action as the film presents its anti-Communist viewpoint. The Green Berets theme song plays at the closing credit.
"THE OUTER LIMITS" (1963/64) Episode: "THE SIXTH FINGER" - In memory of the late David McCallum I pulled out my box set of "The Outer Limits" and watched this classic. Edward Mulhare wants to advance the human race on its next evolutionary mutation. McCallum is his volunteer for the experiment. Jill Haworth who will be the original Sally Bowles in the original Broadway production of "Cabaret" plays McCallum's love interest. Fred B. Philips the make-up artist responsible for McCallum's look as "Future Man" in this episode, also worked on the original "StarTrek" series. Mr. David McCallum, R.I.P.
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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:
Chéri, fais-moi peur (1958, Jack Pinoteau)
Ok-tab-bang wang-se-ja / Rooftop prince (2012) – episodes 13 to 20
Pursued (1947, Raoul Walsh)
Zhang bei / Lady kung-fu (Chia-liang Liu)
Mildly enjoyed:
Redemption (2010, Joseph P. Stachura)
Nandor Fodor and the talking mongoose (2022, Adam Sigal)
King Solomon's mines (tv movie) (2004, Steve Boyum)
The adventures of dr Fu Manchu – episode « the prisoner of dr Fu Manchu » (1956, Franklin Adreon)
Cuatro en la frontera (1957, Antonio Santillan)
Rictus – season1 – episodes 3 & 4
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