February 21 - 27, 2026

 

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

Brain Teasers:

Which Spanish actor was a soccer player in Mexico and a singer before he became an actor?

John Nudge knew that it was Aldo Sambrell.

Which Spanish actor decided that he would not work for director Sergio Corbucci again because he felt the Italian wasn't as serious as Sergio Leone?

John Nudge knew that it was Aldo Sambrell.

Which Spanish actor was told by Sergio Leone that he would play Tuco if Eli Wallach turned down the role?

John Nudge knew that it was Aldo Sambrell.

By what name is actress Loredana Cappelletti better known?

John Nudge, George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Charles Gilbert knew that it is Loredana Nusciak.

Which Italian actress won the 1959 Miss Trieste beauty contest?

John Nudge, George Grimes, Angel Rivera and Charles Gilbert knew that it is Loredana Nusciak.

Which Italian actress co-starred with Richard Harrison, Carl Mohner, Franco Nero, Gianni Garko and John Ireland?

John Nudge and Charles Gilbert knew that it is Loredana Nusciak.

And now for some new brain teasers:

Which French actress was "discovered" by Jean-Pierre Melville and put under contract, but decided that she didn't want the Melville contract and began making movies in Italy?

Which French actress worked with directors Alberto De Martino, Roberto Rossellini, Giacomo Gentilomo, Guido Leoni and Mauro Bolognini?

Which French actress ended her career in 1961 and died in 2011 reportedly from cancer?

Name the movies from which these images came.

No one has identified the above photo yet.

Can you name from what movie it came?

Charles Gilbert and George Grimes identified last week's frame grab of Isabelle Corey in AFRODITE DEA DLL'AMORE, aka APHRODITE GODDESS OF LOVE.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

John Nudge and Angel Rivera identified last week's photo of Donald O'Connor in LE MERAVIGLIE DI ALADINO, aka THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN.

Above is a new photo.

Can you name from what movie it came?

George Grimes identified last week's photo of Ti Lung and David Chiang in the throes of death in THE DUEL, aka DUEL OF THE IRON FIST.

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:

BARBARIANS AT THE GATE (1993) - Celebrated screenwriter Larry Gelbart adapted the 1989 book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar about the failure of F. Ross Johnson to make a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. With James Garner in the lead role, director Glenn Jordan succeeded in crafting a compelling and enjoyable look at high-stakes financial dealings of which I had little understanding or interest. The film made Henry Kravis, played by Jonathan Pryce, the bad guy who wins in the end, but there was no ademdum as to what this meant to the company or the economy. I kept waiting for such wondering how this deal would react when the lawsuits against the cigarette companies came about in the 1990s, but it wasn't there. While obviously fictionalized, I hope that the portrayal of Johnson's relationship with his wife, played by Leilani Ferrer, aka Leiliani Sarelle, was accurate because they were charming in the film. (There is no mention of Laurie Johnson in Wikipedia.) Among the supporting cast were such stalwarts as Peter Riegert, Joanna Cassidy, Fred Dalton Thompson, Matt Clark, David Rasche and Rita Wilson as Pryce's wife.

Film Independent Spirit Awards (2026) - I get the impression that film publicists have fallen down on the job when the nominees for the first two categories on this show were all movies of which I had never heard. In the third category that was a nomination for Adolescence, which had already won awards on previous shows.

THE GREAT ESCAPER (2023) - In 2014, 90 year old World War II vet Bernard Jordan walked out of his care home in Sussex and made his way to France to attend the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings. He had failed to get in with a group going to the event, and so he went on his own. Unfortunately, he had not told anyone at the care home, or his invalid wife, so the police were called and a large scale search was begun. When he was spotted in France, the newspapers picked up the story and dubbed him "The Great Escaper". He did not become aware of his unwanted celebrity until he was on his way back to the U.K. Veteran TV writer and actor William Ivory crafted a very sensitive drama from this story, with veteran actor/director Oliver Parker helping to bring memorable performances by Michael Caine and Glenda Jackson to the screen. Reportedly, Caine insisted that his old friend John Standing also be in the cast, and he is terrific. 

