May 4 - 10, 2024

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Italian/Spanish Western begins with someone trying to pry a gold tooth out of a dead man's mouth?

It was LOS DESESPERADOS, aka A BULLET FOR SANDOVAL.

Which British actress, known for making movies in Italy, died on April 24,2024?

Which British actress made her feature film debut in a movie starring Reg Lewis?

Which British actress, who considered Klaus Kinski a friend, was angry that he suggested, in his sutobiography, that they had had sex?

Tom Betts, Angel Rivera, George Grimes and Bertrand van Wonterghem knew that the answer to all three questions was Margaret Lee.

Charles Gilbert knew that Margaret Lee made her feature film debut with Reg Lewis in MACISTE CONTRO I MOSTRI, aka FIRE MONSTERS AGAINST THE SON OF HERCULES.

And now for some new brain teasers:

What was the original Italian title for COLOSSUS OF THE STONE AGE, aka LAND OF THE MONSTERS?

By what name is actor Red Carter better known?

What grandson of an American millionaire appeared in a Robert Woods Western without credit?

Name the movies from which these images came.

No one identified the above frame grab.

Can you identify from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and Charles Gilbert identified last week's frame grab of Walter Barnes in IL GLADIATORE CHE SFRIDO L'IMPERO, aka CHALLENGE OF THE GLADIATOR.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Bertrand van Wonterghem and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Katell Laennec and Mariangela Giordano in MALABIMBA.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Shinichi Chiba in SAMURAI REINCARNATION.

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:

Enjoyed:

Fern Brady "Autistic Bikini Queen" (2023) - On Netflix.

Ghosts season three (2024) - This is the CBS version, which just got a renewal for a fourth season.

The Good, The Bad and the Beautiful (1996) - Turner Original Productions, Women In Film and GranadaTelevision co-produced this look at how women were portrayed in movies as seen by writer Kyra Thompson with a mountain of clips and dozens of talking heads.

IL CASO MATTEI, aka THE MATTEI AFFAIR (1972) - Almost ten years after the death of Enrico Mattei in a 1962 plane crash from Sicily, Italian filmmaker Francesco Rosi released a film investigating whether the Mafia had sabotaged the plane. Complicating the scenario, journalist Mauro De Mauro was asked by Rosi to investigate Mattei's last days during his visit to Sicily, and De Mauro disappeared before completing his report. What happened to De Mauro was still unknown to this day, but it was supposed that he possibly discovered a link between Mattei's death and the Mafia. In any case, THE MATTEI AFFAIR didn't solve any mysteries, but it did dramatize the story of an Italian who was told to liquidate Italy's state-owned oil company AGIP to American business interests. Realizing that the methane deposits in the Po Valley could revolutionize industry in his country, Mattei instead formed ENI which could compete with the big oil corporations called the "Seven Sisters". Because of his dealing with "third world" oil producers, Mattei was accused of creating Italy's foreign policy, especially with his deal with the Soviet Union. However, it wasn't until he suggested that he could make a similar success with the methane found in Sicily that more serious death threats were made. When Paramount Pictures picked up this film for U.S. release, I guess they hoped that they would have a box office success like "Z", but Rosi didn't construct his film like a thriller. It was a mystery without a solution, though the flashback structure of the film was reminiscent of "Z" with the addition of actual documentary material, especially with the secondary mystery of what happened to De Mauro. I know very little about post-World War 2 Italian politics and industry, but Rosi did an excellent job of making the material compelling, especially with Gian Maria Volonte playing the role of Enrico Mattei. 

Midsomer Murders "Death By Persuation" (2016) - Any episode that gives Fiona Dolman a subplot is a better than usual episode. Plus the allusions to Jane Austin are fun.

Rock and Roll: The Early Days (1984) - Patrick Montgomery and Pamela Page's hour long documentary gives a very nice timeline on the important events in the 1950s regarding the evolution of Rhythm & Blues and Country Swing into Rock 'n' Roll.

