March 16 - 22, 2024

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which actor, born in England in 1934, made 25 feature films for Italian and Spanish directors?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes knew that it was John Richardson.

By what name is Robert Hampton better known?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Riccardo Freda.

By what name is Willy Pareto better known?

Bertrand van Wonterghem, Angel Rivera and George Grimes knew that it was Riccardo Freda.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which star of Italian Westerns did one film in which he faced off against his son, and then another film in which he faced off with his brother?

Under what name did Roberto Miali act in Italian Westerns?

By what name is Alberto Cardone better known?

Name the movies from which these images came.

George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Alex Cord in UN MINUTO PER PREGARE, UN ISTANTE PER MORIRE, aka ESCONDIDO, aka A MINUTED TO PRAY, A SECOND TO DIE.

Above a new photo.

Can you identify from what movie it came?

John Black and Bertrand van Wonterghem identified last week's frame grab of Gloria Milland and Gordon Mitchell in L'IRA DI ACHILLE, aka THE FURY OF ACHILLES.

Above is a new photo.

Can you identify from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Fabio Testi and Jorge Rivero in MANAOS, aka VIOLENCE IN MANAOS.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's frame grab from THE MIRACLE FIGHTERS.

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:

THE WOMAN KING (2022) - Decades ago, while watching Shaka Zulu, I expressed a strong desire to see a mythic African action picture - something like HERCULES - which had no mention of Europeans. THE WOMAN KING is not it, as the ultimate villain of the film is the slave trade with Europeans. However, this is a pretty good action film mostly focused on Africans. The film has been criticized for not being historically accurate regarding Dahomey's role in the slave trade, so I guess that's why "Dahomey" has not replaced "Wakanda Forever" as a popular chant. Dahomey is now part of the Benin Republic, and some in that country complained that the presentation of their culture was polluted by South African stuff, which is where the movie was mostly shot. In any case, it is a shame that a movie instigated by a woman - Maria Bello, who is one of the producers on the film, written by a woman - Dana Stevens, directed by a woman - Gina Prince Bythewood and featuring a strong female cast - led by Viola Davis, but sporting standout performances from Thuso Mbedu and Lashana Lynch, which is this good wasn't more popularly embraced. 

Did not enjoy:

BENNY LOVES YOU (2019) - Reportedly. this film was mostly made in 2014, but took years to finish all of the visual effects. Karl Holt first expressed the idea of a discarded toy seeking revenge on its owner in a 2006 short film called Eddie Love You. He followed that with another short film in 2011 called Negative Image. We can blame Darkline Entertainment for encouraging Holt to expand his old idea to feature length figuring there must be an audience out there for campy murderous doll flicks considering how many Chucky sequels there are. Here there is no soul transference. The dolls just come alive when they are discarded and want to kill their former owners. Except for Benny, who decides he's going to kill everyone that annoys his owner and then pretty much everything else including dogs and cats. If you find a doll stabbing a man in the gut and then sticking a vacuum cleaner hose into the wound to suck out the man's guts funny, then this movie maybe for you. If you want to see a bratty little girl getting her eyes gouged out because she prefers a new Barbie-like doll to her old teddy bear, then this movie maybe for you. If you can put up with a film that thinks gushing blood is comedy gold without creating any sympathetic characters, then this movie maybe for you. It won "Best Film" at the San Sebastian Horror and Fantasy Film Festival (2020). Macabro: International Horror Film Festival of Mexico City (2020), and Frightfest (2020).