Grace and Frankie season one (2015)

Mildly enjoyed:

ANGEL, aka IRON ANGELS (1987) - If you like your action films silly but adrenaline packed, then ANGEL is probably for you. Director Eric Tsang and producer Karl Maka changed the Hong Kong film industry in 1982 with ACES GO PLACES, aka MAD MISSION, which combined Hong Kong modern day action comedy with James Bond-like plotting. Writer/director Teresa Woo does something similar here with a nod towards Charlie's Angels and Mission Impossible. After Interpol successfully destroys the opium fields of the Iron Triangle, drug boss Yukari Oshima declares vengeance on Interpol. Someone sneaks into Interpol HQ and downloads the personal information on Interpol agents so that Oshima's killers can get them. After 13 agents are murdered, Interpol, with funding from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, hires the private Angel organization, run by David Chiang. Using all kinds of gadgets, Angel's agents, which includes Alex Fong, Moon Lee and Elaine Lui, play havac with Oshima's organization. Finally, our heroes learn that Oshima plans to make up her group's losses by stealing a gold shipment. In the final warehouse battle, both Moon Lee and Oshima prove to be competent physical performers in a fight to the death. Elaine Lui also looks good in battle, but she is mostly there for comedy bits.

Midsomer Murders "Book of the Dead" (2023)

RIVER RAT (1984) - After his Academy Award nomination for the screenplay to COAL MINER'S DAUGHTER, Thomas Rickman decided to turn his idea of a novel into a screenplay. Encouraged by his collaborators from COAL MINER'S Bob Larson, Michael Apted and Tommy Lee Jones, Rickman decided to make RIVER RAT his feature film directing debut. Ably assisted by Martha Plimpton, making her feature film debut as well (though she had appeared in ROLLOVER), Rickman created a compelling portrait of life on the Mississippi River, which, unfortunately, became a crime thriller. Plimpton is a fourteen year old girl living on the river with grandmother Nancy Lea Owen hoping to repair a boat named River Rat. News comes that Plimpton's father, Tommy Lee Jones, whom she never met before her mother Angie Bolling ran off, is getting out of prison thanks to an effort by Dr. Brian Dennehy. Jones is unable to talk with Plimpton, until she asks him to help repair the boat. Meanwhile, Plimpton's friend Shawn Smith's father is dying and he doesn't want to be sent to live with aunts in Memphis. Jones and Plimpton decide to take a trip on the boat to Memphis, when Dennehy shows up. The suspicion is that Jones maybe looking for the money he reportedly stole after sneaking into an eccentric old woman's house at night with Tommy Burlison and Bolling. The old woman, Mary Harper, was killed that night, and since Burlison was killed in an auto accident, Jones was sentenced to life for her murder. Obviously, Dennehy made some sort of shady deal to get Jones out, and Dennehy isn't adverse to pulling out a pistol if he thinks he's being double-crossed. As Jones and Plimpton make their way to Memphis, they find Smith hiding aboard their boat, and he's not happy they are heading to Memphis. Naturally, Dennehy is waiting for them there and the foursome soon seek out an old Cajun cemetery where Jones hid the loot. The growing relationship between Jones and Plimpton is so well dramatised that the intrusion of Dennehy's effort to get his hands on some stolen money is irritating. Oddly, this film was mostly produced in the director's home state of Kentucky, instead of Tennessee, though I couldn't tell the difference.

Faerie Tale Theatre "Cinderella" (1985) - Even with an humorous tone and a 54 minute running time, this TV production, written by Mark Curtiss and Rod Ash gets a bit tiresome. Director Mark Cullingham isn't able to get much life into the proceedings, though he has an expert cast including Jennifer Beals in the title role, Matthew Broderick as the Prince, Jean Stapleton as the Fairy Godmother, Eve Arden as the Wicked Stepmother, Tim Thomerson as the King's Messenger and a cameo by Mark Blankfield. In an effort to develop the relationship between the leads, the writers concoct a second ball for them to dance together and not exchange names. On the plus side, hit songwriter Jimmy Webb provided some nice music.

Did not enjoy:

ASYLUM (1997) - There have been many films about investigators getting themselves into mental hospitals, but rarely have the hospitals been so unconvincingly portrayed as in this film. Suicidal mental patient Robert Patrick tries an acting class to work out the trauma of his father's suicide, only to be accused of overacting. He goes back to see his psychiatrist at the hospital, Peter Brown, and gets enough of a pep talk to go out and get a job as an investigator for private eye Debra Wilson. When the news breaks that Dr. Brown has killed himself, Patrick knows that he has to get back into the hospital as a patient in order to find out what happened. Sarah Douglas is his new doctor, but doesn't really get much to do. At first Patrick thinks that reportedly missing patient Malcolm McDowell is behind the nefarious goings-on, with his scuttling about in the hospital's extensive ventilation system, but it turns out that he is only part of it. It turns out that Dr. Henry Gibson has been experimenting on suicidal patients to develop a new drug that will convince people to go-ahead and kill themselves. The film ends with piles of loose threads unresolved - like was the orderly that kept abusing patient Deborah Worthing finally arrested? (Worthing, by the way, had an uncredited appearance in BARBARIANS AT THE GATE. After six credits on the IMDb, she seems to have given up on an acting career.) This was the debut feature for writer/director James Seale, who went on to join the team making Survivor: Ponderosa in 2015.