Unsung "Hip Hop DJs" (2024)

Uncnsrd: "Irving 'Irv Gotti' Lorenzo" (2024)

Mildly enjoyed:

Midsomer Murders "The Ghost of Clauston Abbey" Season 20 Episode 1

Did not enjoy:

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (1973) - Remember a time when networks made TV movies? And remember that almost all of the made for TV scary movies had unhappy endings? This is one of those with Kim Darby being unable to convince husband Jim Hutton and friend Barbara Anderson that when they dismantled the old fireplace they released little creatures that wanted to steal away with Darby. Former actor turned TV director John Newland made this from a script by Nigel McKeand.

THE GIANT CLAW (1957) - Would this movie be any better if producer Sam Katzman had actually used Ray Harryhausen to do the special visual effects? Screenwriter Samuel Newman's credits before and after this production were not very impressive, and neither were the credits for co-writer Paul Gangelin. However, someone came up with a rather charming scene in which Jeff Morrow decided to kiss Mara Corday while she was sleeping which played better than all of the scenes in which the scientists spouted gobbley-goop to the military men. Director Fred F. Sears' credits weren't very impressive either, though EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS had its fans, and I liked CALYPSO HEAT WAVE because of the appearance of The Tarriers. He did have a good voice for narration.

RED RIVER (1988) - Talk about an unnecessary remake. The 1948 film directed by Howard Hawks is a great movie and if idiots won't watch it because it isn't in color, then they should die not knowing what they missed. The changes made to the script for this remake were all for the worse. Sure, the original film didn't have any African American characters, but it had Mexicans which our "hero" killed in order to take their land. This version drops the Mexicans but adds a freed slave, played by Stan Shaw, who was welcomed to join the crew by forner confederate and the boss' adopted son Bruce Boxleitner. One of the head scratching moments in the original film was when John Ireland, as Cherry Valance, tried to stop John Wayne, as Thomas Dunson, from attacking Matthew Garth, played by Montgomery Cliff. Wayne shoots and wounds Ireland, while Ireland shoots and wounds Wayne. If you watched this version to see a repeat of that scene, you were sorely disappointed, as these TV makers turned Valance, played by co-producer Gregory Harrison, into a racist, and Garth, played by Boxleitner, shot him dead in an argument over the Black cowboy. Most everything else was as it was in the original, except that this version made a romantic triangle between Harrison, Boxleitner and the shot in the arm by an arrow Laura Johnson. They also added a scene where Boxleitner and Johnson had a bed scene the night before the final confrotation between Dunson and Garth. The only pleasure some may have had was in seeing old Western stars pop up in cameos like L.Q. Jones, Ty Hardin, Robert Horton, John Lupton and Guy Madison (in his last role). James Arness may have been a commie-hating buddy of John Wayne, but he was a poor substitute for "the Duke" on this project. Let's all blame writer/director Richard Michaels for this.

THE TINGLER (1959) - I haven't seen all of them, but I've never seen a film directed by William Castle that I've liked. His allowing Roman Polanski to direct ROSEMARY'S BABY was probably the highlight of his career. Robb White's screenplay invents a parasite in people's spine that grows when they are terrified, but is paralyzed when the person screams. Add to that the use of LSD, called "Acid" in the dialogue - but also identified by star Vincent Price reading "Fright Effects Induced by Injection of Lysergic Acid LSD25" - which must have been printed by someone on LSD as the title is on the back of the book and not the front. The filmmakers fake out viewers by suggesting that Price has dosed a deaf/mute woman leading to her having frightening hallucinations. It finally turns out that the woman's husband actually staged the hallucinations to induce his wife's death. Naturally, Castle couldn't resist having the false hallucinations back fire on the husband in the end - with no explanation of how it happened. Castle's films usually remind me of better films, and this one seemed inspired by director Henri-Georges Clouzot's LES DIABOLIQUES. Clouzot's film also inspired director Alfred Hitchcock to adapt another Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac novel D'ENTRE LES MORTS into VERTIGO. I believe that the sense of competition generated by Clouzot's film also inspired Hitchcock to make PSYCHO. Rather than see THE TINGLER, find a copy of the silent being shown in the movie theater. TOL'ABLE DAVID is a terrific film.

