Friday, January 12, 2024

January 13 - 19, 2024

 


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

Brain Teasers:

Which Italian director did John Steiner think really helped him to have a career in Italy?
No one answered this question yet.

What character was played by both Lex Barker and Giacomo Rossi Stuart in different movies?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Tremal Naik, a character created by Emilio Saligari.

Which Italian actor played a character called "Angel Face"?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Giuliano Gemma in UNA PISTOLA PER RINGO, back when he was billed as Montgomery Wood.

By what name is Hally Hammond better known?
Tom Betts, Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Lorella DeLuca when she appEared in UNA PISTOLA PER RINGO.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which American actor who appeared in an Italian Western once performed the song "I Won't Dance" in an MGM musical?
By what name is Roel Bos better known?
By what name is Guido Lollobrigida better known?

Name the movies from which these images came.


Tom Betts and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Glenn Saxson in DJANGO SPARA PER PRIMO, aka DJANGO SHOOTS FIRST.
Above is a new photo.
Can you identify from what movie it came?


George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's photo of George Marchal and Gianna Maria Canale in TEODORA, IMPERATRICE DI BISANZIO, aka THEODORA SLAVE EMPRESS.
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?


George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Franco Nero, David Hess and Corinne Clery in AUTOSTOP ROSSO SANGUE, aka HITCHHIKE
Above is a new photo.
Can you name from what movie it came?


George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Yuen Tak in THE MASTER, aka 3 EVIL MASTERS.
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:

Mildly enjoyed:

CRY MACHO (2021) - N. Richard Nash originally wrote CRY MACHO as a screenplay, and when it didn't sell, he turned it into a novel,published in 1975. There had been many attempts to turn the novel into a film, but it wasn't until 2021 that Clint Eastwood decided to make. The screenplay, credited to Nick Schenk who worked on GRAN TORINTO and THE MULE, does not follow the novel faithfully, adding a love story and creating an happy ending. This ending doesn't make much sense, for how can we be happy that Dwight Yoakam is hugging Eduardo Minett when we know that he sent Clint Eastwood into Mexico to kidnap the boy in an effort to get his ex-wife Fernanda Urrejola to come to a financial settlement. While Eastwood looks great for a 90 year old, it is a bit bewildering that in the U.S. he's thought to be a broken down widower, while both women that he meets in Mexico, Urrejola and Natalia Traven, find him attractive. In fact, Traven wants him to be the new father for her three children. The movie moves well, is easy to watch, and, thankfully never becomes as violent as it threatens to be.
                                                        
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David Deal Enjoyed:

BANG, BANG, YOU'RE DEAD (66) - See The Eurospy Guide book on amazon for a complete review of this Tony Randall/Senta Berger entry.

EUROPA REPORT (13) - An international crew ventures to Europa to drill thru its icy surface searching for life. Along the way, one of the astronauts is lost while trying to repair equipment damaged by solar flares. After 20 months, they reach Europa and land on the ice and begin drilling. Things do not go well for the ill-fated crew; they find life alright, and it finds them. Quite involving and inventive (most of the footage is from the multiple cameras on the spaceship and in the spacesuits), but the time shifting can be confusing, so one has to pay attention. Director Sebastian Cordero gets the most out of the no name cast and small budget in creating a tension-filled thriller.

HELL BENT FOR LEATHER (60) - Audie Murphy finds himself mistaken for a killer, and is being hunted down by psychotic sheriff Stephen McNally who knows Audie's innocent but wants to be the hero who brought down a murderer. This chase western is shot in beautiful widescreen color in the Alabama Hills, a fitting setting for an oater that takes after the Randolph Scott/Bud Boetticher films of the time. It's gritty, fast moving, and a rewarding watch.

FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE (73)

DEADLIER THAN THE MALE (66) - See The Eurospy Guide for a complete review of this Richard Johnson entry.

THE OUTFIT (73) - If you dig 70's drive-in crime, check this out.

BYLETH (72)

REBEL IN TOWN (56) - In the post-Civil War frontier, John Payne's young son is accidentally killed by one of Rebel J Carroll Naish's clan who are on the run from robbing a bank. Naturally, Payne wants to ge revengin' but things take a turn when one of the clan (who isn't the killer) turns himself in and a lynch mob wants his skin. Classical tragedy in the old west, with a dour Payne barely holding onto his sanity, and Naish turning his usual excellent performance. Ruth Roman is also good as the conscience to Payne's raw blood thirst. Good stuff.