DRYING UP THE STREETS (1978) - RCMP Officer Lou Cariou meets heroin addict Don Francks in the hospital after another near fatal drug overdose. Using a slide projector, Cariou informs Francks that the addict's young daughter is also now a heroin addict on the streets of Vancouver. As Francks is known as a "cooker" for heroin dealers, Cariou convinces him to work for the pusher in an effort to find the daughter, but to also inform to Cariou - particularly about a big shipment said to be coming to town. In his travels through the city's underworld, Francks meets young Sarah Torgov, who was made a junkie and then turned out as a prostitute. Eventually, Francks begins to think of Torgov as his missing daughter - especially after he is told that his real daughter has straightened out her life and now have a loving step-family. The bad guys kidnap Torgov to ensure that everything goes well with the new shipment, and when Francks' information leads to the big drug bust, Francks has to race against the bad guy intent of murdering Torgov. This was originally intended as an one hour episode of the Canadian TV series "For The Record", but became a feature film when director Robin Spry found so much good material while working documentary style on the streets. Reportedly, the producers were unable to secure a theatrical distributor, so the movie premiered on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation where it won a number of awards. Unfortunately, little of this production is convincing particularly with Francks throwing so much energy into his performance. 

FIGHTING ACE (1979) - The evil villain is pounding on a man demanding his martial arts manual. The man's wife breaks cover to give the villain the manual. The villain laughs, kills the man, and then rapes the wife so brutally that she dies afterwards. Before she dies, she entrusts her baby to a another man content in the knowledge that her son will grow up and avenge her. It isn't until the end of the movie that heroic John Liu finds out that the villain was the fellow who killed his parents. Until then, the film meanders about with no particular story except for some lame excuses for a variety of fights. At one point Wu Ma shows up to defeat Liu, convincing our hero to ask him to be his teacher. Wu Ma does a pretty good job of impersonating Yuen Hsiao Tien, aka Siu-Tin Yuen, as the beggar teaching Liu for a bit. For the finale, Liu stops the villain from killing the man who took care of him as a baby, and the young female lead. With the help of a comedic buddy, Liu takes on the bad guy, but is only able to defeat him when the buddy bites, and holds onto, one of the the villain's legs. Liu is then able to pummel the bad guy to death with his spectacular kicking ability. While all of the performers are quite good, no one comes up with anything to make up with the bad plotting. Most of this movie features the Ennio Morricone score for LA RESA DEI CONTI, aka THE BIG GUNDOWN.

GUNMEN (1988) - In the mid-1980s, Film Workshop's Tsui Hark was out to change the Hong Kong film industry and he had a string of box office hits for at least a decade. Like Hark, Kirk Wong alternated between work as an actor and work as a director. Wong gets the director's credit here, with Hark labeled the producer. At the end of the first Chinese Civil War of the 1920s, the righteous Tony Leung Ka-fai goes to see his family, but his little daughter has trouble accepting him as her long absent father. Leung gets a job as a cop in Shanghai to fight the opium dealers, but soon finds that most of the police force is corrupt, forcing average citizens to buy "protection". He finds three old comrades working as rickshaw drivers and enlists them in his anti-opium crusade. Needless to say, this leads to a conflict with the corrupt police force as well as the violent drug dealers. The drug dealers are led by Adam Cheng, who was an old adversary from the Civil War. After over an hour of intense gun battles, it looks like Cheng is about to kill Leung, when Leung's daughter finally cries out "Don't kill my father." She then picks a gun off the ground and shoots the bad guy. Naturally, that isn't enough to stop such and evil man, so Leung takes over the gun and plugs the bad guy a couple more times. If you like overblown gun action, with slow motion death acrobatics, then GUNMEN may be for you. The editing has so many fast cuts that it is hard to understand who is being killed much of the time, and the film ends without a clear understanding if any of the supporting characters survived.