THE TRACKERS (1971) - You can certainly understand why Sammy Davis Jr. said "yes" to making this TV movie. It was his chance to play a Black man in the Wild West, and to be the smartest man in the posse. Unfortunately, Earl Bellamy was a rather mediocre TV director, but his talent was a match for the script. Ernest Borgnine's daughter, Connie Kreski, was kidnapped and his son killed at his ranch house. Some say the attackers wore uniforms, so the suspicion felt on troopers. Luckily, Marshal Davis arrived from Abilene and figured out that the attackers were Indians. Borgnine and the other White men in the posse, including Sheriff Jim Davis and scout Arthur Hunnicutt, dismissed Davis' insights, until he produced the evidence which confirmed them. Borgnine's wife, Julie Adams, insisted that the posse accept Davis' leadership, and off they went, wondering if the attackers were Comanches - which meant they would head into the desert, or Apaches - which meant they would head to Mexico. Apaches it was, but the posse stopped at the border, refusing to go into Mexico. Borgnine desperately pleaded with Davis to not give up the chase, and they eventually find the evil White men, including Leo Gordon, to whom the Apaches traded Kreski. Not surprisingly, Davis and Borgnine rescue not only Kreski, but other young women being held, and kill just about all of the bad guys. As you might expect, Borgnine finally showed Davis some respect in the end. Supposedly, this was originally intended to be a theatrical feature directed by Burt Kennedy co-starring Davis with John Wayne. That might have been an enjoyable viewing experience.

 

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David Deal Enjoyed:

THE SHINING (80)

SLEEPERS WEST (41) - From 2017 "Michael Shayne (Lloyd Nolan) smuggles a key witness aboard an overnight train for trial.  Particularly sharp detective yarn deftly doles out comedy and yes, tragedy above its station."

ROOM 13 (63)

Mildly Enjoyed

THE LEECH WOMAN (59)

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Angel Rivera Enjoyed:

"STAGECOACH" (1939)
The original. For some reason or another I had never seen John Ford's original and finally caught it. This is the one where for the first time he used Monument Valley for his location shooting. Yes I know this is the film that made a star of John Wayne, but aside from that, the film has other things going for it. To me a more interesting character is the alcoholic doctor portrayed by Thomas Mitchell. (who that same year would be seen as the father of  Katie Scarlett O"Hara in "Gone With the Wind" (1939). The film is a microcosm of society with all the passengers of the stagecoach. Claire Trevor is "the fallen woman" run out of town, along with the good doctor, as they are victims of "social prejudice", (if I remember correctly.)
 John Carradine as the Southern gent gambler, long before he took up the cape of Count Dracula. As well as other great character parts. Unfortunately the villains of the film are: Geronimo and his band of Apaches. But that is how they were portrayed back then. [Ford would try to make amends to Native Americans with the film,"Cheyenne Autumn" (1964). Unfortunately the film did not do well at the box office.]
There is also a banker who shouts phrases like, "America for Americans." (Spoiler alert: He is later arrested for embezzlement.)
Of course John Wayne as the Ringo Kid, the escaped "con" who escapes prison to get revenge on the varmints who killed his kinfolk is there.
And of course like most Hollywood movies, there is a happy ending. Well worth the viewing.

Mildly enjoyed:

"THE GIANT OF METROPOLIS" (1961/63)
When I evinced  an interest in Cuban born dancer turned actress, Bella Cortez I was told of her dance in "The Giant of Metropolis". Suffice it to say her dance and costume (or lack thereof) were worth the viewing. Unfortunately her dance is the highlight of the film. Even with featuring Liana Orfei as the Queen, the story is similar to that of the George Pal production, "Atlantis, the Lost Continent"(1961) (released in the US two years before TGoM) And fares poorly by comparison. And I was never a fan of Gordon Mitchell. Even the effects are sub par. Still an interesting film.
[Bella Cortez will also be featured together with Liana Orfei in "The Tartars" (1961).]