MAESTRO (23)

THE BLOODSTAINED SHADOW (78)

Mildly enjoyed:

RYAN'S DAUGHTER (70) - Having just visited the Dingle peninsula in Ireland, where this was shot 50 odd years ago, I was hoping for more grandeur from David Lean's parable on love and duty. But you can't always get what you want. Mitchum is his great laconic self but this claustrophobic epic doesn't satisfy on the emotional grounds it is trying to mine.

HUNTED (48) - Real-life ice skating star Belita gets out of prison on parole after being framed (she claims) for theft. Preston Foster is the detective who nabbed her originally but trouble is, he was also her fiance and still wants to believe in her innocence. She makes that tough, however, after the murder of her attorney points to her doing. An Allied Artists release, the supposedly fancier arm of Monogram, but you wouldn't know it. Foster looks bored and Belita's "acting" is distracting in this very small world of big crimes. There is a skating segment if that's of interest.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Ognuno per se (1968, Giorgio Capitani)

Some girls do (1969, Ralph Thomas)

Slow horses – season 1 – episodes 1 to 3

One piece – season 1 – episodes 3 to 8

Berlin – season 1 (2023 - 8 episodes)

Mildly enjoyed:

Le coffre et le revenant (tv movie) (1979, Roger Hanin)

Project moon base (1953, Richard Talmadge)

Bodies – season 1 – episodes 5 to 8

Queen of blood (1966, Curtis Harrington)

Gyeongseongkeulicheo / Gyeongseong creature – season 1 – episode 1

Did not enjoy:

Animalia (2022, Sofia Alaoui)

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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:

"TROY" (2004)
Recently bought an interesting book titled,"Cinema of Swords: A History & Guide to Movies about Knights, Pirates, Barbarians, and Vikings [and Samurai and Musketeers and Gladiators and Outlaw Heroes]" (full title) by Lawrence Ellsworth. . The book is a catalouge of different movies which fit the categories listed in the title (with synopses and reviews). In the book are: "Helen of Troy" (1956) and "The Trojan Horse" (1961), but not "Troy" (2004). Anyway I was re-watching "Troy" because it was on, as I searched the boob tube for something to watch and sat down and re-watched it. The performances are basically good, led by Eric Bana as Hector and Peter O'Toole as King Priam of Troy. Diane Kruger is pleasant to look at as Helen. Brad Pitt is impressive as Achilles, as is the rest of the cast. The battle scenes are also great to watch and the film is very entertaining in its own right..

"CITIZEN KANE" (1941)
I remember when I first saw this in college. It blew me away then and continues to have power. The one scene that resonates for me most is when the boys at the newspaper, led by Everett Sloane, are deciding to print a front page that says Kane Wins (the election), but when they have to face the realization that he has lost, they go with the front page that claims there was fraud at the polls. My favorite scenes is when he destroys his second wife's bedroom. I always wanted to do something like that and not face the consequences. "Citizen Kane" is full of moments that are larger than life and entertaining to watch.

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Charles Gilbert watched:

NIGHT TRAIN TO MUNICH (1940) B&W. Spy vs. spy has Paul Henried and Rex Harrison each playing double agents for England and Nazi Germany alternately. An industrialist, specializing in armour, piques the interest of the Third Reich as Hitler takes over Prague, but he escapes across the channel leaving his daughter to briefly endure a concentration camp. An SS plant posing as a prisoner wins her confidence to aid her escape, and on the lam, reveal her father's secreted location. After a long train ride back, a showdown occurs at the Teutonic/Swiss border on a gondola.

UNDERGROUND (1941) B&W. The Gestapo quickly catch on as the dissident German citizenry, oppressed by the Fuhrer, clandestinely broadcast rebellion from a mobile radio station. Patriot Eric Franken (Philip Dorn) voices with rally the incendiary messages of freedom, until Colonel Heller (Martin Kosleck) and police destroy the "illegal radio" that rides on a truck. Eric's brother Kurt (Jeffrey Lynn) returning from battle sans his left arm, poses an hindrance to the cause with his zeal for the motherland, and his attraction to Sylvia Helmuth (Kaaren Verne), a key agent for the cause. With Frank Reicher, Henry Brandon, and Peter Whitney.

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