LE GOLEM, aka THE GOLEM (1936) - Though directed by the Frenchman Julien Duvivier, GOLEM was a Czechoslovakian production, originally intended to be a screen version of the play by Jiri Voskovec and Jan Werich. Duvivier decided against the play, and wrote a new script with Andre-Paul Antoine, but there were enough similarities for the playwrites to file a successful lawsuit. The trick of a good monster movie was to create an interesting film until the monster showed up and started to create mayhem. This Duvivier failed to do. Things were bad in the Prague Ghetto under Emperor Harry Baur as Rudolf II. Rabbi Lowe, who created the Golem had died and the stone man stood motionless, hidden in the attic of the Synagogue. The suffering people implored Rabbi Charles Dorat and his wife Jany Holt to revive the Golem, but Dorat warned them that if the creature was awaken too soon, it might turn on the Jews. So, the audience was expected to sit through about an hour of irritation until getting for what they came. To fill the running time, the Emperor's mistress, Germaine Aussey, heads to Prague to try and stop Baur from marrying Isabel of Spain. Along the way, her carriage crashed into the carriage of French antiques dealer Roger Cuchesne. Cuchesne hoped that Aussey will introduce him to Baur so that he can make a sale, but that got set aside when they both arrived in Prague during a riot. Cuchesne was knocked unconscious but was rescued by Holt and taken to her home. Holt was worried because Dorat was taken away by Chancellor Roger Karl, who had been ordered to find the Golem by Baur. Cuchesne promised to seek the help of Aussey in getting Dorat freed. Meanwhile, even though when the police tried to take the Golem out of the attic many were killed by the building starting to crumble, Cuchesne was able to steal the Golem and hide it in the basement of the Palace. How Cuchesne accomplished this remained unknown as the film did not show it nor did anyone explain it. Considering what was going on in Nazi Germany in 1936, this film's portrait of secret Jewish religious rituals probably helped to fuel antisemitism throughout Europe, though I am certain that was not the filmmaker's intent. In any case, the film was quite dull and uninvolving until the creature was revived. Unfortunately, the resulting havoc - walls crumbling and heads getting stepped on - was not thrilling enough to make up for the languor created by the preceding film. Aside from killing Karl and hearing that Baur had abdicated, the film did not achieve a satisfactory conclusion, because we weren't shown anything to convince us that the new Emperor Matthias would be any better.

THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER (1960) - The idea of making a children's adventure film based on Jonathan Swift's 1726 satirical novel was bad enough, but using only two thirds of the tale and then trying to make it into a moral lesson using Ray Harryhausen stop motion animation critters was worse.

THE TODD KILLINGS, aka SKIPPER (1971) - I am familiar with actor Robert L. Lyons because of his performance in 1969's PENDULUM. Here he is again playing a psychopathic killer, this time based on the true crime story of Charles Schmid who murdered Alleen Rowe in 1964 with the assistance of two teenagers, Mary French and John Saunders. Later, he began a relationship with 16-year old Gretchen Fritz, who knew about the earlier murder. When Schmid decided to end it with Fritz, she threatened to inform on him, so he strangled her to death. When Fritz's 13 year old sister Wendy stumbled on the scene, Schmid murdered her, too. Eventually, Schmid's friend Richie Bruns became afraid that Schmid was going to murder his girlfriend, so he told the story to his grandparents who informed the police. The story inspired the Joyce Carol Oates short story "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" which was adapted into the 1985 film SMOOTH TALK, which does not include murder. In 1970, John Gilmore published THE TUCSON MURDERS which dubbed Schmid "The Pied Piper Of Tucson" because of his psychological sway of local teenagers. With writers Dennis Murphy and Joel Oliansky, producer/director Barry Shear made this the story for his second theatrical feature after WILD IN THE STREETS and 20 years of television work. Neither this nor his third feature, ACROSS 110th STREET or his fourth feature THE DEADLY TRACKERS did well enough for him to not go back to TV, where he was steadily employed until his death at the age of 56. Obviously, I found tracking down the true story behind the events in the movie more interesting that the movie itself, even though it featured an impressive cast including Richard Thomas just two years after LAST SUMMER, James Broderick, Gloria Grahame, Fay Spain, Edward Asner, Michael Conrad, Barbara Bel Geddes and the feature debut of Meg Foster. Leonard Rosenman delivered another unnerving music score.