                                                       

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David Deal Enjoyed:

DIG YOUR GRAVE, FRIEND, SABATA'S COMING (70) - Richard Harrison goes revengin' for the death of his father. Along the way he picks up amiable bandit Fernando Sancho. Their prey is a land baron who hires Sabata (Raf Baldassare) to defend him from the pair. A buddy movie with humorous touches that will neither disappoint nor enchant.

A HIERRO MUERE (61) - AKA Kill and be Killed. Olga Zubarry, an ex-con who is now a nurse for a faded opera singer, is convinced by the woman's nephew, Alberto Mendoza, that they should kill her and run away with the money he will inherit. Once the deed is done, things get complicated when the dead woman's doctor becomes suspicious. This Spanish/Argentinian co-production plays like one of Hammer's early sixties suspense thrillers. It looks good and, even though you know it won't end well for the pair, it's fun watching it unfold.

NIGHT OF THE DEMON (57)

A TIRO LIMPIO (63) - Translates to "At Gunpoint". Ex-con Jose Suarez leads a crummy straight life. Enter one of his old mates, Luis Pena, who convinces Jose to return to a life of crime. With a couple of other fellows, they begin a series of successful robberies, but soon the cops close in and the gang falls out. Gritty Spanish crime film, shot around Barcelona, has a familiar story but sports a noir palette and interesting locations.

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT (64)

BLACK TIGHT KILLERS (66)

Mildly Enjoyed:

AND THE CROWS WILL DIG YOUR GRAVE (71) - Damn that's a good title. Too bad this late-entry spaghetti western doesn't live up to it. Bounty hunter Craig Hill is hired to track down a gang of outlaws stealing gold shipments. Just for fun you can enjoy the standard story, familiar, if miscast actors, and the general ambience of a less-then-stellar genre example. By the way, Fernando Sancho, featured here, was in Lawrence of Arabia, something I'd forgotten.

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Angel Rivera Highly enjoyed:

'THE WONDERS OF ALADDIN" (1961)
Since I haven't watched this movie in awhile, I thought I'd pull out my copy and re-watch it. When I first watched it when I was a kid, one of the highlights was wondering if they were going to show more of Noelle Adam as she hung supposedly naked awaiting torture from the grand vizier.  Any way as I have learned later this film was part of a three picture deal to be presented by Joseph E. Levine. The other two which starred Steve Reeves were: the 1961 remake of "The Thief of Baghdad" and "Morgan the Pirate" (1960). How and why Donald O'Connor was hired for this film is a mystery to me. As far as I know the only starring roles he received was along side "Francis, the Talking Mule. (Since Arthur Lubin had directed "The Thief of Baghdad" and had worked with O'Connor on the Francis films he may have suggested O'Connor for the movie which I believe Reeves was supposed to star in, but turned down.) Any way I believe the film was tailored to O'Connor's kind of schtick; he even gets to "dance" in one scene. As an Arabian nights comedy it is alright and is obviously geared towards children or a family audience. Even after all these years I still found the film entertaining.

"BRIDESMAID" (2011)
A comedy starring Kristen Wiig, whose life is in the crapper when she learns her best friend is getting married. She thought she asked to be the maid of honor when she finds out her place in her best friend's life has been "usurped" by her best friend's new best friend, the  beautiful and rich wife of her fiancee's boss. As the date of the wedding draws near it causes upheaval in Kristen's life. Some of the other cast members in the film almost steal the show like, Rebel Wilson in one of her first featured film roles; as well as Melissa McCarthy, also in one of her first featured film roles. Other outstanding cast members in the film are: Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph and Jill Clayburgh in what was her last film role. All in all a well made comedy with an almost all female cast.

"CASABLANCA" (1942)
My all time favorite film. Not only for its bright and witty dialog, but also for its depiction of the frustrations the characters face as they try to escape the horrors of the Nazi regime. Yes it has a romance of one time lovers who meet after they have been apart due to the circumstances brought about, one might say, by the war. But the film is not just about that. In one of the best scenes in the film, Paul Henreid, is in discussions with Bogie, when the Nazi in the cafe take over the piano and start singing, their national anthem, much to the annoyance of the other patrons who are mostly French. Henreid then leaves Bogie and tells the cafe house band to play the French national anthem. Bogie tells them to do so and the rousing singing of the other patrons as they join Henreid in the singing of the French anthem drowns out the Nazis. The cast is superb with great performances from not only Bogie and Henreid, but also Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and Conrad Veidt. As well as other minor, but not lesser character actors.  A classic for a reason.