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Charles Gilbert watched:

TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932) B&W. First of six MGM Weissmuller 'Tarzans' with Maureen O'Sullivan. English dame Jane Parker arrives unexpectedly in Africa to her father's expedition site, and begins to love the excitement of the jungle. Tarzan abducts her, but can't shake the civilized intruders. He's also vying with jungle scout Neil Hamilton for her affection. In the end native dwarves capture Jane and her father's expedition, and throw them into a pit with a giant ape...until Tarzan comes to the rescue with a herd of elephants. Universal Pictures regular Doris Lloyd is in the cast.

CAPTAIN PIRATE (1952) Louis Haywood plays swashbuckling doctor Peter Blood, who has hung up his sword, until falsely arrested for returning to the seas. To clear himself, he does just that, with his old crew; and encounters an old nemesis in Ted de Corsia who's been stirring things up. Interesting to see Rex Evans (the innkeeper that blew up the dam in FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN) as a nobleman.

MAROONED (1969) Apollo astronauts Richard Crenna, James Franciscus, and Gene Hackman on a lunar mission encounter maneuvering malfunction in the command module while orbiting, with no contingency that works. Kennedy Space Center director Keith (Gregory Peck) orders a rescue by a lone pilot (David Janssen) in a red spacecraft that the public has never seen. In the mean time, the fey three get one-on-one communication with their spouse (Lee Grant, Nancy Kovack, and Mariette Hartley). A fierce hurricane delays liftoff, until the calm of the eye passes through. By the time rescue reaches the doomed crew, the Soviets have arrived in space to lend a hand.

COUNTERSPY MEETS SCOTLAND YARD (1950) B&W. Secrets of advancing U. S. missile developments are leaking from a military base in California. English agent Ron Randall is brought in to flush out the source of compromise discovered when the American site secretary (Amanda Blake) begins medical care in the community with a suspicious doctor in disquise. The doctor's own secretary (June Vincent) feigns friendship with the patient, but is in on the covert foreign espionage.

SEVEN MEN AND ONE BRAIN (1968) aka 7 UOMINI E UN CERVELLO aka CRIMINAL AFFAIR. Italian farce starring Rossano Brazzi as a university professor, and Ann Margret as his secretary made up to look Italian with heavy eye liner. The scene is Buenos Aires where he makes convoluted plans to rob the patrons during an opera when the entire audience becomes 'slain in the spirit'. All this despite his bumbling crew. Ann Margret and Helene Chanel get plenty of skin exposure. At 31:30 husband Roger Smith gets a minute or two of screen time as a gambler. Cast also includes Barbara Nichols.

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Bertrand van Wonterghem Enjoyed:

The world in his arms (1952, Raoul Walsh)

Dead reckoning (1947, John Cromwell)

Port du désir (1954, Edmond T. Gréville)

Sajanggnimeul jamgeumhaeje / Unlock my boss (2022, Lee Cheol Ha) (tv serie) episodes 7 to 12

Le grand bluff (1957, Patrice Daly)

The wild wild west – episode “the night of the egyptian queen” (1968, Marvin Chomsky)

Mildly enjoyed:

Shiti hanta / City hunter (2023, Yuichi Sato)

Obituary – season 1 – episode 1

I waq a spy (1933, Victor Saville)

Madeleine (1950, David Lean)

Gold (2016, Stephen Gaghan)

The last duel (2021, Ridley Scott)

The new adventures of Wonder Woman – episode “The Bermuda triangle crisis” (1977, Seymour Robbie)

Did not enjoy:

The delta force (1986, Menahem Golan)

 

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