THE VIOLENT MEN (1955) - This is precisely the sort of American Western which made the European version so refreshing. Civil War veteran Glenn Ford hopes to lead a quiet life on a ranch after recovering from his war wounds. His fiancee wants him to sell his land in the valley and move back East. Ford is all for it, until he sees that gunman Richard Jaeckel is willing to use violence to get land owners to sell out to the crippled Edward G. Robinson. Robinson wants to give the entire valley to his wife Barbara Stanwyck. Towards that end, he agrees to bring back his brother, Brian Keith, who isn't bothered by the scruples Robinson has. As it turns out, Keith is having an affair with Stanwyck. Ford loses his fiancee when he decides that he has to stay and fight. Eventually Robinson's daughter, Dianne Foster, sees that Stanwyck is evil and begins to see Ford as a good man. Ford warns Robinson that if Robinson and Keith want a war, they won't like how he fights back. Based on the novel SMOKY VALLEY by Donald Hamilton, THE VIOLENT MEN features a script credited to Harry Kleiner that creates a number of loathsome characters and then frustrates the viewer by not killing them quickly. They all end up dead before "The End", but not in a satisfying way. In true Western tradition, the evil woman can't be killed by the male hero, so Keith's Mexican girlfriend pops up to do the deed. Director Rudolph Mate gets some good location footage using Cinemascope. 

 

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David Deal Enjoyed:

JOY HOUSE (64)

ISLAND OF LOST SOULS (32)

COMANCHE STATION (60)

ONE WAY OUT (55) - The ever-dependable Eddie Byrne (Island of Terror) is a police inspector about to retire without pulling in the big shot criminal (John Chandos) he's been chasing for years. As a hedge against Byrne, Chandos involves the inspector's daughter in a robbery, which forces Byrnes' hand. British B carried by Byrne and its film noir trajectory.

RETALIATION (68) - Akira Kobayashi, a yakuza lieutenant fresh out of prison, finds his former gang decimated. He teams up with Jo Shushido and takes a job with another gang to oust a rival family from a small town with big promises. Another top notch crime flick from Nikkatsu, this time with more blood, nudity, and torture.

THE NAKED RUNNER (67) - Ex-agent Frank Sinatra is asked by a friend and current agent Peter Vaughn to run a quick errand in East Berlin where Frank's going with his young son. Unfortunately, the errand involves an old flame Nadia Gray (Maniac) and things quickly get complicated with the state police inquiring about the transaction. A simple premise reveals much in this late cycle, competent espionage thriller from director Sidney J Furie (Ipcress File, Dr. Blood's Coffin). It is a deeply cynical spy tale interesting for the cast and milieu; it follows a well-worn and comfortable path to an unexpected conclusion. Not a classic but well worth a spy fan's time.

THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (73)

THE YAKUZA (74) - Brian Keith asks old buddy Robert Mitchum to intervene with a Japanese yakuza boss who Keith owes money. Bob has a history in Japan with a woman and her daughter and this just complicates things as you can imagine. Sydney Pollack's crime story (co-written by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne) blends obligation, responsibility, and what "family" means into a captivating and revealing whole. This was, frankly, much better than I expected.

TAKE AIM AT THE POLICE VAN (60) - When a police van is attacked and two prisoners are killed, one of the guards is punished with suspension for negligence. The guard (Michitaro Mizushima) decides to track down the killers. Director Seijun Suzuki (Branded to Kill) displays some of his skills here that would earn him an eventual firing from Nikkatsu studios. There's enough here to interest the casual viewer and more to interest the aficionado.

RETURN OF THE BAD MEN (48) - Oklahoma sheriff Randolph Scott has to handle the likes of the Younger brothers, the Daltons, Billy the Kid, and the Sundance Kid (Robert Ryan in a searing characterization), and more! He also has two women pining for him and Gabby Hayes gabbing at him. This is a rip-roaring fantasy that scorns the facts but who cares? The cast includes an excellent Anne Jeffreys, Steve Brodie, Tom Keene, Lex Barker, Robert Armstrong, and Tom Tyler. Highly enjoyable hokum.

ANATOMY OF A FALL (23)

RIFFRAFF (47) - Panama City. PI Pat O'Brien (as Dan Hammer) is hired by a man who wants a bodyguard for the next 24 hours. Before he leaves for his hotel, the man secretly hides a map in plain sight in Pat's office. Almost immediately, Pat is hired by Jerome Cowan to find the same man and the map he holds. When the man turns up dead shortly thereafter, things take a nasty turn. Very entertaining exotic noir with terrific patter and excellent cinematography. Walter Slezak is the mean-spirited heavy and Anne Jeffreys shines once again (see Return of the Bad Men above) as the love interest not afraid to get into the fighting.