Enjoyed: 

"VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA" (1961)
While I did sometimes follow the series I was not that big a fan. The feature film that started it all was another matter. Great cast including the beautiful Barbara Eden. While some of the film's science is questionable,the race to have our heroes save the world is still fun. I used to own the plastic model of the Seaview. (Wish I still had it, but have no recollection of what happened to it.) Just great nostalgic fun for me.


"SEA HUNT" S2:E26: The Sea Serpent" (6/28/1959)
While I knew of the show, I don't remember ever watching it. So when I saw that it had been uploaded to YouTube, I thought I would watch an episode. The episode I watched was titled,"The Sea Serpent". For those unfamiliar with the show, it starred Lloyd Bridges as former Navy diver Mike Nelson who has many underwater adventures. In this episode he was joined by his friends, archeologist Jim Barry played by Anthony George probably best known for his roles in such crime drama shows like ,"The Untouchables" (1959) and "Checkmate" (1960) and his wife, Ann  played by the lovely Lisa Gaye, sister of Debra Paget and probably best remembered for her role in the film, "Castle of Evil" (1966) as well as numerous TV westerns and other TV shows. Bridges is often shown shirtless which is probably enjoyed by his female audience for his beefcake looks. Bridges is asked by the local police to be on the lookout for thieves who have stolen liquid explosives. They come across a boat which they believe might be that of the thieves. One of the thieves is an uncredited Leonard Nimoy in one of his earliest roles before gaining fame as Mr Spock on "Star Trek". The crooks are foiled after Bridges discovers the stolen explosives and sets a timer to have the stolen cargo explode killing Nimoy who was shooting at Bridges trying to kill him. Bridges narrates the entire show. 

Mildly enjoyed:

"GODZILLA VS. MEGALON" (1973)
Considered the worst Godzilla film. It features Godzilla doing a flying leap sliding on his tail as he kicks another giant monster. This one of those Godzilla tag team films were he battles another giant monster as if in a wrestling match. Here he is aided by robot, Jet Jaguar, an Ultra Man clone. 
Just so silly it had some fun moments, if you don't mind the silliness of it all. When Godzilla had been turned into a family friendly monster. 

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Charles Gilbert watched: 

DRACULA (1931) B&W. First time viewing the entirety. Swan Lake bookends the film but the version shown on Svengoolie also includes a music score that was added decades later post production. 

INVINCIBLE GLADIATOR (1962) A bit hokey in the final arena battle when Richard Harrison hoists the big bruiser over his head. 

APHRODITE, GODESS OF LOVE (1958) The ruler of the Roman province of Corinth (Ivo Garrani) commissions renowned artist Demetrio (Antonio Steffen) to sculpt a figure of Venus with voluptuous courtesan Diala (Irene Tunc) as model. Jealousy arises when her handmaiden Lerna (Isabelle Corey) becomes the inspiration for the bust head and face.

LADY GANGSTER (1942) B&W. Dot Burton (Faye Emerson) takes the rap for her part in a bank theft involving three other males, one being Jackie Gleason (yep Sheriff Buford T. Justice). She goes to reformatory while the men remain on the lam, but while incarcerated she befriends radio station owner Frank Wilcox. 

ATLAS AGAINST THE CZAR (1964) Kirk Morris again as Machiste working for America Anton. He's resurrected from a cave sepulchre by a Russian expedition team, and recruited to fight against the evil character (Massimo Serato).

SINBAD OF THE SEVEN SEAS (1989) The tale unfolds as a mother relays a bedtime story to her daughter. Sinbad and his friends search for four effulgent gems of Bazra the evil Jafar has stolen. Lou Ferrigno looks a bit trim in this Lewis Coates production, the same who helmed his Hercules films. 

MURIETTA (1965) Jeffrey Hunter plays Mexican immigrant Joaquin Murietta, who searches for a gold fortune in early California. Claim jumpers murder his wife, setting off an extensive vengeance campaign by the protagonist. Purportedly based on a true story. Costars Arthur Kennedy, Diana Lorys, Robert Camardial and Frank Bana.

HORROR OF PARTY BEACH (1964) B&W. Dumping radioactive waste nearby a beach resort results in the genesis of several monsters that plague the nearby community.

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