MURDER BY CONTRACT (58)

THE CHURCH (89)

THE BLACK ARROW (48)

AMERICAN FICTION (23) - My favorite of the nominees so far.

Mildly Enjoyed

THE NET (53) - AKA Project M7. An experimental aircraft is secretly in the works, but there are forces trying to derail the project. British industrial espionage tale with a soap opera flavor and the budget to match. Features Herbert Lom and James Donald (Quatermass and the Pit), and Noel Willman (Brides of Dracula).

PORT SINISTER (53) - Port Royal is an island that sank beneath the ocean 200 years ago. It was a pirate stronghold rumored to hold vast treasure. When the island resurfaces, two factions - good guys and bad guys - head for it hoping to cash in before it sinks again. Studio-bound poverty row adventure put all the money into the volcanic island scenes, with its giant man-eating crab. The most recognizable actors are Paul Cavanagh and William Schallert.

TRUCK TURNER (74)

INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (73)

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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:

"96th ACADEMY AWARDS" (2024)  Jimmy Kimmel was the host and was pretty funny. The show was mostly entertaining. One of the best moments in the show, was the "I'm Just Ken" musical number from the Barbie movie which featured Ryan Gosling and some of the other actors who played "Ken" in the movie.(Lol.) The show started early for an Oscar show (7:00pm EST) and actually ended on time. Well worth the viewing.

"TOWN WITHOUT PITY" (1961) I knew the title song so well, I was always curious to see the film from which it played. Four US servicemen stationed at a US army base near a small West German town in 1960s West Germany, rape a 16 year old local girl. They are caught when one of the men incriminates himself by leaving his shirt covering the naked girl after the assault. A court-martial ensues with the four soldiers facing the death penalty. Enter Kirk Douglas for the defense. Of the actors portraying the rapists, three became well-known for later roles. The most coarse character of the four is Frank Sutton, better known as Sgt. Carter on the "Gomer Pyle" TV show. Then there is Richard Jaeckel, probably best known for his roles in "The Dirty Dozen" (1967) and "The Green Slime" (1968). And Robert Blake of the "Baretta"TV show fame and a real-life murder trial. The victim is played by then 15 year old Christine Kaufmann, better known for her role in the remake of "The Last Days of Pompei"(1960) and as one of Tony Curtis's ex-wives. The title song is played through out the movie in one form or another, almost to the detriment of the film. The film has a reporter as a narrator, who of course tells of incidents she could not have witnessed and is portrayed by German actress Barbara Rutting. The film has many dramatic scenes, especially re: the court-martial and how the rape impacts the life of its victim in the small West German town. (Thus the title "Town Without Pity") Well worth a viewing.

"POOR THINGS" (2023) A pregnant woman commits suicide and is brought back to life, when a surgeon transplants the brain of the unborn child into the body of the mother. Emma Stone earns her Oscar with this superb performance as the woman with an infant's brain. The cast also includes: Willem Dafoe as the surgeon and Mark Ruffalo as a lawyer who gets involved with Stone's character, Bella Baxter. The rest of the cast is also great. The sets are also impressive. There is a lot of nudity, that to me is reminiscent of films from the seventies. Still in my opinion an excellent movie with great performances; especially by Emma Stone.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

Peeper (1975, Peter Hyams)

Bohoja / A man of reason (2022, Jung Woo-sung)

The brute man (1946, Jean Yarbrough)

Organ trail (2022, Michael Patrick Jann)

Casimir (1949, Richard Pottier)

The completely made-up adventures of Dick Turpin – season 1 – episodes 1 to 3

Amhaengeosa / Royal secret agent (2020, Kim Jung-min) (tv serie) episodes 1 to 3

Mildly enjoyed:

Golok setan / the devil's sword (1984, Ratno Timoer)

The good bad mother (2022, Shim Na-yeon) (tv serie) (14 epis)

Shi xiong shi di qi chu ma / Kung-fu commandos (1979, Hsin-yi Chang)

The angry red planet (1959, Ib Melchior)

Lullaby (2022, John R. Leonetti)

Did not enjoy:

Diamante lobo / God's gun (1976, Gianfranco Parolini)

War of the worlds: the attack (2023, Junaid Syed)

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